That I'm telling him: we must come out of this...together. That freedom is within reach if we do this...together.
He opens his eyes and stares into my own, and I can see it—he understands.
A fist pounds at the door, interrupting us. “They’re coming, Sav.”
His body goes dangerously still, and then all at once he’s grabbing me by the arm and steering me to the corner of the room. He picks up what I wore and puts it back over me. I hurry and push it down my wet body.
My heart is pounding. “What do they want?”
“They’re going to take us to another room,” he tells me, grabbing at my hair and splaying it over my chest, like he's trying to cover my breasts. "They’re going to celebrate my victory around my enemies, and then they’re going to want a show.”
I try to read his face, but he’s so guarded and his walls are up. “What show?”
“Us,” he retorts, flaring his nostrils. “They’ll want me to fuck the Golden Bird. If I don't...I won't have you. If I don't, they take you away from me. They want me to mark you so that you keep coming back to me...”
Blood drains from my face as he watches my reaction. Slowly, his mouth spreads into a cold smile, and it’s so unnatural how monstrous he looks. There’s a bite in his voice when he seethes, “I was so fucking close, Skye. You’ve wrecked me all over again—because that’s what you fucking do, isn’t it? You drain me every time I’ve built myself up again.Fuck!” He runs a hand over his short hair and turns away. With a vicious look, he fists that hand to punch at the wall in front of him. His shoulders rise and fall rapidly as he fights to contain himself.
What was he so close to?
I’m so lost, my words barely come out when I hear voices.
Jojo yells, “They’re here!”
With a heaving chest, Savage steers me out of the room in a hurried pace. Immediately, Jojo is there, throwing the cover at him. He catches it in one hand and then places me in front of me. I look up at him, terrified, silently questioning.
Savage looks down at me, and his face is steel. “You do as I fucking tell you, Skye, or they’ll take you away from me for good.”