Descent (Black Heart Romance presents Heaven & Hell)

“No.”
Because I say no when I could easily say yes, she knows it’s the truth.
She swallows. “But… that’s not fair.”
“I didn’t say it was.”
“You aren’t giving me what I need out of this.”
“And what’s that?”
“Safety. I have to know that, even if you…” She can’t say the word as easily as I can. She
stumbles over it, then switches to a different phrase. “Even if you force yourself on me, you won’t
hurt me to the point that I can’t leave. You won’t… you won’t kill me.”
She blurts out the last of it with the sort of momentum that I can tell it’s not the first time the
thought has crossed her mind.
Is that what she’s afraid of?
I suppose I shouldn’t be stunned. Of course it has crossed her mind I could be more dangerous
than she has experienced thus far. I likely could, but I haven’t, so at least I can set her mind at ease
about that. “I’ve never murdered anyone, Hallie. I don’t intend to harm you, not that way.”
“That’s not a promise.”
“All right.” I pause to consider my wording. “I won’t promise not to hurt you. I have a hunger for
you that I’m going to satisfy, whether you consent or you don’t. But I will promise not to hurt you
beyond repair. I don’t mean mentally, I can’t entirely control your mental state, but I won’t take your
life from you. I would never take that.”
Still wary, she adds, “And you wouldn’t hire the syringe guys or anyone else to do it, either?”
My lips tug up at the corners. “No.”
She wants to trust me. Not because she’s invested in me the way I’m invested in her, but because
I have more power here, and she’ll never get a moment’s peace as long as I’m lurking around the
corner unless she can believe the things I say.
I’m sure she’d rather be rid of me altogether, but she’s realizing that’s not an option, and I like
the way she’s handling it.
“All right,” she says, her tone alerting me before her words that I’ve won. “I’ll agree to your
terms.”
“And I’ll agree to yours,” I tell her.
She nods, but not with much confidence. And why would she? I just manipulated the entire
situation so that I can do whatever I want to her tonight, and she still has to give me one last chance to
do it again.