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He moved his hand away from my mouth, but I wouldn’t have screamed anyway. In fact, a part of me felt relieved that he had found me. That he had come back for me, proving yet again how much he cared. In that moment I knew I could keep running, but he would also keep coming after me.
“There’s not a place in the world you can hide in from me,” he told me gently, confirming my thoughts. “Not a stone I’ll leave unturned if you fucking run again.”
He walked me back, my back hitting the brick wall as I yelped in pain and he grabbed my cheeks, the leather of his black gloves cold against my skin.
“Say you’re sorry,” he told me darkly. “Tell me you’re sorry for running away from me, Rose.”
“I…” I couldn’t get the words out.
But at that moment it became so very clear that I belonged to him completely, mind, body, and soul. I was his property, and I was as addicted to his special kind of torture as he was to mine.
“I’m sorry,” I managed, my words breathy and needing him to forgive me, to understand. “I’m sorry I ran.”
“You’re mine,” he growled angrily. “Don’t you fucking understand that by now, Harlow?”
My name on his lips felt like a treat, something I wasn’t given very often. I shook in his arms as he pulled me flush against him, his heart pounding above mine.
“Tell me you won’t run again,” he told me darkly, and I shivered under his touch. “Tell me this body is mine. Tell me you’ll do anything I fucking ask of you.”
“I… I will,” I whispered.
In the back of my mind, I wanted to hate myself for how powerless I was being. Yet hadn’t I known things would end like this since the very beginning?
“Beg,” he went on. “Beg me to punish you for what you’ve fucking done to us.”
“Punish me,” I begged breathlessly. “Please, Thorn.”
He slapped me, catching me by surprise as his hand left my cheek.
“M-Master,” I corrected myself. “Punish me, Master, please punish me.”
He held my throbbing cheek gently, stroking the skin with the utmost care. Then, he pulled me closer, his lips touching mine more gently than they ever had.
He didn’t kiss me, just showed me what I’d been willing to run away from. And soon, it became too much to bear, and I kissed him.
His lips were soft and angry, and I kissed him with desperation, realizing at that moment he didn’t have to come after me at all. In the end, I would have crawled back to him. There was no life for me without Thorn. There was no future without him in it.
I needed him just like I needed the air we both breathed. And it was time to stop running. It was time to accept I would do anything for the man in front of me, the man who kissed me like I belonged to him all along.
I felt tears slipping down my cheeks as we kissed, not sure whether I was mourning the loss of my independence, or celebrating finding the love of my life again. He kissed me angrily, like he was trying to teach me a lesson, but I melted into his kiss nonetheless, my legs weak as he held me in his arms and took from my body as if that could make what I’d done to him okay.
I finally understood why he was so angry. It wasn’t because of Amber, or because of my dancing. It was because I had abandoned him, choosing a mediocre life instead of a future with him – a future where he would spend the rest of his life giving me anything and everything I’d ever wanted.
He pulled away from my lips and looked deep into my eyes, and for the first time ever, I saw vulnerability in his eyes, and realized I was the one who’d put it there. And standing in that alley, I vowed to stay by his side no matter what.
Chapter 18
Thorn
I didn’t have to drag her out of that alley. She came with me willingly.
I put her in the car waiting down the street, neither Rose or the driver saying a word as the car started moving. She rested her head against my shoulder, and I stared out of the window trying to get my fucking mind in some kind of working order.
It was a small miracle that I had found her. But Carina had been underestimating me with the little games she was playing. I had eyes everywhere. The second Harlow was out of that apartment, the news reached me, and I followed her around the city until I saw how close to her breaking point my girl was.
On an impulse, I reached over to her, and she grabbed my hand like her lifeline as the car started driving us to our destination.
