Page 69 of Touch the Sky

Her hands fly up to clamp around my wrists, and before I know it, we’re flipped around again. My back slams against the wall.

Tess purrs—fucking purrs, like a satisfied cat—and I’ve never felt the searing cocktail of rage and desire burning its way through my veins now.

I want her to drag me to the floor.

I want to pin her to the ground.

I want to be her bitch, and I want to make her beg.

I want it all, and I want it right fucking now.

She takes my caged wrists and jerks them up above my head to capture me. My fists bang into the wall, and a sharpcrackcuts through the air as the picture frame beside us drops to the floor.

The wood splinters, and I hear the shrill tinkle of glass breaking.

Tess shrieks, her arms dropping to her sides.

“Shit!” I yelp, my arms tumbling down too.

It’s only a small frame, but the sound is still ringing in my ears like thunder.

Tess bends to pick the picture up.

“Ah,tabarnak,” I mutter. “I’m so sorry. How bad is it broken?”

She shakes her head. “It’s just a cheap frame. It’s fine.”

She tries to straighten the wood out, but the pieces won’t fit back together anymore.

“It’s my fault.” I push off the wall and come closer to see if there’s anything I can do. “I…”

My throat dries up when I see the photo in the frame.

Shel.

It’s a close-up of her face from what has to be a few years back. She’s got some slightly wonky bangs, and one of her front teeth is missing where she grins at the camera.

The glass is cracked straight down the center of her face.

My stomach lurches.

“I should go.”

I whirl around and lunge for the door. I’ve already started tugging my boots on by the time Tess sets the photo on the table and stalks over to me.

“Jacinthe. Wait.”

“No,” I blurt. “I…I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have. I have to go.”

I finish stuffing my feet into my shoes and don’t bother with the laces before yanking the door open. My fingertips linger on the handle, and no matter how much I urge my legs to run, my feet stay planted on the threshold.

I glance back over my shoulder at Tess.

Her face is pale now, ghostly white and cast in shadow, like the half-empty moon in the sky.

My body snaps back into my control. I inch the door wider and step out into the night.

She doesn’t try to stop me.