Page 35 of Pike
Maybe T-Bone was right, Ashley wouldn’t want me to stop living, she wouldn’t want me to place the full weight and blame of her death on Chloe, not after everything she’d been through. I knew she’d want me to stop punishing myself, but that didn’t make it easy to do.
I wanted Chloe, that much was obvious.
I felt guilty and angry as fuck about it, which was only obvious to me.
Still, despite all of that complicated shit, Ididwant her. When she looked at me with those wary green eyes all I wanted was to ruin her mouth all over again. I wanted to scrape my rough hands over the smooth skin to hear the little gasps and sighs she made, as if she’d never experienced so much fucking pleasure.
She hadn’t, that dumb fuck conscious of mine reminded me.
And being the man to make her feel that way?
Amazing.
Chapter Nineteen
Chloe
The scream ripped from my throat so violently, I startled myself into consciousness. I wasn’t even sure at first that the sound came from me. I sat up and looked around in the darkness, unsure where I was and if my life was still in danger. Sweat drenched the back of my neck and my damp t-shirt clung to me. My hands trembled where they clawed at the sofa cushions. I realized that I was still inside the nightmare. My lungs squeezed tight, my ears rang so loud it echoed inside my brain.
And I couldn’t breathe. No matter how many breaths I tried to suck into my lungs, I could not breathe. Not when I couldstill feel it. The fists pounding my flesh. The hands strangling life from me.
The rage.
The betrayal.
Except it wasn’t Marcus, not this time.
Pike.
His face was twisted in raw fury. His hands, big and brutal and cold. The weight of his rage as he struck me, again and again until I was on my hands and knees, blood in my mouth, sobbing, begging for him to stop or for my life to end, I wasn’t sure which anymore.
Please don’t kill me. Please, not like this. Please.
And then the hands were there, wrapping around me from the back and squeezing so hard I thought my eyes would pop out of my head. But they didn’t, instead they remained wide and wild, searching for something, anything I could use to save myself.
Only this time, I found nothing.
This is it, I’m going to die.
A hand, big and warm, touched my shoulder.
I screamed so loud my throat burned, but I didn’t stop. I couldn’t. Help never came, I knew that, but still I screamed, thinking if someone heard me, they might help. They might save me.
But once again, nobody came. There was no air in my lungs, just panic as I scrambled to get away from the hands I knew too well, knew the damage they could inflict, the rage that fueled every fist. “No,” I screamed silently, still trying to escape my tormentor.
“Chloe. Hey, hey.” The voice was low, rough. Real. “It’s me, Chloe. You’re all right.”
The voice was soothing, and my body sank against the hard muscle but only for a second. I wiggled and squirmed to get away, knowing what came after the soothing, calming words. More blows. More kicks. More angry words that made me wish I’d chosen a different path in life, and sometimes, made me wish he’d just kill me.
The sofa shifted beside me. Arms—strong, solid, and warm—held me tighter, pulling me closer. I thrashed, and I fought, but the voice was there again, close to my ear, steady and calm. Oh so damn soothing. “It’s me, Chloe. You’re safe. I’vegot you. It was just a dream, just a horrible fucking nightmare. Breathe, sweetheart. Yeah, just like that. I got you.”
Pike.
His scent hit me first. My limbs jerked wildly once more, then went totally still. I froze because it was in that moment I realized it wasn’t a dream. It wasn’t a nightmare. Not anymore. I was in the cabin. In the living room as was my usual nightly ritual, watching the doors and the windows, silently hoping there would be no bogeymen tonight.
It was Pike holding me now, not hurting me.
My body sagged against his, gasping for air I still couldn’t seem to find even though the fear was fading. My head dropped to his shoulder, and I clung to him like a life raft, like he was the only thing that stood between me and a full meltdown.
