“Hey!” Kai shouted after me.
But I just ran, hurriedly pulling the sweatshirt over my head. The tears pooled as I raced back into the woods, diving into the dark shadows of the trees.
“I don’t even know your name!” I heard his shout behind me.
The muscles in my legs felt like they were on fire as I dashed toward the parking lot and the road we came in on.
But then a hand grabbed my sweatshirt and yanked me back, the scent of my brother’s cigarettes flooding me as my body slammed into his.
I sucked in a breath and watched as Damon towered over me, his carefully constructed calm now gone.
“Oh, you’re off limits, alright,” he growled Kai’s words back to me. “I should rip off every single piece of clothing on your body right now. Everything I’ve given you. I told you all women were selfish, lying cunts. He doesn’t get to have you, and you don’t get to have him.” He bore down on me, the liquor on his breath wafting through my nostrils.
“Damon, please?” I begged softly, laying on hand on his chest. “I didn’t—”
“Don’t touch me.” He slapped my hand away. “I told you not to get dirty.”
“I’m not,” I assured him, shaking my head.
But he just looked down on me, fury in his eyes and pain he tried to conceal in his voice.
He grabbed my jaw, and I whimpered as he pressed my back to a tree. “Why did you do this?” he gritted out. “I told you to never let a man touch you.”
“I didn’t mean to let it happen,” I breathed out. “But he didn’t touch me anywhere, I promise.”
“Oh, yes, he did.” His eyes narrowed on me. “And you liked it. All you sluts like it. You’re going to let him take you away from me. You’re going to screw me over, and if you do, I will kill you. Do you hear me? I will fucking kill you.”
My stomach rolled, looking up at his dark eyes that stared at me like I was dirt. Like I was his mother.
I’d lost his respect. He thought I was nothing. He hated me. The last time I did something he didn’t like I was thirteen, and he wouldn’t look at me for a week. I’d treaded very carefully since then.
Until now, that is.
“Please. Damon.” I’d never seen him this angry. “I love you. You’re all I have. Please. I made a mistake.”
I wanted so many other things, but not if it meant losing him. I couldn’t lose him.
I pushed his hand away and dived in, wrapping my arms around him and burying my head in his chest. I hung on tight with every muscle I could muster.
Forgive me.
“I’ve always been good,” I pleaded. “I won’t do anything wrong again. I promise.” I squeezed him tighter. “I’m yours. I love you.”
He reached up and gripped my arms, like he was ready to push me off, but then he stilled, and I kept my eyes shut, hoping. Please, love me again.
No one else in the world loved me except him. He protected me, took me away from my mother, kept my father away from me, and if anyone ever tried to hurt me, he hurt them worse.
I still felt unsafe sometimes, but at least I never felt alone anymore.
Damon’s breathing calmed, his chest moving up and down, slower and slower. His fingers around my arms loosened.
“You can’t take him away from me,” he said in a low voice. “And he can’t take you away from me, either. You understand?”
I nodded quickly, an ounce of relief starting to settle in. “I know. I’ll be good.”
Raising my head, I looked up at him, the tears drying on my face as I kept my arms around him.
“I don’t want him. I just got bored,” I said. “When you’re not home, I don’t want to be there.”