“I’m going to fuck you so hard I break both your legs,” he growls, thrusting his hips between mine. “I want to see the look in your eyes and hear your bones snap while I cum inside your bloody virgin cunt.”
“Get off me,” I yell, shoving him as hard as I can. His body lurches sideways from the force, his temple slamming into the dash.
He curses savagely, and I reach up and yank the door handle. The door flies open, and I tumble out, my back hitting the gravel. I barely feel the rocks cutting into my skin. All I feel is terror. I scuttle backwards on my hands like a crab, but Lennox dives out of the car the next moment, his hands grabbing for me. I roll, scramble to my feet, and run.
I hear his footsteps on the gravel behind me, and the next second, his body slams into mine from behind. I hit the gravel on my hands and knees, and his fingers wind into my hair. His breath is hot and fast on my ear. “You like to run, little mouse?” he growls in my ear, and I hear his belt clink as he unbuckles. “You want to know how perfect we are together? I like to chase. It makes me so fucking hard to hunt and catch my prey before I fuck her. I bet your cunt’s dripping wet, too. You couldn’t be more perfect for me, could you, my sunshine?”
“I’m not your prey,” I yell, twisting around as he tries to yank my jeans down. My back digs into the gravel again, and my scalp feels like it’s being torn from my skull with the tightness of his fingers, but I don’t care. All I want to do is get away. I kick his thigh as hard as I can, my heel connecting with solid force. “I’m not your anything. I didn’t choose you. Now let me go, you psycho!”
Lennox releases my hair, and I scramble backwards on my bleeding hands. “What?” he asks, staring at me and breathing hard.
I hear a car door slam, footsteps on gravel, and a masculine voice calling out. A second later, a blond stranger appears behind Lennox. His blue eyes fix on me, though.
“You okay?” he asks, his voice a refined southern drawl that I’ve never heard outside old movies. “I saw this guy attack you…”
I look at Lennox, who’s sitting back on his heels, staring at me. “I—I’m sorry,” he says. “I thought you were playing.”
“Playing?” I ask incredulously. “What the fuck kind of game is that?”
“I thought… You said you chose me,” he says. “I thought you wanted me to catch you.”
“You need help,” I say, climbing to my feet and brushing off my palms. Blood and dirt grind through the cuts and scrapes.
“I’m sorry,” Lennox says again, still on his knees. He looks up at me, his gaze so bewildered and miserable I start to soften despite myself.
“You need a ride?” asks the stranger, hooking his thumb back toward the truck. “I know you don’t know me, but I’m Justin, and my girlfriend’s in the truck. We got plenty of room for you. We can take you home. It’s not a problem.”
Lennox stands and wheels on him. “Fuck off, you pretty little Swan boy. This is none of your fucking concern.”
The guy looks at me doubtfully.
I turn to Lennox. “Am I safe with you?”
“Rae,” he says, his eyes full of emotion. He presses a hand to his chest. “Of course you’re fucking safe with me. I’d never hurt you. I’m sorry. I fucked up, okay? I thought you were saying you were into that…”
“Who the fuck would be into that?” I ask.
“I’m sorry,” he repeats quietly, looking away at the dark pit beside us where they mined for rocks and left the chasm like a gaping wound in the earth. “I know it’s fucked up. You’re right. I do need help. I don’t want to be like this. To want that. I can’t help it. But I’ll never do that to you again. I swear, Rae. You can trust me. I’m not going to hurt you.”
I swallow, searching his eyes for any sign of manipulation, but all I see is sorrow and regret. “Okay,” I say, turning to the other guy. “I’m fine. It was just a misunderstanding. Thanks for checking though.”
“You sure?” he asks, his brow furrowing with concern as he looks between us.
“Yeah, I’m sure,” I say, heading back for the open door of the El Camino. “You can go.”
I climb in and close the door, taking stock of the rips in the knees of my jeans from when I hit the ground. I pick little pieces of gravel and sand out of my palms while I wait. A minute later, Lennox climbs into the driver’s side and slams the door. Neither of us speaks as he starts the car and turns it around, heading back down the dirt road the way we came.
“Rae…” he says after a bit.
“There’s nothing you can say,” I tell him.
“Let me try,” he says, slowing as we reach the ramp to the highway. “Please? I’m so fucking sorry, Rae. I’d never want to hurt you. I… I care about you so much. I just… I got carried away. I was so excited when you said you chose me…”
“Except I didn’t say that. And even if I had, and we were together, what happens the next time you getexcited?”
“It’ll never happen again,” he says. “I swear to you,mi cariña. I just thought… I don’t know why I thought you were giving me the signal that you were into that, and it made me lose my mind. You’re so fucking perfect. But now I know you’re not, so I’ll never do anything like that again. I promise, Rae. I can control myself. I’m not an animal.”
I turn my face and stare out the window at the rice fields, remembering how Maddox acted about my bruises, how he acted when he went down on me. He’s the wild one. Lennox is so calm, so controlled and… And kind. When he makes a promise, he keeps it, even if it scares me when I think he won’t. Like the first night on their living room floor, when he promised he wouldn’t fuck me, and he didn’t.