Page 97 of Sardonic Burn

“Why do you have the same tattoo as me? Mine is clearly older and is due for a touch up… Or a removal.”

“I just liked it and got it tattooed. It’s as simple as that.”

My mouth falls open. “The tattoo is on my inner thigh. When the hell did you see it?”

He scratches the back of his head. “That’s really not important.”

“Hudson,” I warn. “Do not make me force the words out of you.”

“So, funny story. How much do you remember about the night you got it tattooed?”

“Not much. Just that the tattoo artist designed it.”

“I designed it.”

I blink. “I think I’d remember if it was you who had a tattoo gun on my skin, Hudson.”

“I never said I did the tattoo, just that I designed it. You quite literally stole the design from my hands, handed it to the artist, and had it done. I just saved it afterward.”

“But that was years ago. You were just a kid. What were you doing at a tattoo shop?”

“Being rebellious, obviously.”

My mind can’t keep up with the profound information. No matter how hard I try, I barely remember that night. I was drunk beyond belief, and I don’t think I know where the shop is even located, let alone who was inside with me.

“Wait.” I frown. “You could’ve killed me back then.”

He shrugs. “You were too pathetic to kill in that state, Noelle.”

“Fuck you.” I flip him off. “But you still didn’t answer my question.”

“What question?”

“Why did you tattoo the same design? Why now?”

“It’s mine to tattoo. You just stole it.”

“You know that’s not what I mean.”

Hudson falls silent. He walks toward me until he’s standing right in front of me, looking down on me. There’s something that is constantly flickering in his eyes, as if it’s happening against his will. I don’t have enough time to understand what it is because the proximity makes me anxious.

It’s not the first time we’ve ever been this close. We’ve done things far beyond this point. And yet, seeing his chest rising, feeling his intense stare on me, and hearing the loud sound of his heartbeat make little chills dance all over my body.

My throat goes dry, and I’m frozen in place. I’m unable to even move an inch, and a terrifying shiver makes the smallest hairs on my neck stand straight up.

“Are you fishing for something, Noelle?” He bends a little, his head dangerously close to my face. “Do you want me to say that I did it so I’d have something of yours permanently on my body? Do you want me to admit that it’s because, despite hating your very existence, it’s that same existence that’s been keeping me alive? Do you want me to tell you how fucking insane it makes me to think that in a few weeks, I’ll have to kill you?Do you want me to fucking admit that I’d rather bite the bullet myself than pierce it through your skull?”

Time stops around me.

All I hear is his voice in my head, on repeat. His deep voice chills my body, making it go rigid. His jaw is clenched, and all I want to do is kiss all over it. The fear in my body doesn’t allow me to act on it.

“And you’re fucking engaged to another man, Noelle. It means that I can’t have you. In a couple of months, you’ll be married. All of me wants to put a bullet in that bastard’s head. Maybe that’s why I kidnapped him. I wasn’t the one to whip him, but I sure as fuck regret not thinking of it first.”

I don’t have anything else to say. I’m not sure if I mentioned to Hudson that I want to break off the engagement or not, and I definitely didn’t know, up until this very moment, that it bothers him.

The longer we’re silent, the longer I’m trying to break out of the mental cage I put myself in. But the key is far from my reach, and I don’t know how to escape the fear, horror, and anxiety that have taken over my entire mind.

My hands are shaking terribly. My eyes close as I force my hands to move upward, cupping his face. Hudson’s warm body sends jolts down my spine when it connects to my freezing one. Despite having him lean into my touch, I can’t stop shaking.

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