But then she moved slightly. Her head fell to the side, and it was then that I caught it. I don’t know why I hadn’t seen it on her before now. The locket. The fucking locket I gave to her when we were young. What the fuck would she want with it now? Why the fuck was she still wearing it?
With that thought in my head, I shot up off the bed. How dare she think she could play me like this. How dare she think there was any connection with us after what she had done.
“Lotus, what’s wrong?”
I had to get out of there, fast. The rage was flowing through my veins. All I could see through my closed eyes were my parents. I needed out and I needed out fast.
With a quick tug, I loosened the ribbon that was holding her hands together on the bed. It wasn’t enough to free her, but enough for her to set herself free.
“Lotus?” she questioned, obviously wondering about my sudden change in temperament. But I wasn’t going to stick around to answer her. The moment I freed her enough, I was gone.
Chapter 21
Tyler
Buckinghamshire, 1996
“Do you like flowers, Tyler?” I nodded with a smile.
“When we get married, I’m going to buy you a flower every day until the day we die.”
My heart exploded with love for this boy. He was so tall and getting bulkier now, but always had the cheekiest, lopsided grin you ever saw. His hair was still dark, almost black, but he had the most striking blue eyes I had ever encountered. He was simply beautiful.
“You don’t want to be thinking about marriage when you’re only thirteen, Dean. Don’t be silly,” I giggled.
Dean looked serious as he took my hand. “I’m not being silly,” he said, looking deep into my eyes. “I’m just stating a fact.”
*****
The moment I heard the door shut, I knew he wasn’t coming back. I didn’t know what I had done to cause him to get so upset with me, but I couldn’t think about that. I had to get my hands free. They were starting to ache now that the fun was obviously over.
Moving my hands around a bit, I was able to break free of the ribbon and sit up. My wrists and my neck felt a little sore, but not as sore as my heart felt. For some reason, the feeling of rejection was rising through me and it almost caused a little sob to escape.
I couldn’t understand it. What did I do wrong? What could I possibly have done that changed his attitude so drastically?
I shook my head, wondering what on earth was wrong with me. He was a deviant who snuck into my room, did the most erotic things to me, stalked me, and knew everything there was to know about me. So, why was it that I was the one obsessing over him, left wondering whether he would ever come back? It was almost like I was lost to him now. I was once his obsession. Now it looks as though I was just as sick with it as him.
Sighing, I got out of bed and made sure he definitely wasn’t in the apartment anymore. I walked into my bathroom and found that he turned the toilet paper the other way. “Mother fuc—” Don’t do it, Tyler. Don’t let him win. Deep breaths, just take deep breaths.
I stood there for a moment, eyes closed and breathing out my frustration. It still bugged the hell out of me. That would never change. Bending down, I switched the toilet paper back around before flicking on the overhead light by my mirror. When the light came on, it blinded me a little, but not so much that I didn’t notice the bite on the other side of my neck. What was it with him and marking me?
Sighing, I trailed a finger over the bruised area, gazing at my reflection. My hair looked like it had been dragged through a hedge backwards, but I was tied up and abused in the most glorious way.
Shaking my head, I realised I had let him near the one place no one had ever explored before. I thought it would hurt, but he just seemed so gentle, and it just felt so right, that I found myself wanting more. I never thought I would enjoy something like that, but he seemed to know exactly what he was doing. And it both frightened and excited me.
I cleaned myself up and got back into bed, but I didn’t think sleep would come easy. I was exhausted, but I was also wound up tightly. He seemed to suddenly blow hot and cold on me. I didn’t know whether I was coming or going.
I know I was mostly coming, but there was something about him that I couldn’t quite put my finger on. I didn’t know whether to feel frightened, excited, anxious, or all of the above. All I knew was there was something familiar about him. There was something so tender and so right that it topped all of the rest of it. Treating me this way didn’t seem to matter in the grand scheme of things. Not when he was the only one since Dean that had made me feel this alive.