Page 21 of Monsters Like Us
I swallow hard, willing my feet to move. But they’re rooted to the floor.
“W-Who did this to you?”
He cocks his head, and it reminds me of my favorite horror movie villain, Michael Myers.
He doesn’t say anything. Just stares at me with those dark, penetrating eyes, like he’s picking me apart, revealing all my secrets, fears, and weaknesses.
It hits me as I stare at him. “V-Vale. He did this to you.” I say it like a statement, not a question.
He remains silent, but I saw the slight tightening of his jaw as soon as I mentioned Vale’s name.
Unable to resist the allure of his bare chest, my fingers trace the uninjured skin. He stares at me, desire burning in his eyes. Instead of being scared that the emotionless “ice monster” is showing emotion, it emboldens me.
My lips part, a shaky breath slipping out. My eyes are locked with his as my fingers move to one of the scars, gently touching it. His jaw tightens, and he hisses.
“Am I hurting you?”
“Not in the way you think.”
My breathing increases, and so does his. I glance down, staring at his heaving chest, desire coursing through me. I’ve never wanted anyone… until him. After all that has happened to me, I didn’t think I was capable of feeling… this.
“Little murderess,” he practically purrs the nickname. It’s a painfully seductive sound. “You better stop touching me. Before I do something neither of us can stop.”
I freeze. His words repeat inside my mind, but I’m not scared of him. I want him. But I’m scared of causing him more pain than he’s already feeling. And if we get caught, both of us will be in trouble.
Would Vale do to me what he did to Micah?
Fear makes my fingers tremble before I pull them away.
“I won’t let him hurt you, Katana.” His voice is firm, eyes full of a darkness I’ve never witnessed before. For a minute, I wonder if that’s how I looked before I stabbed Ted.
In the distance, a clipboard clatters to the floor, followed by hurried footsteps. Panic spikes in my chest. If anyone finds me in here?—
I push past him, snatching the keycard with trembling fingers, my pulse roaring in my ears. I don’t look back as I open his door.
“This is only the beginning,” he whispers, the words sliding into my bones like a brand.
Against every instinct screaming at me to run, I turn.
He smirks at me, his eyes blazing with promise. Danger and desire twined together in their depths.
I flee, but the burn of his stare follows me all the way back to my room.
CHAPTER 18
Micah
She flees,the sound of her footsteps fading down the hall, but I don’t chase her.
Not yet.
My hands curl into fists at my sides. Not from anger. From something worse. Something raw.
No one has ever touched me like that. Not without me screaming. Not without bleeding. Not without me begging them to stop. Hating every single moment of it.
But her trembling fingers against my skin… It wasn’t fear that moved her. It wasn’t revulsion. It waswant.
The thread, the lock of hair, the pieces of her I’ve already taken, they’re proof of what I own. But this? This is different. This is hergiving. And it lodged in me like a blade I don’t want to pull out.
