Page 170 of Dare To Live

“Open your eyes, Kitten.”

I force my lids to rise. The marble coffin is right in front of us. If I stretch out a hand, I can touch it. Fear is a tight ball inside my chest.

Breathe. Breathe.

He guides me toward it, takes my hand and presses it to the stone surface. His fingers push down on mine until my palm is flat.

“Good girl. There you go.”

Are Churchill Bradley’s bones still in there?

I suck in a deep breath, still crying. “I’ve been terrified of this place for so long. I never thought I would come back.”

“You don’t need to be frightened.” His hand is still on mine as he moves behind me. “Don’t let it have power over you anymore. Remember us. You and me.”

His voice is a soft whisper in my ear.

“You’re doing so good, Kitten. You’re so brave.”

Eli is being my shield, when I swore I would be his.

Sniffing, I brush the tears away with my free hand. “You were my whisper in the dark.”

“I’m here, Ari. I’m still your whisper in the dark. Your Sin. Whatever you need, it’s yours.”

“That’s my line.”

Eli kisses my shoulder. “One day you’ll admit that you need me just as much as I need you. We’ll get through the rest of our time here, I swear. We’ll walk out of here stronger. No can fucking touch us, Ari. If we’re together, they’ll never break us.”

More than you know.

I shiver. “I’m cold.”

When he steps back away from me, I feel a sense of loss. He hands me my clothes, and I dress in silence.

Once I’m clothed, he pulls me back into his arms. “Talk to me.”

“I’m not sure a quick fuck will get me over the trauma this place holds.”

“I get it.” Eli strokes my cold cheek with his thumb.

“You do?”

“We’ll just have to keep coming back. If a quick fuck doesn’t do the job, we can do a slow one.”

I roll my eyes, laughing, my fear easing a little. “You’re sex mad.”

The corners of his lips curve up in a smirk. “You love my magic dick.”

“I can’t believe you remember I said that.”

“It was hard to forget.” He tightens his hold on me, searching my eyes. “I mean it, Ari. We’ll do this as often as you need to erase the bad memories here. We’ll rewrite them with better ones.”

My heart is a rapid thud in my chest, and warmth spreads through me.

I don’t point out to him that it’s impossible. The school is reopening, and we won’t be able to creep onto the grounds like two horny teenagers, anytime I need to conquer my nightmares.

Chapter 96

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