All Chapters of Craving Mr. Cane: Chapter 81 - Chapter 90

Austin The distinct smell of iron permeates my nostrils. I scrunch my eyes closed, willing away the fresh memory of seeing my love in agony. Red. There’s so much of it. On my hands, my shirt. My nails are caked in it. Dried blood. Oh god - - her blood. Splattered on the fabric over my knees where I’ve tightly clutched the skin. Anything to help keep me tethered. Anything to keep me from knocking down nurses and interns from getting to her. There’s so much blood. I grit my teeth as I fight the thought that for every ounce splashed on me, less is circulating in her body. I fist my hands, I’d give anything to put it all back. I’d give anything to rewind everything. What could a few more minutes have done to save her? A few seconds? Could I have stopped him from putting that bullet inside my love? I blink back the extreme urge to find him and make him suffer. Bullets wouldn’t do. It won’t be enough. Nothing would be enough. How could he harm her? How could he do this to her? I

“You’ll never get out of here. Give it up,” the voice taunted. “Don’t even try it. It’s useless. You’re wasting your time.” “N… no, no…” “Now, come here.” The voice sounded nearer. I can feel his hot breath on the shell of my ear. “Don’t move. We’re going to play,” he said giddily. “No!” I yelled out. “Liv, please…” Another voice reached my senses. But it’s so far away. “Get off me!” I lashed, straining my arms against my restraints. “Whoa!” I woke with a start. Austin’s shocked face greeted me. “What happened?” I said as he tried his best to school his expression. “Nothing, I startled you. I’m sorry,” he said calmly. “I shouldn’t have woken you up like that.” “Okay, I’m going to ask once again and I want an honest answer. No sugarcoating, what happened just now?” “You were having a nightmare. I tried to shake you a bit. Well, uhm… it didn’t go that well.” He stroked my arm while saying this. “You were crying, love. And you almost pushed me off. If not for those

Austin“Nothing’s going to happen to me here. Go, settle things with her. I’ll wait for you. Don’t worry, I’ll be fine.” Olivia’s voice swims in my head as I head towards the woman whom I used to call mother. She uttered those encouraging words but her eyes told me a completely different story. The hint of panic was there. I saw it when she craned her neck as I slipped out of her room. Every fiber of my being didn’t want to leave her, even for just an hour. The instinctive need to protect her rages in me. What if something happens to her and I’m not there to take care of her? What if he manages to escape and goes after her again? I’ll never forgive myself if anything happens to her again. As is, I’m not even sure if I have yet to remove the guilt from letting her slip away. He was able to snatch her because I was stupid and useless. I’ll never forget that. And I won’t let it happen again.“Let’s keep this short and simple. What do you want?” My clipped tone brokers no chit-chat. T

Nothing is easy. If everything were, it would lose its meaning. At least that was what my physical therapist said. The second one, the first one had a little bit of attitude problem. Okay, scratch that. That was me, I was the problem. I couldn’t get my body to function how I’d like it to and poured my frustrations on anyone nearby. Austin had the wisdom to cut ties with that therapist so it wouldn’t get ugly. I don’t get mad, I just sulk. The passive-aggressive treatment lost its touch by my 5th session and instead, Austin got the brunt of it after. I really should get a handle on my emotions. I know that… It’s just that I can’t get myself to talk about it. I just can’t. Every time I try to, it’s like a dark cloud envelops everything and I choke up. The memories quickly turn into reality in my head. The fear of it happening again takes over. In my mind, talking about it means reliving everything, and who would want that? Who would desire to go back to the most painful event in thei

“It’s barely been a month. I thought they were holding up.” A pause.“You were supposed to give me a heads up. Were you not handling it?” Another pause. “Just stop talking…I’ll be there in half an hour.” Austin’s heated voice carried into the room. I abruptly put down my book and cocked my head. He entered the room shortly, sweaty from his workout and fuming from whatever news he just heard. I followed him with my eyes as he stripped naked and got a towel. I averted my eyes. Forcing my eyes to remain on Stephen King’s short stories. What was he saying about corn?I didn’t retain one word of the whole page as Austin came back to the bed after his shower. He shrugged on a long-sleeved shirt with barely buttoned gray slacks.A suit. I know this Austin very well. Mr. Cane buttoned up his cuff links. All he needs is his expensive loafers and he’d be ready to conquer the world as the big bad boss that he is. “Love, please call your mom. I have an emergency.”“Wait… what happened?” “It