Page 87 of Corrupt Obsession

“I…”

Violet gulped back tears. This was it. This was her moment. All she had to do was tell the nice lady what had happened to her—what had been happening to her for six months, and it would be over. She had proof—semen in her mouth, pussy, ass. She was raw, bruised, and had his DNA under her fingernails. Her scratches would be all over his body, and his tongue was still swollen from her biting it. This was the right thing to do—what he’d urged her to do for both their sakes.

But she couldn’t do it.

“I think I have my period and stained my pants,” she wailed.

The woman’s face cleared. “Oh, honey, we’ve all been there. It’s going to be okay. Come, let me help you.”

Violet was curledup on the front seat of the truck when the driver’s door opened. Jesse stared at her for a minute before he slid in and rested his hand on her head. She whimpered like a wounded animal as tears slipped out of raw, swollen eyes.

Once the sweet lady in the office gave her a tampon and reassured her that her pants weren’t stained, she trudged back to the truck and collapsed on the seat. She lay there for hours, trying to gather the strength to go in and tell her story, but she couldn’t move. She listened to the bells ring, knowing she was running out of time, and now it was over.

Jesse didn’t tell her to sit up and put on her seatbelt as he started up the truck. As he drove, his hand sifted through her hair, stroked her cheek, and rubbed her quivering back while she sobbed.

Once Jesse parked the truck in the garage, he cradled her in his arms. She was too distraught to care if their parents were home but figured neither of them were when Jesse slid into bed with her.

He held her as she cried and beat her fists against his chest and screamed that she hated him. He didn’t say a word. He let her rage and when it was over, he undressed her and tended to every mark he’d left behind.

It didn’t surprise her when he eased himself inside of her. He didn’t move, he just petted and nuzzled her. But she didn’t want to be placated. She needed a release, an outlet for all the horrible things going on inside of her that were tearing her apart.

When she shoved him onto his back, he didn’t resist. She rode him, setting a brutal pace that went on and on because her mind was too fucked up to let her climax. In the end, Jesse helped push her over the edge. When she collapsed on top of him, he held her until her breathing had evened out, and she was still and quiet. He didn’t seek an orgasm for himself, but kissed her forehead, tucked the blankets around her, and left.

Violet turned on her side, stared at the far wall, and felt absolutely nothing.

Chapter 17

JESSE

3 WEEKS LATER

“I can’t takeit anymore. What’s going on between you two?”

Jesse stopped in his tracks and turned to face Mom, who stood in the entrance of the kitchen, hands on hips.

“Vi,” Mom said sharply as Violet tried to escape into the hallway.

Violet halted but kept her back to them.

Mom looked back and forth between them before she demanded, “What happened?”

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Dad’s head turn from the TV. Unease tripped down Jesse’s spine, but he kept his face blank as Mom continued.

“From the moment you two came home from school until you went to sleep, you used to spend every moment together. I could hear you talking and laughing for hours, and now…” Mom swept her hands in the empty expanse between them. “You barely exchange a word. Isaac mentioned that disagreement you had a few weeks ago that made Violet so upset that she wanted to ride the bus?”

Mom shot Jesse a quizzical look, clearly expecting him to explain, but he remained silent.

“I thought you two worked it out, and we were all just busy—you, Jesse, with baseball, and Vi spending most of her time with Georgia and Allison because of that science project. But now, Iknowsomething’s wrong.”

Mom stopped, giving them the opportunity to confirm or deny her charge. Jesse slipped his hands into his pockets and gave Violet time to answer for both of them. He’d known this moment would come. It was only a matter of time before someone confronted Violet about her ghostlike appearance and the fact that she’d gone mute. Her fire, which had always been so much a part of her, had been extinguished.

Come on, baby. You can do it, he silently urged. He couldn’t stand the suspense. Every day he wondered if it was going to be his last of freedom. Every time a stranger appeared in his classroom doorway or at practice, he wondered if Violet finally plucked up the courage to do the right thing, only for each instance to be a false alarm that left him drenched in cold sweat. The emotional roller coaster was exhausting. He wanted his fate decided. Waiting for the axe to fall was intolerable.

“Jesse?”

The uncertainty in Mom’s tone sliced through his gut. Mom had always trusted him implicitly, but he glimpsed her bewilderment and a hint of apprehension. Had the incident with Tucker made Mom realize that she didn’t know him as well as she thought, which meant he could be responsible for Violet’s drastic personality change?

“Violet.”

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