Page 75 of Make Me Lie (Rich Demons of Darkwood 1)

I pulled out of her, the emotion of the moment suddenly too much for me. That panic that I'd momentarily pushed away came flooding back. My skin felt hot. I felt suffocated. My breath began to come out in gasps that had nothing to do with sex.

Fuck.

I squeezed my eyes closed, knowing that I was on the verge of a panic attack. It hadn't happened for a while, but fuck. Aurora. She was breaking parts of me that I needed to be able to function.

"Get out," the words came out harsh, much harsher than intended. But I didn't want her to see me Iike this. I didn't want her to see what a fuck up I was. How weak I was.

"Stellan—" She reached out to touch me and I jerked away.

"Get the fuck out," I practically screamed, and she flinched like she'd been burned.

She jumped off the bed, and I could hear her grabbing her clothes, but I couldn't even look at her, because I was a coward. And I was falling apart. I couldn't do this.

I wasn't strong enough to feel like this.

The door slammed behind her as she left, and it felt like she'd taken a vital piece of me with her.

I threw myself face down on my bed, trying to get myself under control.

But I didn't. I couldn't.

Because I'd just ruined everything.

22

Paxton

Iknew who was outside my door just from the heavy-handed knock. I yanked my sweatshirt over my head as I moved to pull open the door.

Cain waited outside, his eyes blank and cold. “Ready to go to work?”

“What’s up?” I moved into my room, opening the drawer in the desk and pulling out my 9MM pistol. I checked that it was loaded, safety on, then clipped it to my waistband. I laced up my boots, then clipped my knives to the inside of my boots, though it was a bad day if we needed those.

Cain was staring at my knife as I straightened, letting the hem of my jeans cover it. I knew he wore them too, so it seemed strange until he said, “Did you know Aurora carries a knife all the time too?”

“I knew I liked her,” I said lightly.

Cain’s gaze swept toward mine, hardening. “She stabbed two men tonight.”

Interesting. “Did we likethem?”

“We did not. They were unruly—I didn’t give members of the frat permission to kidnap her and stuff her into the crypt.”

I whistled. “Someone ran their mouth about society rituals at some point, I guess.”

He grunted. “Shit’s all over the internet. Everything’s all over the internet at this point, although at least half of it is lies.”

He headed to the garage, and I followed him.

“You going to tell me where we’re going?” I slid into the passenger side of his McLaren. I half expected he was going to say we were visiting the frat; he didn’t exactly give a fuck about girls most of the time, but he’d seemed...fixated… on Aurora. I’d never seen him like that before.

“The casino. Remy found irregularities in the books. Looks like the blackjack manager is skimming.”

“And Remy didn’t want to go?”

“I didn’t invite him.”

That meant Cain had dark plans for the evening. Remington was more sensitive than the rest of us, and even Cain sheltered him sometimes. It had to be because of Remy’s past. It struck me as strange Remy didn’t ask us to help him bury his father, but maybe he was attached to the old monster.

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