Page 146 of Moth to a Flame

I need him to do this.

A breadcrumb.

What I can’t do is justlet him. Offering him my hands will raise his suspicions. Getting him to think I’m afraid and absolutely don’t want this is my best course of action.

Shoving my hands between my ass and the floor, I bare my teeth at Lester.

“I’m not paying for shit.” As an emphasis, and since he deserves it, I spit on his face.

“Bitch,” he roars at me, swiping his cheek with the back of his hand.

The monster leans in. I know what happens next. I can’t fathom what happens next.

“No!” This scream is real. I’m strong and determined, but his lips are on me and…“Don’t you dare. No, don’t!”

Begging doesn’t help. It fails me the same as it did ten years ago.

His teeth clamp on my bottom lip, and he tugs while his vile tongue darts out. Any more of this and he’ll get turned on. Even if he doesn’t have a working penis.

The pain—mypain. That’s what he’s after. That’s why he bites so hard that I taste blood on my tongue.

I finally wake up, slapping and punching him, keeping him the hell away from me.

“You stupid, ugly, dickless freak,” I scream. He has to see I’m not afraid. That he doesn’t scare me. “Useless asshole.”

He lets go of my bruised lip, venom bleeding from his brown eyes.

“Get the fuck off me.” I flinch when he strikes me on the other cheek, recover and slap him some more. “Go away.”

“You’re pissing me off. Stalling like that.” I’m being flipped on my stomach, crying out in pain. Real pain as my cheek connects to the floor. “Big mistake, little girl. I haven’t had anything to eat in hours. Haven’t had my coffee yet. And this is the moment you choose to test me.”

Power and adrenaline inject themselves into my veins. He’s about to do exactly what I’ve been meaning for him to do. It’s so easy that I almost laugh at him.

He keeps my leggings on. Goes for my wrist.

I force myself to yell when he twists it. I’m cursing him, calling him every name in the book. Everything I can to show him how angry I am. How much I don’t want this.

Tears well in my eyes, and I blink, setting them free.

“Stop, motherfucker.”Go on, bastard. Tell Landon exactly where I am.“Don’t. Don’t you fucking do it. Don’t.”

I scream the loudest when he wrenches my middle finger’s nail out.

This isn’t a pained cry. It’s victory that bursts out of my throat. The pain is inconsequential. The bleeding means nothing to me.

I’m on a mission.

In the park, Lester was in a rush. I didn’t have a second to think, to understand what the hell was happening to me and how to get away.

The hours alone in the back of the van offered me precious minutes and hours to plot against him.

A plan I’m executing as we speak.

Another nail is another step closer to Landon. The love of my life. My dark knight.

One second is all I give myself to think of his handsome face. The sharp angles of his jaw. The intense look in his eyes.

I love you, Regan.

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