Page 55 of Save Me
Why is he here?
Eventually, he breathes out noisily, stands up tall from the chair, buttons up his suit jacket, then moves around to my side of the desk. As he leans back against the dark wooden edge, I can just about see him smiling over my subservience.
“Beth,” he growls, albeit calmly, like a giant tiger purring before a mouse, “I feel I owe you an apology.”
His feigned sentiment doesn’t fill me full of confidence. In fact, it only makes my heart jump more wildly, as if in anticipation for something innocuous to come out of his mouth. Choosing to hide my fear, I show him nothing. Instead, I look into his eyes without expression or any words of acknowledgment.
“I may have acted a little hastily and caused you some hurt yesterday; I am sorry for that.”
His lips lie flat again, and he raises his brow as if waiting for me to reply, but still, I say nothing. He maintains the same expression, challenging me in this weird game of his, one that no one knows the rules for except him. The awkwardness of the situation increases so much, I end up looking away again while involuntarily emitting a small sigh of hopelessness.
“Is there nothing you wish to say to me?”
Plenty, but I value my life so will hold my tongue!
I shake my head slowly, it seemingly being the safest thing to do. I hold my gaze to the floor for fear he’ll turn me to stone if I look upon his intense blue ones any longer. Through the peripheries of my vision, I notice his suit creasing and he crouches before me. His large hands come to rest on top of my thighs; they feel so heavy and hot, I actually flinch from his touch. My chin is soon lifted and directed back to his face with just the tip of his index finger. He smiles at me but all it shows is his own satisfaction. There is no warmth to be gained from it.
“Talk to me, Beth,” he whispers, though it still sounds firm enough to be an order. “I need to know what my Beth is thinking.”
“I’m not your Beth,” I reply with bravery I didn’t know I had inside of these four walls, especially as I am now trapped between his legs. “I don’t want to be yours, not now, not ever! I don’t belong in your world.”
I brace myself for one of those slaps he had delivered so effectively yesterday afternoon, but all he does is sigh with obvious disappointment in me.
“Belong or not, Beth, it is where you are headed. You are mine, whether you like it or not,” he says, with false affection. “No one else can have you, do you understand me?” He grips my chin just that little bit harder, and I realize this is why he’s here. I suddenly have an eerie feeling that I won’t be going home tonight.
“And if I run? If I fight back? If I take a premature exit from this world?” I argue, getting my fight in now before he carts me away from anything resembling the real world. Again, I am shocked when I don’t feel the physical repercussions of my speaking against him, instead, he merely smirks, before kissing me gently on my lips.
“Then I will find you,” he whispers right inside of my ear, the act feeling even more terrifying than if he were stood before me ranting and raging for the whole school to hear. “I will fight you harder, and if you decide to take your own life, know that I will take other people’s; people who you care about.” He steps back, smiling wickedly, and with his voice returning to its normal volume. “How old is your little brother, by the way?”
A horrifying realization descends over my entire body when the man in front of me reveals just how far he’s willing to go to have complete control over my life. And yet, all I can do is drop my mouth open in utter shock. What’s worse is he finds my lack of voice, or fight, all the more amusing with him smirking in satisfaction.
He reaches for my wrist before I have time to process anything else other than complete despair. He then runs his finger gently around the red rings that the rope had left behind yesterday.
“My poor Beth,” he says and kisses the bruising with the gentlest of kisses, though it only ignites the already churning bile deep inside of my stomach. “I don’t want to fight you! I want to love you, to worship you, to tame you. It’s best we be friends in all this, isn’t it?”
Knowing there is literally nothing else I can do, not after he has threatened every life that I hold dear, even that of an eleven-year-old child, I nod with my eyes closed to his smug expression. I curse myself when I feel a stray tear fall gently over my cheek.
“Good girl. Now, I’m going to kiss you and I will slip my tongue inside of your pretty, little mouth, and you will reciprocate, won’t you, my Beth?”
Before I can answer, not that I have anything worthwhile to say, he pulls me between his thighs and tongue kisses me roughly. Another kiss to tell me he owns me. His hands run over my back as he presses his growing erection against my stomach. It takes every ounce of self-control not to push him away with venom. When he does eventually pull back, he bites my already sore lip, causing me to release a whimper.
“You will also break it off with Xander Fenton or I will have him wiped out,” he growls inside of my ear, “just like that!” He clicks his fingers for added effect before marching from the room with his hand still firmly attached to my arm.
Chapter 19
Xander
Beth never returned to class, and the look Kai had shared with me at the sound of the bell, told me he was just as scared for her as I was.
My next lesson seems to go on for hours, and as soon as the end of the day finally comes around, I rush to where I know she should have been, only a few classrooms away from mine. I wait patiently for every other student to emerge from that room, all except the one who I desperately need to see. I even pop my head inside, only to see Mr Tate look back at me with a frown and a tsk for making him jump.
The corridor soon empties altogether, but still no Beth. There’s nothing to do but go and wait in the parking lot, hoping that she hasn’t already left. After about twenty minutes of hanging around like a shifty-looking teenager, I finally see a familiar security guard. It’s the one who had collected Beth’s bag from the beach on the night I had first laid eyes upon Oliver Lawrence. I hold my breath when the door opens again and see the man himself with his meaty hand gripping hold of my girl. He practically drags her down the steps like she’s a dog that needs training in how to behave on a leash.
I instantly stand upright and push away from the car, causing them to turn toward the motion of my body. Lawrence levels me with a hard stare, leaving me desperately wanting to flip him the bird, though I settle for a sneer, seeing as he currently has hold of Beth. He leans down to whisper something into her ear, something that has her looking back at me with a sadness I can’t even describe without needing a thesaurus and a stiff drink.
As soon as he ceases saying whatever vile shit he’s been pouring inside of her delicate ear, she obediently nods and breaks free of him. I’m confused when she begins walking my way, with him doing nothing to stop her. However, I waste no time in pacing in double the size of her slow strides to close the gap. When we finally meet in the middle, she doesn’t even look at me. Instead, she keeps her gaze to the floor while my heart thunders murderously inside of my chest, warning me of the potential fallout from what she’s about to say. Whatever it is, it’s going to be epically bad. It will no doubt leave me wanting to murder Lawrence so gruesomely, not even his dental records would be able to identify him.
“Talk to me, Beth,” I whisper, desperately wanting to hold her, but also being cautious because of what that asshole will do if I try to touch her.