Page 61 of Burning Truths

Turning to the side he lets us pass, “I’ll stick around and make sure this is handled.” He waves his hand towards the smoke and embers.

Shifting from under my hold, she pulls away, her gaze clashing with mine. Fighting with herself I can see the battle play out over her face so I try to give her an out.

“What do you need?” I ask.

Licking her lips she presses her fingers to her mouth, “Home.”

It’s the only word she says, but it holds so much meaning. Walking away from the school grounds where fire trucks and students surround the back parking lot I walk Kenna to her dorm.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

RYKER

The door to her dorm is locked so I pull the keys from my pocket remembering the copy I had made. The overwhelming stench of smoke and fire wafts from us like a campfire freshly burning. Kenna’s long hair is braided and laying flat against her rigid back. Once the flames faded into ash and smoke her body locked up slamming her wall back into place. The thin strand of patience I have left hanging between us tightens when she shifts her shoulder away from my touch. Stepping around her I unlock the door and swing it open moving to the side to let her pass. She hesitates a moment before making her way through the threshold with her eyes locked on my every move.

A single light is on in the living room giving the empty space an eerie feel that almost closes the normally open space.

“Killer.” The word leaves my lips on a whisper.

The low sound bounces around us echoing into the space she creates with each step she takes. Her hands fist pulling my attention to the bandage around her knuckles. Anxious and greedy for her touch I close the space between us ignoring every fucking sign that she needs space and swallowing the air around us with eager hunger. Twisting her around she’s forced to faceme and that’s when I let her see every shattered, broken, piece of the man at her feet.

“You want me to show you who we are?” I seethe.

The caged rage that I’ve buried under worry, fear, and pain is bubbling to the top and there’s no stopping the madness. Both hands are now grasping her shoulders holding her in place and for a moment the sudden look of terror in her eyes has me pulling back but then she sucks in a breath and I’m gone.

“You left me.” She mumbles.

Her voice is so low. So broken. The woman standing before me is a tattered, beaten, mess that’s on the edge of falling. Stepping into her chest we both suck in a lung full of air with the closeness. Her stormy grey eyes widen and I try to remind myself that I have no idea what she’s been through but she’s in my hold now.

“Oh baby, you have it all wrong.”

My words are garbled and fragmented, cutting us both in the process. I can see her start to pull away with the declaration. He’s twisted so many things inside her head that she can’t see how wrong she is. How far has she fallen from my hold? Walking her backward past the couch my steps guide her to her bedroom where the door is closed. Her tongue peeks out to wet her lips, smokey eyes gazing at me with an array of emotion, she nods her head once.

Kicking the door open I wait for both of us to make it through the doorway before using my heel to swing it closed behind us. The lights are off but I don’t need to see to know she’s already trembling.

“No one can take you from me, Killer. We’re etched into each other’s bones.”

I toe off my shoes, our breathing ragged and loud in the silence, only the soft movement of my feet break through the quiet.

“Did you-” She pauses. The shape of her body shifting to the side letting light shine through the window casting a shadow across the room.

I run my fingers down her arms sending a shiver through her, “Did I what?” I push.

Anger pulses wild and hot like a fucking inferno knowing what she’s about to ask but I give her what he didn’t. The freedom to do what she needs to put the pieces together. Waiting for her to continue I use one hand to pull my shirt from my body. The fabric falls to the floor.

Swallowing, she turns back to me, only the blonde of her hair fully visible in the dark.

“Did your family sell me to him? Did-” She sucks in a deep breath, her hands moving in the darkness. “Did you know what he was going to do to me?” She says, defeated.

My muscles tighten, a murderous ache for his blood on my hands has me clenching my fingers. Walking forward, Kenna moves back with each step I take, her knees meeting the bed stopping her from moving. Caging her in she starts to quiver but I’m too far gone to stop. Pressing my hand into the center of her chest I force her down on the bed until she’s laying flat against the sheet. Kneeing her legs open I use my other hand to hold myself above her.

The moon lights up the space around me in a low grey hue that matches the scene around me. Grey eyes and wet cheeks glisten in the moonlight looking up at me with confusion and fear all wrapped into a pretty little bow. The beautiful fucking mess beneath me settles something deep in my dark heart that beats around sharp glass ripping us both into a bloody mess. My free hand moves to her throat, my thumb rubbing at her pulse point, before sliding up to her face. Pressing my fingers into her cheeks I ally enough hold to cause a bite of pain.

“No amount of money could ever buy your sweet pussy, baby.” I seethe. “I’ll kill him for you if you don’t want to get your hands dirty, but he will fucking die by our hands.” Leaning down, my lips hover over her mouth. “You’re not for sale, Killer. I’ll never be able to carve away his touch but I can make sure all you ever feel again is the way we bleed together.”

Dropping the rest of the distance our mouths clash in a mess of teeth and tongue. She doesn’t move, her body is frozen from the assault, but I take every inch of her that she offers. Pulling back I can see the war she’s fighting with herself so I push further. Standing, my hands reach in my back pocket pulling out the small blade I knew I’d find. Oakley’s starting to wear off on me. Lifting the bottom of her shirt, my finger flips the blade open, and slices up towards her throat.

Fuck, my dick twitches at the image of her skin under my knife, but I tuck that away for another time. Her muscles lock in place when her chest is laid bare beneath the bra and shirt now cut and laying beside her.

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