Anything? Part II
1028 Words
Scarlett’s body tightened at the question. Her breaths became shallow as she struggled with a burning sensation in her chest she didn’t quite understand.
Tom’s thumb still rested beneath her jaw, warm against her skin despite the cold that seemed to follow him everywhere. His crimson eyes held hers with frightening intensity.
“Will you grant me my wish, my beauty?”
The words settled heavily between them.
Tom stood impossibly close in the dim cottage light, crimson eyes fixed entirely on her face. Calm, patient, and something else she didn’t dare to name.
Scarlett stepped back immediately.
Tom’s hand fell away.
“No,” she said quietly. The word came out softer than she intended.
A flicker crossed his expression.
Not anger.
Something more restrained.
Something patient.
Scarlett wrapped her arms around herself tightly and turned away from him, pacing toward the small kitchen as her pulse hammered violently in her chest.
“What exactly did you expect me to say?” she asked.
Tom watched her silently.
She laughed softly, but there was no humor in it.
“You promised me. You said you wouldn’t kill him yet you nearly did, and right in front of me! Is this what you wanted? To make me promise you anything just to stop—” Her voice shook. “And then you ask me for a wish like I’m supposed to feel safe?”
Tom remained still.
Scarlett finally looked at him again.
“You manipulated me.”
The accusation lingered in the air.
For the first time since she’d met him—
She truly couldn’t read him.
His gaze lowered.
The silence stretched.
Then slowly—
He crossed the room toward her slowly.
Scarlett stiffened immediately.
The marks on her neck burned.
Everything burned.
God.
What had she just promised him?
The memory slammed into her immediately.
‘I’ll do whatever you want.’
Humiliation twisted painfully in her stomach.
Every instinct screamed at her to move, to run.
But she didn’t.
“Don’t,” she warned.
But Tom stopped directly in front of her anyway.
Close enough that she could feel the heat radiating from him seep into her vertical being.
Close enough that the scent of him wrapped around her senses entirely.
His expression softened.
Then, unexpectedly—
He lifted both hands carefully and held her face.
Scarlett froze.
“I apologize.”
Her eyes widened instantly.
The sincerity in his voice shocked her more than the apology itself.
Tom’s thumbs brushed lightly against her cheeks.
“I gave you my word that I would not kill him,” he said quietly. “And I did not.”
Scarlett stared at him.
The sincerity in his voice unsettled her more than anger would have.
She swallowed hard.
“You scared me,” she whispered.
Something shifted faintly in his expression then.
Regret.
Tom’s thumbs brushed lightly beneath her eyes.
“That was not my intention.”
Tom’s eyes darkened slightly.
“I got angry. I only wished to frighten him.”
Scarlett stared at him in disbelief.
“You call that frightening him?”
“He touched you.”
The sharpness in his voice made her heart skip.
Tom leaned closer slightly, his gaze burning now.
“And you…” he said quietly, “offered yourself to a monster like me for the sake of that bastard.”
Scarlett’s breath caught.
His jaw tightened faintly.
“How could you do that?” he asked.
The question sounded almost angry.
But beneath it—
Hurt.
“Who is he to you?”
“He means nothing to me,” Scarlett snapped.
“Then why?”
She opened her mouth.
Nothing came out.
Tom studied her face carefully.
Scarlett looked away first.
“It was the only thing I could think of.”
Scarlett pulled away from his hands immediately.
“I don’t want to talk about Darren.”
The tension in the room thickened again.
Tom’s eyes followed her as she moved away.
Then suddenly—
He reached for her.
Scarlett gasped softly as he pulled her back against him.
One arm wrapped firmly around her waist while the other trailed up and down the length of her arm.
She struggled against him.
“Tom—”
“It is fine,” he murmured.
His voice had softened again.
“You do not have to tell me tonight.”
Scarlett slowly stopped struggling.
Tom lowered his head into her hair.
She felt him inhale deeply once.
Then again.
Long, controlled breaths.
As though calming himself.
The realization sent warmth curling through her chest despite herself.
His grip around her tightened slightly.
Protective.
Possessive.
Scarlett hated how safe it made her feel.
Outside, thunder rumbled softly in the distance.
Inside the cottage, only silence remained.
Slowly—
Against her better judgment—
Her body relaxed.
The tension eased from her shoulders first.
Then her hands.
Then the frantic beating of her heart.
Tom seemed to notice instantly.
His hold in her loosened slightly, just enough to comfort instead of restrain.
Scarlett’s eyes slowly closed.
Her body relaxed against his before she could stop herself, secretly enjoying the steady rhythm of his breathing against her neck.
Finally, she spoke softly.
“Why are you so upset?”
She tilted her head back slightly, trying to look at him.
Tom went still.
Then slowly—
He released her.
Before Scarlett could step away, he caught her waist again and turned her around to face him fully.
Her breath hitched.
His eyes burned now.
Not with rage.
With something more than hunger.
Something deeper.
Something ancient.
The intensity of it hit her so hard she could not hold his gaze.
She turned her face away immediately.
“Tom…”
Alarm slipped into her voice before she could stop it.
His fingers brushed lightly against her chin, trying to guide her gaze back toward him.
Scarlett resisted but was unable to hide from his gaze and the desire she could she in it.
The air between them felt unbearably heavy now.
Charged.
Dangerous.
Intimate.
When Tom finally spoke again, his voice came out low and rough.
“Sleep with me tonight.”
- Writer
