Dark Need by Clarissa Wild

Chapter 20

April

I wakeup to the smell of fried eggs, but I’m sure I must be hallucinating. No one has fried eggs when they’re in an abandoned cabin in the middle of a goddamn forest. But when I blink a couple of times and take a deep breath because of the sun peeking through the blinds, I definitely smell the scent of burned fat.

What in the …?

I get up and put on my clothes. Or rather, the clothes of the person who used to live here. I try not to think about the fact that I’m wearing a dead woman’s personal belongings and wash before I walk to the door. My hand hovers over the door handle, shaking. I pause. I’m still mad at him. But am I mad enough to ignore the fact that my stomach is rumbling?

Or am I just trying to avoid coming face-to-face with him? Because I don’t know if I’ll be able to resist when he tries something on me again.

I take a deep breath. Staying in here won’t do me any good. I need to face my problems head-on.

So I gather my courage and push down the door handle.

I can’t even set one foot inside the room before my jaw is already practically on the floor.

All the mess from yesterday—the upturned furniture, the broken vases, the shattered plates—has been cleaned up. Everything is back where it was before, and the place looks squeaky clean. There’s even a fire burning in the fireplace to keep it all warm and cozy.

Did he do all of this while I was asleep?

I take featherlight steps outside and look around to see where he is. My heart pounds in my chest like it’s expecting him to pounce on me at any moment. But when I spot him standing in the kitchen flipping an egg in a pan, I’m completely stunned.

Soren can cook?

And where the hell did he find an egg?

Suddenly, he glances at me from over his shoulder and puts the egg down on a plate. It smells delicious, but it almost feels like a wet dream at this point.

“Hungry?” he asks.

I don’t know how to respond, so I opt for a quick nod.

“Sit,” he says in his signature moody voice, but it sounds much less angry than normal. He points at a chair, and I do what he says. Within a minute, he brings me a plate with an egg and some mushrooms, all grilled with herbs on top.

As he places a glass of water and cutlery in front of me, I mutter, “How …?”

“Birds,” he answers. “They lay eggs.”

I frown, dumbfounded by his answer. “Here? In this forest?”

He shrugs. “Birds like trees.”

Right.

I pick up my glass and take a sip of the water.

I don’t get it. How does he go from completely grumpy asshole to doting on me like a … husband?

I almost choke on my water and swallow it down in one go, coughing afterward.

“You okay?” he asks.

I stick up a thumb.

Why does he care so much all of a sudden?

Did something change?

Or is it because of something I said?

Like perhaps telling him I’m a virgin.

My stomach drops, and I stare at Soren as he brings another plate and sits down across from me. “Enjoy.”

But all I can do is gape at the food in front of me, wondering if that’s all it took for him to be nice to me. Maybe it’s a trap.

Panic fills my veins. “What is this?”

He frowns. “Food.”

“No, what does it mean?”

I just want to know why he did all of this, but he continues to frown, only much heavier. “Food. Eat.”

Goddammit.

With a sigh, I pick up the cutlery and cut into the egg, which looks as delicious as I think it will taste. “I see you cleaned up the mess you left.”

I raise my brow at him, but he simply shoves some egg into his mouth.

“Any particular reason?”

“It was messy,” he responds.

Sure.

But then why do I get the sense that he’s trying to make me feel better? That he feels guilty?

I take a bite, and a small smile forms on my lips. It’s that good.

“I didn’t know you could cook.”

“I’m full of surprises,” he replies.

And I can’t help but snort.

He raises his brow. “What?”

“I’m just … I’m amazed you managed to clean the house and make breakfast for us, all while pretending you didn’t do this because I was pissed at you.”

He swallows deeply and puts his fork and knife down.

“I didn’t.”

I stare at him the same way he stares at me.

The silence between us is deafening.

“But you know what you did,” I say.

“So do you,” he retorts.

The fork in my hand bends under the pressure I apply. “I tried to help you.”

“And I warned you not to,” he rebukes. “Now, eat.”

I put down my fork. “No.”

He glares at me. Clutching the ends of the table, he scoots back his chair violently and stands up. This table isn’t that long, and even with that standing between us, he still looks menacing.

He leans forward and pricks my egg onto my fork, then holds it in front of my mouth. “Open.”

I wait a few seconds, contemplating my options. If I don’t, he might get mad again. Or shove it inside. If I do … If I give in to his demands, that means I no longer hold any power.

But am I willing to risk it?

I swallow and decide to open my mouth. He gently lays the fork onto my tongue until I take the egg. It feels oddly intimate, the way he looks at me chewing and swallowing. Sexual, almost. And it turns me as red as a beet.

He shoves the fork into my hand and sits back down again. “Finish it.”

With another loud sigh, I reluctantly pick up my food, eating it as slowly as I can because I don’t want to give him the satisfaction of knowing that I like his food.

“Are you in a hurry or something?” I quip.

He chows down on his food without responding, but he does look at me with intent.

Did I catch onto something?

After finishing, he picks up the plate and brings everything back to the kitchen. I shove the rest of my food down before he snatches that away too.

He picks up the metal from the floor and grabs his bag, tucking it inside. Then he fills it up with everything he’d taken out and more, including some of the food from the pantry and other important supplies. Finally, he throws some water over the fire.

“Are we … going somewhere?” I ask.

He marches over to me with a rope in his hand.

My eyes widen.

“Please, don’t do that again. I told you I—”

A tight knot is tied around my waist, and with it, I’m bound to him again.

Goddammit!

I groan out loud. “Really?”

“Time to go,” he says, and he turns around and marches toward the door.

I don’t even have the time to catch my bearings before I’m already tugged along.

“Hey, wait!” I say. “What about the house? Shouldn’t we grab more supplies or something?”

“Too heavy.”

He’s back to his usual grumpy self.

I don’t like it one bit.

Especially because I was just getting used to the comfort of an actual roof over my head.

“Why are you in such a hurry? Who’s waiting for us?” I ask.

Of course, he doesn’t answer. He heads straight into the forest again, leaving behind the cabin as though we never made it our own. But that place will forever be marked as the spot where he fucked me like a beast unchained … where I lost my virginity to my captor.

I swallow hard as I follow him, trying to keep up. His steady pace is so much faster than my normal walk. With his giant feet, he gets to where he wants in no time. But I’m hanging on behind, attached to a rope, attempting not to fall on every rock, and it’s hard.

“Can we slow down a bit?” I ask, biting my lip when my toes hit a sharp rock. “I’m trying not to fall over here.”

“No.” His responses have been even more brisk ever since what happened between us.

It’s like he’s mad at me or something, but that doesn’t make any sense. I wasn’t the one who fucked him.

“Are you mad at me or something? I already told you, I removed that thing because you were in pain.”

“It doesn’t matter,” he responds, chopping away at the branches in his way like he’s a butcher.

“Yes, it does. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be blazing around the forest like this. You’re obviously upset and taking it out on the trees.” I sigh. “And me.”

He glances at me over his shoulder with a look that would make any girl shut up immediately. “My metal was protecting you.”

I swallow. “Well … if it was there to protect me, does Eli have one too?”

He frowns. “What does that have to do with this?”

“Because if he doesn’t, then why do you? He punishes girls too.”

“That’s different.”

“No, it isn’t,” I respond. “And I know that house was all about sin, so Eli and Tobias must have had something to stop themselves too.”

“Not this metal,” he growls.

I know I’m asking a lot, but as long as he’s answering, I’m gonna try to figure this out.

“Then why did you have one on your crotch?”

“I already told you. Customs,” he spits back, and he continues walking. “And you took that away.”

“It’s not a good custom if it hurts you,” I retort. “And me.”

“Hurt?” He raises a brow at me. “You seemed to like it.”

I scoff, turning red again, but I’m glad he’s not looking. “How would you know?”

“Your wet pussy said enough,” he quips.

I want to kick and punch him in the face, but I know I can’t win that fight.

Ugh, why is he so infuriating? And why does he still make me blush?

Fuck.

“Easy for you to say. It wasn’t important or special to you. But you robbed me of my first time and—”

Suddenly, he halts, and I almost smash into him again. He spins on his heels to face me with a menacing look. “Do not ever say that again.”

“What?” I can barely look up at him as he towers over me.

“It was …” He puts his finger against my chest. “Special.”

A few seconds pass as we gaze at each other, my heart pounding so hard I bet he can feel it with that one finger. And I want to simultaneously smack it away and kiss him on the lips right then and there.

Fuck. I’ve really lost myself, haven’t I?

“That metal was there for a purpose,” he says. “It was my first, too.”

Then he turns around and marches off, leaving me flabbergasted.

Only when I’m tugged along by the rope do I realize I have to keep moving so I don’t fall flat on my face and get dragged along.

Soren was a virgin?