Page 28 of The Hunt
When I pulled away, she paused for another moment, then shook her head. “You can’t–”
Again, I closed the distance and kissed her.
Every time that I pulled away and she wanted to say that I couldn’t love her, I kissed her. Over and over and over and over. Until she finally didn’t say anything. Until her tears had melted away. Until she stared at me like she might’ve sorta believed it.
“I don’t know what it is about you. But you’re different, Daph. You don’t care about my name or my money or who my father is. You don’t ask me to be someone I’m not. And that drives me insane, because I don’t know how to handle it.”
She blinked a few times and wiped her cheeks with the back of her hand.
“You don’t have to say it back,” I whispered.
“Why?” she asked quietly. “Why do you love me? I’m… I’m a nobody for a reason.”
“You think you’re this quiet, forgettable girl. But you’re not.” I shook my head and gently threaded my fingers through her hair. “You’re fucking brilliant, and beautiful, and stubborn as hell, and I’m fucking obsessed with you.”
Her lower lip trembled, her gaze casted to the side. “I’m not worth killing someone for.”
“Yes, you are.”
“No, I’m not.”
“Yes. You are.” I rested my forehead against hers. “I know you don’t trust me after what I said. I know that you might not trust me for a long time. I know that I deserved you walking out like that last night. But I’ll do whatever I have to do to prove it to you. I promise you that.”
CHAPTER 19
DAPHNE
Cheeks stained with tears, I bit my quivering lip to muffle my last few sobs. I didn’t know how long it had been since Apollo brought me to his house, but he was still kneeling in front of me, his brown eyes soft and his hands making small circles on my thighs.
My arms felt heavy, so heavy, my mind a mess of emotions I couldn’t untangle.
What had just happened? Why had Mark taken me? Kidnapped me? I hadn’t done anything to him. If Apollo hadn’t come to save me, what would’ve happened?
A shiver ran down my spine, and I squeezed my eyes closed.
No… No, I don’t want to think about it.
“You’re safe with me,” Apollo murmured.
Tears burned my eyes, and I blinked them away, and by away, I mean that they rolled down my cheeks only for Apollo to catch them. He swiped them away with his thumbs and gently captured my face in his hands.
“I got you,” he mumbled. “I got you. I promise.”
Another sob left my mouth, and I threw my arms around his shoulders and tugged him closer. I hated real-life physical affection. I hated that he kept pushing to show me who he truly was. I hated how I felt about him.
Yet, I didn’t want him to leave. He had saved me.
And that was what made this harder. He wasn’t what I thought he was. I had built him up in my head as this arrogant, selfish piece of shit who only cared about himself, but if he only cared about himself, then he wouldn’t have saved me.
He wouldn’t have torn up Redwood to find me.
He wouldn’t have made a deal with Poison to help him.
He wouldn’t have cared.
“Daphne,” he whispered softly, pulling me out of my thoughts. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
I wiped my face with the edge of the blanket that he wrapped around me, my throat raw and my heart still pounding heavily in my chest. Mark was dead, but I still couldn’t shake the feeling that he’d be back to hurt me.
