Page 7 of Dare To Fall

“No. No.” I shake my head in denial.

He holds me against him when I struggle. “Don’t be frightened. It’s okay. I’m not going to hurt you.”

“You can’t be him. You can’t be him.”

“It’s going to be okay.” He doesn’t deny my words.

“Why? Why would you do this to me?” I whisper, eyes wide but dry. I have no more tears to shed. Jumbled memories of everything I’d done for him, with him, surge up, and my head spins with anguish.

Eli’s jaw is tight. “Ari, stop.”

“I trusted you.” My voice rises hysterically. “I trusted you, and I loved you.”

Subduing my struggles with his body, he pins me down and presses a hand over my mouth. “Please, Kitten. You need to be quiet. No one knows you’re in here.”

I twist my head away to the left. “Don’t call me that. You’re not Sin. You’re not him.”

“I am.” His words are rough.

“You’re doing this to me. You’re the one behind everything. You’re the one who’s blackmailing me. You’re the one who broke me. It’s you. All you. You’re behind everything. I can’t do this anymore. I can’t …”

I don’t want to look at him.

He made me fall in love with him. Why did I let it happen? Eli Travers became my bad habit. Sin became my addiction. The same person, and I didn’t know.

I was blind to it.

How stupid can I be?

I let him have my body. I let him crawl inside my heart. Only to have him burn me from the inside out until I have nothing left to give. The truth threatens to crush me.

I stop fighting, going limp beneath him, the weight of my thoughts sliding away into emptiness.

“Ari?”

I close my eyes, and don’t respond.

“Ari? Talk to me, please.” Eli’s voice is barely above a whisper, and he cradles me against his chest. A hand strokes my face and my hair. Lips press gently to my forehead.

He continues to talk, but my mind shuts down, and darkness washes over me.

Chapter 3

Eli

I’m not sure if she’s asleep or just ignoring me. Her body temperature is back to normal, there’s no reason for her to still be sleeping.

“Ari?” I keep my voice low.

She doesn’t acknowledge me.

“Kitten?”

Her entire body stiffens. That answers that question, then. She’s ignoring me.

“I know you’re angry with me. But I swear, I’m not behind the texts or the threats.”

“You’ve lied about everything else, why should I believe you about that?” Her voice is toneless, but I can’t stop a surge of hope.

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