Page 27 of Captive Souls

It was undeniable.

Still, my mouth couldn’t open. Wouldn’t open.

“Speak,” he demanded.

I flinched. Again, the command was a weapon. Used to wound, to make me bleed on the inside. To make me cower.

And despite my terror—and yes, my shameful craving—I didn’t submit. Wouldn’t.

He was there to break me. And this was just the beginning. A hairline crack, a harbinger of further destruction.

I jutted my chin upward, my teeth grinding together with force that made me worry they might shatter.

“No.”

He didn’t even flinch. But I swear, the weight of his gaze became even heavier. The air felt thicker.

“Excuse me?” he asked quietly.

“No,” I repeated. “I will not tell you that I won’t run from you again because I’m not a liar. And because I’m not a liar, I will make you a promise.” I sucked in a deep breath. “Once it’s safe for my sister, I will run from you. And you can make chase, try to catch me, but you won’t. Eventually, you won’t have any power over me.”

Like I had last night, I felt proud that I was able to stand up to what was the most terrifying creature I’d come across in my life. Even if I understood that he wouldn’t let me get away with this. That this wasn’t a victory. It just wasn’t submission.

He proved me right seconds later, leaning in closer. Still not touching, my body betrayed me, arching forward ever so slightly toward him. As if we were opposing magnets, drawn to each other while repelling each other at the same time.

He went rigid as he noted my body’s movement, then he straightened so our bodies didn’t even brush.

“If I so choose, Piper, I will always have power over you. So you better pray to whatever gods you worship that I do not choose that.”

He let the words linger for a second, still as a statue with his gaze scalding my eyes. And there was a moment, a moment when I must’ve been delusional with fear because I was sure that he was going to kiss me.

And what was worse, and infinitely more delusional, was that I was getting ready to kiss him back.

Thankfully, there was one shred of mercy left for me in the universe.

Knox rolled back onto his heels then stalked back into the woods like the wild animal he was. I watched the foliage swallow him up, still pressed against the door, unable to control my breathing.

“Pray to whatever gods you worship that I do not choose that.”

The words echoed throughout the quiet clearing.

I wasn’t a deeply religious person, spiritual for sure, but even I knew that the moment Knox came into my life, the gods—and even my treasured goddesses—had abandoned me.

Only the devil remained.

Seven

Knox

Ialmost tore off her clothes and took her right there against the door. Covered in sweat and terror. The fear in her yes—the fright—equal parts disturbed me and turned me the fuck on. My cock pressed painfully against the zipper of my pants, demanding to be used, demanding to claim her.

Rape.

That would’ve been rape. To take a petrified woman.

I’d done a lot of deplorable, unforgivable things in my life, but never that. Never would I abuse someone like that. I killed plenty of people without remorse.

But I learned at a young age there are worse things than death.

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