Total pages in book: 49
Estimated words: 46197 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 231(@200wpm)___ 185(@250wpm)___ 154(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 46197 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 231(@200wpm)___ 185(@250wpm)___ 154(@300wpm)
I should have never come back here.
Fifteen
Kash
Four Years Ago
Something had been off lately with Cressida. She assured me she was fine, but she was lying. Her eyes gave her away. They always had. It was one of the things I loved about her.
She had fallen asleep while we were texting. She did that often. It was cute, but tonight, I wasn’t able to relax. Sleep wasn’t coming, and my gut had me getting in my truck and driving to her house. I normally didn’t come this late, even when I was sneaking in her window. It would most likely scare her if I woke her up, but I needed to see she was okay.
If she would just move in with me, then this wouldn’t be an issue. But she said it would upset her parents, and they’d likely stop paying her tuition. I’d told her I’d pay it. I wanted to be the one taking care of her anyway. But she didn’t want the drama and fallout. I was trying to be patient with her, but I was getting real damn close to proposing. We were young, but if it was going to take marriage to get her to let me take care of her, then we’d go ahead and do it. She was my endgame anyway.
Parking my truck down the street near the park, I headed out on foot to her house at a jog. The closer I got, the more anxious I felt. I’d wanted to hear her voice tonight, but she had said she couldn’t talk on the phone because her mother was still up and working in the guest bedroom across the hall. She’d been turning it into a craft room for over a month now. When was she going to be fucking finished with it?!
All the lights in the house were off, including the craft room. No one was awake, but I’d assumed as much. It was almost three.
Using all the stealth that came with my training, which had started at puberty, I made my way up the tree. The window was cracked, and I smirked. She never fully closed or locked it at night, just in case I stopped by. Reaching over, I slid it up slowly and squinted into the darkness. Slipping inside, I left it up in case I needed to escape quickly. Her parents had never woken up before though. They both took sleeping meds. If they didn’t, I’d have drugged their wine bottles. Luckily, they made it easy for me.
I’d not taken the first step when I saw it. The other figure in the bed. I blinked, unsure I was seeing it clearly, although the blood I heard rushing in my ears told me I was. For a moment, I didn’t move. I stood there and stared at them. My world hadn’t just tilted from its axis, but it had been taken and fucking thrown against a wall, exploding into pieces.
Pain became a monster as it roared through me. I bent over, grabbing my knees as I tried to breathe through the crushing weight on my chest.
My Songbird. My goddamn soul. How could she do this?
Every inhale felt like my lungs were on fire. My temples pounded, and a beast began to unravel. The fury unfolding wasn’t normal anger. It wanted blood. The image of Pirate lying beside her, his arm around her as they slept, was burned into my memory. Even if I wasn’t looking at them, I’d never be able to unsee it.
Had he fucked her?
My head snapped up, and I began moving. Long strides, I was no longer in control. The agony that had morphed into bloodlust and madness had taken over. It was as if I was on the outside, looking at this from afar. Or perhaps that was my sanity. I’d left it on the floor the moment I saw them together like that.
When I was standing over him, I began to picture all I would do. Slice off his hand first. Then his limp dick. I’d shove it in his mouth and let him gag on it while I continued cutting him up, piece by piece.
The betrayal clawed at me like a wild animal. It felt as if it was ripping my skin over and over.
She moved, turning, and her lashes fluttered as she began to wake before she stilled, then shot out of bed as if it were on fire. Her wide eyes went from Pirate in her bed to me standing over him. My knife already in my hand. Even now, after finding her like this, the urge to protect her coursed through me, trying to overpower the other. She was MINE! Yet she’d let another touch her.
“Did you fuck him?” I seethed.
She began shaking her head frantically. “No! No! I—”
“What the—” Pirate cut her off as his eyes opened, and he stared up at me. My knife at his throat silenced him.