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Jaxon shrugged. He shuffled, focus pinned on the floor. It took a monumental effort for someone his size to show contrition. But he did it. There was no way my words, my anger, beat him into this submission and remorse.

“You’re safe with me. You told me you trust me?” He looked up from under his furrowed brow.

I wasn’t answering that. Memories of our most intimate moments ricocheted through me, leaving a visceral ache. “I have to be in Chicago!”

“No…you don’t.” Jaxon gripped the edge of the counter. Lightning burst around the cabin, the bright white glow in the window behind him gave an unearthly appearance to his massive frame. “Do. You. Trust. Me?”

The earth shook under the violence of the thunder’s boom.

I didn’t know what I felt. I did trust him. Once. But the secrets between us, coupled with the explosion of the present, was enough to overwhelm that fragile strand.

“You drugged me.” I set the cup of coffee on the side table. “You took away my say in the matter, made a decision for me, and then kidnapped me.”

With that declaration, I turned on my heel and marched back into the bedroom. But not before I saw the pain split across his face in an agonizing flash.

Chapter 38 – Isabella

A new emotion plagued me. Self-hatred was a rotten thing. I wanted to curl in a ball and die. The weight of my feelings threatened to suffocate me.

He asked if I trusted him.

I want to.

I was too mad to tell him the truth.

But the cold, hard facts were that he stripped my ability to decide if escape was what was best; he chose for me, and then he drugged me on top of that. I didn’t have the first clue how I could forgive those actions.

In some twisted maze of mental gymnastics, I didn’t care as much about the drugging and kidnapping. He wasn’t going to physically hurt me, and the IV bag had gone a long way to clearing up any ill effects. What was more, there were clothes and toiletries here. The outfit I wore fit perfectly, and the items lined up on the wardrobe top were the brands I loved to use. Jaxon thought of everything, even the lavender essential oil I often used to calm myself if sleep was rougher than normal.

It was the other aspect that bothered me.

“He doesn’t know why,” I whispered.

Talking to him, explaining why that was wrong, shouldn’t be necessary. Normal humans understood that deep in their core. But Jaxon was far from normal.

I barked a soft laugh and pulled the pillow tighter to my chest.

I should’ve explained why it bothered me more, particularly than most.

With a strangled growl, I flung myself back on the bed.

And clipped my noggin on the pine log headboard. Pain radiated down my spine. There would be a lump there tomorrow. Cursing, I rubbed it.

“Isabella, are you okay?” came the soft question from under the door.

I snapped my attention there. My heart rate increased. He was there, listening to me.

Waiting for me.

The memory of his face, how badly my words hurt him, flashed through my mind. I’d never kicked a dog, but it was probably the same damn thing. Only ten times worse, because Jaxon was capable of rational thought.

Something messed that man up very badly.He wasn’t wired the same as people who grew up in typical households and had regular interactions with a social group. My imagination got the best of me, and with a sigh of resignation, I flung myself out of bed and tiptoed to the door.

I pressed my ear against the wood and listened, holding my breath.

“Isabella, I’m sorry.”

It was as though he could hear me on the other side.