Chapter 20 Chapter 20
"Fear steals your voice, Desire steals whatever is left"
Clara didn’t turn. She couldn’t.
Her body froze, trembling so violently her knees nearly knocked together. Beside her, Trinity swore under her breath, soft, sharp and a little terrified.
Hale’s voice drifted from the doorway again, calm… too calm.
“Turn around.”
It wasn’t loud. It didn’t need to be.
Slowly, painfully slowly, they turned. Hale stood against the closed door, hands tucked into the pockets of his grey pants, his expression blank. Blank, but dangerous. His eyes, cold and steady, didn’t blink as they moved from Clara to Trinity then back to Clara
Clara’s throat tightened. She tried to speak, but her voice choked before any word could form. Her fingers trembled at her sides, palms sweaty, legs barely holding her weight.
Hale tilted his head slightly, studying her like she was some strange creature he couldn’t figure out.
“Interesting,” he murmured.
“You’re shaking Clara.”
Clara’s breath hitched. Trinity instinctively stepped in front of her.
“Tha...that’s normal,” Trinity snapped, even though her voice shook. “You scare people. It’s what you do.”
Hale didn’t even acknowledge her. His focus stayed on Clara...unblinking, sharp, intrusive.
He stepped closer.
Clara immediately backed up but hit the corner of the bed frame. Her breath stuttered, chest rising and falling too fast. Hale stopped only when he was a few feet from her, his height swallowing the space between them.
"Relax,” he said softly, though the softness somehow made it worse.
“If I wanted to kill you… I would’ve done it the last time.”
Clara flinched hard. Her fingers curled into fists, nails digging into her palms. She forced herself to speak, but the words came out in broken shivers.
“I...we..we weren’t...doing...an...anything"
Hale’s eyes narrowed at every stutter, every tremble.
“Try again,” he said, voice still low. “Use whole sentences.”
“I… I...I can’t,” Clara whispered helplessly.
Something flickered behind Hale’s expression. Not pity. Not sympathy. Just an awareness of how scared she was… and how little control she had over it.
He exhaled once, slow.
" I’m not going to try to kill you," he said.
“Not today.”
Clara’s knees almost buckled, so he did plan to kill her...just not today
Trinity’s face hardened. “Okay, you’ve said enough. We’re leaving.”
She grabbed Clara’s wrist, tugging her toward the door but Hale moved with the kind of speed that didn’t look human.
He grabbed the back of Trinity’s shirt and shoved her out of the room so hard she nearly stumbled into the hallway then slammed the door behind her.
Clara gasped, spinning toward the door, panic flaring.
“H..Hale..... don’t... she didn’t.. she..."
“Quiet.”
His voice cut through hers like a blade.
Clara’s mouth snapped shut instantly.
Hale stepped closer again, not touching her but close enough that she felt the heat of his body, the sheer weight of his presence.
“Now,” he said.
“Why were you in my space?”
Clara swallowed, shaking even harder. The truth burned on her tongue but fear locked her jaw.
“I…”
She shook her head.
“I... I... can’t say.”
Hale stared at her for a long moment. She braced for anger or rage, violence or a hand around her neck again squeezing the life out of her
But instead, he just nodded once.
“Good,” he said quietly.
“Keep it that way.”
Clara blinked in confusion.
Hale’s expression didn’t change, but his voice deepened, dropping lower, heavier.
“There are things in this place you don’t understand,” he said.
“And you shouldn’t try to. Curiosity here doesn’t end in answers.”
His eyes darkened.
“It ends in body bags.”
Clara’s breath caught.
“Stay out of what’s buried,” Hale continued.
“Stay out of my affairs.”
A beat. Quiet. Too quiet.
“And stay out of my room.”
She nodded shakily.
Hale started to turn away then paused, eyes drifting back to her with a look that wasn’t cold this time.
He stepped closer until his breath ghosted her ear.
"Because if you step into my room again…”
He brushed a knuckle under her jaw, so lightly it felt like she was hallucination.
“I’ll take that as consent.”
Clara’s eyes widened "co...consent? "
Hale leaned in further, his voice dropping to a sinful whisper.
"Consent to break you myself"
His lips hovered near her temple.
Clara’s breath stopped. She was trying so hard to understand him. This Hale was different from the one that tried to kill her, the one that treated her like an eyesore...
Hale pulled back, expression unreadable.
“Get out,” he said calmly.
“Before I decide you meant it today.”
Clara fled, tripping over her own feet, nearly sobbing as she stumbled out into the hallway where Trinity waited disheveled and sweaty
"What have you been doing Tri" Clara gave her that knowing look
A While Back When Hale shoved Trinity out
“You asshole!” she yelled, fist already raised to pound on the metal but a thick arm snaked around her waist from behind and another hand clamped over her mouth. She knew that grip. Peterson.
He dragged her backward down the block, her shoes scraping the floor. She kicked and tried to scream, but it came out muffled against his palm. Two cells down, he yanked her inside his room and kicked the door shut.
The second his hand dropped, she spun around, furious.
“What the hell is your problem?”
“You,” he growled, stepping so close she had to tip her head back. “Always in Hale’s face. You’re gonna get yourself hurt, Trinity"
“I can handle myself.”
His voice was low and laced with annoyance “Not with him.”
They stood there breathing hard, glaring at each other like they had a hundred times before.
She didn’t see who moved first. One second they were snarling, the next his mouth was on hers, rough and hungry. She bit his lip. He groaned and kissed her harder, backing her up until her hips hit his desk.Then he spun her around, bent her over the desk and pulled down her shorts
“Peterson....”
“Shut up,” he muttered, yanking her panties hard it ripped then she heard his zipper.
Her heart slammed against her ribs..
He didn’t ask, didn't warn, he just grabbed her hips and pushed inside her in one hard thrust.
Trinity’s breath caught.
He was big, and it burned, and she wasn’t ready, but her body still opened for him, slick from all the weeks of fighting and angry kisses.
He didn’t give her time to adjust. He pulled back and slammed in again, deep and mean.
The desk rattled, papers flying in all directions. She gripped the edge so hard her knuckles went white.
He fucked her fast, rough and punishing. Every thrust shoved her forward, her cheek pressed to the cold metal top. His hand fisted in her hair, pulling just enough to make her gasp.
“You drive me fucking crazy,” he rasped behind her. “Every damn day.”
She tried to snap something back, but all that came out was a moan when he hit that spot inside her. Her body didn’t care that they’d never done this before. It knew it always wanted him.
He reached around and found her clit with rough fingers. Two hard circles and she was coming, shaking, biting her own arm to stay quiet. He growled at the feel of her squeezing him, but he didn’t stop. He kept going, chasing his own release, using her body like he’d been dreaming about it for months.
When he finally came, he shoved deep and stayed there, breathing hard against her back.
“Trinity,” he muttered her name so softly it pulled strings in her heart
For a moment when she turned, she felt like maybe this was love?
" I...I... should go" she shook the thought off her head and fumbled to put her uniform back on
When she was done, she left like without another word. Peterson leaned against the desk, rubbed a hand over his face, and let out a long, shaky breath. What was he doing?.