Page 213 of I Will Mend You
Despite his weakened state, he struggles against his restraints, the muscles in his neck and arms taut against the leather straps.
Delta’s gaze shifts to me, and I stiffen. For a second, I’m stuck in that white tent, pinned beneath his powerful body. My heart skitters across my chest, but I refuse to let him see my fear.
Xero draws back, capturing my attention, and the tightness in my chest loosens. I’m no longer powerless. I’m safe here withthe man I love. And in a minute, Delta will regret having stuck his penis where it didn’t belong.
“See how she looks at me?” Xero asks, his words low with menace. “She’s mine.”
Delta’s eyes harden. “Don’t forget, she was mine first.”
Xero flashes his teeth. “How fitting for you to take pride in claiming ownership of an innocent child.”
Delta’s dry chuckle sets my teeth on edge. “Every time she sees you, she’ll be looking at me.”
“You’re wrong.” I storm into the cell, closing the distance between us, every nerve ending crackling with fury. “All a man like you can ever do is take. You’re not good for anything but inspiring disgust.”
The older man’s features twist in a rictus of fury. He pulls at his bindings, his face reddening with futile exertion, but the straps are taut against his chafed skin.
Xero grins, baring his teeth in a wolfish smile. “When you were busy trying to break my little Amethyst, she was hallucinating a version of me to buffer herself from you.”
Delta flashes his gums. “You can’t erase the past, Xero. I will forever haunt your little ghost.”
The use of my nickname ignites a surge of fury that has me charging across the room. Xero punches his father so hard, his chair falls backward with a sharp crack. The impact has Delta wincing and groaning.
My pulse quickens, and a dark thrill settles in my core. I step even closer to Xero, soaking in the intoxicating rush of his dominance. The room seems to shrink around us, the air thick with tension and the scent of fear.
“I taught you better than to lash out,” Delta snarls from the floor, his nose streaming with blood. “This anger is a sign of weakness.”
Xero laughs, a low, dark sound that sends shivers down my spine. “Yet you’re the one groveling at our feet.”
“Because I still hold power over you,” Delta rasps.
The words hang in the air, heavy and charged with danger. My gaze darts to Xero. Six weeks aren’t long enough to erase years of trauma and abuse.
Instead of recoiling, he scoffs and pulls me into his arms. His touch is electric, charged with a dark energy that leaves me breathless.
I gaze up into his eyes, exchanging unspoken words, the silence between us broken only by the sound of Delta’s harsh breaths.
“Want to show this soon-to-be-dead bastard who’s in control?” Xero asks.
I glance at the older man staring at us, his gaunt face twisted in a mask of hatred. “I’d love nothing more.”
Eyes darkening with a predatory gleam, Xero pulls me into a rough, passionate kiss, his hands roaming possessively over my body, demanding my surrender with every touch.
“Wait here,” he says, unchains Delta, then punches him hard in the stomach.
With a groan, Delta doubles over, and Xero arranges him on the floor. A smirk pulls at my lips as Xero spreads his father’s arms and legs wide, attaching the shackles on each limb to brackets drilled into the concrete.
Then, Xero eases me down so we’re kneeling beside Delta, who stares up at us, his eyes burning with resentment. It’s the most emotion I’ve noticed on the bastard’s face.
Maybe he sees his son with his wife. Maybe this is the first time he’s seen a woman in the throes of pleasure. Either way, I don’t give a shit. Delta is about to discover that the power he once wielded over us was nothing more than a delusion.
“Take off your dress,” Xero growls into the kiss, his voice a rough whisper.
Shivers skitter down my spine as I comply, pulling the fabric over my head and tossing it to the floor.
“Those cuts you made into her skin healed nicely,” Xero says. “Soon, all traces of you will be gone.”
“She’ll always remember me,” Delta snarls.