Page 30 of You Were Always Mine
My lips curl, trembling but defiant. ‘You can hold my wrists all night, Kai. But it doesn’t change the truth.’
His chest heaves, breath shuddering, grip trembling as though he’s holding back everything he wants to do to me.
And in his silence, I know I’ve won something — because he can’t deny it anymore.
The silence stretches, suffocating, his grip trembling around my wrists. Then, like something inside him snaps, his hand shoots from my wrist to my throat.
My back slams into the wall, plaster rattling, a gasp tearing out of me as his fingers tighten just enough to make my pulse hammer against them. My hands fly up to claw at his arm, but he pins me there, body caging mine in.
His face is inches from mine, eyes blazing blue fire, breath ragged.
‘You’re my sister,’ he hisses — the words a venomous whisper, his thumb pressing harder against my throat. ‘That’s all you’ll ever be.’
The denial cuts sharp and cold, but it’s a lie. I see it — in the way his pupils blow wide, in the tremor of his hand, in the way his chest heaves like he’s fighting for air.
My lips part, a choked sound breaking out of me. ‘Then why do you look like you’re about to?—’
His grip tightens, silencing me, his forehead pressing to mine, sweat hot against my skin. ‘Shut up,’ he growls, low and broken. ‘If I admit it… I won’t stop.’
His words vibrate through me — dark and desperate — and for one dizzying second, I can’t tell if it’s his hand on my throat or the truth in his voice that’s stealing my breath.
The pressure of his hand loosens just a fraction, enough for air to scrape back into my lungs. My chest heaves against his, eyes stinging as I force the words out.
‘Kai… it doesn’t have to be like this.’
For a heartbeat, something flickers in his eyes — a crack, a wound, something fragile buried beneath all that fury. His forehead drops to mine, breath hot and ragged, body trembling with restraint that feels one second from snapping.
‘Yes, it does,’ he whispers, voice shredded and raw, like the words are killing him. ‘It has to be.’
His fingers leave my throat and slide down, digging into my waist — rough enough to bruise — pulling me tighter against him until I can feel every uneven beat of his heart, every hard line of his body. His breath shudders against my lips, each exhale more desperate than the last.
I want to tell him he’s wrong, that I can feel the truth in the way his hands hold me like I’m already his, but thewords choke in my throat, swallowed by the sound of his breathing — harsh, hungry, broken.
And pressed this close, I know.
He’s lying.
His forehead grinds harder against mine, breath hot, uneven, every exhale shuddering like it’s tearing out pieces of him. His fingers dig into my waist until I know he’ll leave bruises, but he doesn’t let go. He can’t.
‘Fuck…’ The word rips out of him, raw, jagged. His eyes squeeze shut, jaw tight, his whole body trembling against mine.
‘Scarlett.’ My name breaks on his tongue like it’s forbidden. ‘Why can’t you… why can’t you let me forget?’
The whisper brushes my lips, rough and desperate, heavy with all the things he swears aren’t there.
My chest heaves, throat closing. ‘Because it’s not nothing,’ I breathe, even though I shouldn’t. Even though I hate myself for it.
His breath stutters, grip tightening, pulling me closer until the space between us vanishes. His nose skims mine, voice ragged and ruined.
‘It has to be nothing,’ he whispers, almost like a prayer. ‘But fuck, baby sister… it isn’t.’
And the way he says it — low and broken — feels like confession and damnation all at once.
His fingers dig so deep into my waist it almost hurts, his forehead pressed to mine, breath shaking, eyes burning. For a second, I think he’s going to break — that he’s going to close the space, crush the lie, and finally admit it.
But then he rips himself back.
His hands tear from me, his body wrenches away so hard the wall shudders where he slams his fist instead. Thesound cracks through the silence, sharp and violent, making me flinch.
