章 8: IT WONT AS MUCH AS IT DID LAST TIME

RAIN

I should have known that it was too good to be true.

But he hasn't hit me, he has only locked me up. I shouldn't relax just yet. I have been scared my whole life, and it has been full of pain. I have been locked up for weeks on end with no food, with festering unhealing wounds but never have I ever been locked up in a penthouse like this, with a bed, and not been hit.

I wonder what he is going to do to me. Will he tell me what our arrangement will be? If only he can tell me, then I can make myself adjust. I have gone through hell, and my body and mind have adapted.

I just need to know the rules.

The door opens and I startle, going to the other side of the room.

When I see him, I shrink back. He approaches me menacingly, covered in blood. I want to run so bad, but I can't. If I run, it will only get worse…

I close my eyes and will myself to be calm, and prepare for the slaps and hits, but when they don't come, I open my eyes slowly.

The smell of blood is so potent but his eyes stop me cold. They are deep crimson, and I become aware that Liam is barely present, his wolf is on the surface, almost shifting fully.

I don't move an inch even when he comes closer. He runs his hands checking and looking at me, and when he is satisfied, that's only when the crimson fades to the obsidian I have come to be familiar with.

"It's not mine," he sighs tiredly as if the day's activities are finally catching up to him. "I am not going to hit you rain, so just sit I need to wash up."

I don't believe him, and he sees it. He only looks at me, dejectedly then leaves for the bathroom. When I hear the shower running a few minutes later, I exhale and sit on the bed gingerly, still tense.

He was covered in blood and he says it's not his. What exactly happened? Did he kill someone? Who did I end up with?

The door opens again and I sit upright.

"How long do I need to stay with you so that you will eventually be familiar with my presence?"

His question throws me off. "Why?"

"Because you are always tense and looking like you want to bolt and hide, but then you decide not to, for whatever reason. And my guess is, it's not good."

He has worn some sweatpants and a loose shirt, the sight and appearance stark different from the badass man who just came through the door, covered in blood from head to toe. But the aura, the dangerous edges, and the glint is still there. He is on edge.

"I won't run," I whisper as I draw the duvet up my chest, wanting to crawl under them and hide.

He yanks it away and I gasp, suddenly feeling naked.

"I want us to talk tonight, no bullshit. I know you don't believe me when I tell you that you are my mate," he states, not needing my response. "I also know that you are not okay."

"You have been generous to me-"

"I am not talking about my generosity, or how good I have been to you!" he shouts and he looks up, exasperated. I cower and press my back on the low headboard.

When he doesn't say anything, I look up and that's when I see him. I see him for the first time. He looks tired, as if the world has been cruel to him, and even with his head lowered, his eyes are glossy as if tears are threatening to fall.

The sight makes my heart come alive, and I feel a pinch in it, a dull ache. I know that I don't want to see him so sad and lonely. I want to go to him and hug him, but my body can't move even an inch, I am locked up.

I feel a tear cascade down my face as I look at him. He finally looks up at me and we lock eyes. He is full of emotions, unsaid words, and something else that I can't decipher… something I would rather not decipher at this moment.

But I am selfish and delusional, and I allow myself to believe it.

We look at each other and I feel my body slowly unlocking, relaxing and a warm feeling washes over me.

I finally believe that he won't hurt me because no one has ever looked at me like this before. No one has ever said so much without uttering a word like he is, and no one has ever made me want to hug them in such a long time.

No one has ever made me want to let go of conditioning and flight responses, to allow myself to be real and true, to hour how I feel, like is doing it.

"I am sorry," the whispered words float across the space between us. They feel like a warm blanket, that I have waited for a long time. "I am sorry I didn't find you sooner."

I swallow hard, my heart cracking up. Liam's words make me feel anxious that perhaps he knows …

"I am sorry that you had to wait for me to find you, for so long, all alone. I will never leave ever again, I am here now," his voice cracks and he finally sheds tears. He doesn't look away from me.

Biting my lip, I feel myself crying too, the dam in my heart finally breaking.

"How do I make you feel you feel better?" he asks in a whisper, so gently the words almost inaudible but I hear them. "Huh? Tell me, baby."

I sniff, looking at my hands and then back at him. "Hold me," I whisper.

He comes to me, and pulls me in his arm, as we lie in the bed. His arms wrap around me, as he pulls me in, closing any space between us, pressing as if wanting us to be one.

His body shakes a little and I know he is crying. My fingers clench around his shirt, not wanting him to disappear or worse, for this to be a dream. I have known him less than a week and I never want to ever let him go, or him to let me go.

One part of me thinks it's all good to be true and it won't last, but that only makes me grip him harder.

"I am never going to let you go," he whispers and kisses the top of my head. "You are mine and I am yours now. It doesn't matter if we don't have to mate now, I will wait for you. No matter how long it takes, I am going to wait for you rain."

"I am sorry I am such a mess," I whisper and he only pulls me closer to him.

"I am sorry I wasn't there to protect you or provide for you," he mumbles as he inhales my hair. "I am going to give you everything in this life that you desire and want. I am going to give you the life you want. I a going to give you back all that you have lost," Liam vows.

His words wash over me, ingraining and settling deep in my bones. I breathe him in and I know that it's different.

This time, it's different. The universe has finally given me my deepest wish.

It doesn't matter if the word itself is tainted and abused before, which caused me unbearable pain and made my heart numb. This man has made it feel again.

It won't hurt as much as it did the last time.

"I have a lot to deal with, it's going to take a lot of time before I get perfect for you," I say and I feel him shaking his head.

"I don't need you perfect. Am not perfect. And I am going to wait for you. I promise you, even if it takes a thousand years, as long as you are here with me, I will wait for you."

Finally, I have someone who loves me unconditionally.