Page 60 of Run Little Killer
"So, I told her she could lay down back here while I finished some bookwork,” Shawn continues, lying through his teeth. “I thought she'd be good to go then. But I didn't eat lunch, and maybe I was dehydrated or more buzzed than I thought, and shejust came onto me and wouldn't take no for an answer. You know how I am Nat, I-I couldn't hurt her, and my mind was fuzzy. I didn't even know what I was doing until it was over."
My mouth hinges open as I gape at him in astonishment, then swing my gaze to his wife. Surely she can't believe this bullshit.
She glances my way, and for a fraction of a second, I think she sees straight through his bogus story. Instead, she pivots around and lunges.
Not at him.
Not at the husband who stepped out on her, drugged an innocent girl, and proceeded to assault her.
Natalie lunges at ME.
Air whooshes from my lungs in a choked gasp as I’m slammed backwards into the edge of the desk, sharp pain radiating through my spine like an electric jolt. Panic floods my system, chest clenching as I struggle to remember how to breathe.
"You stupid little whore," she snarls, voice dripping with venom as she backhands me. Her rings bite into my cheek, pain instantly blooming across my skin. "How dare you come for my man, you homewrecking bitch!"
I flinch as her arm rears up, but she doesn’t smack me again. She grabs for something above my head, mumbling, "Maybe if I make you as ugly on the outside as you are on the inside, it’ll prevent you from doing this to another woman."
My head spins as I struggle to draw a full breath, brain scrambling to make sense of this woman’s outright delusion.
"You've got it all wrong," I wheeze, trying to push her back.
But it's too late. White hot heat sears a path along my cheek as Natalie swipes the beveled edge of a letter opener across my face. Warm blood instantly blossoms from the cut, slithering down my skin as fresh tears blur my vision. My mind wages a war on itself, unable to make sense of what the hell is happening.
That’s when I snap.
A high-pitched scream tears from my throat as I snatch the letter opener from her grip and lunge for her face, carving a gash across her cheek to match the one she gave me. She cries out, hands shooting up to cover her face, blood pouring from between her fingers. Her eyes go wild and she drives a fist into the wound on my cheek, sending me stumbling back. The letter opener clatters to the floor, tears spilling from my eyes as my body crumples against the desk.
"Call the cops!" Natalie shrieks.
"Huh?" Shawn asks.
"I can't go to the hospital like this without reason!"
"What do we tell them?"
It feels like I’m floating outside my body, their voices sounding like they’re underwater.
Natalie stoops to swipe up the letter opener, grabbing Shawn by the wrist and slicing it across his forearm.
“What the fuck!” he shouts, yanking his arm back.
"You say you caught her stealing, and when you confronted her, she went crazy and stabbed us," Natalie instructs.
My brain short circuits, eyes darting between the blood on Shawn’s arm, on Natalie’s face, on my own hands. My body throbs as terror and adrenaline mingle together below the surface, and I do the only thing I can.
I run.
I jolt upright with a strangled gasp, a sheen of sweat clinging to my skin as I blink into the darkness. My throat burns, heart pounding, lungs seizing as I struggle to catch my breath.
The nightmares always leave me shrouded in panic. It’s like a botched exorcism; my sleep demons refuse to leave. I run a shaky hand through my hair, easing back against the headboard as I count my inhales and try to ground myself.
Beside me, Rhett's chest rises and falls in a steady rhythm, his features slack and unguarded. I swivel my head to check the time on the clock radio, but Nix distracts me when he lets out a soft snore and my eyes skip right over the nightstand and onto him. The usual sharpness in his face has eased, his jaw slack and one arm slung overhead. He’s so peaceful that he almost looks innocent.
Almost.
There was nothing innocent about the way he consumed my body earlier. I was sure the high from that orgasm in the woods would stave off the nightmares, even just for one more night, but I guess I’m not cured after all.
Dammit.
