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Chapter 10

Author: Celice Wylder
last update Last Updated: 2025-03-08 23:02:54

Madeleine

I wake at the break of dawn, suppressing a cry as my body calls out in pain. Despite the sinfully soft, comfortable mattress, everything hurts. From my head to my toes. It feels as if I went through a meat grinder and lived to tell the tale.

Betsy!

I have to find her. We must leave. The sooner, the better. I don’t know where we’ll go or what we’ll do yet, but I’ll figure it out. I always do.

I slowly and carefully roll to the edge of the bed and swing my legs over. The bed is so high, that my feet dangle halfway to the floor, and the thought of jumping down terrifies me.

But I desperately need to pee, and I have to find Betsy. The sun is rising, and if she can’t find me by the time she wakes up, she’ll go mad. Rafael was patient with her yesterday, but he’ll get sick of her meltdowns - everyone does in the end.

‘You can do this Madeleine,’ I say to myself and jump down, groaning as pain rockets up my legs and spine.

I inhale sharply and hold on to the bed to steady myself b
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    MadeleineI can’t breathe. Not properly. Not with Rafael’s mouth on mine and his hands gripping my waist like he’s afraid I’ll vanish.I don’t want to disappear.I want more of this. More of him.It has always been him. From the moment he walked into that church, until this day, it’s been him.I’ve dreamed of it. A day when he’d hold me. Kiss me. Take me to his bed.It's almost surreal. I didn't think it would actually happen. Not really. Not even after he gave me the ring.But here we are.And it’s so much better than I ever could have imagined.The way he kisses me - it’s not sweet or soft. It’s hunger. Sharp, desperate, and unfiltered. He tastes like painkillers and power, and something in me unravels, turns me inside out. I press closer, rising on my toes to meet him, opening my mouth when his tongue demands it. My body heats instantly, aching in places I’ve only ever imagined being touched.Places I’ve never even touched myself.I want him to touch me like that.His hands slide

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