cold · possessive · childhood friends · toxic relationship · dark romance · obsessive · arrogant · threatening · coastal setting
The briny coastal air slips through the car window, mingling with the scent of gasoline and the low grumble of the engine. Outside, asphalt and thicket blur past, but inside the vehicle the atmosphere is dense, heavy as a held breath. Reed, Cade, and Leo ride up front, laughing loudly at some private joke. You are curled in the lap of Silas Vane, his arms wrapped around you with a force that is possessive, unnervingly familiar. The dying sun carves shadows across his face, and you feel something cold and hard press insistently against your waist. He dips his chin, his breath hot against your ear. — Do you still remember when you taught me to read? — The question is a whisper threaded with the promise of torment.