Her chin trembles and fresh tears stream down her cheeks. “This isn’t the Creighton I know. This isn’t the man I fell in love with.”
Her sadly delivered words and the anguish behind them wrap a noose around my neck.
She hates that she loves me—or loved me. And I want to bathe in the blood of whoever changed her mind.
Of whoever made her dig a knife, or more accurately, a bullet, into my chest.
“The Creighton you knew was shot dead by you.”
“Creigh…”
“I told you not to call me that.”
“But—”
“Shut up and listen well, Annika. You’ll never get rid of me unless you shoot me again. But this time, make sure you aim straight at the fucking heart.”
She cries harder.
I pretend her tears don’t affect me as I hydrate her, make her eat, bathe her, and let her fall asleep cocooned in my chest.
With a knife in the bedside table. A knife she can grab at any moment and use to kill me for real.
If she does, then so be it.
Because I meant it. Death is the only thing that will keep me away from her.
ANNIKA
Aweek has passed.
A whole week of being trapped on an island where it’s only the two of us.
A whole week of being tormented by Creighton, brought to my knees in submission, stuffed with toys, forced to orgasm. Denied orgasms.
All of it.
A whole week of me fighting and negotiating and pleading. I tried to reason with him, to tell him that not only are my parents worried sick but his must be, too.
I tried to knee him in the balls again and run, but that only got me whipped until I cried while I orgasmed, and then he fucked me.
He punished me and brought me to the edge, where the only thing I could do was moan his name and hate myself.
Fully. Thoroughly.
I hate myself because no matter how much I want to leave, I want to stay, too.
I want to sleep cocooned in his arms, I want to be fucked by him to the point of insanity. I want to wake up all deliciously achy and marked.
I want him to put those marks on me and then carefully slather them with ointment. He’d kiss them, too, making me shiver in both pleasure and self-loathing.
Because how can I enjoy the company of a man who vehemently refuses to let us start anew?
How can I find pleasure in this situation when my family is probably suffering because of this?
I had a nightmare about my mom’s mental issues declining last night and couldn’t go back to sleep.
After I tossed and turned, Creighton woke up and he fucked me back to sleep.
He’s been an insatiable beast since we got to the island. No matter what I do, he’d be breathing down my neck like a pervert with the stamina of a sex demon.
If I jog on the shore in the morning, he joins me and then fucks me on the nearest rock.
If I try to cook, he annoys the hell out of me, standing near like the Grim Reaper, and then after the meal, he eats me out on the kitchen table.
Sometimes, that happens during the process of making food.
If I’m trying to practice ballet to keep in shape, he sits across from me, watching my every move like a hawk. Then he tears at my tights and mounts me on the floor.
That one ends up being the most animalistic, with my cute purple tulle shredded and scattered on the floor.
I have no clue how he got my stuff here, but he definitely had them from back in England. When I left Brighton Island, I didn’t pack everything.
A part of me hoped I’d go back.
That part never counted on this depravity.
I swear this isn’t what I meant when I told the girls that my fantasy was to be kidnapped.
Or maybe it is.
But his reasons have left a bitter taste at the back of my mouth.
I place lamb soup and fish and chips Creighton made on the patio table that faces the bright sea and he brings my salad.
We’ve fallen into this domesticated routine that would be a dream under different circumstances.
We do our morning jogs or swims together, sometimes fully naked. He fishes by the rock and I try to help but end up making it worse. Then we shower together. He watches me practice, makes lunch, and then we hike on the island’s mountains to the point that every day is an adventure. We talk about everything, or more like I do and he reciprocates. We discuss school, life, art, like when we were on good terms, but he completely closes off when I ask him if we’re going back.
“I can cook sometime, you know.” I sit across from him and wince at the discomfort in my ass.
It’s impossible to move without feeling him inside me anymore.
A fact he notices and appreciates, considering the slight twitch of his upper lip. “I’ll do the cooking.”
“I thought you didn’t know how.”
“That was a month ago. I learned how.”
I nod and take a bite of my salad. “Can I have some fries?”
“Chips?”
“Chips. Fries, whatever.”
“You don’t have to ask.” He pushes the whole plate in front of me.
“Wow. You actually gave up your food. The first time we met, you almost killed me because I asked for a taste.”
That event feels like ages ago. I was infatuated with Creighton at first sight. He was silent, stoic, and the perfect recipe to pull on my heartstrings. Despite his broodiness, I yearned to bring out the man that lurked inside him.
I yearned to sink my claws into his skin and yank the secret part free.
But maybe I should’ve heeded his and everyone else’s warning and stayed away. Maybe I wouldn’t be in the situation I’m currently in.
“You were a stranger back then,” he says, scooping up a handful of fries and practically mounding them on top of my salad. “You’re not now, so you can have my food any day.”
I try and fail not to be touched, especially knowing how much he loves food and that he certainly doesn’t give it up, even to the people closest to him, including his brother and Remi.
Clearing my throat, I say, “I can’t eat all of that. If I didn’t know better, I’d say you want to make me fat.”
“You’ve lost weight.”
“Not since I got here.” I release a long sigh. “How come we never run out of stuff?”
He remains silent, seeming preoccupied with eating, but he just doesn’t want to answer me.
“Does someone bring supplies? When?”
Silence.
“When I’m asleep?”
More silence.
“Creighton!”