Page 69 of Cardinal House

Nolan’s face transforms into a twisted mask of rage. My heart is hammering in my chest, my fingers limp at my sides, my knees feel wobbly, and my lungs are heavy with a scream, but I don’t make a sound as he slinks up to stand in front of me.

His acrid breath on my face as he towers above me, the taste of cigars on my tongue. His fingers find my face, cupping my cheek, before he draws back his arm and slaps me with the flat of his hand so hard it sends me to the ground.

“You ungrateful little whore!” he screams in my face, spittle painting my chin, my throat, his tall, lean body dropping into an easy crouch. “I couldn’t have you thinking you could flirt with men outside of this house. I had to teach you a lesson!”

“What did you do to my mother?” I spit blood onto the wood, feeling it coat my teeth, pushing up to my elbows to stare at him.

He scoffs, rolling his eyes, like this is so insignificant, “I had my men run her off the bridge, grab you from the back seat and bring you here.”

“Why?” I feel like there’s not even a real answer here, there’s something wrong with this man’s wiring.

“Because she wouldn’t give you to me,” he says softly, staring into my eyes with lust.

That simple.

“You’re evil,” I breath out, my bloody lip trembling. “You’re disgusting,” I hiss louder, “and vile,” the word quivers off of my tongue as I push up to sitting, getting close to his face, “and a rapist!” I scream, making my tonsils ache, my throat crack.

Nolan’s eyes widen, the shock at my outburst dropping him back onto his arse. He hits the hardwood with a thud, his hands splaying out behind him to catch himself, but he doesn’t get a chance to right himself before I’m throwing myself into him. Barrelling him over, my knee colliding with his crotch, sending his spine crashing into the floor. Scratching and clawing and hitting his head, his face, everywhere I can reach, I pummel.

His hands try to come for my wrists, my knees digging into his ribs as I straddle his belly. He bars his arms across his face, cupping his hands over his skull to protect his head. I lash out with my hand, fingers curled like a claw, and swipe down his face, carving my nails into his cheek, raking a bloody trail down his face.

I’m screaming and panting and hitting him with all of my strength, and he’s not trying to throw me off, just trying to protect himself, until I hear him.

“Lunaaa!” Wolf roars from below.

My head snaps over my shoulder towards the closed doors, and then the back of my skull is colliding with the floor, stars shooting across my vision, black blurring at the edges. Nolan rolls, flipping us so I’m trapped beneath him, his knees bracketing me in, pinning me to the floor by straddling my waist.

“You little bitch!” he screams in my face as I continue to hit him, punch at his chest, his neck, rake my nails down every bit of exposed skin I can reach.

Blood drips from his cheek, splashing across my lips and I buck my hips, trying to get him up, to shift him enough I could try to roll too, but he’s so much heavier than I am, so much bigger. But his men aren’t in here now, it’s just us.

Me versus him.

One monster against another.

Adrenaline lights through me like a surge of electricity, strengthening me.

“You think he’s going to get through my men, you desperate little slut?” he snarls with a laugh, and it stills me, the question, like a wash of calm rolling over me and reassuring me.

I blink once, his hands cuffing my wrists over my head, pinning them to the floor, I look him straight in the eye, our lips almost touching, and without hesitation, I tell him what I know, “Yes.”

Then I scream into his face, throwing my head forward with all of my might so it collides with his nose. He flinches, releasing my hands to cup his face, and then I buck up, sending us into a roll towards the fire.

Gritting my teeth, I punch him, curling my still taped fingers, my broken knuckles screaming, I hit him again and again. Attacking his bloody face, trying to cave his nose into his skull until it’s nothing more than a flat bloody splat on his face.

“I hate you!” I scream at him, my vocal cords screeching, my teeth gnashing. “I hate you! You ruined me!”

Time seems to slow as my arms ache, fists going numb as I hit him again and again and again. Tears are streaking down my flush cheeks, and then the door is bursting open at my back.

“Luna!” Wolf roars, this deafening, bellowing thunder of his deep voice that I feel all the way down to my core.

I feel myself slump with relief, all of me shaking, quivering, trembling.

That’s my mistake.

Nolan lurches up from the floor grabbing me by the throat and rising effortlessly to his feet. Pulling my back flush with his chest, the clamp of his hand squeezing my jaw so hard my teeth cut the insides of my cheeks.

Wolf is standing in the open double doors, dripping with blood. His honey-whiskey eyes half hidden by the wet strands of his raven hair. He looks huge, broad and tall and wet with crimson, like the mass murderer from a slasher film. His fiery eyes scan over me, checking me for injuries, and I feel it, the moment his gaze locks on my split lip, a ripple of rage rolling through him and making his shoulders tense even further.

---