Page 63 of The Masks She Wore

?I was already at her bedside. To me, claiming wasn’t just to have a permanent fuck toy. That was part of it, but it wasn’t everything. Now I had to take care of her. I had to make sure her life was good. The only way she could serve me the way I wanted was if she was happy the way she needed.

?I took her hands in mine. “Inhale in three…two…one,” I pulled her up.

?She cried out, falling into me. “Fuck,” she snarled, panting through her teeth as she tried to push away from me.

?I allowed it this once, but sooner or later, she would need to get used to me. The physicality of this was incredibly important to me so it would be important to her too.

?But despite her efforts to push away, she still clawed into my arm, my chest, her eyes closing as she breathed through the pain.

?“Do you have any pain medications?” I asked, glancing to herbathroom.

?“You’ve stalked me for a month, and you don’t know the answer to that?” she bit.

?My eyes fell back to hers to find her glaring up at me.

?I frowned deeply. “Don’t test your luck right now, Rae. I don’t care how badly you hurt, I’ll fuck you despite it, do you understand me?”

?“Then why don’t you?” she challenged, forcing herself to step away.

?I released a controlled breath as she headed for the bathroom, limping now. “Because when I fuck you, you always pass out, and Malachi has some important things to discuss with you. Not to mention that I have no idea what he did to your back. Can’t have you paralyzed so soon, Princess. That’s for me to control, not some shit who attacked you in your own home.”

?She disappeared into her bathroom, a bottle of pills shaking a moment later. “How noble.”

?I swear toGod, this woman is going to try every nerve I’ve ever had. “How did he get into your place?”

?The water ran. A minute later, she came walking back out, wiping the back of her hand across her mouth. “He got himself a key made, just like you, I assume.”

?My brows furrowed, her eyes as hard as ice. “When?” She took a drink of water but had made no move to clean up the blood thatnow dripped between her tits. Fuck, I loved that.

?“You’re a terrible stalker, you know that?” she snipped, limping past me.

?I grabbed her arm, forcing her to stop. “You were not the be all and end all of my life, Princess,” I told her, looking down at her. “I will always have other missions, other assignments, you need to understand that.”

?“Guy with a job, I get it.” She ripped her arm out of my grasp only because I let her, and winced when it pained her. “As far as I know, it was the first time he used it,” she replied, heading for the door. She slowed as she reached it though, and I could feel the weight on her shoulders as if it were mine.

?“Rae, it was natural,” I told her. “You can’t control something like that, not as much as you think. It wasn’t your fault.”

?She stared at the handle for a long time before she reached for it. “I hope it never happens to you.” She pulled it open. “Come on, I suppose we have a lot to discuss.”

?And her mood shifted again.

?Her anger was suddenly gone for this…numb state. She had ripped one mask off for another, and that was when I remembered what Greyson had once said to me.

?We could wipe women out physically without trying, fracturing their mental state in the process. They always needed time to heal after long, difficult sessions. But it wasn’t just sex that did it.

?Today, she had called a number and realized that her mom wasn’t who she thought she was. Then her brother, who wasn’t actually her brother, came into her home and attacked her. After that, we showed up, clearly connected to her mother, and then I carved my initial into her chest, telling her that she was mine, that she had no choice in it.

?She was drained, I couldn’t expect her to give anymore without giving something back in return.

?There were many reasons Malachi kept Greyson around. He was one of us in the deepest kind of way, but he was soft too. There were lessons he could still teach us, and if we were willing to learn, those lessons could greatly help us become better men, which was why he was often referred to as the Teacher.

?I suppose this was one of those times.

?God, fuck him.

?“Jack,” I finally told her. “My name is Jack Ashrin.” I walked up behind her, her body melting as much as it could in the state she was in.

?“Ashrin,” she repeated softly back to me.

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