Page 25 of Ever Dark

Aries rolls his eyes. “She threw a drink in my face.”

Bones chuckles. “She’s not as timid as she looks. She might be more of a wolf than a lamb.”

I pound my fists on the table, sending a stack of poker chips crashing to the floor. “I don’t give a fuck if she’s little red fucking riding hood. If she doesn’t sign by the end of next week, I’m going to kill her.”

Bones gives me a nod. “I’m on it.”

“We’ll get her to sign, Dray. If not, we’ll be right there next to you when she takes her last breath,” Aries adds.

I fly out of the chair and storm from the room without another word. I rip off my tie on the way to my SUV, wishing I hadn’t given Rodrick the night off. But as pretentious as I can be, pulling up to a party in a limousine isn’t my style.

I stuff the tie in my jacket pocket and blast the AC. Sweat clings to my body like a disease. The migraine has now taken a full assault on my brain, and I’m close to vomiting. Fuck. I close my eyes and listen to the hum of the engine, knowing full well that there’s only one cure for this panic attack. I hate that it’s her.

“Fuck,” I yell as I slam my palms against the steering wheel. “Fuck this,” I mutter to myself.

I throw the car in reverse and peel out of Bones’s driveway. As soon as I hit the main road, I put it in drive and floor it. With all the windows down, the cold wind whips through the SUV. But it does nothing to calm the inferno in my chest.

I run my hand through my hair, pushing it back from my forehead as the filth rotting in my gut twists tighter, making it harder to breathe. I hate that her house is on the way to mine. Fuck.

I can’t fucking take this anymore. I slam on the brakes as I pass Harker Mansion and shift back into reverse at full speed. I fly all the way past it and then shift forward and punch on the gas. This stubborn fucking girl is making me lose my goddamn mind.

I don’t let up on the gas but, instead, push the pedal down farther. I’m crazed, wild, the most unhinged I’ve been in a long time as I crash through her iron gates going thirty miles per hour.

BOOM.

My entire body jolts forward on impact, nearly throwing me through the windshield. “Oh, fuck!” My head bounces back against the seat, making my migraine from earlier seem like a wet dream. I glimpse pieces of iron flying through the air as my tires spin, pulling the entire vehicle into donut circles around the front yard.

It only makes my anger grow hotter, deadlier, as I scramble to right the SUV. The side of my head meets the inside of the car door with a whack, and stars blur my vision. But I don’t stop.

I grunt and finally get the tires straight and under my control, but I’m still plowing down her front drive at about twenty miles an hour.

I see her now, watching my destruction from the safety of her porch.Safe. I snicker. I’m going to give her back the hell she’s given me. My heart caves in on itself. The darkness pulsing through my veins sparks like a fucking meteor shower.I can drive up the steps and keep going if I want to. Plow right into her. Who will fucking stop me?

Our eyes lock through the glare of the headlights. She doesn’t flinch, steadfast in her position on the porch. Her brown eye darkens while the blue one glows like a firefly caught in a mason jar.

She’s barefoot and barely clad in a thin white cotton dress. I slam on the brakes just inches away from her. And she still doesn’t move a fucking muscle. But the rage in her eyes… well, she looks how I fucking feel.Murderous.

As she takes a step toward my wrecked SUV, the sky cracks with lightning, like the devil himself is shaking his fist at me. Rain pours down in buckets, soaking her and everything around us. She glares at me, her chest heaving from the cold and her rage.

I have to jam my shoulder hard against the driver’s door to get it open. I stumble out and almost slip in the mud. The rain drips down my face and through my lips. The acrid taste of metal mixes with the rainwater and fills my mouth.Blood. Fuck. I hit my head so many times, now I’m pissed and deranged.

She’s shaking, her fists clenched at her sides. “What the actual fuck is wrong with you?” she screams.

I take another fumbling step, not sure what I’m going to do or say when I actually reach her. But I’ve come too far now.

“You’re crazy. Look at what you did to my gates. Look at your car, for fuck’s sake. Don’t take another step closer, asshole.” Her bottom lip quivers, but she makes no attempt to retreat.

I keep going, stalking toward her, hell-bent on unleashing every evil thing inside me. I picture my hands around her throat, squeezing the life out of her. But the closer I get, the more the ache in my chest burns. Her dress is soaked through, revealing the shape of her body, her hard nipples, and the sweet fucking slit of her pussy.

“Youare what’s wrong with me.” I slide my hand around her throat, but I don’t squeeze.

She gazes up at me, her long lashes wet. “Why are you here, Draven?”

“You pissed me off. So I wanted to return the favor.” My heart races at the feel of her pulse throbbing against my fingers, beating as fast as mine.

“You can’t just show up here whenever you want and destroy my property. We’re a bit old for temper tantrums,” she snaps.

Who does this woman think she is? Insulting me, driving me mad with lust and rage. “Like the one you just had at Bones’s party?” I tighten my grip on her neck and almost lose it over the way her throat bobs.

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