Page 11 of Unmasked Anarchy
Gage helps me inside with a grip behind my elbow, not gentle but not mean either, and the warmth is so sudden I blink and nearly lose my balance.He doesn’t ask if I’m okay.Doesn’t ask if it hurts.Not even when I stumble against the wall, my insides screaming with pain.Instead, he mutters, “Fuck’s sake, Sable,” and wraps an arm around my waist, hauling me to his room.
He lowers me down onto the bed, my breath catching when his body goes down with it before releasing me.His huge shoulders loom above me and his face is inches from mine.He holds his weight off me, careful not to crush my wound.I want him, so badly, to just kiss me or hug me or do something to spark the aching desperation I have for him back to life.
“Rest, baby,” he murmurs.
Blood rushes through my veins.
He rarely calls me baby, and when he does, it nearly cripples me.
I should say thank you.I should say something.Instead, I meet his eyes and hold there, like I’m challenging him to blink first.My body aches for him.He knows it, he has always known it, and yet it changes nothing for him.The silence between us is heavy, charged with unspoken words and lingering tension.My heart races, each beat echoing the conflict within me.I want to reach out, to bridge the distance that feels insurmountable, but fear holds me back.
Fear of rejection, of vulnerability, of opening myself up to a world of hurt.His gaze is steady, unwavering, and I wonder if he can see the turmoil swirling inside me.The longing, the desperation, the hope that maybe, just maybe, things could be different.But reality crashes in, reminding me of the barriers that stand between us, the choices that have led us here.
I feel trapped in this moment, caught between the desire to speak and the safety of silence.The ache in my chest is a constant reminder of what I want but cannot have, a bittersweet longing that refuses to fade.And so, I hold his gaze, hoping he can see the truth in my eyes, even if my lips remain sealed.
“You don’t have to act like you care,” I whisper.“We both know you don’t.”
He’s close enough that I see the flecks of brown in his nearly black eyes.“You’re our girl.No one else is gonna touch you.Ever again.”
Not his girl.
Our girl.
The club’s girl.
The club’s property.
“There is a part of you that wishes I didn’t climb out of that ditch,” I croak, staring up at him, swallowing down the pain rushing through my body.
He stares at me, silent.The gold of his ring glints against my skin where his hand sits beside my ribcage, caging me in, pinning me to the world with just a stare.My pulse hammers in my ears.
“Is that what you want to believe?”he says, low, almost amused.“That you’re better off under a pile of dirt?That you don’t belong here?”His gaze flicks to my lips.
“I belong wherever you put me,” I whisper.“Right?”
He leans closer, pressing his forehead to mine, and the world shrinks down to the scent of whiskey on his breath and the heat of his skin against my face.“You’re mine, Sabie.Now, forever.”
I want to push him away.I want to pull him closer.I can never make up my mind.
His hand moves, sliding beneath my jaw, his thumb tracing over my bottom lip.I think he’ll kiss me.I want him to, and I hate myself for it, for making the next breath huff out uneven.But he doesn’t kiss me.He presses his mouth to the hollow of my throat, and bites hard enough I gasp.
“Fuck you, Gage,” I hiss, trying to shove him, but my body is far too weak.
“Later, baby.”His teeth sink again, and the pain is exquisite, blooming up through my body, a pulse that vibrates right to my core.
“You’re an asshole,” I manage, but my fingers tremble on his wrist, and he knows I’m weak when it comes to him.He laughs, low and dangerous.
“Get some sleep.”He doesn’t move away, but his voice shifts, a softness barely there, hidden behind the gruff.
I close my eyes, just for a second, and he drags his lips across my collar bone, then, just like that, he’s gone.
Like always, leaving me empty.
~*~*~*~*~
THE FIRST NIGHT BACKat the club is brutal.I’m uncomfortable, sleeping is difficult and the noises from outside keep me awake even after I have taken everything the doctors left me.I’m frustrated and grumpy, slowly rolling, my body not working how I want it to, no matter how hard I try.
I feel trapped.
