Striker: A Dark Bully Romance (Redwood Rebels Book 1) Rachel Leigh (the reading list book .TXT) 📖

his mind on whether or not he wants to touch me out of something more than loathing. When he drops it to his side, I breathe a sigh of relief. It’s not that I don’t want him to touch me; I just don’t want him to try and comfort me. I don’t like being coddled, and something tells me that it would be just as awkward for him.

There’s an interval of complete and utter silence.

Until he breaks it. “Who else has touched you.”

I roll over on my back and his head shoots up. I look into his eyes. “Why are you asking me this?”

“I need to know. I have to know every man that has ever touched your body sexually.”

My brows pinch together and I huff out, “That’s not your business!”

Narrow eyes and a twisted expression stare back at me. “It’s not, but for my own personal sanity, I have to know. It’s eating away at my insides, knowing that there are other men out there who have touched you—tasted you—and felt you from the inside.”

Throwing the blanket off from me, I go to get up. “I’m going back to my room.”

Strong fingers press to my stomach. “I’m sorry. Please stay.” He throws his head back into the pillow, lying completely on his back. “Fuck, Marni. Don’t you see what you’re doing to me?”

“No. No, I don’t. But I think you need to tell me because you’re acting even more fucked up than usual.”

In one breath, he’s on top of me. Clenching my cheeks into his hands and his eyes...they’re glistening with dampness. “You’re slowly killing me, Marni. I’m so beyond fucked up and each day that you exist, you’re slowly slaying my heart.”

Opening my mouth to speak, nothing comes out. “I—”

“Something keeps flickering inside of me. It’s like a child toying with a light switch. Flicking it up and down and the damn thing either needs to be on or off. It’s you. You’re fucking with it.”

“But I’m not doing anything. Only what you’ve asked of me.”

I have no idea what he’s talking about or what is happening right now. I’ve never seen this side of Talon and I’m not sure what to think. Could it be that he’s having regrets? That he feels something for me that has nothing to do with the reason I’m here?

His thumb glides over my lips as he watches the movement. “I’ve done something, Marni. I had to fucking do it. It was the only way.”

My body stills. “What did you do?” His eyes shoot up to mine and something whirls around inside of me that has my heart palpitating. “What the hell did you do?”

“I brought you here as a sacrifice. A pawn in my game of revenge.” His head tilts forward as his lips linger over mine. “And now, I have to let you go.”

19

Aggressively, she tries to shove me off of her, but I’m not having it. Not yet. I have one more night with her— one chance to change things, and I’m not about to lose that time.

“Get off me,” she bellows, as her fists knock at my chest. “You’re freaking me out, Talon. What are you talking about? Sacrifice? Pawn? Have you lost your damn mind?”

I can’t get up. She’ll run. I have to keep her here and make her understand. To try and rectify what I’ve done. My head sways back and forth as I linger over her. “It wasn’t supposed to be like this.” It wasn’t, damnit. I wasn’t supposed to fall for her.

“Like what?” She screams, “Talk to me. Now!’

Lifting my head up, I look at her. Her big, beautiful blue eyes. Something bites my insides. Something that has no business being there. It’s a feeling of...I’m not even sure what it is, but it has my heart feeling like it’s doubled in size and it’s requiring more of my blood to pump each beat. All I know is, I don’t like that look on her face and the sadness in her eyes.

“We had a plan. You were only here as part of it. Get the video, start the conversation and lure him in.” I’m not sure why I’m telling her this. It could ruin everything, but the words spill out like liquid ink. “But you slowly started filling up a space inside of me that has been empty my entire life. I began to feel my pulse and see the sun and damnit, Marni, I felt remorse. I hated what I was doing to you. And I’ve never regretted anything before this.”

Cold fingertips sweep across my forehead, brushing the airy strands of hair from my face. “Does this plan have anything to do with the video you recorded of me?”

Something snaps inside of me. “How the fuck did you know about that?” I watch as she swallows the hard lump in her throat and fear settles in her eyes. “Tell me, damnit!” I shout.

“Zed showed me.” Tears well in the corner of her eyes and a new level of rage ensues when one slides down her cheek.

It’s not the video. It’s something bigger than that. “Did he touch you?”

When she doesn’t respond, I have my answer.

My steps reverberate beneath me as I tear open the door, unsure of the interval between lying in bed with her and hurtling down the stairs. Completely oblivious to the words flying through the air that she spews behind me.

I’ll kill him with my bare hands. 

He’s dead. 

He’s so fucking dead. 

“Talon, stop!” she cries out.

I bee-line straight for his door and kick it in. My foot gets tangled in the slivers of separated wood and I rip it out, paying no attention to the chunk burrowed into the skin of my tugged-up pant leg.

I thrash onto the bed and tear through the blankets. Where the hell is he? 

Spinning around, she’s there. Beautiful tears spread down her face like wildfire. “Talon, please. Just stop.”

“Where the fuck is he?” I scream at the top of my lungs. Every vein in