by CM Wondrak
Tenley had made the comment that my apartment had no personality, and she was right, of course. What she neglected to say was that her room was the exact same. Hardly anything on the walls, no pictures displayed anywhere to show that she’d had a good time growing up. No photos of her parents. Nothing at all to say she missed the life she used to have.
That was just fine though, because she and I would make our own life together. Finally. After all these fucking years, I was about to get the only thing I’d ever wanted: Tenley, all to myself. Tenley in my bed every night. Tenley out in the open, where we could say fuck you to everyone who looked at us the wrong way.
I had a place we would go to. It was a few states away, in the mountains, so it would take a day and a half’s drive to get there, but once we were there, we would blend into obscurity. No more running, no more chasing. The game was finally drawing to a close.
We finished packing the car, and Tenley stood in her room, her blonde head flipping around as she took one last look at it. Her blue eyes lingered only when they reached me, those pretty cerulean orbs that shone with a brilliance even in the darkness. “I can’t believe we’re actually leaving,” she whispered.
I leaned against the wall, hands in my pockets, as I told her, “I said we’d get out of here. I meant it.”
Her phone sat on her bed, its sheets made. I wanted nothing more than to push her to those same sheets and fuck her in her own bed, but she was too jittery, too excited to get out of here. Even if sex could relieve some of the anxiety that came with waiting, she’d still have that far-off look in her eyes.
As far as I was concerned, she’d never done anything like this before. She’d never gone on the offensive, always ducking that chin to her chest and being the meek little girl everyone assumed she was.
She wasn’t. She was far from it, and even after all these years, it seemed I was the only one who believed in her. What a pity. The rest of the world didn’t know what the hell it was missing.
Tenley walked toward me, and I pulled my hands out of my pockets mere moments before she leaned against me. I heard her breathe me in, and I wrapped my arms around her tightly, holding her close. She fit so snugly against my chest, such a petite frame compared to me. She let out a sigh, tilting her head back as she gazed up at me, lips parting.
Her hands roamed up toward my neck, weaving behind it as she pulled my head down to hers, her mouth pressing against mine. I kissed her hard, knowing I would never turn down those lips on mine. The way they felt—so fucking soft, so unbelievably gentle yet hungry at the same time—was addicting. Everything about her was addicting.
After all these years, I couldn’t believe everything was falling into place so perfectly.
Heat began to gather in my lower half, and even though I wanted nothing more than to feel her skin brush against mine, I pulled my mouth off hers, panting out the words, “We should go downstairs and watch over your aunt. I want to be there when she wakes up.” Oh, the look on her face would be priceless, I knew. Fucking priceless.
Besides, this thing between Tenley and I, it never was about sex. It was about love, desire, wanting… obsession. It was so much more than the physical aspect—even though that part of it was fucking great, too. What we had was something most people spent their entire lives searching for. Maybe it sounded cheesy, and maybe it was, but Tenley and I were soulmates, drawn to each other despite society’s attempts at keeping us apart.
Tenley nodded, though I could tell she would’ve also been more than okay with continuing our embrace.
Keeping her small hand tucked in mine, I led us out of her room and down the stairs. We went into the living room, where we got comfy on the couch together… less than two feet from her unconscious aunt. I flipped channels on the TV, and with Tenley snuggled on my lap, we waited.
Tenley actually dozed off while cuddling with me, and I let her, figuring once we were actually on the road, she would be too excited to finally get out of this town to do much sleeping. I stayed awake and alert enough for the both of us.
It took a long while before Kayla started stirring. A moan came from her, which first alerted me to her waking up. I turned off the television and woke Tenley. Tenley looked fucking adorable as she yawned and stretched, but her eyes snapped to attention when I pointed to her aunt. She did not get off my lap; if I had to guess, I’d say she wanted Kayla to lay eyes on us both at the same time.
The curtains were drawn in the house, only a lamp light on in the room. No one from outside could see in. No one could see that we had Kayla on the couch, her hands behind her back and her ankles stuck together with tape. No one would be interrupting us.
It was just past three in the morning when Kayla’s eyelids finally lifted, and she struggled to get up, to lift her head off the cushions of the couch. It was a challenge, since I bet the drugs were still in her system. She’d feel out of it for a few hours more yet, and she’d have a raging headache the rest of the day.
Kayla’s mouth opened, and she tried to speak, but no words came out. It took a few minutes more before her eyes were able to focus on Tenley… and me—and when she saw me, she jerked away, trying to get to her feet, but since her arms were behind her back and her ankles were tied together, all she did was trip herself and nearly fall off the couch.
“What…” she sounded out of it, but enough in her head to realize who I was. Ten years since we’d seen each other and she could still recognize me even while drugged up. “What the hell…” She blinked, slowly struggling against the tape on her wrists. “Tenley, get off of him.”
Tenley curled on my lap, almost like a cat, closing her eyes and nuzzling against my chest, all while her aunt stared, as if to rub it in.
“What… what’s wrong with you? Get off him!” The more Kayla spoke, the more she sounded like herself: stern, serious, completely annoying. The same woman who never hid her hatred of me, her suspicion that I’d killed her brother and her sister-in-law. “That’s the man that killed your parents. He kidnapped you!”
A smile curled on Tenley’s lips as she lifted her head off my chest, saying simply, “I know.”
All Kayla could do was breathe and struggle futilely. She now realized her arms and her ankles were taped; she couldn’t run, couldn’t make a mad dash to her phone and call the police. All she could do was sit there and listen to Tenley.
“I know who he is, Kayla,” she went on, slowly sliding off my lap and moving to stand before her aunt. Kayla didn’t know whether to look at Tenley or watch me; she settled on Tenley, since she was the one standing closest to her.
I didn’t move. The only thing I planned on doing was watching with a smirk on my face. Kayla was frightened, scared, shocked at the turn of events, and the way Tenley stared her down wasn’t going to make her feel any better. That’s my girl.
“I know what he did,” Tenley said, kneeling before her aunt and setting her hands on her knees. Kayla was frozen, unable to move. “And you know what? I don’t care. I love him, and I would do anything for him.”
Finally, Kayla let the words sink in. Her eyes welled with tears, and she shook her head once, muttering, “No, Tenley… how? How could you say those things? He’s a monster—”
Eh, that much might be true.
“I don’t care,” Tenley cut in with a shake of her head as she got to her feet, once more towering over her aunt’s sitting form. “I love him, and if that makes me a monster too, well… I guess I’m just like him.”
“No,” Kayla cried out, glancing at me, the fury in her gaze unmatched. “You motherfucking—” Whatever else she was about to say got caught in the back of her throat when Tenley shot a hand out, grabbing her hair and forcing her to turn that head back to her.
“Do not speak to him like that,” Tenley uttered, her grip on Kayla’s hair tight, so tight Kayla winced, even through the drug stupor. “Anything you say to him, you can say to me. He is a part of me, and I’m a part of him. We belong together.”
“
No, you don’t,” Kayla said, still trying to reason with her. “He is a monster. He’ll turn on you. He will kill you just like he killed your parents! A monster like him could never love.”
Tenley let go of her, shoving her back to the couch. “I’m going to say this once. Don’t make me repeat myself.” She looked at me, reaching out a hand toward me, and I got up and moved to stand behind her. The added presence of me near Tenley made Kayla not say a single word. “I never belonged here with you. I belonged with him, and you and the police took him from me.”
I breathed evenly, satisfaction crawling throughout me at hearing her words. I couldn’t be prouder of my girl. Such a good girl she was.
“If you or anyone else tries to take him from me again, I won’t be nice about it. I will make you regret it, Kayla, and that’s a promise.” Tenley spoke her threat so intensely, so seriously, that her aunt was rendered speechless still. “I will make you regret every single choice you’ve ever made.” She stepped toward me, her hand finding mine.
Kayla’s gaze fell to our intertwined hands, her mouth open but not saying a single word.
“I’m going with him,” Tenley said. “We’re leaving. I don’t want you to look for us. I just want to leave and live the life I should’ve had… with him.” She paused, turning her chin up to smile at me. The love she had for me was evident.
All Kayla could seem to do was shake her head.
“You will,” Tenley started, growling out, “or, like I said, I will make you regret it. Live your life and let me live mine. I belong with him, not here with you.” She took a step away from her aunt, dragging me with her, though she never broke eye contact. “Goodbye, Kayla. Have a nice life.”
“No,” Kayla shouted after us, but we didn’t stop. We kept going, leaving her there on the couch. “No! Don’t—come back! Tenley!” Over and over she cried, but we kept going, heading to the front door.
Tenley led the way to the car, and I let her. Tonight was her night, anyway.
We got in the car, but I didn’t start her up right away. I glanced toward the house, toward the life Tenley was about to leave forever. Staring at it under the moonlight, nothing at all looked out of place. Just glancing at it, you’d never know someone was in there, tied up, unable to move. We left her like that on purpose, of course. She’d eventually figure out a way to get it off her, and by then, we’d be long gone.
I tore my gaze away from the house, landing it on Tenley. “You don’t think she’ll follow us?” I guess I wasn’t so much worried about her as I was the police.
Tenley was slow in buckling her seatbelt, meeting my stare in the darkness. “No,” she whispered. “And if she does, we’ll make her regret it.” Spoken so simply, so effortlessly. The threat of using violence against her aunt was not something she would shirk away from.
Like I said, I couldn’t be prouder of my girl.
I grinned at her. “That we will.” I stuck the keys into the ignition and started the car up. Before long, we were on the road, heading out of this town and away from everything Tenley had ever known.
Well, everything but me. As long as we had each other, we could overcome everything life threw at us. No matter where we went, no matter where we ended up, we could take it.
Tenley and I… our story was just beginning.
Hi, guys! Did you enjoy Twisted Love? I always get a little nervous when I write a M/F romance since I’ve been drowning myself in reverse harem lately. (I also write under Candace Wondrak.)
If you liked it, please leave a review. Reviews help books gain traction on Amazon, and any sharing you can do in book groups also gives books life! Seriously, we can talk about our own books all we want, but it means so much more when it comes from a reader.
If you want another standalone romance (though a lot less dark than Twisted Love), check out Voyeur, which is under my other pen name, and don’t forget to preorder Cold Blooded, which comes out March 1st!
And if you’re in the mood for a serial killer as a main character, I just released Shadowed Heart under my other pen name. Lola is crazy, but so, so fun.
Also, I love talking about books (not just mine. Any book. I LOVE books!) in general on my Twitter: www.twitter.com/CandaceWondrak and on Instagram: www.instagram.com/CandaceWondrak
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