The house was far too quiet. Sierra lay in bed, staring at the ceiling, her chest rising and falling with shallow breaths. The stillness seemed to hum around her, amplifying every little sound the faint ticking of the clock on her nightstand, the soft groan of wood as the house settled, even the distant hum of the refrigerator downstairs.
But none of it drowned out the memory of Damien’s voice.
Tonight, you’ll pay for making me wait.
The words had curled around her all day, an invisible leash tugging at her thoughts, binding her to the inevitability of what was coming. She had spent the afternoon convincing herself that she would resist him this time, that she had to resist. That she couldn’t keep letting herself fall deeper into this madness.
Yet, when night fell, her body betrayed he
