Page 3 of Blood Lust

Running for the door and using my weight to push against its heavy metal, I hear tinking sounds of gravel spraying the cars in the lot. Spencer is whipping the car from the parking space, uncaring about damaging other people’s property. His dark eyes pour into mine, even from here. Rage and hatred are seated there and a knot begins to form in my stomach. Somewhere in the distance, thunder claps.

“Spencer!” I yell, hoping he can hear me. Finally, outside, I launch myself at the hood. “Spencer, wait!”

He lowers his window. “What are you doing?”

“Let me in!”

Jaw clenching and with a look of disgust on his face he says, “Don’t you want to go home with your new boyfriend?” I can hear the venom in his voice.

“Don’t be like this, Spence. It wasn’t anything.” He rolls his eyes. “You can’t just leave me out in the middle of nowhere!” The hot stinging of tears pricks at my eyes. Then, I hear the distinct clicking sound of the locks disengaging.

A sob escapes as the first raindrops fall from the rolling clouds above. I get in the car and buckle up, just in time for Spencer to finish backing out, kicking up even more gravel. Sparing a final glance at the store, I see my stranger walk out with something in his hands.

“My bag!” I cry as we whip out of the parking lot. “Spencer, stop. I left my bag.” It had been in the cart, and he hadn’t grabbed it.

“Fuck your bag, Wren. What the hell was going on back there?” He is heading down the mountain to Callery. He is going home, just like he said he was. I ruined our trip, and I can’t explain why. He doesn’t even care about our things back at the cabin.

I am going to pay for this, I know it.

“He startled me, I dropped the box, and he picked it up and handed it to me.” That is it. I’m not going to go into detail about my intense attraction toward this man or how he almost made me cream my jeans standing in the breakfast aisle.

His fists hit the steering wheel, making me jump. The rain is coming down harder now, and my heart beats loudly. I spare a glance at our speed and feel a concrete block drop straight into my gut. “Spencer, please slow down.”

“That wasn’t all it was, though, Wren. I saw you. You were getting all hot and bothered. You haven’t looked at me like that in months!” I’m pretty sure I feel him step on the gas.

Annoyed now, “I’ve thrown myself at you for the last four months, Spencer, and you’ve barely touched me.” I regret my words and tone as I watch the numbers climb up. I hush my voice, “Slow down.”

Tears are freely pouring down my cheeks, matching how the rain is now hitting the windshield. Wipers going back and forth aren’t enough to drown out Spencer’s anger.

“So it’s my fault you were looking at that fucking guy like you wanted to climb him?” He grips the back of my neck, forcing me to look at him, pinching harder than he should have. I let out an involuntary whimper, not that it ever mattered before. I’d have bruises for sure.

I blanch.

Is it that obvious? The stiffness in his jaw tells me it had been as he releases me in disgust. “Spence, it wasn’t anything, he may have been trying to flirt with me, but I wasn’t doing anything. I was just embarrassed from getting scared and dropping my cereal box.” Even I couldn’t make myself believe it’s true. But damn it, I hadn’t done anything. “Spencer, PLEASE slow down!”

His knuckles are white from gripping the wheel so hard. “You’re a real piece of work, Wren. Dragging me up here, flirting with some random the very first night we’re here, and then trying to fucking blame me for it. Christ! Well, he can fucking have you. I’m done with it. I’m done with all of it.”

Done?

Is he breaking up with me?

Shattered sobs rake through me as I realize the last two years mean nothing to him. Gone in a moment because of a look? What the fuck? “Spencer, please, I didn’t do anything! SLOW DOWN!”

He stares at me, eyes flicking back to the road less frequently than I’d like. “He was going to touch you, and you were trembling. If he’d kissed you, or shoved you to the ground… If he’d wanted to fuck you, you’d have let him.”

Spencer is right about that and shame blazes through me. I can't deny it. I can’t look him in the face. Instead, I lower my tear-filled eyes to stare at my lap. The satisfied tone of his voice sickens me. “Bitch,” he mutters.

“SPENCER, SLOW THE FUCK DOWN!” I shout as we come up to a sharp curve. He looks forward, eyes wide, as he slams on the brakes. With the sickening sound of metal crunching, we hit the guard rail. We are sliding, the rail barely holding as we jerk along the curve. Deafened by the scraping sound filling the air, I can’t hear my screams even though my throat is raw.

Spencer’s arm reaches out, pinning me to my seat. The end of the guard rail draws nearer, and he doesn’t have control.

We are airborne.

Like something out of a movie, the tops of trees loom below us. We fall in slow motion. I press myself back into my seat as hard as possible, like it would put us back on the road. Lightning flashes above our heads, illuminating the ground and rushing closer to us. A rock about a quarter the size of the car is jutting out of the mountainside, waiting to catch us.

When the wheels connect to the ground again, it feels like someone sent an electric shock up my spine.

I am not sure whether it is the thunder crashing or the car, but I can’t hear my screams again. The airbag rushes at me, slamming into my face, and sending a blinding pain between my eyes. Gravity shifts, and the car jerks forward. Spencer’s arm releases me. I try to clutch at it, fearing that if I can no longer feel him, I will lose him.

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