Page 37 of Twisted Truths

I attempt to pull away, but he holds me there with the hand on the other side of my head. “Please stop.” I again try to push him away, but he won’t budge.

“What did you think was going to happen when I led you away from the party?” His lips crash against mine.

I try to turn my face away from the kiss, but his hand grazes over my dress, clutching my breast, and I freeze. He takes that as acquiescence, and his touch gets rougher as he moves to kiss my neck again.

“No, stop!” I cry, beating on his shoulders with tears in my eyes.

“Stop pretending you don’t enjoy this.” He yanks down one side of my dress, revealing my breast, and gropes me.

Panic flares in my chest, and when he brings his mouth back to mine, I bite down hard on his bottom lip.

“Fuck!” He pulls away with his hand to his lip and looks at me with fury in his eyes.

Unlike when Obsidian has looked at me in anger, there’s something different about this, and instinctively, I know this man will have no problem hurting me.

Before he can say or do anything, I bolt around Brandon and race through the door. I try to remember how we got here, tugging my dress up over my breast as I run as fast as I can in my heels while he calls my name from behind me.

I will the tears in my eyes not to fall, at least not until I’m alone. Somehow, I end up coming in on the opposite side of the ballroom than the one we left. As soon as I’m inside, I look frantically for Obsidian. I’m not sure why, but he feels like a safety net. All I want to do is leave this place.

It takes me a couple of minutes, but eventually I find Obsidian chatting with a group of men. I stop several feet away, unsure how to interrupt and unsure whether I can keep myself together enough not to let on how upset I am. But I don’t have to figure it out because Obsidian must sense my presence. He takes one glance at me, and alarm flashes across his face before he schools his features and says something to the men to excuse himself, then prowls toward me.

He doesn’t slow down as he takes my elbow as he passes, turning me around and leading me toward the exit. “What happened? What’s wrong?” He nods politely at someone who says hello as we pass by.

I shake my head and sniffle, unable to push out the words.

He stops us outside the ballroom and studies me for a beat. “C’mon, we’re leaving.”

He leads us to the valet and hands him our ticket. We wait in silence while the valet retrieves our vehicle. Even though it’s a warm summer evening, I shake—shock maybe? I wrap my arms around myself to try to keep it together. Warm fabric slides over my skin, and I find Obsidian wrapping his tuxedo jacket over my shoulders.

“Thank you.” For some reason, that gesture of kindness makes me want to bawl. Instead, I wrap the jacket tighter around myself, inhaling deeply because it smells like him and that feels like comfort.

I nestle into the fabric warmed by his body heat, and by the time the valet brings the car to a stop in front of us, the shaking has subsided.

Obsidian waves off the valet and opens the passenger door for me, helping me in and closing the door before taking a seat behind the wheel. He looks at me with concern, then puts the car in drive and surges forward.

We don’t speak on the ride back to the hotel, which I’m thankful for. I wouldn’t know what to say. I think I’m still in shock at what happened.

I’ve been involved in a lot of shady shit in my life, but I’ve never felt threatened in that way until tonight. I can’t help but think back over all my interactions with Brandon and wonder whether I did something to lead him on.

“We’re here.”

Obsidian’s voice cuts through my thoughts, and I realize we’ve arrived at the hotel. He exits the driver’s seat and comes over to my side, helps me out of the car, and leads me by the hand into the hotel.

He continues to hold my hand across the lobby, and I can’t find it in me to pull away. It’s not until we’re inside the suite, and I hear the door click and lock, that I burst into a sob, unable to hold back the rising tide of emotions inside me.

“Hey, hey, hey.” Obsidian wraps his arms around me and draws me into him. The scent of his cologne and the feel of his warm body is welcoming, and I nuzzle into his chest.

The tears come harder as he rubs my back. Somehow, him being so nice and gentle with me has me even more upset.

“Whatever it is, it’s okay. We’ll figure it out.”

I shake my head against his chest, unable to stop the tears.

I’m lucky I got out of the situation when I did—otherwise, who knows what would have happened? It’s relief, shock, and the reality that if Brandon had more time, there’s likely not much I could have done to stop him that makes the tears keep coming.

My chest squeezes painfully, and it takes a moment for me to register that Obsidian has picked me up and is walking us over to the couch. He sits and settles me on his lap with one arm wrapped around my back.

He wipes the tears from my cheeks with his large fingers, gentler than I would have thought he could be. “Will you tell me what happened?”

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