Page 16 of Chained

"You won't do it." Her voice is so quiet I almost miss it, but loud enough to knock the wind straight from my lungs.

I take a step back, brow raised as her big, beautiful brown fucking eyes devour me whole. The darkness in my mind screams at me to run away, to get far, far, fucking away from this woman whose gaze is burning a hole right through me.

I shake my head. Snap the fuck out of it.

"Don't tempt me." I try to play it cool, to show her she doesn't affect me, because why would she?

She lets out a dry laugh, filling the distance between us as she slams the metal links into my chest. She gave up—thank fuck for that. I don't notice her waiting beside me. Fuck, I don't notice anything other than the way she looked at me.

"Well?" Her tone is cold as she glares at me, offering me her arm to take. I tap it down with two fingers. I think we're past being dragged now. We walk in silence, but there's something I can't shake.

"You'd really want to die?" I ask, side glancing to take a peek at her face.

They normally beg, plead. But fuck, they don't ask to die. Maybe with Vincent, but never with me. I'm unnerved. Fuck, I'm a ball of sweat. Get me out of this warehouse and back in my room.

"Whilst I'm here, I'm already dead." Her eyes drop to the floor. Yeah. I know that feeling. I've lived it. I know how you feel, girl. I'm dead, too, I almost say. Thank God for Derek.

He finally rolls off the floor, finding himself on his knees, breathing out of control as he wheezes loudly.

"I'll kill the fucking bitch." His spit flies everywhere, and I tug on the girl's arm as we move slowly through the warehouse.

"See ya, Derek," I call as we pass him struggling to stand, the bare crack of his arse showing through his jeans. Fucking pig. He makes bank from selling women, and yet I don't think I've ever seen him in anything but those clothes.

"Go fuck yourself, Ace!" he screeches back through a panting breath; I don't bother turning. He'll get what's coming to him one day.

"You fucked him up," I whisper as I lean into the girl as we step out of the warehouse. I'm almost in awe.

"He deserved it."

Yeah, can't argue with that. We all do.

She doesn't speak again, her words tumbling around my head as we walk. There's nothing in her voice. Her body doesn't shake under my grip. She's completely cold, almost enough to send a shiver through me.

"What took you so long?" Jarrod calls out, rain slowly beginning to pour, the sound bouncing off the van as it gets harder.

"A complication." I turn to look at the girl, her hair flattening with wetness from the rain, dripping down her dark skin as I push her into the van. I don't know how to describe what she is. A girl who fought, a girl who's lost her fucking mind. A girl with big brown eyes that make me feel more seen than I've ever felt.

Maybe not the last one.

"What kind of complication?" he asks, his nerves showing.

"Her."

Jarrod's eyes follow mine as I nod towards the girl, his face dropping when he locks eyes with her gaze, but she doesn't look away. She peers over her knees, eyes set, glaring at us.

"Oh boy." Jarrod sighs as he slowly closes the doors. I don't move. My gaze stays on her until the doors finally close.

"Keys?" Jarrod's voice pulls me out of the spell I'm under. I tear myself away from the van doors and toss him the keys, which he catches with ease.

"Let's get out of here." I sigh, already walking away.

"Last one home buys dinner."

"You've never beat me yet."

Trust Jarrod to make things light. My chest feels a little lighter for the smallest second. Soon we'll be home. I can forget.

"Doesn't mean I can't!" his voice calls after me. I shake my head with a laugh as I head to my car, hands digging in my pocket for my keys. It's pissing it down, the rain hammering against my leather jacket as I shove myself inside and let myself sit for a second as my heart hammers in my chest, my eyes watching as the van passes by me.