Page 111 of Redeemed

Now, Colton gets off on hurting her. Hell, we all do. I love the way she turns skittish around us. The power we have over her leaves me hungry for the way her eyes widen when she realizes she’s pissed us off. I want her fear, her tears, her desperate, terrified obedience.

It scares the hell out of me.

“I don’t know if I can do this, Xan. One second, I want to kill her, and the next, I’m pretty sure I’d die for her.”

“I feel the same way.” He nudges me with his shoulder. “I think it’s natural for us to feel protective of her, especially after the shit Colt just pulled.”

“Was I too harsh?” I ask quietly.

“If you hadn’t blown up, I would’ve.”

“All I could think of was Rora. Seeing her in that hospital bed, so tiny and pale and…” Pain slices through my chest, so potent I have to stop and catch my breath.

“I remember.” Xander’s voice is soft, and he touches my back lightly. Hesitantly.

He knows how I can get when I’m like this, and it’s rarely pretty. There’s too much anger and guilt, buried deep under a happy-go-lucky persona. When it slips, I have a tendency to hurt people.

“That’s not gonna happen to Haven,” he reassures me. “And never, ever again to Rora. Not on our watch.”

Swallowing hard, I nod. I’ve done everything I can to be there for Aurora. Hell, I even stayed in our stepdad’s home after I turned eighteen. I wanted to get out of there, but Aurora needed me close, so I set aside my issues with Greg and toughed it out.

“Our ice cream is going to melt,” Xander says when I remain silent.

“Yeah,” I mumble.

“C’mon. The movie will be fun.”

With a sigh, I take his hand when he holds it out to me. It helps, touching him. My anger ebbs just enough that I don’t snap at Colton when we enter the kitchen.

Haven hasn’t touched her ice cream, and I’m worried it’s because she’s afraid Colton will punish her if she does. So I take her bowl and force it into her hands before stalking into the living room.

“Come on,” I call over my shoulder.

We move up to the loft. It’s where we always hang out. The living room feels soulless, plus all the open space on the first floor freaks me out. No matter where you sit, someone can always sneak up behind you.

“Are you okay?” Haven asks me when I sit on the far end of the couch.

“That’s none of your business.”

She frowns, but I ignore her, watching as Colton sets up the movie. I’ve agreed to this, but that doesn’t mean I have to be happy about it.

The next movie night we have, Haven is staying locked up in her cage.

Xander

Iplopontothecouch next to Lucas and pat the cushion on the other side of me. “C’mere, doll.”

She freezes, clutching her ice cream bowl to her chest. “What?”

“The deal is still on. You know that. If I want you to sit next to me, you’ll obey without question.”

Begrudgingly, she sits next to me. Her body is rigid as the movie starts, and she doesn’t even touch her ice cream. I wrap my arm around her and drag her closer, and the terrified squeak that escapes her makes my dick twitch. She’s so easy to fuck with.

“Eat your ice cream,” I whisper in her ear.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Colton roll his eyes at us. He’s more of the type to force obedience, whereas I prefer to coax it out of someone.

Once the movie gets going, Haven relaxes. She eats her ice cream slowly, something I noticed she did back when we were friends. It was one of the first things I learned about the cult she grew up in—that they didn’t have ice cream. I think she’s savoring it, like the magic of it has never worn off for her.

---