Slade lays his large body on the bedroom floor and settles. Tears drip down my face in silence. Controlling a cry hurts like hell, my body coiling to stop from gasping. He’s set in the fetal position, his spirit far from the safety of home.

I can’t stay here on the bed while he’s down on the cold wooden floor. Still, I wait five minutes to make sure he’s truly sleeping. I watch the clock, keeping myself frozen until I’m sure the time has passed. Stepping off the bed, I pull the sheets and pillows with me and join him on the floor. I wonder if he skipped the drugs tonight. Maybe that’s why he’s vocal. Lifting his head, I place it on the pillow and cover us with the sheets. What I’m doing is so dangerous, but my heart won’t let me do otherwise.

Sometime in the night, he moves above me. “Babe?”

I hum as he kisses the top of my head, my hair, and my shoulders. Warm lips press against my body as my shorts slide down. At last, my body awakens, not able to help itself against the massive man, his hardness pushing and wanting. I know who he is, and my body responds accordingly.

But does he know me?

“Slade,” I whisper, “who am I?”

“You’re mine, Lauren,” he replies, pressing his forehead against mine. “Always mine.”

His large body shudders as his thick fingers thread through my thin ones. Entering, he pushes within me as though he can’t get close enough or deep enough. We slide against the floor from his movements until the wall stops us, my back burning. Slade clutches my body against his, like a line for his life. His desperation, like sweat, drips all over me.

I score his shoulders with my nails, replying with my body, I’m here, and you’re with me.

My back burns, but I know he wouldn’t hear me even if I spoke. He holds me tighter—so tight, too tight. I can’t get out of his grip. Do I want to? It hurts to love him.

He needs me right now, and while my thinking is screwed up, I want to be the woman he possesses.

This entire night has been horrible, I think as he slams into me again and again.

“How much will I sacrifice?” I whisper blindly into the dark.

His hot, muscled body replies wordlessly as he continues to pound my body. Suddenly and without any warning, I splinter into a million pieces around him. My body has betrayed me.

“Mine,” he shouts shortly after, exploding within me.

Heavy hands squeeze my torn back. He’s pressing me so hard into his chest. My tears start to flow, salty and heavy.

He rolls over, and then, immediately, he falls asleep. I gingerly stand up, taking myself into the bathroom. I clean up before staring at my back in the mirror. Blood is everywhere.

20

Slade

The next morning, I wake up. Lauren’s gone. She’s not in the shower, and she’s not in the kitchen. I pick up the phone, calling Vincent. My heart is in my fucking throat.