Page 44 of Descent

“We talked, we had a drink.” When she still seems unconvinced, I tell her, “All right, we can call tonight date one and then you’ll owe me two.”

Realizing she was arguing against herself, she shakes her head. “No, no. Okay, you’re right, the wedding can count as… a first date.” She struggles to get that out, but moves past it quickly once she does. “No matter how tonight goes, I’ll agree to one more.”

“No matter what,” I state more firmly. “And I’ll hold you to it, Hallie. I don’t like liars, and I damn sure don’t like whenyoulie to me. If you renege on our deal one more time, all bets are off. I’ll take you and keep you locked up in my bedroom until I’m finished with you. I’ll rape you every goddamn night and force you to sleep next to me until morning. Maybe I’ll have another go at you then. I’ll tie you up if I have to. I’ll kiss the tears from your cheeks and thrust even harder as the ropes rub against your agitated skin just to be spiteful. I won’t stop until I feel like stopping, no matter how much you beg. I’ll destroy you, Hallie. You can bank on it. Don’t try to call my bluff. I don’t bluff.”

Her blue eyes are wide by the time I’m finished. Her grip on my hand has tightened, which I find a bit funny. She’s gripping my hand as if I might protect her against… well, me.

Dread casts a shadow across her lovely features. She swallows. More hesitant than a moment ago when she swore to the same thing, she reiterates the terms. “No matter what? So, even if you break all of my rules tonight, you’ll still hold me to yours.”

“Yes,” I state unflinchingly. “Those are the only terms I’ll agree to. Even if I wrench your thighs apart and drive into your unwilling body the moment the sound of agreement falls from your lips, you will show up to a third date with me.”

I can feel the fear in her heart. She’s afraid I’m cornering her just to pounce, that if she agrees, that’s exactly what will happen. Why shouldn’t it? There are no consequences for me if I break the rules.

But there are. There are always consequences when rules are broken, especially in this instance when what I want more than anything is to see her again.

Iwantto be able to trust her. Icankidnap her little ass and brutally use her body to slake my lusts until I don’t lust for her anymore. If she’s too difficult, if that’s her preference, it’s what I’ll have to do. Whatever the reason, I’m too far gone with this girl to let it go and move on. I have to possess her in every way a man can possess a woman. I have to bury myself inside her until I’ve conquered and memorized every corner of her, but I needaccessto her in order to properly explore her.

I’ll steal it if I have to, but I’m a reasonable man. I’ll give her the chance to be agreeable first.

She has to mean it, though.

If she lies to me again, there will be consequences.

“If I… if I show up a third time, will you promise to let me leave? Will you promise not to hurt me?”

“No.”

Because I say no when I could easily say yes, she knows it’s the truth.

She swallows. “But… that’s not fair.”

“I didn’t say it was.”

“You aren’t giving me what I need out of this.”

“And what’s that?”

“Safety. I have to know that, even if you…” She can’t say the word as easily as I can. She stumbles over it, then switches to a different phrase. “Even if you force yourself on me, you won’t hurt me to the point that I can’t leave. You won’t… you won’t kill me.”

She blurts out the last of it with the sort of momentum that I can tell it’s not the first time the thought has crossed her mind.

Is that what she’s afraid of?

I suppose I shouldn’t be stunned. Of course it has crossed her mind I could be more dangerous than she has experienced thus far. I likelycould, but I haven’t, so at least I can set her mind at ease about that. “I’ve never murdered anyone, Hallie. I don’t intend to harm you, not that way.”

“That’s not a promise.”

“All right.” I pause to consider my wording. “I won’t promise not to hurt you. I have a hunger for you that I’m going to satisfy, whether you consent or you don’t. But I will promise not to hurt you beyond repair. I don’t mean mentally, I can’t entirely control your mental state, but I won’t take your life from you. I would never take that.”

Still wary, she adds, “And you wouldn’t hire the syringe guys or anyone else to do it, either?”

My lips tug up at the corners. “No.”

She wants to trust me. Not because she’s invested in me the way I’m invested in her, but because I have more power here, and she’ll never get a moment’s peace as long as I’m lurking around the corner unless she can believe the things I say.

I’m sure she’d rather be rid of me altogether, but she’s realizing that’s not an option, and I like the way she’s handling it.

“All right,” she says, her tone alerting me before her words that I’ve won. “I’ll agree to your terms.”

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