Page 65 of Poison

"Lay off the drugs and alcohol, and you can stay beautiful for quite some time. Why do you think you pass for twenty-one? It's not all good genes, you know. It's the facials, the creams, things like that. Just look at what drugs have done to your mother. I'm sure she was quite beautiful before she began to partake."

I scowled. "It takes a lot of drugs and alcohol to put up with you."

Hobbs walked past me, not saying a word, and I decided to stay where I was, knowing my big mouth was about to do me more harm than good.

When Trevor came back, he held Little Hopper in his arms. My body tensed. "You seem to forget that I gave you all of this, and I can easily take it away. I could toss you out in the street right now."

"At least I'd be free," I grumbled.

"I didn't say free. I could make you stand outside on a corner every night. Your debt still hasn't been paid off."

"Isn't it, though?" Immediately, I wanted to take the words back. I was making everything so much worse. Fuck it. I already got this far. There was no point in backing off. "How much do I still owe, Trevor? Because I've been in this thing for ten fucking years. I have to be getting close."

"I'd have to check my records," he snarled.

"Why don't you do that? You can't tell me you can't access my records from here. I'm really curious how long I have to put up with your bullshit."

Slowly, he set Little Hopper down and stalked forward. Before I could react, his fist swung, hitting me so hard in the eye that I toppled over. He yanked me back up by my shirt, striking me again. I tried to struggle, push back, anything, but he spun me around, twisting my arm so far, I was afraid he was going to break it. I knew this hold, and I couldn't get out of it. I cried out, but that only prompted him to force me onto the table. With his free hand, he yanked down my pants. "Trevor, stop!"

I heard him spit. Then, before I was ready, he thrust violently inside my ass. He was pushing so forcefully that it felt like the table would snap in two. I couldn't keep my cries to myself. He was being far too rough.

Grabbing my hair, he yanked my head up, never stopping the rhythm of his brutal thrusts. "I own you! You belong to me! You always have and always will!" he growled with such ferocity it made my entire body shudder in fear. He slammed my face down onto the table. The metallic taste of blood flowed onto my tongue when my teeth cut my lower lip.

Hobbs grabbed my hips and thrust in one more time with a low snarl. When he pulled out, I wasn't sure if it was cum or blood seeping from me. He didn't say a word after, only fixed his pants and marched out of the room. A few seconds later, the front door slammed.

Carefully, I stood upright, pulled my pants back up, and walked into the room where I kept Little Hopper. The rabbit was nowhere to be seen. He was most likely freaked the hell out. I couldn't blame him. Wrapping my arms around myself, I walked into the main living room and looked up at the balcony, wondering if I could push myself upstairs and into the bathroom to grab a blade.

I winced from the pain. No, I wasn't going to try and do that again. I needed to stick with my plan. I just had to shut up long enough to pull it off. Trevor's days were numbered. He just didn't know it yet.

I was curled up on the couch with Little Hopper sitting on my lap. The rabbit was growing more and more comfortable with me.

When the light turned on around ten PM, I winced as Hobbs walked in, carrying a small cage. "I brought you something," he stated as if nothing was wrong.

I turned away, cuddling Little Hopper in my arms. The rabbit kicked; it was still not used to being snuggled yet. Eventually, I gave up and set him on the floor.

"I'm sorry, Isaac," cooed Hobbs as he took a seat on the couch.

I curled my feet in closer. "You always say that."

He sighed. "It's because I love you more than anything in this world. I lose control of myself at the very thought that you might leave me. It's why I get so angry when you ask about your debt. Because I know that very soon, you'll be able to walk out that door, and there won't be anything I can do to stop you."

"You would never have to worry about me leaving if you didn't make me fuck half of the gay men in Sin City."

He reached out to me, but I recoiled. "I needed to make my money back, Isaac, you know this. If I didn't pay, who knows what would have happened to you. At best, you may have been forced to work in the Warehouse District. Or one of the low-rent brothels in the Inferno District. At worst, they could have sent you out to the Wastes to mine lithium. People die out there all the time. If someone doesn't plan their trip accordingly, or something happens, they could run out of oxygen and die." He brushed his hand through my hair. "Without the money you bring in, we would have never made it to where we are now."

I tried to hint with my body language that I wasn't going to forgive him, but he placed the cage down and continued, "Anyway, I got this for you."

There was a fat little black and white creature with a long, thick tail in the box. It was cute. I couldn't resist the urge to take a closer look. "What is it?"

"A rat."

I flinched back. "Eww."

Hobbs chuckled, "It's not one of the types you see roaming around the Slog. Those are a type of mutant. This one was bred to be a pet. It's why it's so small in comparison." He opened the cage, scooping the rodent into his hand. It sniffed the air and wiggled about like it wanted to explore as he handed it to me. "You'll lose it if you let it roam around too much, but I do have something you can put it in to let it get some exercise."

I couldn't help but smile as I stroked the creature's back. Hobbs leaned over and kissed me gently on the lips. I winced but allowed it. "I love you, my little star. More than you could ever know. I am so sorry I hurt you. Forgive me."

I didn't reply, and he didn't insist. Instead, he left me alone with my two little pets. No more buttering me up. The end of all of this was coming sooner than Trevor would ever expect.

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