Ruin (Rhodes #1) by Rina Kent

                             “I know you’re there, Mae.” Aaron’s calm voice resonates from the other side of the door. I recoil, my heart doing an involuntary flip.

                             With a deep breath, I open the door and slip inside. I freeze at the doorway. Tingles erupt in the soles of my feet, forbidding me any movement. Aaron is in shorts and a plain cotton T-shirt, drying his hair with a towel. That’s literally all he’s doing, but it still bursts my stomach’s butterflies into a frenzy. Are they mistaking this with hunger? Or am I hungry for something other than food?

                             “What is it?” He sounds calm, indifferent. As if he’s talking with one of his damn guards.

                             “Oh, look at that. You can talk.” I cross my arms, annoyance takes over the abnormal hunger. “Good to know you have a voice.”

                             “Lose the attitude, Mae.” His eyes darken, suffocating the tiny grey flecks. “I mean it.”

                             “Or what?” I puff my chest forward. “What will you do to me?”

                             He advances until the cedar scent of his shower gel casts a spell on me. My heart rate accelerates, drumming in my ears, rushing in my limbs. When his voice fills the space, electricity courses through my veins. “When did you stop being scared of me?”

                             Since I started having these stupid feelings for you. “Since you won’t kill me anymore,” I say instead, thankful my voice’s normal— taunting even. “I won that game.”

                             Aaron’s jaw ticks, his lips purse. Something other than anger flashes in his eyes. It’s more similar to confusion. Perhaps fear? My mouth hangs open. That combination is so foreign for Aaron. Maybe I should be scared after all.

                             He throws the towel on the floor and clutches my chin between his thumb and forefinger, bruising me. “This is not a game!” His shout shakes the room and hits me with crushing impact. “You should be scared of me. I will come after you when you least expect it, Mae. Be sure of that.”

                             He releases my chin with a shove and turns away. I stumble backwards, scarcely keeping myself from falling. Tears sting my eyes, fighting their way out. I sniff them back.

                             Aaron runs a frantic hand through his still-wet hair, pushing it back, then slumps onto his bed. Without glancing at me, he murmurs, “Now, get out.”

                             With quivering legs, I walk to him and sit by his side. He throws me a warning look, one I would’ve ran away from in the first days I came here. But now, it doesn’t seem convincing enough to stop me from holding his warm hand in mine. I don’t know what the hell I’m doing, but I won’t leave him this way. Who knows what could be going on in that rampant head of his.

                             “Don’t shut me out, Aaron,” I whisper, afraid a notch higher will ruin the moment.

                             I probe him some more, begging him with my voice and careful touches to open up. “Talk to me,” I murmur.

                             “I don’t know how.” He exhales long as if in defeat. His fingers twitch against my own. “Due to my aunt’s death, I became mute for about a year. Even after I had my voice back, I don’t like using it that much. At times, I don’t use it at all. I live inside my head until it is necessary to talk.” His lips pull up in half a smile. “You make that quite hard. Even more than Tristan and Dylan. That’s a record.”

                             I grin wide, probably looking like an idiot. I’m so happy that Aaron willingly shared a part of his past. This gives me a rope to hold onto. I lean closer until I’m once again bewitched by his signature cedar scent. My chest tightens, my stomach knots as if hungry to eat the scent and the person owning it.