Page 42 of Echo
Chapter 16:
Thesenseoffloatinginterrupted my fucked up dream.
But I was wrapped in a comfortable warmth of what must have been the thickest down blanket. Giant fingers played with my hair, gently massaging my scalp.
Wait.
My eyes popped open, and I laid on the monster’s shadowy chest. We both half floated in water that was unnaturally warm, considering we were still in the forest. But I didn’t recognize where we were, the flowers creeping up the trunks of the trees weren’t ones I’d seen before.
The stars shone down on us, giving the softest light possible. Just enough to get a general sense of my surroundings. I could swear they were even brighter here than at the house.
My pale skin practically glowed in the darkness, making the giant brown patches stand out; bruises. I didn’t remember him holding me that hard. I lifted my arm to look it over. I wanted to say it was from my tumble down the hill, but even in the darkness I could tell it was from a huge hand.
“I thought I’d been careful enough. I’m sorry, Little Rabbit.” He grabbed my arm and dipped it into what I now realized was a hot spring. The movement brought attention to the overall stiffness in my body. “I promise to be more gentle in the future.”
I felt like I’d been hit by a truck, and yet satisfaction seeped deep into my bones. The water was relaxing, and I had been in it long enough that I was beyond pruned.
“I didn’t ask for that promise.” The words left my lips before I thought about them. What the fuck was wrong with me? Was I really in such a hurry for a Mark rerun? No, he wasn’t like Mark.
Mark would hurt me intentionally and never consider apologizing for it. This was an Aurelio rerun, which was a lot more dangerous. Because I knew Mark was bad for me.
Leaving Aurelio had been like quitting heroin. I needed a health crisis, a therapist, and a twelve-step program to walk away. On bad days, I wanted to relapse so much it hurt.
The monster chuckled, and with my ear to his chest, the sound vibrated against everything inside me. When he went silent again, it brought attention to his heart. It sounded heavier than it should have, like it was struggling or his blood was too thick.
Even though he’d hunted me through the woods like I was the fat doe for his dinner, he’d taken better care of me than most men would have.
“I’ve really got to stop waking up with dangerous men,” I said more to myself than to him. These types of men were attracted to me like a magnet. Probably, because I was more than willing to open my arms and legs for a broken soul that ‘just needed a hug’.
Maybe it was because my dad spent so much of my life hunting his enemies, when I needed him. Maybe it was because my mother hadn’t been there to caution me against the same men she preferred. Whatever it was, I was vividly aware of what my weakness was and no matter how hard I fought these habits, it wouldn’t go away.
“You’ll never wake up to another again.”
Fight his claim. Don’t let him win.“I decide that.”
“You have a point.” Without looking up at him, I knew there was a monstrous grin on his face that was more a threat than a gesture of amusement. “But if I kill him before you wake up, you technically didn’t wake up with him.”
That was a hard statement to argue, and it sent shivers down my spine.
“You were promised to me three hundred years ago. I will never let you escape.”
I rolled my eyes and sat up, straddling his stomach. He was strong enough to keep us floating. “I never agreed to tolerate you.”
He was indeed grinning, based on the way the edges of his snout lifted. “You look like a goddess of nature begging to be ravished. I’ll risk you smitting me over letting you go any day.”
I opened my mouth to give some witty response that would probably end with me being backhanded, but my brain couldn’t seem to string two words together. My face burned before I finally pressed my lips together in defeat.
That made his twisted grin grow and his eyes glowed more in response.
It took a long silence of us staring at each other for me to get some kind of response together. “You think that flattery will make me forget you’re a murderer?”
“No,” he answered matter of factly. “But that wasn’t my intention.”
“So, what was your intention?” I narrowed my eyes at him and jabbed my finger into his hard chest, hurting myself in the process, but I refused to let that show on my face.
Please give me a reason to shut you out. Anything to help keep you away from me. To give me the will to escape.
“To make sure you know how beautiful you are.”
