I want him. Need him with an urgency I can't describe. Nick's control is what I crave—and his ability to send me on my knees and beg. Seeing his marks on my skin, his collar fastened around my neck and heart, I know he's the one. The world says it's wrong for me to love him. That I'm insane and too damaged to make the right decisions.

I once trusted a bad man, a twisted man, who became my entire universe, but he turned my gift against me—and Nick wears that very man's face. I've past that, so why couldn't Nick?

But enough lies and deception, it's time I end this sorry tale. I'm seven feet from salvation, his and mine, but I can't pull the trigger.