There’s some pause before he answers. “I highly doubt anything will be the same, little bird. I used to tuck you into your bed at night. Now, I’m chaining you to mine.” I can’t hide the snicker at his truthful response. “Why do you laugh?” He threatens to dunk me, but I hold tight around his neck.
“I don’t know. Just that I know it’s crazy how we came to be together. And I know, God, people will talk… but…”
Before I can finish, his lips fuse to mine in a passionate kiss. It’s not aggressive, but it’s not gentle either. It’s…with purpose. As if he’s silently telling me something.
When he finally pulls away, I ask, “What was that for?”
My nerves coil with worry at his stark expression. He stares back at me as if memorizing my every feature. “It’s for you to remember. In the nights when you hate me. When you hate what I’ve done to you.” My stomach drops, afraid of where he’s going with this.
“Gabriel—”
“It’s something to remind you that there was a part of the beast that fell for the beauty.” He kisses me again. “But in the end, the beast doesn’t win this one. He doesn’t turn into the prince you’re hoping for.”
“Please don’t—”
“And when this doesn’t end as you hope it does, I want you to remember this moment. When I kissed you and gave you a part of me that I’ve never offered another woman: my heart.”
He wipes away the tears that cascade down my cheek. “Why the tears, pet? What did you think would happen? That your father would accept this? That we would walk in his house one day, hand in hand, and have our happily ever after?” He brushes my hair away from my face. “We both knew from the start that that wasn’t going to be how our story ended. As much as you want…” He pauses, swallowing back emotion. “As much as I’m sad admitting this, I have to let you go. I’m not your destiny, Hazel.”
The tears pour in waves down my face. “You don’t know that.” My heart shatters, shards slicing into me.
“I don’t see any other way, pet.”
I try to fight out of his arms. I need space. He doesn’t release me, and I pound my fists against his wide chest. “Let me go!” I yell, the rejection suffocating me. “Let me go. I can’t do this.”
His grip only tightens. I refuse to look into his eyes. I hate the tenderness I know I’ll see. I want his cold eyes—the monster. I can’t have him be the beast and the prince.
“And if I released you, would you flee my castle?”
“Yes,” I say without thought, even knowing I would stay his captive forever.
I can’t stop the tears. “Shhh.” He hums into my ear, his hand sliding down my belly and finding my center. A finger dips inside me, and I bite the inside of my cheek. “Save your tears.” Two fingers. “I don’t deserve them.” My lips part and my forehead rests on his shoulder at the third. “Let me enjoy you and what time we have left. Until this little game ends and I lose you.” His lips find mine, and he consumes my mouth, branding me. I kiss him back, ignoring the tears that continue to fall, hating it, but knowing this is him telling me goodbye.
I hug him tighter to me, allowing him to take what he wants from me, his fingers finding the depths of my soul, marking me for a lifetime.
His hands are replaced by his cock, and he takes me hard, yet painstakingly slow, a mixture of pain and pleasure. I ride him, capturing his mouth, enduring his grip and the way he bruises my flesh. My body betrays me, and my orgasm fights to detonate.
My fingers graze through his hair, pulling tight, hoping he feels his own pain for eternity after I’m gone. “For what it’s worth, I was never afraid. I never lied to myself about what we were. But you’re lying to yourself about what we could be. I’ll let you walk away from me and convince yourself I was just a sweet little lie, but I’ve branded you too. And in the end…” I groan when his cock slams violently into me. “I’ve claimed you.”
The last thread to his composure snaps. He pulls at my hair. He bites at my neck. He tries to do his worst.
But nothing will hurt as much as his rejection.
Hazel
One week later…
It’s taking everything in me to focus on whatever my professor is talking about, but nothing is sinking in. If I don’t pull out of this funk, I can kiss this semester goodbye. If my dad gets wind of my slumping grades, he’ll pull me. He’s already noticed the weight loss and has threatened on more than one occasion to bring me to see our family doctor.
But no matter how hard I push myself to focus on my studies, my mind goes back to him. How he took me hard and deep and gave me everything that night. And when we came collectively, our lips fused together as if ready to fight every battle against us, he tended to me and soothed any external pain. And then he released me.
As if I was nothing, he packed me up in his fancy car and sent me away. My tears fell as my heart cracked. I’ve never felt so broken. I held myself as my entire world crumbled before me. By the time I arrived back at school, I was numb. I barely remember leaving his town car or finding my room. When I hit my bed, I prayed to never wake. If I was dead to him, I wanted to stay that way.
But life doesn’t work like that. Daylight came, and the pain of the bright sun proved just how unfair it is.
I was forced to go on and act like my world wasn’t just ripped out from under me. I couldn’t fight the constant tears. They’re a reminder of how rejected I felt. Lost, unwanted, confused. I fought with picking up my phone to call him. Beg him to reconsider. The worst part is he didn’t even have the guts to tell me it was over; he let his sudden coldness do the job for him.
I deserved better than that. And for that, I hate him. But I hate myself even more for falling in love with him.
“Hey, pssst,” Evan whispers next to me. I pull myself out of my slump, forgetting I’m in class. “You okay? You seem hungry? Like maybe lunch and some company are in order.” He wiggles his brows, and I can’t help but chuckle at his billionth attempt to ask me out.
“I’d love to, but I’m so behind. I really need to spend my free time going over the notes I missed.” His smile falls, and he pretends he’s about to cry. Then he starts to make weeping noises. “What are you doing? Oh my god, stop!” I whisper loudly. The girl next to us shushes us, grabbing the attention of our professor.
“Mr. Winston, is there a problem?”
Oh god. I bury my head in my notebook.
“No, sir, just something in my eye.” The class laughs, and Mr. Geller shakes his head and continues with his lecture.
“Seriously, you wound me with all your rejections. What does a guy have to do to feed you or get some caffeine in you?”
He has to be ruthless, dominating…
“It’s not that. It’s just…I have a lot going on right now and would be horrible company.”
“How about I be the best company ever to even us out? McAlister’s on Fifth Street has amazing subs.” Mentioning food makes my stomach churn—and not in a good way. I’ve barely eaten this week, and thinking of putting down a heavy sub sounds gross.