Read Online The Decimation of Mae (The Blue Butterfly) by D H Sidebottom - Free Book Online

accurately.”
    I whimpered when he grasped my jaw tightly, the spread of
his fingers across my face painful and cruel. He yanked my chin upwards until
my eyes met his angry glare, hatred and repulsion heavy in his eyes. “You are
the lamb. I am the shepherd. I will control your every move. I will direct and govern you until you learn your place. And I will guide you
along the path to your slaughter.”
    My stomach heaved at the sincerity in his voice, his
ruthless promise that he would destroy me sending my heart into panic. “If
that’s what you want then why not kill me now?” I spat out. “Why teach me when
the end goal for you is to see me stripped, hung and quartered like a piece of
meat in a butcher’s window? Why drag this out?”
    His eyes twinkled as we had already slipped into the teacher
and pupil role with my query. He bit into the tip of his tongue and smirked.
“Do you know nothing about a hunter and his prey? Why a predator stretches out
the hunt?”
    He paused as if actually waiting for me to answer. I
remained quiet, staring at him in disgust. He pursed his lips , pulled in a breath then smiled softly. “It’s all part of the fun,
lamb. The entertainment and thrill is beyond exciting. It’s a stimulant, a drug
almost. And let’s face it, we all enjoy the odd high now and again.”
    He continued to watch me, waiting for me to answer and
just as victory crossed his face I fixed my stare on him, knowing I was defying
him with that simple action. “You will never pen me in like some timid animal
that is too scared to fight. I have nothing to lose. You can beat me, hurt me,
control me even, but you will never ever own me.” And I would make sure he
never did. I was born Mae Swift, my parent’s little tower of strength. I needed
to not only prove to them that I was strong, but also to myself. My parents’ legacy
would fight all the damn way... right up to the end if need be.
    A flicker of fury ghosted his eyes before he regained his
composure and laughed with a mocking quality. “We’ll see, Mae. But I can
promise that I will enjoy the hunt. I will most definitely relish in your
destruction. When you yield and give yourself over to me it will be as
luxurious as witnessing your despair along the way.”
    I forced myself to hold his stare, refusing his need for
dominance.
    Our contract had just been signed but my fate had been
decided before his words had even left his mouth. However, he underestimated
just how little I had to give. His game wouldn’t even see the players reach the
end square; he would never relish in the victory of the end game. My life was a
game of snakes and ladders; my route through life had always presented snakes
at every roll of the dice, constant downward spirals no matter how hard I had
fought to reach a ladder.
    And it was this knowledge that helped me challenge him at
every square on the board.

Chapter Six
‘’Lessons lead us into knowledge.’
     
    I shivered against the gentleness of his touch, the tips
of his fingers tracing each ridge of my spine from the dip in my lower back up
to the nape of my neck.
    “Such beauty,” he whispered as his fingers bunched my
hair aside, placing it across my shoulder and granting him full exposure to my
neck.
    His lips settled almost teasingly on the edge of my
hairline as his fingers ventured onwards, up the length of my arms until each
of his hands encompassed the cuffs around my wrists.
     
    He’d softly woken me as soon as the birds had started
their morning serenade, placing a gentle kiss to my cheek. I’d scurried back,
much to his displeasure. The fire that had morphed his handsome face at my defiance
had been chilling and disturbing. The storm in his eyes had provoked me into
action, reminding me that I now belonged to him, no one else, not even myself,
only him.
    He would never understand that I was now willing to give
myself to him though. I’d fought him at first, right to the very edge of my
sanity. But alone in