Page 17 of Voracious

Chris lifts the brick, and I try to scream through my weakness. “Okay,” I rush out on a croaky breath, my voice straining. “Okay, okay, okay.”

His eyes narrow on me. “Prove it.”

My bottom lip quivers, and I will my body to work. My face is tingling, and I don’t know if it’s from the drugs or from him hitting me.

He tosses aside the brick and climbs on top of me, and every nerve in my body shrivels at his nearness, my heart racing with the immense fear injected into my veins.

Chris doesn’t hold back as he presses his lips to mine, holding his mouth there with a painful grip of my jaw, even as I don’t respond. He takes my bottom lip between his teeth, and I wince as he bites down hard. “Kiss me back.”

When I still don’t respond, sick rising in my throat, he pries my jaws apart and shoves his tongue into my mouth.

Forever forcing. It’s what he’s been doing to me since I was young. Since I was a child. My last straw snaps, and I find the courage to bite down on his tongue, hard enough to draw blood, but all it does is make him twitch against my thigh, a chuckle leaving his throat.

He tilts my face so he can deepen the kiss, and I can feel him growing even harder as he presses his body to mine. It’s revolting, and I refuse to reciprocate. I stay still, my body trembling, my eyes on the sky as he keeps trying to get some sort of reaction from me.

Chris pulls away, scowling at me. “Fine. Have it your way.”

The scream I let out is for nothing as he grabs the brick and crushes it into the bodyguard’s face. The shock kickstarts my body to work, and I cover my mouth as Chris keeps going. Smashing the head into a pile of pulped flesh.

Again.

Again.

And again.

Each whack, each land of the brick, turns the guard’s face into nothing – unrecognisable.

I try to crawl backwards towards the car while Chris is busy mincing this guy’s face, but my body is still in shock as I strain to stand.

He gets up, drops the bloody brick and looks at me. “You made me kill him.”

I shake my head. “No.”

He snatches my throat, and my eyes bulge with how hard he’s gripping me.

“I’m going to kill them all. I’ll start with Kade. I’ll tie him down and make him watch me fucking you. I won’t wear a condom and I’ll fill you withmykid. I’ll make him listen to your moans while my name falls from your lips. I’ll put him on the brink of death, and the last thing he’ll see is you coming all over my cock.”

Rage fills me, and I’m not sure where the energy comes from, or the bravery, but I use every bit of strength to throw my fist against his nose with a crack, catching him off guard. He reels back as I hit him again, grabbing his bleeding nose, so I lean up to sink my teeth into his cheek. He doesn’t catch my knee as I smash it between his legs again.

He yells and pushes me as he drops to the ground, and I quickly run to the car, slamming the door and locking it just before he can grab the handle.

A bloody palm slaps on the window as I turn the engine on, my hands uncontrollably shaking and sore. Thank God he left the keys in the ignition.

I grip the steering wheel, clench my teeth to hold in how sore my body is, my head aching, and press on the accelerator. I fully intend to run him over when he moves to stand in front of the bumper, but he dives out the way. Seeing his face, the shock and fear and terror, is worth it.

It’s an expression I’ve never seen on him before.

If I want Kade to fight his way out of the deep hole he’s trapped in, then that’s what I have to do too. I’ve never stuck up for myself this way, and I don’t intend to stop. I’m done with his abuse. I’m done being fucking silent and letting him treat me like his personal punchbag.

I shove the gearstick into reverse, the car screeching as it rapidly backs up, and Chris dodges me again then tries to grab the door handle. The wheels skid on the ground, and I quickly put it in first before slamming down on the accelerator again.

The edge of the bumper clips his hip and knocks him on the ground, and I speed away as paranoia overwhelms me that he’ll get the better of me. I pass the SUV tucked away in a passing place, and my heart twists in my chest as I think about what happened to its driver.

I knew Chris was insane, but I didn’t know he was a killer.

If I’d kissed him back, would the bodyguard still be alive? Would he have called an ambulance? I feel responsible, and it’s gnawing at my conscience.

I search for my phone and swear to myself. It must’ve fallen out of my back pocket when he tossed me on the ground. Instead of trying to call Kyle or Nora or one of my friends for help, I do the next best thing without a phone.

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