Page 83 of The Secrets of a Sin

I don’t want fucking alone time with Annalise. I didn’t want anything to do with her, but this was my only way of finding out more information. I had to get closer to her, even if it meant enduring extremely uncomfortable situations because it was evident she wanted me. She could tell me over and over how she just wants to be my friend, but her subtle hints tell me otherwise.

And the not-so-subtle hint when she kissed me.

“One dance.” She begs. “One dance, and then we can go find them, I swear.”

Dropping the straw from her mouth, she pouts in my direction while giving me sad puppy dog eyes. I’m sure it worked on hundreds of people before me, but all I felt was uncomfortable and edgy.

Would she use dancing as an excuse to get her hands on me? Would she try to do more than just dance?

Questions I shouldn’t even have to be thinking swirled around my head. All I wanted was Arsen and to go home. But to do so, I had to say yes.

“Fine.” I huff. “One dance, and that’s it.”

Her head lifts from her drink, and a wicked smile replaces her pout. “Then what are we waiting for?” She circles the table and snatches my hand in a tight grip before dragging me towards the dance floor. Every spot was going to be a tight fit, but once we settle next to a couple making out and two guys grinding on each other, Annalise takes the spot behind me. Her hands immediately land on my waist, and her front clashes into my back.

Leaning in close, she brushes some of my hair off one shoulder and pushes it to the other side. “Relax.” She whispers in my ear. “Just feel the music.” She starts swaying her hips in rhythm with mine while using her hands as a guide.

I despised our closeness. I hated how my body reacted to her touch. She could be anyone right now, and I’d be lighting up, but Arsen would be the only one to create fireworks within me. Annalise could never even compete, but with the way she moved against me and squeezed my hips, she wanted to.

I close my eyes and imagine she’s someone else. Someone who owns my soul and willingly risks destroying it. I dream of his strong hands holding me against him, his mouth tasting the skin of my neck, and his huge cock digging into my ass. I grind and rock into the warm body behind me to the beat of the music, losing myself in the fantasy that’s keeping me sane. The hands on me move, gliding my sides until they shift over to my chest, right below my breasts. My lungs seize at the gentleness and the closeness to my aching nipples, but the hands never stray from the spot. Instead, they migrate down low past my belly button and gradually come to a stop right above my pubic bone.

“You’re having fun, aren’t you?” Annalise moans into the shell of my ear, causing my fantasy to dwindle. My eyes shoot open and connect with the couple in front of me. The man is holding his wife from behind, and they both seem to be staring at us with clouded lust. “They must like what they see.” She giggles. “I don’t blame them, though. I’d be staring too.”

What the fuck am I doing?"

Humiliation and disgust blast through me, and I quickly tear myself out of Annalise’s arms. My eyes burn with tears. I dart off through the crowds of people, away from her and the observing eyes. I wanted to leave now. I wanted to say screw everyone and walk back to the school so I didn’t have to deal with more people.

I was appalled with myself, with how I so easily let Annalise manipulate me into these situations. I let her touch me, kiss me and bring me here, and I couldn’t help but feel more shame fill me.

Once I made it safely off the dance floor, I found myself walking towards an area that was loaded with people standing around, all with drinks in their hands. I swiftly saunter past them until a flash of red catches my eyes.

Verity.

I shuffle closer until my feet slam to a stop, and my heart falls onto the dirty club’s floor. She wasn’t alone. She wasn’t with Priscilla.

She was with Arsen.

And their mouths were locked onto one another in a destructive kiss.

I couldn’t bear to watch them together. I couldn’t stomach the fact that his mouth that once worshiped mine was now on hers. I spin around so quickly that I almost lose balance and topple over onto the person next to me.

“Are you okay?” The stranger steadies me, but all I can hear is the broken batter of my heart. Tears begin to blur my vision as I try to stumble away from the man who ruined me. He got what he wanted, and he officially got me out of his system. His words and promises of me owning his soul were nothing more than just whispered lies to give me what I wanted to hear. He never truly wanted me the way I wanted him. And I was foolish enough to give him all of me.

My chest stings as I try to catch my breath, but the air around me feels heavy and impossible to take in. All around me sounds and music fade into nothing as all I can hear are my desperate pants and cries for help.

“Charlotte?” Annalise comes into view, lowering her head to catch my eyes. “What's wrong? Why are you crying?” She frowns, noticing the stream of tears and most likely mascara falling from my cheeks.

“Take me back.” I cry out. “Take me back to my room. Now.” I heave as more tears fall, and her face contorts into worry.

“Here. Take a sip of this.” She shoves a glass in my face, but I immediately shake my head no. “This will calm you down, Charlotte, please. Then we will leave.”

I didn’t want to calm down. I wanted to scream and kick until my toes were broken and my lungs collapsed. I wanted a different kind of pain other than what I was experiencing right now. Snatching the drink from her hands, I greedily swallow every last drop of the burning liquid until the sounds of air getting sucked out of the straw fill the air. She eyes me warily before taking the glass out of my hands and setting it down on a table beside us.

“There you are!” A loud voice interrupts from behind Annalise as a familiar face pops up over her shoulder. “I was looking around everywhere for you.”

Priscilla’s head rests on the curve of her neck while her arms circle Annalise’s waist in a tight grip. My hazy vision makes it nearly impossible to make her out, but I can sense her stare drift towards me.

“What’s her problem?” She nods in my direction with a chuckle as the rage I feel deepens into the very pit of my stomach, causing my body to fill with malice. Arsen wasn’t the only one trying to mar me tonight with their actions. Priscilla wanted to open my wounds further and inflict more pain. By my tears and somber expression, she knew I was vulnerable and was going to use it against me in any way she could. She relished in my humiliation and grief. She twisted my misery and made it into her own personal source of vitality.

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