Total pages in book: 151
Estimated words: 139803 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 699(@200wpm)___ 559(@250wpm)___ 466(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 139803 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 699(@200wpm)___ 559(@250wpm)___ 466(@300wpm)
I bit his hand, tasting his blood as it welled in my mouth. He yanked his hand back from my face with a pain-filled grimace. I opened my mouth to scream, but his fist slammed across my face, sending me sprawling to the floor, a cry of pain spilling past my lips.
My heart was pounding hard in my chest—almost to the point I could barely breathe through the beating.
I scrambled up to my hands and knees, and I kicked out at him as he walked near me. He slammed his boot into my stomach, sending me sprawling across the floor. He knelt over me, but I was in too much pain to fight against him. Every breath felt like a knife stabbing into my lungs and ribs.
“I told you that you were mine,” he snarled into my face. I whimpered, realizing that this was inevitable. There was no getting out of this. “You thought I wouldn’t know that you were getting your brains fucked out by that goddamn boy?” He wrapped his hands around my throat and slammed my head onto the hardwood floor beneath me. I moaned in pain. “I know everything.”
He slammed my head back into the floor again, and I felt blood trickle down my neck from the back of my head. I blinked furiously, desperately trying to stay awake.
“That’s alright, though, sweetheart,” he murmured, his lips trailing over my jaw. I weakly beat at his arms as my vision clouded over. “I’ll make sure he never wants to touch you again.”
* * *
✶ ✶ ✶
* * *
Julian
* * *
Meghan’s blood curdling scream ripped me from my conversation with Lincoln, my agent. “I need to call you back,” I told him.
I quickly hung up my phone and left it on my desk as I rushed back into my bedroom. Axel was already on the bed with her since he hadn’t left, as he had promised her he wouldn’t. She was sobbing, her body shaking with her tears, but she wasn’t panicking, for which I was thankful. Her anxiety attacks drained the fuck out of her, and though I kept my cool during them, they always scared the shit out of me.
“You’re safe, sweet girl,” he soothed. He looked up at me as I rushed over to the bed. “Hey, Julian is here.” He brushed his lips to the top of her head.
I crawled onto the bed and gently took her from him. She latched on to me, her body trembling in my arms. “I’m here, baby girl,” I whispered. I ran my hand over her hair. “Breathe, baby. It’s okay.”
Axel moved to get off the bed, and she quickly reached her hand out for him. Jealousy reared its ugly head for a split second, but I shoved it back down. I was beginning to understand that it wasn’t only me she may need anymore, no matter how much I disliked it. And I loved this woman in my arms way too fucking much to ever rip her of something she needed.
If she needed Axel, then so fucking be it. I would deal with it.
“I’m here, sweet girl,” he quietly told her as he sat back down and grabbed her hand in both of his.
My body tensed as I tightened my arms around her and buried my face in her sweet-smelling hair. “It was the night I was raped in the frat house,” she informed us, her voice breaking on the word rape.
“He can never hurt you again, baby. Remember that. I made sure of it,” I softly reminded her.
Axel arched an eyebrow at me in question, but I only shook my head at him as I focused my attention on the woman in my arms. “I know,” she croaked. “I haven’t had flashbacks in months.” Her breath hitched in her throat. “Julian, what if I’m spiraling again?” More tears streaked down her beautiful cheeks. “I don’t want to go back. It’s so dark,” she cried.
“Never again, baby girl. I—fuck, we—will never let you spiral again.” Axel nodded in agreement. “You’re my goddess. You may cry; the pain may feel never fucking ending, but you will always rise above your demons.”
“Look at me,” Axel softly commanded. She slowly turned her bloodshot green eyes to him. “You’re so, so strong, Meghan. You’re the strongest person that I know. You can overcome anything, but Julian and I are both here to make sure that you stay afloat, that you don’t start drowning again. We’ll never let you sink, sweet girl.”
She gave him a small smile as she tiredly rested her head back on my shoulder, but she didn’t let go of his hand as she let her eyes droop back closed. “Please don’t leave me alone,” she softly begged, her voice scratchy.
I looked at Axel at the same time he looked at me, him seeking my permission to stay. I clenched my jaw but nodded. If she needed him, then she would have him. “We’re not going anywhere, baby girl,” I soothed.