Page 68 of Mountain Mens' Curvy Obsession

But a figure emerges behind us. His smile unsettles me as I gasp and whirl around to face him.

“Anya?” Breonna asks, following my terrified gaze as she turns around. “Oh, hi there. We’re just about to…” Her voice trails off.

“Itisyou,” the man says.

His voice isn’t just familiar, it is so deeply embedded into my nightmares, it has somehow found its way back to reality. He’s not a dream. He’s flesh and blood fueled by hatred and the lust for complete control.

“No…” I mumble, my voice barely a whisper.

“I wasn’t sure I’d find you here,” he says.

“Do you know each other?” Breonna asks me.

I give her a startled look. My hands are frozen, stuck in my pockets. I can’t take my phone out. “Call Nico. Please…”

“Anya, what’s going on?” she insists, her gaze bouncing back to the man.

“I’ve been looking for you for so long. I was worried I’d lost you again,” he tells me. “I’ve missed you so much.”

Be thankful I settled for you.It’s what he’d always tell me in my bad dreams.

My memories.

“Get away from me,” I manage and pull myself away from him.

“Anya, I’m just worried about you. Are you okay? Where have you been this whole time? I’ve been worried sick!”

“Get away from me!” I scream and bolt in the opposite direction.

I run as fast as I can, my boots thudding across the pavement. I slip on a stretch of uncleared snow, and a sharp pain shoots through my hip, but the adrenaline rush keeps me going. Without looking back, I leave them behind. He won’t hurt Breonna. His beef is with me.

“Oh, God,” I sob, my vision becoming hazy from a sudden influx of tears as I turn the corner.

My heart aches. My hip hurts. But my legs don’t stop. Even as the cold air stabs my lungs with every deep inhale, I keep running, turning left and right through the town as I desperately seek to put as much distance between me and Leo as possible.

“Leo,” I say out loud, finally remembering.

He’s not a man you forget. His evil ways are too deeply etched into my for me to ever forget him.

You should be thankful I settled for you.Nobody else wanted a fat princess with no actual life skills.

Oh, I remember it so clearly now.

Every poisonous word. Every smirk at the sight of my tears.

He reveled in hurting me, in making me feel less.

My head spins.

Ahead, the police station rises on the left side of the road. I’ll hide in there. Before I can reach the doors, my vision doubles and my knees go weak. I try to call out for help, to push myself forward, but I’m falling and then suddenly, the world goes black.

* * *

My eyes peel open.I’m on a bed in a sterile room. A cold white light on the ceiling damn near blinds me. I glance around. It’s a clinic or a hospital of sorts. Everything is pristine white, stainless steel, and sterilized plastic.

An illustration of the woman’s reproductive system hangs on the wall next to a poster of early pregnancy signs written in shades of pink on a pale blue background. The smell of disinfectant invades my nostrils as I take a deep breath. The beeping of a nearby machine draws my attention.

“Ah, good, you’re awake.” A woman’s voice startles me. I glance to the left corner of the room. A nurse in green scrubs comes over with a kit of sorts. She’s wearing latex gloves.

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