Eden

Chapter Fourteen

Unedited.

It sat on a high point, a cliff sat off in the distance and the light roar of waves crashing against the jagged side could be heard. On the other side, a groove of weeping willows swayed in the the soft breeze. The house nestled between all of it was facade of paradise, it was made out of dedication and from the exceptions of what were to be. But Eden saw the truth of it.

This was her pretty little cage.

Defeat whispered into her ear, yet the caress of ire shattered it like ice. Still, it kept reeling her in as she caught more and more details of the fireside. How the willow boughs resembled that of a fence, leaves morphing into sharp barbs, the land around it a yard to the prison she was about to be thrown in. The cabin a cell that she would be locked in and the key would be tossed away into to the belly of the beast that called himself Judah.

"Do you like it?" His gruff baritone brushed against the shell of her ear, the piercings in the skin singing from the heat of the male.

"No. But this is yours so I have to take it." Just like everything else you've given me, she added mournfully.

His hand tightened on the curve of her bicep enough to make her squirm. "Ours. It is ours. You should be grateful that you have a roof over you and bed to rest your head."

Teeth sunk into her skin possessively, making her legs quiver and hands grasp onto the tribal scarred arm of the nomad.

"Yes, ours." A tear escaped as she submitted and allowed him to drag her in.

§

Eden found herself resting on a swing that was hidden in the crook of the cabin that was the back porch, it was a delightful surprise. She had always liked swings, even a wee child. The abstract caress of air surrounding and swaddling her as she dared to go higher and higher, though this was only a lounging swing it still hashed out joy to her.

The nipping chill that slithered in as the sun set from the cool waters close came with a vengeance for the formerly scorching day. A temperature that she was used to.

Eden swallowed harshly as she remembered her family. Her alpha kin, Lochlan, was the one whose presence always whispered in the back of her head. She knew his reign would be a harsh one and could only hope him the best, but Eden missed him dearly. As quickly as he came back into her life, she was torn out of his.

Pursing her lips, she nudged off her boots, toes curling in away from the abnormally coolness. Her throat constricted as she tipped her head back, she began to sway in the lounge swing. With each push she could catch a glimpse of the darkening sky just past the cut of the porch roof.

"Come inside, dinner is ready." The corners of her eyes grew tight, that inkling of resentment curled up her spine like a wisp of smoke.

She didn't want to go inside with him. She didn't want to eat dinner with him. She didn't want him.

Eden just wanted to lay down and rest, not waking up for months. She wondered if then the crushing weight on her chest would fade, that the tension in her body would be no more. But somehow she found herself sitting on the opposite side of the male, plate steaming with an abundance of food.

Her lips slightly twitched upward when she saw silverware laid out, Eden had grown so accustomed to eating with just her hands in the past few months that the weight of the utensils felt odd in her grasp. Tentatively, she poked around her food, not even the mouthwatering smell of rich meat could get her stomach stirring.