Page 46 of Better Run
“Thatshouldn’t be what you’re worried about.” Jayden’s voice is dark. I snap my eyes back to him. Why is he angry?
“Fuck you, Jayden. Why don’t you just do what you’re going to do and let me go.”
He laughs. “Oh, Sage.” His voice is mocking. “Let you go?”
My mind feels like it’s wrapped in translucent film. I see Cole now. He’s leaning on the fireplace behind Sage, arms crossed. He’s also in a dark T-shirt and cargo pants. Jayden pulls something out of his pocket. It’s a phone. He holds it out to her.
Sage looks away. Cole stalks up, grips her hair, and points her head at the screen. It seems like he’s playing a video for her. I hear voices, loud music, laughter.
Wait. I scrunch my eyes closed. Why does that sound like me?
“Remember that?” Jayden asks her. He then walks over to me. He holds a phone in front of me. The video is paused, but it looks familiar. There’s a club in the background and Sage’s face. She’s in a little black dress with red lipstick. It’s tugging at the fog in my mind. Jayden presses play, and heavy music blares.
“Hey, dipshit.” Sage’s voice comes across. The video pans over to the seat next to her. And there I am. In my sparkly blue club dress. The one I wore for New Year’s. With the plum eyeshadow I tried for the first time that day.
Clarity hits me like a smack in the face. New Years. The club in Columbus. Kyle and I went and I drank Tequila like it was water, and then I kissed a girl I met at the bar. Sage.I kissed Sage. My eyes snap to Jayden’s. His gaze is shuttered.
The video keeps playing. Sage is pointing the camera at me. “Say something to my abusive ex.”
Video me smiles, batting her eyelashes slowly. I look beyond the camera and reach over. I pull Sage into me. The video wobbles but catches us fully making out. I kiss her long and deep, and when I pull away, I look at the camera, licking my lips. “Happy New Year, fucking asshole. May you never get laid again.” I laugh and lift a shot glass full of clear liquid to the camera, then shoot it down.
The video pans to the bottles of liquor behind the bar and then stops.
I forgot a lot of those details until now. Her little black dress. Her gold eyeshadow. My hair was in a high ponytail. The video. I was so drunk that night. I do remember Kyle cried for a long time because even though he told me to kiss a girl on New Year, that it would be hot, he thought Sage was too hot.
I open my mouth to say something, but I can’t speak. I realize there’s a gag in it. I look around again. The fog clears slightly, and I see that my legs are tied and I’m…naked. Panic rolls through me, but the film follows close behind, and the fear backs off. It just hovers in the corners of the room.
Jayden turns back to Sage. “You found out I still had my mom’s phone, and you sent it to that because I blocked you.”
Sage whimpers.
“I want you to watch this, Sage.” His voice is dark. “And I want you to think about why I’m doing this while I fuck your little girlfriend.”
He turns to me. That fear hits me again before becoming hazy, and fatigue runs through me. Despite that, hatred also pushes in. This is why he took me? To make a point to his ex?
I squeeze my eyes closed as warm hands close over my breasts. He then smacks my right breast hard. The pain is muted but it’s also the only thing my body feels besides fuzzy peace.
“No, kitten. You don’t get to be asleep for this part. I’m going to fuck you, and when I’m done, you’ll be ruined. I’m going to tear into you until you fall apart for me. And once I hold your pieces, I’m never giving them back.”
The words send shivers down my spine. Jayden starts to undo his belt.
Rage hovers on the edge of my fog. If I could speak, I’d tell him I meant every word in that video. Tell him I hate him. I feel fuzzy. I hate him? Yes. Hate him.
I ignore the little part of me that thrilled at his words. That wanted to make him fight to tear me apart. That wanted to…belong. But there is no belonging. He’ll use me, and when he’s done with me, he’ll dump me. Something whispers that he’ll maybe even kill me. That seems absurd. I shake my head to think clearly.
Jayden’s hot hands land on my shoulders. He slides them down slowly. It makes the hair rise on my skin. He caresses me all over my body. They rub over my ties, pushing me back, making my world rock softly. They rub away the rage and fear and leave me with nothing but fuzzy pleasure. Torturously slowly, they move down. Down to where I’m barred. I try to squeeze my legs together to get some friction, but it doesn’t work. His touch feels like static; pinpointed and all over at the same time.
Hot fingers graze my clit, and I jump. Suddenly he’s at my neck, breathing me in, warm breath on my ear. His fingers graze my clit again. Warmth pools in my center. It takes me a minute to realize he’s cupping my pussy.
I shake my head. The fog doesn’t clear.
He rubs circles around my clit. Forcing sensations into my body. I bite down into the gag. I remember I promised myself I would never come for him again. I think about my old life. About Kyle. About my social media following. About the new series I was going to do, trying food from different cultures.
Jayden is relentless. The sensations are not overbearing, but they’re constant. Whatever is going on with me brings my focus right back down to my clit and the pleasure that’s being forced on me. There’s a wet sucking sound.
“Kitten…you’re so wet.”
I realize his fingers are in me, gently pushing in and out. He grazes a spot inside me that makes me want to arch my back. He’s being gentle and attentive.
