Dollhouse (Down We Go #1)

by Kyla Faye

I am a red-blooded human, after all. It's okay to be turned on by the right words. Even if those words are coming from the devil.

I am not foolish enough to forgive all the damage he's caused and all the shit he's put me through, or believe that he could ever change. But for a moment, for just a single moment, I want to forget and allow myself to have a good time before everything changes.

But temporarily, I'm going to be worshipped, and pretend that my husband loves me and that I love him. After all, I’m great at pretending.

The weekend isn’t about him or forgetting the shit he’s done to me. It was about me, and me wanting to have one good moment before we’re over. For once, I’ll be selfish.

I should’ve realized the day I agreed to marry the devil himself there was never going to be a way out. I was his forever. He’d never let me go. The only way to be free was to make him believe I was dead, that he finally killed me. In a way, he did.

His right hand wraps around my throat, tight enough to block my airflow, and instantly, I stop fighting him and my attention zeroes in on him and only him. I know he’s not doing it to hurt me. He’s doing it to calm me. I realize quickly that I need pain to feel normal. It’s all I’ve ever known.

I cry for the girl who wanted to be loved so badly that she found herself in the arms of a man who beat her. I cry for the girl who doesn’t know how to be loved, but still desperately wants to be loved and to love, even if she isn’t sure how.

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