Page 20 of His to Keep
My heart races as he pulls me down the hall and forces me into a room, one that isn’t far from ours. Booting the door closed, he turns to me with a wicked smile that peels back his lips.
The room is medium-sized and painted black. A large bed with ebony sheets sits in the middle of the room, all the other furniture pieces mahogany. A strange symbol is painted red on the wall above the bed, with crucifixes hanging upside down around it. My stomach turns, and I’m unable to breathe as my eyes connect with John’s. This is bad. I know I’m in trouble by the way he’s staring at me.
“Seeing as you give it to all the boys, how about you give me some?” My mouth falls open. “Don’t pretend to be shocked. I saw the way you looked at me yesterday. At dinnertime, don’t you remember?” He takes a step closer, and despite my fear, I’m rooted to the spot, too afraid to move. There’s nowhere to go if I do try and run. “I know how much you want me. You whispered it to me. I heard you.”
Stopping in front of me, he suddenly pushes me back. His bed touches the backs of my knees, and before I know it, I fall back against the mattress.
“You’re beautiful. Probably the most.” He fumbles with the lace on my dress, tongue dampening his thin lips and pupils dilating. His finger traces my neck and then over the mound of my left breast.
“No!” I slap his hand away, and his teeth bare. Grabbing my legs, he forces my knees apart. A scream tears past my lips when he climbs on top of me, his hand capturing my neck.
“Howdareyou hit me.” His fingers tighten around my throat. “Unbutton my pants, whore.”
My eyes bulge. “N-no—”
“Unbutton my fucking pants.Now!”
“Please, no.” I shake my head. “I don’t want to—”
“Do it, or I’ll kill you,” he growls, drool pooling in the corners of his mouth, and bits of spittle landing on my face. Sobbing, I reach to undo the front of his pants, turning my head away when he tugs them down and fumbles inside his boxers. “Look at it.” I shake with sickness. “Lookat me. I’m fucking hard.” I squeeze my eyes as tightly as possible, which earns me a slap sharp enough to make my eyes water. “Look at my cock!”
I look at his horrible face, the greasy brown hair stuck to his forehead and lips too red in contrast to his oily, white skin. A putrid stench of sweat and salt wafts off him, and my stomach lurches. Dropping my gaze unwillingly, he tugs on his penis in an up and down motion. Gasping, I look away, face burning from the violation. He only laughs at my reaction.
“I’m going to come all over your tits.” Grabbing a mound of my dress, he pulls at the thin fabric until it rips. My teeth clench when he squeezes one of my exposed breasts, and then moans out loud as something wet and disgustingly warm splatters over my chest.
My bottom lip trembles as he leans back. Lying still with shock, I wait until he gets off me and cleans the whitish fluid off my skin with a tissue. As he rebuttons his pants, I sit up and wrap my torn dress around my body while tears pour from my eyes.
Clicking his tongue, he rolls his eyes. “Stop crying. You made me do this.”
Saying nothing because I want out of this horrid room, I decide I want to take my chances in the one with Callum—enemy or not.
John grabs my arm and takes me back into the hallway. I wish I had the strength to push him downstairs. Watch his body hit each step and break.
Once we’re back, he ruthlessly shoves me inside Callum’s room. The abruptness causes my body to fall forward, and I topple to the floor on my hands and knees. I don’t feel the impact. Not anything at all.
I briefly hear the door close and lock behind me. Callum’s not far away. Sitting on the floor next to the bed, his head hangs low. Crawling over to him, I touch his knee. He blinks when his head snaps up, as if he thought I wouldn’t be coming back. His knuckles are swollen and bleeding, and blood smears the wood when I look at the door. Did he try and get me back?
He opens his mouth to say something and closes it again. He has no words, and neither do I. As always, there’s nothing to say. Leaning into him instead, I rest my head on his shoulder. He stiffens, and I think for a moment, he might push me away. Thankfully he doesn’t, and I lie against him, trying to calm my racing heart. Every time I close my eyes, John’s there with a crazed gleam in his eye and the Devil on his shoulder.
Chapter Twelve
Iwake to the sound of banging. Peeling my eyes open and gazing around the room, I relax when the bedroom door remains shut, and I was only dreaming. Realizing where I am, I try to remember why I’m on the floor. That is, until the gentle thuds of Callum’s heartbeat vibrate beneath my ear, reminding me that I’d fallen asleep against him.
His arms are wrapped around me, and it’s warm in his embrace. But before I can bask in this strange delight, his arms loosen around me, and he yawns, waking up.
Leaning off his chest, I lift my hand to rub the sleep from my eyes before turning to face him, intending to meet his own sleepy gaze and offer a small smile. I’d slept well, and I know he’s the reason why. But our eyes don’t meet. His eyes are on my chest instead and widening.
Glancing down, the buttons John tore off have left it gaping open, and my breast pokes out, nipple hard and thoroughly uncovered.
Oh, no.
Callum’s cheeks flush dark pink, and instead of reaching to cover my body, I watch him swallow hard before his bottom lip rolls into his mouth.
My stomach flips. It’s wrong, but for some reason, Ilikehim looking at me. My heart thumps as he fumbles with his hands, blood now dried into the cracks of his knuckles. For a moment, I think he’s going to touch me. It seems like hewantsto, though he doesn’t make a move to.
“What are you thinking?” I watch him watch me, anticipation pumping through my veins, curiosity smoldering.
“That you’re beautiful.” My lips part as his eyes lift to meet mine, his hand rising to tuck my hair behind my ear. My eyelids flutter, chills spreading down my neck and spine. The tingly kind I’ve never felt before. Instead of acting out the thoughts playing out in my head and touching me as John had done, he takes the collar of my dress and covers me instead. “You should change. Before John comes.”