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So with faded just a little as Tess reement between us--the one that said we’d try to protect each other by not sharing--shredded Gone was the need to pretend ere alright Gone was the stupidity to act as if ere normal

We weren’t normal And we needed to address our past before it sed us whole Sincerity and hope broke through the clouds like sunshine in a storain Soullible, and a lot in love I want to believe in fantasies again, see theto sleep"

My ar demanded to be wrapped around her Finally The truth Just a little but it was lossed with tears, and the stor to happen overnight It’ll take ti to tear apart every clock and watch Ti her Time meant jack-shit to me I wanted her to be happy noanted toenemy

Tess mistook my silence as consideration She continued, "What we lived through is part of our identity We can never erase it The only way to survive is by accepting--"

My hands balled "I’ between us, I hissed, "This…distance These…lies I want more than that, esclave And I know you do, too"

I looked toward the captain, glad he had his back to us and out of hearing distance He would never understand the violence, the aggression, the all-consu teer

But Tess did

She understood me just like I understood her I was hers just as much as she was mine

My eyes drank in the island I didn’t want to leave I liked this slice of paradise Nothing could touch allons of seawater It would be a good place for Tess to heal But not yet I had work to do before I could bring her back

"We’re leaving We can’t do this"

"Can’t do what?" The sun shone on her head, looking likeyou tomorrow, Tess"

Her face hite; I swore her heart plu her jaw I loved she was distraught at the thought of no longer ave e us apart but she’d sworn to love h for now

Rejection wrapped around her, blanketing her in depression "You’ve changed your ood to be true After all, you deserve sotis for you, you kill another part ofhts on paper not help you realize I would do anything for you?"

My heart stuttered at the thought of her readingmess I’d jotted down

The salt-laced air whipped her hair, blowing a few strands around her neck She searchedto otiable"

Her chest rose and fell with relief "Okay…when?"

Mya haphazard plan into effect "I don’t know yet" I gave her a reassuring set married like this" I had no idea hoould fix it If it was even fixable I wouldn’t stop until I’d sh the clouds of madness we lived in I didn’t tell her I doubted it was possible to heal entirely or eradicate e’d done

I’ll make it happen

I would find a way I would fix her I would fixmy hand out, I vowed, "I’ll find a way to free you I’ll find a way to ed her close Breathing in her soft innocent scent, I ive you whatever you want

"I proled, knotted forever, our souls will always be twisted together,

our de to the other,

Bow to me, I bow to thee, noe are free

"Well that was the shortest wedding in bloody history," Franco muttered as I slid into the car and sla relief fro into the leather upholstery, I angled the vents to receive an artic blow fro with the stress of being told I wasn’t eablethe door just as loud as I had We hadn’t spoken a word on the way back; I didn’t trust myself not to burst into tears I’dhow insecure and truly afraid I was

I don’t want you, Tess How could I love you now you’ve becoed in Rio kept repeating in my mind Q didn’t know that while I hurt and maimed under the command ofwith his whispers ofpure or worthy

I kneas irrational to believe he didn’t wanthe’d done--but I wasn’t strong enough to stop the voices fro them with lies

Dalance at Q He glared out the , his forehead furrowed, eyes dark with planning He’d withdrawn once again, focusing inward on whatever idea he’d latched onto The last time he’d been this intense, he’d ordered me to beat hi hi to his body er hair ind-swept and messy His five o’ clock shadow hid soh

He was so perfect Too perfect How could I ever co second best? My heart had leapt out of my throat and dived into the waves when he’d said he couldn’t ht and worthless aspiration I secretly nursed ca minute

I’d always known it was only a irl with sin in her soul and a woernails And not just any wo to save