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“W-what are you doing, Aiden?” “I’m kidnapping you, sweetheart. It’s been long overdue.”
I’ve always belonged to Aiden and he’s always belonged to me. It started ten years ago and has been ongoing since.
“I chose you, Elsa.” He cuts me off, gripping the steering wheel so tightly, his knuckles turn white. “I chose you over my mother’s memory, my father, and everything I fucking know. But you never chose me.”
“I was thinking about you, dickhead! I was thinking about how my life is an empty shell without you in it. I was re-reading your texts in class because I couldn’t stop missing you. I had to run in the rain like a lunatic because of thinking about you. So don’t sit here telling me that you’re an afterthought, Aiden. If you were, I wouldn’t be in so much pain right now.”
Aiden places two fingers under my chin. His touch is rough, yet gentle at the same time. I jerk away. “I’m mad at you right now.” “I told you. We can be mad at each other while I touch you.”
“I’m addicted to you. I’m obsessed with you. I’m mad about you.”
I’m screwed. There’s no way I’ll be able to live without Aiden King.
A smile tugs on my lips. He can be so dreamy sometimes — the keyword being sometimes. It’s rare as hell.
“I always sang to myself so I wouldn’t get captured by monsters.” “Did it help?” “No. The fact that I’d find you at the end of the tunnel is what kept me going.” I glance at him over my shoulder. “You kept me going.” “You kept me going, too.”
God. I don’t think I can do this. I’m tempted to grab him and run away from here. I want to protect him. Actually, I wanted to protect him since that first time I laid eyes on him.
“We can do this, Aiden. We owe ourselves that much.” His hand wraps around mine. “I don’t care as long as you’re with me.”
Is it weird that her happiness makes me happy?
She said the real monsters look more beautiful than angels.
Crack. Crack. Crack. She goes on and on… and on. A sticky warm liquid travels down my spine and drips onto the floor. Drip. Drip. Drip. My eyes flutter closed and a tear falls down my cheek. I’m sorry, Elsa. I won’t keep my promise.
“Aside from the first time you stepped into RES, I never saw you as your mother.” He takes my hand and cradles it between his strong ones. “You’re the little girl who brought me food and drinks and her annoying Maltesers. You’re not the red woman.”
“While you look so much like her, you don’t have her empty gaze or her haunting voice. As long as you have this spark in your eyes, I’ll always recognise you as my Elsa.”
Uncle Agnus remains unaffected, his expression as serene as always. It’s like he’s a rock, a solid rock Daddy can lean on.
As soon as I have the keys, I jog to the boy who added colours to my days and free the cuff at his ankle.
He’s trying to come back inside, but I won’t let him. I won’t let them monsters take him away. I’ll protect him.
The memory of that time when I no longer heard her voice has been a constant part of my nightmares.
When you have a light in the middle of the darkness and that light dims to nothing, it fucks you up. That’s why my world became black after that.
My hand glides over the curve of her throat and stop at her pulse. Her beating, throbbing pulse. It’s a constant reminder that she’s alive, not dead. Her scar is proof she doesn’t have that gush in her chest. Her bright blond hair isn’t soaked in red like when she lay there lifeless. That’s why I’m obsessed with those three parts of her.
For the rest of our lives, I want to be the only one who witnesses her breaking and support her through the storm. I want to be the one who soothes her ache when she needs soothing. The one who wipes her tears when they need wiping. The one who lifts her up when she needs lifting.
It’s not only her body or her heart that I’m interested in, I want her entire soul so she’ll never be able to leave me.
Elsa leans into my touch, slowly closing her eyes. Fuck me. Her small methods of showing affection get me every fucking time.
I like it when she stops fighting our connection and snuggles into me like I’m her world. Like she also can’t live without me.
“Say it, Elsa,” My tone becomes harsh and non-negotiable. A sigh rips from her. “I love you, Aiden. No matter what.”
“I regret many things, but saving you was never one of them. You were my light and I had to protect you.”
She bites her lower lip like she does when in deep thoughts. I lean down and kiss it, making her blush.
“Agnus and I are the same. We don’t mind creating anarchy if it gets us what we want.”
“Agnus is like me,” he emphasises every word. “He’s just like me.” The realisation hits me like an eruption of a volcano. “He wants to protect my dad.” “Exactly.” I gasp. “Do you think he has feelings for him? Is he... gay?” “Could be. Could be not.”
However, as I stare at Teal and hear her words, I can’t help the smile that breaks across my face. I might not have accomplished much, but I at least saved her and Knox. They’re the best thing that happened to my life after Elsa. And Agnus.
Teal isn’t talkative, but when she does speak, she doesn’t know how to stop.
I want all of him. The good and the bad and the ugly.
I trust Aiden now. I trust he won’t hurt me. I trust he’ll bring the world to its knees for me.
“I want to be your queen.” “You already are.”
“There hasn’t been a day where you weren’t fucking mine, Elsa. You’ve been mine since that first day you walked in here. ” “Yes, yes.” His lips find my ear and he whispers in husky words. “And I’ve been yours.”
“You’ll be mine? All mine?” “Yours. All yours.”
“Mine. You’re all mine.” I am. It’s useless to deny it anymore. If we never find a way out of here I’ll die happy knowing I’m with the person I love the most. The boy I loved since I was seven.
“Your passion, your darkness, your fire, and even your damn stubbornness. I find all of them sexy and there isn’t a thing I would change about you. So yes, everything.”
I like how she’s holding on to me with all her might. Her entire body clings to mine like it’s the most natural place to be.
“I’m glad I met you back then,” she says after a while. “You were my light in the darkness.”
“What I feel for you isn’t only love, obsession, or addiction. It’s all of those and more. Do you know what that means, sweetheart? It means I can’t live without you, so don’t you fucking dare leave me.”
“Bring her back!” The voice shouts. “Bring her back before I smash this whole fucking place.” There’s so much pain in that voice. So much passion. So much… care. Hearing him fight for me is like being lifted into the clouds. It’s peaceful but scary.
Agnus gives Dad an indecipherable look. It’s strange how they can communicate without words. I guess it’s possible if they’ve been best friends since they were ten.
Aiden and I aren’t the darkness and the light. We both have tarnished minds and souls. But we’re not soulmates. We’re lost souls that fit in perfectly imperfect harmony.
Aiden and Agnus are planning something. What on earth could two psychopaths consider ‘fun’?
My chest flutters at witnessing his care and concern for me. It makes me feel special and loved. This is Aiden after all. He never shows this side to anyone, not even his family. When Levi and Astrid visited me yesterday, they kept asking me what type of voodoo spell I used.
He’s mine. All mine. The thought fills me with a strange type of empowerment.
This boy who told me he’d destroy me is now my number one protector and carer. He would do anything to make me happy.
