This is book 2 in the "Beautiful Destruction" series. You MUST READ "Theirs to Claim" first in order to understand this one.
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When I was ten, my father told me that all of my dreams would one day come true. Naively, I believed him.
I may have gr...
Pt. 2 of the double update. Sexual Content Warning 🌶
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Chapter 22 : Xavier Thursday, December 1st, 2022
"You don't seem as enthusiastic as I am, but that's okay." My father's cruel, menacing tone spun webs around me as he took a single step out the door, his hands resting peacefully in his pockets. "Maybe your gift will excite you for the real thing."
Vincent barely even got in the last word before I was slamming the door in his face, the muffled echoes of a laugh sounding on my porch.
My anger amused him beyond words, but I wouldn't do what he asked of me.
The love I had for my Madelyn was stronger than any promise I made, and I wouldn't marry her under these circumstances. I refused, it was as simple as that.
Vincent was gone now, leaving me in a house full of silence apart from the low hum of a noise I couldn't detect, the sound growing in volume until the sharp rasp of a ding demanded my attention to behind me.
Spinning around, my heart held as I watched the doors of the elevator open slowly, a sick feeling already spreading in my chest as I knew something was wrong.
This has happened before.
"Madelyn!" I screamed as the gates peeled open to the sight of a woman lying unconscious, her beautiful blonde hair spread out around her head like a silky smooth fan.
I tried to run for her as panic clawed at my chest, but my breath was forced still as my limbs refused to move, feeling as though I were running against a pool of thickened honey.
"Madelyn! Madelyn!" I screamed again and again before everything around me froze, my eyes blinking confusedly as the invisible grip on my body disappeared.
This has happened before.
The woman on the ground wasn't my Madelyn. This was a trick, a dream, a nightmare.
This wasn't real.
"Xavier." A soft, sweet voice whispered my name, pulling me right back into the horrors in front of me. It wasn't just a voice; it was hers.
My heart lurches as I race towards the woman in the elevator, my feet taking me almost too fast this time as I drop to my knees before her, cradling Madelyn's limp head in my arms.
"Xavier?" She whispers again, but this time it sounds broken, helpless, lost.
"I'm here, Mads." I cry as I stare down at the light dusting of freckles across her cheeks, the pretty curves of her lips and the incomparable green of her tear glossed eyes. "I'm here." I promise as I rock her slowly back and forth, smiling at the feeling of her warmth beneath my touch.
