@oathwegive on twt 🫶🏼

“No, Silas. I’m not afraid of love,” I say firmly. “But you should be afraid of me. I hurt people who try to care about me, Hawthorne. Don’t let yourself becomes one more victim of my wretched heart.”

“No falling in love. I’m not saying this to tempt you. This applies to both of us. This needs to remain as fake as possible, or else I’m gone.” He takes another sip of his coffee, eyes lingering on my face with the movement, before speaking again. “Is that your greatest fear, Hex? Falling in love?”

“And I don’t eat meat.” “Since when?” I ask. Silas looks down, the harshness in his eyes softening, and like it’s no big, like it’s the simplest thing in the world, he says, “Since you told me you don’t like the smell.”

“You believe everything you read about me?” “What little I did read seems to all be a lie.” I don’t miss the way she draws out the word “little,” wanting to remind me of how little she concerns herself with me. “They say you don’t talk much. Yet, that doesn’t seem to be the case.” “With you.”

A woman who nearly every man in this room has stopped to admire in one way or another. Not just because she’s the artist but her allure. That has nothing to do with her beauty. A lot of women are beautiful, but this is how she quietly absorbs attention, unaware of the effect she has on others.

Coraline Whittaker likes to behave. And there is nothing I love more than turning a headstrong woman into a needy whore. Completely, utterly at my mercy, watching her whine and cry for an orgasm she can’t have unless I say so.

The world is still hazy, and all I know is he’s the only thing keeping me from falling to the ground. “Coraline.” He whispers my name like a secret. “Breathe for me, Hex. Breathe.”

But Silas, it’s like he knows how to keep me rooted in the present. With two hands, he holds me to the earth, refuses to let go, and makes me feel everything.

“You touch me a lot,” I say when he squeezes me lightly. The heat from his hands feels like fire on my cold skin. Warmth pours over me, making me clench my thighs. “You’re very touchable, Hex.”

The little string of fate that refused to let me take my eyes off her in that club. It hummed between us like a secret. It kills her that she can’t pick up the scissors and cut it. It kills me that I want more of it. I shouldn’t be wanting more of anyone. Especially not of her.

“Then why are you here, Coraline?” “I came to ask if you still need someone to play fake girlfriend.”

Coraline wants me to fear her, as if that lovely, dark thing inside of her is something to run from. She’s the only one who can’t see that it’s a siren’s call.

silascora edit

“You’re my wife, Coraline Hawthorne. If I want to cover myself in the blood of a thousand more men to protect you, I will,” I tell her. “They cannot hurt you without having to answer to me.”

I've slowly learned that the past doesn't matter when you give the rest of your life to someone like Silas. When you know he'll have the start and end to all of your days. Everything before him? It doesn't exist, he won't allow it.

“That what I am, hex?" He hums, turning around to face me, his hands cupping my face, "Your curse breaker?" "You are everything, Silas Hawthorne. Everything.”

But she’s worth it. Worth the pain, worth the fear, worth the grief if she goes before me. Worth her weight in gold, and I’d like to destroy anyone that made her feel like she wasn’t. Like loving her is a hard thing to do. Loving Coraline Whittaker is worth inevitable death.

She’s opium. Some addictive substance that I never want to quit. That subtle, sweet sting of drugs being injected into your bloodstream, its tendrils wrapping around your mind, luring you into that secluded place where subtle whispers and sweet release hide.

“Relax for me, Hex.”

“Hex code #dd4a3d. It's name is Coraline." "I'm your favorite color?" "You're my favorite everything, Hex.”

“What are you, Hm? Say it, Coraline.”  “I’m yours. I’m your wife.”

Silas loves me like breathing, easy, naturally, like he was made for it. And I love him carefully, tenderly like he's the only thing keeping me alive.

“Then why are you here, Coraline?” “I came to ask if you still need someone to play fake girlfriend.”

Coraline is attracted to me, and that bothers her. Bothers her so much, I might get the worst of her venom if I push a little too hard.