20. Payton
TWENTY
PAYTON
When evening falls, I’m all but a waiting mess.
Eventually, I go outside and settle on the steps, drawing my legs up to my chest to stay warm as the final dredges of sunlight disappear into the treeline. With nightfall, a figure emerges from the shadows, and my body is met with a visceral reaction, urging me to my feet.
His hood is drawn up, so I can’t make out his face. There’s no wolf mask—that much is noticeable. He takes a single step forward, and my blood ignites as I skip down the stairs and into the woods.
We didn’t come up with a plan, so I don’t know if he’ll be giving me a head start this time, but not knowing is an additional thrill. There’s no rules this time. No prep. Just him and me and the woods.
My feet kick up dirt and sticks in my mad rush into the forest, but his heavy steps are fast approaching. Damn, he’s not playing tonight. It’s almost disappointing he’s ending this so soon, but after experiencing Jace intimately last night, I’m sure getting caught will be all kinds of vicious fun.
He’s quicker than yesterday, and his hand snatches the back of my shirt, yanking me to a stop. It pulls against my neck, strangling me; rough in all the wrong ways—my first hint something isn’t right.
My back is slammed to the ground and, even as my arms come up to fight, he pins them with his knees, settling on top of me. His weight digs in painfully, and it’s too much.
This isn’t like last night. It feels wrong.
“G-golden.” The safe word should end this.
He doesn’t get off me. The figure tips his head back, revealing his face at the same time he speaks, his voice straight from my nightmarish past.
“I fuckin’ warned you, you little slut. Warned you what would happen if you fucked someone else. You’re mine, whether you want to believe it or not.”
Aaron.
My hips and legs kick wildly to get him off, to free my hands for some kind of fighting chance, but his weight easily overpowers me. I attempt to readjust my legs between his, hoping my knee can land in the one area that never quite held up.
“You shouldn’t have bankrupted me, cheated on me, emotionally abused me—shall I continue? You stopped deserving me eight years ago.”
“And you,” he pushes down harder, “shouldn’t have fucked another man. Enjoy yourself last night, whore?”
He was here? Watching? The knowledge he witnessed the best night of my life causes bile to rise in my throat
“Yeah.” He grins. “Came by last night so we could talk, but then I saw something so interesting. I watched you taking off into the forest before some asshole followed you, found you.” He sneers. “And you rolled right over and took it, didn’t you?”
I could only imagine what kind of “talking” he wanted to do.
“Knowing what I like in bed doesn’t make me a whore.”
He snorts. “Except you don’t like fucking in a bed, do you?” He readjusts, swinging one leg over my hip and pushing his pelvis down into me, his belt buckle digging into my waistband, a threat on its own. But it’s a threat I’m done listening to. “If this is what you want, to be fucked like an animal in the dirt, then it’s what I’ll give you. Punishment for spreading your legs for another man when you’re mine .”
He reaches for his belt, giving me the slim room to wiggle my leg between us and ram my knee straight up into his balls.
He howls and rolls to the ground, clutching himself, and I don’t wait around. Scrambling to my hands and knees, I bolt for home, but my plan is to continue past it and screech for the neighbours’ attention, who live way down the road. Anyone who’ll hear me and call one of the few asshole cops this town has. They’ll probably take Aaron’s side—again—but it’ll be enough of a deterrent for tonight.
I make it twenty feet before he bellows, but I skip checking to see if he’s following. Pumping my arms faster than I believed possible, I keep going, because this isn’t a game like last night. This is real, shitty life. The reality of being a woman once overpowered by a man for so many years, but I’m done being that person.
Done being scared. Done being anxious. Done hiding my desires.
Finally, when I feel far enough away to check if he’s in pursuit, I do. My hair whips in front of my face, but I don’t slow, tearing it from my vision without enough time to notice the large form I slam face-first into before it’s too late.
Hands cup my shoulders, forcing me still, but I fight. Screeching and hitting, I don’t think about the fact Aaron is somewhere behind me, not holding me.
“Payton—hey! Payton.” Warmth encompasses my cheek, forcing my face upward to meet the eyes of a storm, and I’m immediately swept away by the water. “Little rabbit, what’s wrong?” He takes in my dishevelled appearance, my tangled hair, and the fact my limbs are quivering. Fear and adrenaline catch up now that I’m with someone who’ll never hurt me, and all I can do is point.
He follows my finger right as Aaron emerges from the trees, his steps staggered and slow, face paler than before.
“He…he attacked—I tried. I got away…” My arm falls limp by my side, and Jace takes it, sliding me behind him. His body is taut, poised, as he stares daggers at Aaron.
His jaw is all hard lines and cracked stone when he utters, “Get home. Lock your door. Don’t answer for anyone but me. I’ll take care of this.”
He takes a step, and my heart lurches, because I don’t know what he’ll do. His face is empty and lifeless. Murderous. I’ve never seen him like this before.
“Don’t kill him.” I reach for Jace’s hand. My touch skates over his scar, the mark that initially connected me to him. “He’s not worth going to prison for.”
“No, but you are.”
“Jace—”
“I won’t kill him,” he promises. “I just found you. You won’t be getting rid of me. Go back to the house.”