Page 31 of My Sunfall

I let out a long breath and look up at her windows. He only confirmed what I already knew—my sweet little princess has become a fierce queen by her own right. And it’s time I claimed her. I will tolerate no one standing in my way, not even herself. Ethan might be the bigger person and walked away from her because she doesn’t love him, but I’m nothing like him. I’ll fucking die before I let her leave me, even if I keep her chained to me, even if she looks at me with loathing in her eyes for the rest of my miserable existence. Because living with her hate is better than living without her.

I slip my hand in my pocket, gripping the key I’ve borrowed from that old lady’s house, the one with a tag on it saying Spare key—rental flat.

Now I lean against my car again, watching the daylight fade into darkness, waiting for her bedroom light to go on, and for the glimpse of her silhouette walking past the window like every night. But this time, when the lights go out, she’s mine.

Chapter Twenty-One

Chiara

After Ethan left, I sat on the couch for what felt like hours before I moved at last. I showered and went through the familiar motions on autopilot, mind numb and heart aching. Even though I felt relieved about him ending our relationship, I couldn’t help the guilt from making my heart squeeze as I sat there, waiting for my pulse to slow down.

Now, I am lying in bed in the dark and starting to fall into a restless slumber when I suddenly jolt awake. Awareness is crawling over my skin, making it tingle with alertness.

Someone is in the room with me!

I’m about to jump up when a big hand covers my mouth and another one grabs my wrists to pin them over my head while heavy legs crush mine under their weight. I scream in terror, the sound muffled by the palm over my mouth.

“Shhh, love. It’s me,” comes Lucas’ low rasp in the dark.

I blink in shock. He lifts his hand from my mouth, and the bedside lamp goes on.

“Lucas!” I screech as my eyes try to adjust to the sudden glare. “What are you doing here?”

As a reply, he smiles down at me, and a chill runs down my spine from the unholy glow darkening his eyes.

I start to struggle, but he has me pinned under the covers, under his hard body. “You can’t just break in...” I pant, struggling harder.

He chuckles. “Technically, I didn’t break anything, I got the key.”

I freeze, my blood turning to ice. “Did…did you hurt Edna?” No, he wouldn’t. Would he?

“What, the landlady? Of course not,” he scoffs. “I’m not upsetting you over something so trivial. Relax, cara mia, I borrowed the key, she doesn’t even know it’s gone.”

“What do you want? Let me go.” I glare at him despite the panic clawing at my throat.

His eyes flash, wild and intense. “Let you go?” he repeats with a rough voice, and a bitter laugh spills out of him. “Sweetheart, that’s the problem. You already left me once. You slipped through my fucking fingers. Do you know what that did to me?”

I slowly shake my head, my throat tightening, but he doesn’t wait for an answer. “I tore the city apart looking for you. Weeks, months, every day, every night—” He cuts himself off, grinding his teeth and breathing hard, his hold tightening on me. His voice drops to a ragged whisper. “I drowned without you.” His body presses harder against mine, suffocating and assertive. “So no, I’m not letting you go. Not now, not ever. You belong with me, to me.”

Fear claws at my chest, but underneath it there’s a sharp pang of something else, something I don’t want to name. “You don’t get to decide that,” I hiss, bucking against him, but he only pins me down harder.

His grin is all teeth and madness. “Don’t I? You think I’m giving you a choice?” His breathing is harsh, uneven, like he’s wrestling with himself for control, but losing the battle. His face dips closer, his lips brushing mine when he growls, “I’m done losing you. From now on, you are mine, even if I have to chain you to me.”

His words coil around me like a vise, suffocating, terrifying, but the most dangerous thing of all is the way a tiny part of me reacts, like my body hasn’t caught up to the fact that my mind is screaming no. I thrash under him, desperate, but he is too strong. I’m trapped.

“Stop fighting me,” he rasps, his voice thick with something feral. His hips press down into mine, pushing me deeper into the mattress as he wraps his other hand around my throat, forcing me to tilt my head back. “You think I can’t feel how you tremble? You think I don’t know what it means?”

My breath hitches. “You’re insane.”

His eyes darken further, the black pupils swallowing the ice as he chuckles, low and unhinged. “Maybe I am. Or maybe I’ve just stopped pretending I’m not. Six months, cara mia. Six fucking months of hell without you. And now you’re right here—” Without warning, he slams his mouth over mine in a rough claiming.

I cry out into the kiss, jerking my head, but he only growls, his teeth catching my lower lip. Pain sparks as he bites down, followed by acute and confusing heat, and I hate myself for the way my body arches instinctively against his. I can feel how hard he is as he grinds his hips into me.

“You don’t get to run anymore,” he whispers against my mouth, breath hot against my lips. “You don’t get to hide from this, from me.”

I shake my head furiously, trying to buck him off, but every movement only rubs me against his hard cock, and his low, satisfied groan makes my pulse shatter.

“Fuck, I’ve dreamed of this,” he mutters, burying his face into my throat, inhaling me like I’m the last breath of oxygen left on earth, “...dreamed of you. You’ll learn to accept me, sweetheart. I’m never letting you go.”