Page 19 of Tess, Property of Blaze

Tess

Water splashes over my face, and I’m grabbed by the shirt and lifted up off the floor. I stand there, my legs weak as jelly and my head aching.

Viper leans me up against the basin, and I reach one hand up to the back of my head, feeling bruised and sore. Fortunately I’m not bleeding, not sure how I would have explained that to Lu.

“Listen here, Teresa, you’re one lucky woman. I’m letting you go for now, but don’t think I won’t be back and taking what is mine,” Viper says, his voice projecting his promise in every word. “You see, our reunion came a little too quick. I had plans to make it special, but when I saw you, walking into the café, I couldn’t believe my luck. There you were, alone, without that fucker by your side. What’s his name…?” he asks, but not really needing to. He knows…. He plays the game, though, planting his finger against his temple, pretending he’s trying to remember, then he smiles and looks at me. “Blaze, is it?”

“Don’t you dare touch him,” I cry out, but stop when pain thumps through my head.

“You shouldn’t have said that,” he threatens, his eyes crazy. “You see, Teresa, I’ve been watching you for weeks now, did you think that you could hide from me forever?” He gives a tsk. “Let’s just say I’ve been a little… busy, lately.”

My eyes widen, did he say weeks? He’s been watching me for weeks? Fuck! He must know not only about Blaze, but that I now live under the protection of the Blood Brothers.

“That’s right, Teresa, weeks,” he repeats, smirking at me. “At first, when I found you with that fucking club, I almost gave up my identity and ruined our first encounter by stabbing the motherfucker.” He leans in and sucks my bottom lip into his mouth, leaving what feels like a nasty cut when he bites down hard. “You’re mine, and only mine.” He growls then, licking his lips, tasting my blood on his tongue.

I wince when I lick along the ridges of the cut on my split lip, then gain some courage, hoping that he will listen. “Please, Viper, let me go,” I plead, covering his hand, which is now around my neck with mine.

His other hand locks into a fist, and fear fills me when I think that he may hit me again, but then he loosens it and moves it around his body, pulling out a phone from his back pocket. With one hand still squeezing my neck, he lifts the phone up to my face, and my eyes focus on it.

“What’s that for?” I ask, confused when he doesn’t elaborate, just holds it there.

He laughs bitterly. “This is for you, Teresa.”

“But I don’t need a phone.”

He lifts his lips in a smirk, his cigarette-stained teeth showing. “You will carry this phone with you at all times. It has a tracker on it, so don’t think of running, because I will find you.” He pushes me further against the basin; I’m practically sitting on it. “And if I find out that you’ve gotten rid of it, I will come to that motherfucking club and shoot your lover right between his eyes.”

Blaze. Oh God, Blaze.I don’t doubt for one second that Viper will do it. He’s crazy and gets off on hurting people.

“Tell him that I was here, and I will gut him.”

What have I done? Why did I ever think that I could get away from Viper? “Why not take me now and be done with it?” I say in a shaky voice.

“It’s not part of the plan, Teresa.”

“What plan?” I blurt out. He squeezes my throat tighter and I gasp for air, my face heating as blood rushes to my head.

“Don’t fucking ask me club business, woman.” His hand loosens slightly, and he leans in to kiss me. I turn my head to the side, desperate to not let his lips touch mine. Instead he sucks on my earlobe and nips at it. “Tell me, Teresa, is he a better fuck than me?”

I snap my head toward his, fresh tears now rolling freely down my cheeks, hating that Viper is asking me questions about Blaze. I want to scream out how he is indeed better, want to yell how he makes me feel when he’s inside me, like I’ve been created just for him. And how when he makes love to me, he doesn’t hurt me or make me feel used, he cherishes my body with his hands and mouth. But I don’t because I know that is exactly what Viper wants: a reason to hit me.

He laughs. “Oh, Teresa, if I’m not mistaken, I’d say you want to hit me”—how true those words are—“but you won’t,” he states, clear disappointment in his voice. Viper loves a fight, but I’m not going to give him one. I know all too well what will happen if I do.

He finally lets go of my neck and steps back, then grabs my hand and places the phone in it. “I will be in touch, and when I call,” he demands, pointing a finger at me, “you will answer. Don’t, and I will assume you’ve run, and you know what happens then, don’t you?” I can’t speak, I just nod. “That’s right, baby. Now come and give your husband a goodbye kiss before I fuck you right here and now, just to remind you whose cock owns you.”

My body freezes. How can I kiss him when all I want to do is scratch his face to pieces? He rubs his hand over his hardening crotch, and I swallow hard, trying to keep my panic at bay. He looks at his watch then and curses. “Looks like I’m going to have to wait till I have more time. Then I can feel your pussy once again around my cock.

A sigh of relief fills me, but that doesn’t last because without warning, he smashes his chest to mine and forces his hand down into my jeans and underwear. I cry out in pain when two of his fingers squeeze my clit, the pain unbearable. His hand quickly covers my mouth as he begins to thrust two fingers inside me. It feels as though his fingers are made out of sandpaper as he struggles to enter with no lubrication.

Finally, he removes them and brings them to his lips, sucking them both into his mouth. “Mmm, I missed your fucking taste.” He slowly removes them with a pop. His other hand falls from my mouth, only to be replaced by a hard kiss. I don’t move, can’t, I just stay still, not responding to his probing tongue. One of his hands cups my breast, and he pinches my nipple hard. I cry out, and that’s when he slips his tongue into my mouth, sucking and licking at my tender lips. His taste is revolting, and I want to gag. I let him have his way, though, anything to not anger him. Inside I’m screaming, I want to rake my fingernails down his face and knee him in his balls, but I don’t, I keep it together.

Suddenly he steps back and licks his lips. “Until next time, baby,” he says with a cruel smile, and I squeeze my fists closed, trying to control my rage as he turns around and unlocks the bathroom door.

“Remember, I’ll be watching you,” he says over his shoulder and then leaves.

I stare at the door for a few seconds, and then the frightening realization dawns on me. He found me.

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