Chapter 31
KARA
The pounding behind my closed eyes was steady. Everything ached now that I’d awoken. I didn’t want Juric to know that, though. During the night, I’d rolled on my side, only to be reminded with stabbing pain of my wounds. The hand which had caused it was hot and uncomfortable on me.
He’d asked me if I wanted something for the pain, but I responded by telling him to fuck off.
Maybe Shawn’s fondness for profanity had rubbed off on me.
“You missed your window on killing me,” Juric said. “I know you’re awake.”
I opened my eyes reluctantly. He was up on his elbow, gazing down at me with a frightening look. One that said I should have chosen the basement. This bed was the most dangerous place in the world. His hand on my waist slipped beneath the hem of my shirt so he could touch bare skin.
“Stop,” I said.
But he didn’t. He bent his head and kissed me, his slimy lips sliding over mine. When I turned my head away, he roughly grabbed my chin and pulled me back to him. “I’m not finished.”
I let out a horrified gasp when he shifted and put his body over mine. I slapped my palms against his bare chest, trying to push him away, but what a total mistake. He enjoyed the feeling of my touch, and his hands yanked my hair, forcing me into his kiss.
“Give in to me,” he urged.
Fight blazed through my veins. “No.”
When I swung at him, he grabbed my wrists and pressed them above my head into the mattress, pushing himself up on his arms, so only our lower bodies were touching. “This is how it could be between us.”
“Us?” My brain was loud with hysterical, inappropriate laughter. “There is no us. I hate you. After everything you’ve done to me, and everything you’ve done to her . . . A million times over, no.”
The corners of his evil mouth turned down at the word he disliked. And then he slammed his face in my neck, his tongue probing and licking, his teeth nipping. My skin wanted to abandon my body and seek shelter elsewhere. I struggled against his hold, desperate to get away from the mouth on me.
In my panic, I scrambled to find something to distract. “I’m not Laurel.”
The head snapped up, giving my skin relief from his revolting mouth. Once again, he was furious at the sound of her name. “I’m aware of who you are, Kara.”
“Then why are you doing this?”
His anger receded and was replaced with a slow, bitter smile.
“I couldn’t get to her. The marshal made sure of that.
So, I followed you. From your apartment, to work.
My plan was to use you to get close.” I bucked against his hold, but it was futile.
“It didn’t take me long to realize what a mistake I’d made. ”
My throat closed up, so the word burst from me tight and hurried. “Mistake?”
“She doesn’t deserve me. I don’t want a whore with some other man’s baby inside her. But you? Fuck, Kara. You’re perfect. And it will be perfect between us.”
“No.” It was so scary, I clenched my jaw to keep my teeth from chattering. In fact, all my muscles tensed until I was utterly rigid. “No.”
His eyes had an unfocused look, like he wasn’t all there. “Then he almost ruined it. That asshole in New York who threatened your life.”
He squeezed my wrists together with one hand so he could set the other on my neck, placing his thumb at the hollow of my throat. It was a dominating gesture. There was no pressure in his grip, yet his hand seemed to weigh a million pounds.
“I made him beg for his life,” he added, “not that it made a difference.”
Oh, God, no. “You killed Scott?”
His chaotic expression washed away and focus returned. “He almost took you away from me. I don’t like people coming after what’s mine.”
Abruptly, his harsh hands around me were gone. It was like he’d suddenly been struck with a thought. He rolled off and sat at the edge of the bed with his back turned to me.
“Get up and get dressed,” he ordered. “It’s time to talk to your sister.”