Page 60 of A Sinner's Saint

My legs wrap around Vin’s back, and he adjusts my left leg, hooking his arm under my knee and bending it to my chest. I can feel him deeper in this position. I moan into his mouth while my fingers dig into the skin on his forearms. I can feel myself about to tumble over the edge again. It’s building and so damn close. As soon as I explode, Vin pulls out of me, grabbing his cock and squirting his cum all over my stomach.

“Fuck,” he hisses before falling next to me on the bed.

“Uh-huh,” I mumble, catching my breath.

“That was…” He turns his head to look at me.

“So damn good.” I smile at him. “Give me two minutes and we can do it again.”

“Give me five.” Vin laughs. He looks relaxed, more relaxed than I’ve seen him in a long time. It makes my heart swell with joy, and I can feel the shattered pieces slowly being glued back together.

“I love you too,” I tell him after a few more moments of silence.

“I know,” he says, and I can hear the hint of sadness in his voice.

“Thisfriends with benefitsweek is going to be amazing.”

“It’s what comes after that scares me,” he whispers.

“It’s us, Vin. It will always be us, whether we have benefits or not.” I roll over to my side. “Now, how about you help me shower, considering you’re the one that made me all dirty?”

“I like you dirty,” Vin smirks. “But a shower sounds good too.”

Chapter Twenty-Seven

January - Paris

“Are you ready for me, boy?” The masked man walks into the room, a strap hanging from his hand. I already know I’m not walking out of here today.

My father will take me to a makeshift hospital until I’m not covered in the welts, cuts, and bruises this man is going to leaveon me. I don’t care, though. Hopefully, today will be the last day I have to endure a beating from a masked man.

Maybe today is the day I finally die.

I stare the stranger in the eyes. Ice-blue eyes. They’re cold. Just like you’d imagined a monster’s eyes to be. His body is huge, fat, and covered in faded tattoos.

It’s temporary,I tell myself. It’s only going to last so long and then I can go home. I just have to get through it. Or die. I’m okay with either option.

When I don’t answer him, he snaps out an arm, slapping me across the side of my legs with the belt. “I asked you a question, boy. You deaf?” he yells. “No, I think you just like the punishment. Bend over and I’ll give you a proper belting.”

I don’t have a choice. There is no way out of this room. Out of this nightmare. I don’t willingly bend over, though. I never have and I never will. They can do what they want to my body. I will not make it easy for them or be subservient to their demands. If they want me to do something, they will have to force my body to comply.

Which is exactly what the man does. His hand wraps around my hair and he yanks until I’m forced onto my knees. Then his foot comes out, kicking at my back and pushing me down. My hands land on the hard concrete. I don’t cry out. There’s no point. No one is coming to save me. I learned that much a long time ago.

I can only save myself. I haven’t figured out a way to do that yet, but I will. If it’s the last thing I do, I will kill one of these men. And then maybe all the others will think twice about coming for me.

The belt whips across my ass, and my skin burns with the contact. I still don’t cry. My fingers clench as I stay down. Because if I try to get up now, it’ll be worse.

“You got nothing to say, boy?” the man hisses. His foot kicks at my stomach and then his hands push on me until I’m flat on my back. He straddles my body, his palm wrapping around my throat, squeezing tight enough to restrict my airflow.

My lungs burn. But I don’t move. Instead, I look at his neck and imagine that it’s my hand wrapped around his throat, squeezing the life out of him.

“Vin, wake up.” I try to turn my head, but I can’t. She’s not supposed to be here. Cammi. I can hear her voice. But I can’t see her.

“Wake up. Vin, please. It’s me. It’s Cammi. Stop.” Her voice sounds raspy. What’s wrong with her?

“Cammi?” I choke on the words. My eyes open, and I see her.

She’s on the bed, underneath me, and my hand is wrapped around her throat.