Tamed: A Huntress Spin-off Novel Read Online Free PDF

felt so incredibly safe with, and I hated that I let myself look so weak and vulnerable to him.
    He cupped my chin and forced me to look at him. “I’m not familiar with your past. All I know is that you were involved in some messed up shit. But I say, regardless of your choices, you are human and you are going to make mistakes. You’re hurting. I can see that. You’ve let what happened in the past and even now take hold of you, and you can’t let that happen. If you don’t let yourself break free, you will always drown in your pain.”
    He made total sense, but it was easier said than done. My scars ran deep; so deep that I was afraid I would never be able to overcome the pain that I had come to know so well.
    “How could you possibly understand what I’m going through?”
    He stared at me, his face darkening with sorrow. He looked away and gazed up at the sky.
    “I’ve been through plenty of hardships, but the one I almost didn’t recover from was losing my sister Alyssa.”
    My brows knitted together as I placed my hand over his, feeling sympathy for him. “I’m sorry…Could I ask what happened?”
    His eyes widened slightly, tearing his gaze away from the sky as they settled on me. He seemed tense, maybe even nervous all of a sudden. He had that same reaction a lot. I wonder why.
    “Are you okay?
    “Uh, yeah, she was…murdered.”
    My breath hitched and my lips parted as I suffered from the shock of his news.
    “That’s terrible.” I really didn’t know what to say or even how to console him, so I hoped my hand gave at least some of the comfort he needed.
    He was opening himself up to me, giving me a glimpse of the part of his life that he had to fight to overcome. Even though our stories had different circumstances, it helped that he at least felt the pain I had to live with every day of my life.
    “I see me in you…well, the Eli that was a total train wreck before. I saw that lost look in your eyes that I had carried myself at one point.”
    Just as he spoke those words, reality came punching me in the gut as I realized that he was getting too close. He was beginning to figure me out, or worse, already did. I didn’t want to let him in. Everyone that I once was close to somehow always got hurt. I had to go.
    I sat up and climbed off the trampoline.
    “Are you leaving me again?” he asked.
    “I have to go to bed.” I have to get away from you. You make me feel and say things that I would rather not feel and say.
    “Wait.”
    He grabbed my wrist, forcing me to turn around and face him. “I have a feeling about you, Paige Jacobs.”
    “I hope it’s a good feeling.”
    He smiled and nodded as his eyes shined with no judgement, as if he could care less about what I did, and it felt so good to have someone actually see me; not my bad reputation.
    I smiled, feeling my heart betray me once more as my stomach fluttered. “Goodnight, Eli.”
    When I got back to my room, Preston was gone with just a small puddle of blood on the floor to show that he had been there. Eli must have removed him from my room. Thank God. I couldn’t handle seeing his face.
    As minutes ticked by, the comfort I felt in Eli’s presence was fading, turning cold, and I was left with nothing but the darkness closing in on the light from the sunshine he gave to me.
    I let out a breath and frowned. The gloomy feeling was coming back stronger than ever. I turned off my bedroom light and climbed in bed. I wanted to fall asleep and forget about Preston, but I was alone in total sereneness, giving my mind free reign to wander back. My mind was spinning with memories of his unwanted touch, the beer on his breath, his hand down there, invading my body.
    Suffering in sorrow, I burst into tears. It was deep, hard, and endless. Seconds, the longest seconds I have ever had to live, minutes, then an hour went by and I was still weeping with no sign of it letting up. I felt so violated.
    My door suddenly clicked open, and the light from