Page 115 of Beautiful Prey

Panting, I looked at him confused.

“If I could give it to you right now, what would you want? Be honest.”

I looked at his face, his scars paling just a little. What had his ghosts said to make him doubt?

But I wasn’t going to lie to him.

“I want to go outside.”

His eyes darkened. “You still want to be free of me?”

“No. I said I wanted to go outside.”

He studied me closely. “I want to trust you, Evee.”

“I know.”

He tilted his head, then turned it away, closing his eyes. “Tonight.”

“Tonight?”

He opened them and looked back at me. “I’ll let you outside tonight. So you can prove them wrong.”

Them. His ghosts. Prove to them—to him—that I wouldn’t run away.

“Okay?” he said, squeezing my wrists.

I nodded.

He brought my hands to his lips. “Okay.”

He went to lean in and finish what he started, then I stopped him with my knees to his chest.

“Savor it,” I said. “Till tonight.”

He groaned through his teeth. “I don’t think I can last that long.”

“Try. I like seeing you desperate for me too.”

“Dangerous game,” he whispered, shaking his head. “I can barely think straight as it is.”

“Then you’ll just have to occupy your mind till then.”

He smirked. “Alright.” He let go of my wrists. “I have an idea.” He placed his hands on either side of my chair, his face leaning in close to mine. “But you have to be good and stay here for a little while, okay?”

“What are you going to do?”

He crushed his mouth to mine, too desperate to resist at least that. I bit his bottom lip and he groaned. He pulled away, licking his lip. “That’s not fair, you little brat.”

I grinned at him.

“You’ll see,” he said. “First…we will see how tonight goes, yeah?”

I lifted my hand, letting my fingers trace his scars. “Fine. But only because I choose to trust you.”

He kissed my forehead, and I could tell it pained him not to take me right then like he wanted. In time, we would see how long it took.

Trust had to go both ways.

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