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If he’s unhinged, I’m deranged. It’s a beautifully maddening place to be.

We stand like this for a moment, lost in each other. His eyes hold so much of the things he doesn’t say. They’re broken, but beautiful, and every part of me wants to decipher them, to know the man behind the wall.

But he steps closer and I snap out of it. I can’t be alone with Rhenn. He violates my thoughts, plaguing my mind with flashbacks of his hands over my waist and his tongue dancing across my own. The ache in my body reaches for the part of him that doesn’t exist, and it terrorizes me, knowing I can’t have something that isn’t there, even though it feels so real.

Nothing good is real, and this isn’t a game.

With a quick twist of my body and a burst of adrenaline, I manage to slip past him, ducking under his outstretched arm and darting away before he can react. I hear his footsteps behind me, and I look back, seeing a grin that wasn’t there a moment ago. The smile is infectious, and I find myself laughing, suddenly finding humor in being chased through the woods by the man threatening to take over my nightmares.

The hunt is on, and I’m determined to win.

Spotting a low-hanging branch up ahead, I make a split-second decision to veer sharply to the left, ducking under the rough bark in hopes of gaining some distance. Rhenn is still hot on my heels.

“Better run faster, little stray.”

My lungs are ready to collapse, and he doesn’t even sound winded. It only increases my motivation to evade his capture.

The sting of an outstretched bush whips against my arm, leaving behind a reddened welt a few inches higher than where a watch would sit. The pain is brief, quickly replaced with the insane amount of adrenaline pumping through me. “That all you got?” I call over my shoulder, panting as I taunt him. Probably a stupid move, but I never claimed to be smart.

He responds with a dark chuckle, the sound mixing with the constant crunching of leaves beneath our feet. It’s a playful warning that he’s not far behind, and no matter how much I wish to believe otherwise, I’m in trouble.

“Do you pray, Vixen?” I glance back, thrown off by his question. His features are sharp, a smirk pressed across his lips. “Pray now. Pray that I go easy on you when I catch you.”

It’s a threat, but I’m not sure what he means by it. The twisted part of me wants to find out, while the logical part ups my speed, jumping over a fallen log and darting left again.

“Wait, Vix. Not that way.” His voice is louder, a hint of worry laced into the words. I smile, convinced I’m getting farther ahead of him now.

“Come on, don’t be a sore los—” My mock is cut short as my foot suddenly finds empty air where the solid ground should be. A startled gasp escapes me, my arms windmilling, desperately seeking something to grab onto. The earth crumbles beneath me, and for a terrifying moment, the world seems to tilt on its axis as I stare down the side of the rocky cliff.

A strong pair of arms wraps around my waist, pulling me back with such force that we both stumble several steps away from the steep edge. My heart skips a beat, not just from the near fall, but from the sudden closeness. His grip is so firm, holding me securely against him. “Not. That. Way.”

Wide eyes locking onto his, I stammer out, “I-I didn’t see it. I didn’t see the cliff.”

He holds me there for a moment, only loosening his grip enough to run his hands down my arms. He inspects all of me, searching for any sign of damage. Fortunately, the only thing ruined is my ego.

When Rhenn reaches the welt on my lower arm, he lifts it up, examining the red line caused by the angry bush, and runs his thumb over it. The warmth from his skin brings back the fiery sting, but I don’t pull away.

“Always getting into trouble.” There’s a mix of something in his tone when he says it. Relief, maybe, and something else I can’t quite place. Reading Rhenn has proved to be impossible. Even when he opens up enough to let me in, it’s only a crack. I get glimpses and nothing more.

The moment of softness is over as quickly as it started, and Rhenn backs me into the nearest object—a log of rough bark that scratches at my skin as he lifts me from the ground. A puff of air escapes my lungs from the forceful and unexpected motion, and my hands wrap around his on instinct. “What are you doing?” I gasp, readying myself to claw at him if need be. He may be faster than me, but I’ll sure as hell do everything I can to get away if I need to.

“Day after day I hear them, the voices in my mind,” he starts, holding me hard against the tree, his body pressed into mine. The position puts us face-to-face, and it’s almost scarier than having to look up at him. “They’re torturous. Low and agonizing, like a painful whisper I can never escape. A constant drilling forever reminding me of what I am. All the horrible things I’m capable of. Then you come along, and suddenly there’s silence. You are the only thing that keeps them away.” He pauses there, eyes falling to my mouth. “So you can run all you want, stray. You can run right off that fucking cliff. Just know, I’ll follow you… To the end and back.”

I squirm under his grasp, swallowing back the sensation those words are trying to force on me. It doesn’t help. I’m dizzy being this close. Wanting to fall into him and push him away. “I thought you said you couldn’t shut off the sounds when I was around.”

Rhenn loosens his grip and I slide down the tree, my feet landing awkwardly on the pine covered ground. I bite my lip as the bark pierces through my shirt and drags across my skin. The pain is only secondary, though, because everything blurs around me when I see the heat in his eyes. “Silence and chaos are two very different things, Vixen. That’s what you do. You muffle the old sounds only to bring in new ones.”

His gaze bores into mine, unwavering and intense, and I feel the pull of emotions I’ve tried so hard to bury. My life before this is like a dark shadow that follows me everywhere, a constant reminder of the pain and suffering I’ve endured. Moving on is an insurmountable task, an impossible dream. But with him, with Rhenn, there’s a flicker of hope, a chance for something new. I can see the vulnerability in his eyes, masked by his bravado, and it calls to me, making me want to reach out and break down his walls.

No part of it makes any sense. We don’t even like each other. We couldn’t…

“Tell me what you need, Vixen.”

I wonder if he can see it, the fight wreaking havoc in my mind. The brutal truth of wanting to run only because these feelings inside of me terrify me so much more than his anger ever could. I don’t want to be afraid anymore. I’m ready to let go.

“Touch me, Rhenn.” I glide my fingers over his strong jaw, wanting to burn every piece of him into my mind. To see him, and only him. “Make me forget.”

His eyes close and he takes in a deep breath. “You have no idea how badly I want to.” A pair of grays flash to life as he looks at me again, and he moves closer.