Kill Switch by Penelope Douglas

“Yeah, I’m guessing you didn’t almost kill them once upon
a time.”
“Do you want me to apologize?”
I hesitated, because his tone actually gave the impression
he would apologize if I asked him to. “No,” I finally answered.
“Why?”
“Because I won’t forgive you anyway,” I said.
No need to waste your time.
He held me, his chest moving with mine, and I could feel
his eyes on my face. He didn’t speak for several seconds.
When he did, it sounded almost sad. “Winter…”
But whatever he wanted to say, he didn’t finish, and I
didn’t care. I wasn’t going to spend another six years
recovering from anything he did to me. Another scratch, and
I’d kill him to make sure he never touched me again.
“Aren’t you worried I’ll hurt you?” he asked, his tone
threatening again.
I replied calmly. “No.”
“Why?”
“Because black.”
“Black?” he pressed.
I inched in, getting in his face. “Because I’m in the black
right now, and here… I think I enjoy myself,” I said,
remembering last night and the freedom of risking and fighting
and meeting your match. I wanted that life. “The only part of
me anyone can ever hurt is my heart, and there’s no one on the
planet my heart is more out of reach from than you,” I
growled.
He jostled me in his arms, and I could hear him breathing
through his teeth.
“Big words for such a little girl,” he said.
“Same old, same old, from the same, scared little boy,” I
shot back. “Still climbing into fountains to hide from