Page 66 of A Twisted Arrangement

“Low blow. You promised not to bring it up again.”

I dance backward on my feet, shifting into my fighting stance, and wait until the moment he comes in to attack again. This time, I easily dodge and swing around his back to wrap the crook of my elbow around his neck.

There’s laughter in my voice when I say, “I’m pretty sure I didn’t. Plus, our promises don’t count anymore.”

His hand closes around my wrist. “Why? I kept mine.”

“What?”

I jerk back, but Matthias tightens his grip, keeping me in place. He kicks my feet from under me and flips me onto my back, putting his weight on top of me. “I told you I’d marry you when you turned twenty-five.”

Stunned, my world spins around me, tipping on its axis. Cracks slice open what I believed to be true, and I desperately try to hold them in place. I search his eyes, warm on mine. “You remembered?”

He drops his head to mine. “I waited for you.”

It feels like he’s splitting me open, and I grit through my teeth, “Don’t lie to me.”

I push at his shoulders, trying to buck him off, but he grabs my wrist and pins them to the mat with one hand, gripping my jaw with the other.

His mouth is hard on mine, biting my bottom lip when I refuse to open. I gasp, and his tongue fills my mouth, a guttural groan vibrating from his chest, reverberating through me. I want to grab him and pull him closer. I want to bury my fingers into his hair and never let him stop.

While he pushed me away, I was able to pretend like he didn’t take up my thoughts.

Now he’s kissing me, broad shoulders pushing me into the mat, like he’s exactly where he belongs. Like he hasn’t been the reason my heart ached and I’ve cried myself to sleep.

The question that’s been swirling in my mind over and over tumbles to the forefront as his stubble scrapes my face.

Has he felt this way the entire time? Did his heart latch onto mine like mine did his? Has it been torture?

I search his gaze, looking for that same feeling that’s been rooted inside me. At fifteen, he was able to capture all that I am. I can only imagine the damage I’ll let him do now.

I rip my mouth away. “What do you want from me?”

“Haven’t you figured it out already?” He places a featherlight kiss to my forehead. “Everything. I want everything.”

Matthias gets up and pulls me with him. “We’re meant to be together, Scarlet, and I’m going to make you believe it.”

There’s a deep ache in my chest as emotions slam through me, years of actions coming head-to-head with his words. “I’d like to see you try.”

It’s the realization that I mean it that has me silent the entire way back to the house.

Chapter 32

Scarlet

The soft fabricof my robe warms my skin. I’d forced myself into a cold shower the second I got home. What the hell was I thinking, rolling around with Matthias like that? I can still feel the weight of his body against mine. His kiss took over my senses until I didn’t care that I was supposed to resist.

It’s the impossibility of his words that throw me off-balance. The way my heart ached in my chest like he’d just cracked it open and looked inside.

“I told you I’d marry you when you turned twenty-five.”

Never in a million years did I think Matthias would ever say something like that to me. I bite my lip and pull on a skirt that swings out from my hips, large folds rippling the fabric. He handcuffed me, drugged me, kidnapped me, then forcibly married me. Now I’m supposed to believe it was all because of some promise we made when we were kids?

I cover my face with my hands, sighing out a breath as my eyes sting. I want it to be true so bad. That’s the exact reason I need to get out of here. I can’t think properly when all I can see is him.

I pull on a thin shirt without a bra, needing all the help I can get, then open the bottom drawer, using the charade of diggingfor something, but I don’t take anything out. Leaving it open, I step out of my room. The chilly air causes my nipples to harden, and a little part of me hates this strategy, but with every eye on me, I need to use every advantage I have.

As expected, there’s a guard standing right outside the door. He’s wearing black tactical gear and a gun strapped to his chest. The way his belt is stocked with a variety of weapons is more than a little overkill. My heart rate speeds up with every second I wait. I’m not sure what Matthias will do to me If I’m caught.

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