Gone was any hesitation that I’d been so used to. No, this was something else entirely.
My hands wrapped around the back of his neck and my lips moved against his. Slow at first like we were both afraid of the other’s reaction. And then with a ferocity that lit a match deep in my gut, hemoved on me, kissing me deeper. Hands exploring the curves of my aching body. And I let him, desperate to feel something other than fear for once. No. This wasn’t fear. This was desire. This was need. Hot, and desperate, and raw.
The mask still covered half his face, disguising his identity, but I didn’t care. What I cared about was the fact that even if I didn’t know who he was, he’d made me feel more safe, more seen, more cared for than I had in my entire life.
My hands pulled at his shirt and my eyes fluttered open, feeling dazed and dizzy from desire. That’s when I saw it.
Twin snake tattoos peeking out from under his neckline.
Everything inside me came to a crashing halt.
“Cain?” I whispered, not believing what I was seeing.
He stood up fast, wrenching himself away from me like I’d slapped him. He yanked the mask back onto his face, chest heaving with deep uncontrolled breaths. I couldn’t believe it. All this time and he was right here? He turned away from me, but I followed, needing to know if my suspicion was correct.
“Cain, is that you?” My trembling hands met the hard plane of his back.
“Don’t,” he said, fisting his hands against the back of his mask. His body was trembling beneath my fingers, but I had to know. For years I thought the worst. I thought he might be dead. Or locked up. Or whisked away to some other school. I had to know if the man who was standing before me was the one that risked everything for me all those years ago. The one I thought about every single day of my life.
“Please. Let me see you.” I heard the heartbreak and desperation in my voice. I think he did too, because he slowly turned around facing me. He stared down at me through those dark lenses hands shaking by his sides.
“Hello, Delilah,” he said and I knew. It was him.
“Cain,” I sobbed, tears spilling over my lashes. I didn’t know if I wanted to hug him or hit him. Maybe both. “What the fuck?”
His shoulders shook and I wondered if he was crying too.
“I—I’m sorry.”
I shook my head, feeling an array of emotions all at once. Shock. Anger. Confusion. “What happened to you?”
“That’s a long story.”
“Why won’t you let me see your face?”
He paused, flexing his fingers then bringing them in for a fist. Then again. And again.
“I don’t want you to be scared.”
“Why would I be scared?”
“Because I don’t look like I used to.”
I couldn’t comprehend what he was saying to me. Why the hell would that of all things scare me?
I blinked hard and then pushed him. Hard. “Are you fucking kidding me?” I guess the anger won out.
“I had to get you out of there, Delilah. He was going to kill you. Maybe not that night. Maybe not in two weeks. But eventually, he would take it too far. I don’t know how you survived as long as you have. You’re strong as hell, Delilah, but I couldn’t let him keep hurting you like that.”
“So, you kept me captive instead? I don’t understand.”
“I know. There’s so much I have to tell you. I haven’t...” He coughed. “I haven’t spoken a word in over five years. I didn’t even know I could.”
He hadn’t spoken? For over five years? What the hell had they done to him?
So much time, and trauma, and heartbreak laid between us.
I crossed my arms over my chest, trying to make sense of what he was saying, while red hot anger poked at my belly. How could he, of all people, have done this to me?But now it made sense how he had known so much about me. My favorite foods. My favorite flower. He remembered all of it. I shook my head, feeling stupid for not figuring it out earlier.
