Page 25 of The Afterthought

I shouldn't let this happen. I should kick him out, but I'm blinded by the lust. He leans in, and I almost lose my mind when I feel his hot tongue glide up my center. Immediate pleasure courses through me as he feasts on me like I am his last meal.

"Grey," I moan.

He pulls back and looks up at me. "Tell me what I want to hear."

"No," I state firmly.

He dives back in with a renewed passion. His eyes locked on me the entire time. I can't help but watch as he loses himself in my pussy. He sinks two fingers back inside of me, pumping in and out while sucking on my clit and flicking it lightly with his tongue. Shocks course through my body with each flick of his tongue. It's all too much. I intertwine my fingers in his hair, gripping hard and pulling him exactly where I need him.

He groans against me, causing vibrations that send me over the edge. Tingles spread from my core, slowly making their way to the tips of my fingers and toes. My hips buck beneath him as I cry out in pleasure. My pussy clamps hard around his fingers as I completely lose myself. My eyes roll into the back of my head, and the high consumes me. He doesn't let up until I look him in the eyes again. My chest heaving as I try to catch my breath and regain my reality.

"Tell me," he repeats.

"I don't belong to you. Not anymore." Sadness fills me, but anger crosses his eyes again.

He reaches out to grab the knife on the floor, holding it in his hand, and my eyes widen in panic. No, no, no, no. He wouldn't. My heart rate picks up again but for a different reason this time. Memories pull me back to that day.

I struggle to breathe with his cold fingers wrapped around my throat. He tightens his grip, and I claw at his hand to try to get free. He's too big, and I can't get away from him.

"You little fucking bitch. Did my wife hire you to follow me? Did she think it would be easy to get rid of me? Sending some pathetic girl to trail me and try and catch me in a fuckup." Spit from the intensity of his words came down to coat my face. He was angry, and his face was a deep shade of red as rage radiated from him. He was going to kill me. I saw it in his eyes.

His grip around my throat tightened when his other hand moved to his pocket. He pulled out a knife, and my eyes went wide, silently begging for him to let me go. The small breaths I was able to take quickened when I caught sight of the blade. I tried to get away from it, but my body was tired from the lack of oxygen, and he was bigger than me. This was it. This was going to be my last moment.

The blade came down across my chest, cutting my shirt open and slicing me down the center of my body. I felt the warm blood almost instantly pooling around the cut.

I tried my best to kick around and free myself from him as he held the knife above me, watching as the blood flowed freely from me. He laughed at my attempt to speak. His hand tightened further on my neck, threatening to completely cut off my airway. I desperately tried everything I could to get away from him, but it wasn't enough.

"You can't report back to my wife if you're dead, you fucking bitch," he yelled as I felt the blade slice into my stomach this time. I was too worried about trying to breathe to focus on the pain of each cut. The intrusion of my flesh was nothing to him. He smiled down at me while he cut into me.

Over and over, he cut into the skin of my stomach and chest, marking me up. The wetness of the blood was all I could feel as the tears flowed freely down my cheeks. I was in too much shock to keep trying to get away. I accepted the moment. Time seemed to go on forever, an endless loop of suffering in hell.

When he stood up, he looked down at my motionless body. I was frozen, afraid that if I tried to move away from him, he would lean back in, and it would all start over again. His lip curled up in a snarl, and he spat on me before kicking my leg.

"Stay the fuck out of my business, you useless bitch."

I can hear someone calling out to me as the sound of their voice pulls me from the memory.

“Ava?" Greyson asks cautiously. "Are you okay?"

He seems genuinely concerned. I look over at the knife still in his hand, unable to speak. My eyes are glued to it.

"I was never going to hurt you, I swear. You were close to the knife, and I didn't want you to get cut with it." He tosses it into the kitchen.

A renewed sense of clarity courses through me, and I use my full strength to buck him off of me. I push him to the side, freeing myself, and pull my leggings and underwear back on. I close myself off to anything I may have been feeling. My walls are securely back in place. Greyson Hayes can go fuck himself.

"Get out." I point my finger toward the door.

"Ava, what was that all about? Talk to me."

"No, I said get out," I assert.

"Did someone hurt you?" He says while standing. A look of tenderness in his eye.

"You don't get it, do you, Greyson? You hurt me. You crushed me. I had to pick up the pieces one by one. I was alone. I carried that hurt with me for a long time before I was able to move on. My life hasn't always been the best over the years, but it's MY life. You don't get to know anything about me now. I don't owe you anything."

He looks at me in disbelief. Did he really think I was going to cave and just fall back into his arms so that he could toss me aside again when he was done with me?

"You don't know who he is, Ava. Alec isn't a nice guy," he says as I push him toward the door.

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