Page 56 of Torn In Two

But his calm words did little to ease the racing in my heart.

“Women need to be reborn when they have sinned. They need to prove their worth. Prove that the evil can be leached from their souls,” I mumbled, fighting the urge to claw at my skin.

Hayden’s face paled, understanding dawning in his expression.

I was back in that box.

Back beneath the dirt.

Gasping for air that had run out too fast.

Trembles wracked my body. Darkness surrounded me, blacking out the light, the food on the shelves, Hayden.

All I could smell was dirt.

“Women need to be reborn when they have sinned. They need to prove their worth. Prove that the evil can be leached from their souls,” I repeated, Josiah’s words burned into my memory, his words scalding my tongue, and yet I couldn’t stop myself from saying them over and over.

Hayden’s fingers gripped my arms. “Kara!”

It was my fault. The Lord was punishing me for my disobedience.

He always punished me.

“Kara!”

Hayden shook me hard enough, and I opened my eyes.

The pure terror in his shocked me.

“You aren’t in that box,” he insisted. “You’re here. In the kitchen at my restaurant with me. We’re locked in but we have enough air. We have food and water, and Hawk will be back soon to let us out.”

“I’m going to die,” I whispered, a sob building up my throat.

But Hayden’s expression was fierce. “Not today. Not in here. Not on my watch. Look around. Tell me what you see.”

I twisted to one side, forcing my eyes to focus on what was in front of my face instead of what was in my head. “Salt. Pepper. Oil.”

“Bread,” he continued for me. “Honey. Soy sauce.”

I tracked down those items, nodding when I spotted them on the shelves. “Yeast. Vanilla extract. Flour.” I gawked at the size of the bags. “Why on earth do you need that much flour?”

Hayden laughed, his relief evident as he leaned back on the door and then slid down it to the floor, taking me with him. “I don’t know. I got overexcited with ordering last week and now I have enough flour to last a year.” He put his arm around my shoulders. “Are you okay?”

I went to say I was, an apology for my embarrassing behavior on my lips. But I was so sick of apologizing for everything I did. What had happened to me wasn’t my fault, and I couldn’t control how my body reacted when reminded of it. “No,” I whispered. “I’m not.”

Hayden pressed his lips to the top of my head. “What can I do? I want to help but I don’t know how.”

I leaned my head on his shoulder, not sure how to answer him either. Until something popped into my head, something that almost had me smiling, despite the situation. “Tell me more about how you like Hawk.”

Hayden groaned. “You’re really fixated on that, aren’t you?”

“It’s that or I panic about not being able to breathe.” I hid a smile. “It’s coming back. You better tell me quick.”

“How about I tell you how much I like you instead?” He put two fingers beneath my chin and twisted my face up. “I don’t want to talk about Hawk when I could be kissing you.”

He lowered his mouth to mine, and all thoughts of Hawk and being locked in a tiny room evaporated from my brain.

All that existed was me and Hayden. My brain narrowed down to the places our bodies connected. Hands. Mouths. Fingers. Tongues. He kissed me until my heart was racing and my breathing was too quick, not because of being trapped, but because of how he wanted me.

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