Page 51 of Forever Yours

My moans for help were nothing more than sobbed whimpers. Black coated my vision as darkness crept closer… closer. I hurt so bad. Everything hurt so bad.

Bending down, the guy fisted my hair in a crushing grip and yanked my head up, but I couldn’t see him through the swelling that occluded my vision.

I wanted Julien. His strong arms around me. Safe. Warm. Loved. He would hold me and take the pain away. Think about Julien.

Julien.

Julien.

The man’s voice invaded my ear; his heated breath smelled sickly sweet like marijuana. “Marshall says hi.”

An ear-deafening crack reverberated in my head as it was slammed against the unforgiving floor.

CHAPTER 15

Julien closed the distance between us. God, I had missed him while in Texas visiting Mom over the summer. He and I had been talking and texting almost every night, but it wasn’t the same as seeing him in the flesh. He looked so good. Beautiful. Breathtaking.

“I missed you, E.”

Did he feel the electric energy surging between us? How it swirled and grew hotter and brighter in its intensity? It was magnetic and undeniable.

“I missed you, too,” I breathed out, my voice suddenly going all deep and wispy with need.

Need for him. To touch him. Kiss him. But he wasn’t there yet. He said he needed time to figure things out. I didn’t care how long it took, I would wait for him.

Julien took another step closer to me until all I saw, all I felt, and all I heard, was him.

“Remember when you told me that when I was ready, you’d kiss me?” he asked.

My eyes went wide with uncertainty. Was he saying…

“Yes.”

He gripped the back of my neck with his hand and pushed me against the tree behind us.

“I’m ready.”

“Jesus, fuck! E, stop!”

Hands held me down. I couldn’t move. He was back. The guy was back and was going to hurt me again.

“Marshall says hi.”

Fight.

That one word kept echoing in my head—oh god, my head. Slashes of searing pain thrashed me like a whip, like white-hot knives stabbing my brain. Why was everything dark? I tried to reach a hand to my face, but something stopped it. And then my lungs expanded to take a full breath of air… air that wouldn’t come.

My arms and legs thrashed about with the need to escape. My only coherent thought was that I couldn’t let the man kick me again.

“Elijah! Fucking stop. You’re safe. They’re going to come in and sedate you again if you don’t stop. Listen to my voice. I’m here. You’re safe.”

Fallon.

He was there.

I wanted Julien.

A warm hand cupped my cold cheek and smoothed back my sweat-drenched hair.

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