Sins On The Skin

XXIII.

A few hours later, Gwen was still sitting by her window, dry tear stains on her cheeks and jaw. She hadn't moved from that spot, at all. Not even when Seth had tried coaxing into joining him in bed. 'Just to sleep', he'd promised, forgetting all about the tantrum he'd thrown a few hours earlier. He'd spoken with such nonchalance, she'd found it hard not to scoff, as if anything that involved him could ever be that simple.

'Just to sleep' What a ridiculous notion.

'Maybe later' she'd replied, not bothering to hide her tiredness, feeling too weak to even scoff. Too tired to do anything but sit and stare at the apartment opposite to hers, the one with the closed curtains.

Those had to be the twenty four most exhausting hours of her entire existence. Both mentally and physically.

She didn't even know how she had managed to crawl back to her penthouse with her tail tucked between her legs after leaving Nathan's empty house. She didn't know where she had gotten the strength to cross the street, bare feet and all.

Seth had let it go, surprisingly enough, after catching the last act in Nathan's little show.

He'd laughed at her expense, and mocked her for trusting him. After those comments and those damn laughs, he let her be. Holy Hell, those laughs. She'd wanted to rip his tongue from his mouth so that he could finally stop torturing her with every breath he took. "See that? That's what happens when you betray those who love you; someone returns the favour."

There are no coincidences in the world, her subconscious reminded her.

Somehow, Seth had known that something like that would happen but even if he didn't, then he was certainly aware of the fact that Nathan had left when he'd told her to go run to him. God, she should have known it was a ploy. When had Seth ever shown kindness without having an ulterior motive?

Eventually, the sounds of him moving around her bedroom stopped and all she could hear was the sound of his deep, even breaths.

God, he's in my bed, the wave of nausea that came through her refused to retract. The thought of him sleeping on her sheets with his muscled arms wrapped around her pillow was revolting. However, it wasn't nearly as revolting as the look Nathan had sent her way once the blonde latched onto his neck.

At some point, she revoked all responsibility and did not try to reign in her emotions.

She cried.

Sobbed until the world grew loud again.

When she heard Seth enter the living room, she quickly wiped her tears away, desperately hoping he hadn't seen.

Seth scrounged down beside her and took her face in his hands, inspecting it carefully. "All that for him, really?" The pad of his thumb caressed her jaw, playing with the bruise he'd caused when he'd slapped her. He loved admiring his work. Always had. Always would. Until, of course, he broke her and had no toy to play with. "When will you realise that I'm the only one you've got?"