Chapter 10
Skylar’s legs shook as she pushed herself to keep running. The slap of her sneakers on the treadmill filled the room. Her arms pumped as she ran, and she was glad no one else in the hotel had bothered to work out since she was likely flailing like an idiot. She kept the speed up until her breath was panting and sweat dripped down her back. She flinched as remembered laughter filled her ears and the ghostly fingers of the memory slid over her, making her legs clench and fumble.
The safety cord popped out before her chest landed on the slowing treadmill. At least the breath knocking out of her stopped her panting momentarily. When she managed to push herself upright, the breathy gasps had already returned, filling her ears as a broken cry escaped her lips. She scrambled backward, her progress stopped by the nearby wall. Her heart pounded in her chest as the vise gripped her head.
She gave in to it, her arms coming up to press against her ears as she clutched the back of her head. The panting almost sounded like a sob now, and she clamped her lips together to keep the noise within. Her body throbbed from the fall and from just being the treacherous bitch it was. She curled tighter around herself. The panic attack had been coming no matter what. Trying to outrun it had been useless.
The thought made her feel even more out of control as her heart and head pounded and her throat tightened enough that she didn’t have to worry about letting out any broken sounds. Within, everything was loud, from the screaming in her head to the thrumming of her pulse. The vision in her head sucked her in.
“Hey, let me up!” Her own voice cried out in the memory. Through the drug-induced fog, she became aware of the person grunting on top of her. The fucker grinned down at her as he rolled his hips, thrusting his dick deeper inside her.
Skylar tried to hit him, but someone else caught her hands. Jack shifted forward to hold her shoulders down, kneeling on her struggling arms.
“Jack, get your friend the fuck off me.” The thrusts were hurting. On top of it, sharp tingles like razor blades whispered over her body as she came down from her high. Whatever they had laced the ecstasy with was making her want to crawl out of her goddamn skin.
“You know you love it, Skylar.” Jack’s face held no smile as he glared down at her. “The threesome the other day was all your idea, wasn’t it? A gang bang is just the next step.”
She couldn’t remember, not with the grunting above her and her skin crawling. “I said no, dammit.” She twisted her torso, trying to buck the asshole off, which interrupted his thrusts even as he moaned.
“Fuck, I was close,” the asshole said.
“Don’t stop. Just flick her clit a couple of times.” Jack’s laugh added ants to the razor blades. “The slut pops off quick enough. Then she’ll milk you dry.”
Fingers touched her there, sending sparks into her body despite all the pain.
Skylar clenched tighter around herself on the gym floor. Forget, damn it, she cried in her head even as the memory continued to play.
“There she goes.” Jack’s laughter grated in her ears even as her body pulsed around the dick that thrust deep and stilled, ejaculating inside of her. “We’ll have the next guy lick her clit good. A couple of orgasms, and she’ll be fucking dripping and begging for it.”
Skylar’s hands pressed into her head. Forget, forget, forget, she chanted inside. Her body felt like broken glass, the kind that would crack if she curled just a bit tighter.
“Shit. Skylar?” a voice called that wasn’t part of the memory. Hands gripped her shoulders, adding more cracks. She cried out as she tried to hide against the wall.
“Hey, you’ll be okay.” The voice was soft, soothing. “Did you fall off the treadmill? Try to relax so I can check if anything is broken.”
She wanted to laugh at the idea of relaxing, but had to bite her tongue to prevent another sob from escaping. She shook her head as the pounding there intensified under the pressure of her hands.
“Did you hit your head? Here.” Gentle fingers sank into her hair.
They felt familiar and good, which confused the fuck out of her. With each gentle pass, the pounding in her head receded.
“No,” she tried to say, but she couldn’t around the lump in her throat. Her body was responding to the outside stimulus despite what she wanted. Only this didn’t turn her on sexually. No, each soothing pass of those magical fingers made the tension ease instead. Soon she lay limp on the floor, the panic attack mostly gone. All that was left was her racing heart and the rapid pants that always sounded like she was begging for it.
She hated the sound of her breathing.
Damon’s fingers continued to work their magic over her scalp. “S-stop,” she said.
He immediately did. “Oh, sorry.” A shadow spilled over her as he leaned to try to see her face. “I should go call someone. The way you look, you must have fallen hard.”
“No!” She grabbed his arm before he rose. His skin was warm under her chilled hand. “Just give me a minute.”
“Sure,” he murmured, but his face looked uncertain.
She needed to sit up. The panting had slowed, but her heart still skittered inside as she tried to force her body to move.
“Hey, whoa,” Damon shifted closer, touching her again to stop her. “Don’t move yet.”
The panting returned. “Let go!” Skylar shouted.
Damon did, hands raised in front of him as he backed up. “Yeah, okay. I’m sorry. But you should rest for a while longer.”
Her treacherous body wanted to listen. Then the nightmare would take her again to remind her of her idiocy and flay her open so she could see exactly how low she could sink.
“I’m fine,” she muttered, shifting up enough that the wall supported her back as her body shook in its usual post-attack reaction.
“Skylar, there’s no way I’m believing you’re fine.” His hands shifted closer, but pulled back when she tensed. “Should I get Mandy, maybe?” he asked.
She shook her head, laying it on her knees as she pulled in a deeper breath. She let it out slowly as some of the panic faded. “I don’t want her here.” Mandy had only walked in while she’d been having a panic attack once. That time had led to counseling all over again, and a return of the nightmare for longer than ever.
Damon settled beside her as he sighed. He didn’t try to touch her again.
Her mind was relieved, her body not so much. She hated the clenching down there that said it was raring to go. Her body remembered how many orgasms the fuckers had given her, despite her pleading to stop and the pain and humiliation. The whole thing created a snarl in her gut that made her want to scream.
Damon nodded toward her shirt hem where the clip dangled. “At least you were wearing the safety cord.”
“Sure,” she said. Any other details would be pointless.
His head bent as he tried to see her face. “Did you scrape anything?”
She stretched her legs out. They felt like Jell-O, all wobbly and shit. Her hands moved to her chest to keep his attention away from her weakness, making certain she didn’t brush her nipples. “I fell tits first. Plenty of cushion there.”
He blinked, his eyes lifting from her chest to study her expression again.
She tried to smirk, but it felt lopsided. “You’re supposed to laugh. If you had seen my windmilling arms, you would have.”
“Nothing about you getting hurt is funny,” Damon said.
The firmness of his tone added an irritating lick to the interest her body already had for him. He was a sweet idiot, she reminded herself. Rolling on top of him would just confuse the poor guy. The slight shaking of her limbs faded at the idea of taking control of him like that.
“The whole world is fucking funny,” she muttered—though funny wasn’t the right word. More like ridiculous. Everything was so goddamn pointless that she sometimes wanted to laugh. Like her letting fucking Jack get to her. She’d been lucky to get rid of him. Now if only he’d stay gone.
“You’re not really laughing, Skylar.” His eyes moved to her lips. “I’m not sure I’ve seen an honest smile from you yet. Even when you poked me in the cheek and called me adorable, there was something else there. You don’t have to pretend with me if you’re sick of it, like I think.”
Skylar’s heart started pounding again as the bit of control she’d felt slipped.
“Something else is going on here.” Damon leaned back against the wall, staring over at the treadmill. “I’ll listen, if you want.”
The pounding reached her ears. “Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Skylar muttered. She shoved at him to knock him over, crawling on top of him as she glared down into his startled eyes. “You talk too much.” Her lower body was happy to wriggle against him even if he was soft, and she took his mouth for all she was worth to see if she could change that and shut him up at the same time.