NINETEEN – HIS

MASON

I look down at Mira, broken and cowering at my feet, then back at her signatures on the contact. I should be happy, goddamnit! I should be fucking ecstatic, but as her tears continue to fall faster and harder, all I feel is a strange, hollowed void in my chest.

I'm supposed to be happy, but I'm not. Instead, this persistent twinge in my heart refuses to go away. I vowed to break her, to strip her of all her defenses. To make her so fucking vulnerable, she would never think about refusing me.

And I succeeded. But this doesn't feel like a fucking victory. I feel like I'm in the middle of the bloody war.

Mira curls tighter into herself, simply rocking her trembling frame back and forth now. I go down on my haunches before her and she flinches. She fucking flinches away from me, after I specifically warned her never to do that again.

I shut my eyes against the influx of anger in my veins and lean in closer to scoop her into my arms.

She backs away, staring at me with a wild express