CHAPTER 6
Nina had never liked parties.
She’d been raised strictly and taught that discipline, education, and self-control mattered more than anything. After her classes, she usually went straight home, sat down with her notes, and prepared for the next day.
But that night, everything went wrong.
“Are you serious? Everyone from the popular crowd is gonna be there,” her friend coaxed her, eyes sparkling with excitement. “You really wanna sit at home and miss something like that?”
“I’ve gotta get up early tomorrow,” Nina protested. She had no desire at all to get dragged into this. She already knew she wouldn’t fit in there. She had no idea what people even did at those parties.
“Oh my God, Nina, just once in your life. I swear, all the hottest guys on campus will be there. It’s way past time you started dating someone. Or at least learned how to kiss.”
Lisa threw open Nina’s closet and pulled out the shortest dress she owned.
The very one Nina had never dared to wear.
If her father ever saw her like that, he’d probably throw her out of the house.
Her friend dressed her up, did her makeup, turned her into a doll.
She had never imagined she could look like that.
A long coat was the only way to sneak past her parents in such a provocative outfit.
That was how she ended up at that party. And that was how she first saw Jasper Garth.
He was tall and dangerous, with a predatory gaze. Tattoos showed beneath the sleeves of his black T-shirt, and he held a glass of whiskey in his hand — the kind of drink no one their age was supposed to have. The rich son of a high-ranking city official, a guy for whom there were no rules.
The moment Nina saw him, she knew she was in trouble. She watched him all evening without taking her eyes off him, and he didn’t even notice her.
He drank like he was trying to forget something. Sip after sip, glass after glass. Everything about him said, Don’t come near me.
And yet she wanted to walk up to him.
But she was afraid.
Nina had never been a bold, uninhibited girl who could easily talk to a guy like him. She barely understood how to act around guys at all, aside from the ones who sat with her in study groups and spent hours in the library.
He looked dangerous, like someone it was better not to mess with.
His dark aura weighed on her and drew her in at the same time.
He brushed one girl after another aside, barely hiding his contempt.
And Nina stood in the corner of the room with a soda in her hand, watching him as butterflies fluttered in her stomach.
She never stood a chance. A guy like that didn’t get involved with ordinary, bookish girls.
Jasper was a year older, and there were all kinds of rumors about him on campus.
None of them were flattering. But even that couldn’t dissolve her fascination.
People said he’d been in love with a freshman and had turned everyone else down because of her. But now he was alone. And he didn’t look happy.
When the party came to an end, Nina decided it was time to leave. There was no point in staying. Jasper hadn’t looked her way even once.
She sighed and went to look for her friend. Lisa had disappeared about half an hour earlier, saying she was going to get drinks.
But when Nina turned into the hallway, she ran straight into him.
He was standing with his back to the wall, his head lowered. In his hand was an almost empty bottle of whiskey. Nina froze. At that moment he lifted his gaze, and her world turned upside down.
She opened her mouth to say something, but the words stuck in her throat.
Her cheeks burned, her heart started pounding harder, but she couldn’t look away.
Jasper looked at her as if he were seeing her for the first time — which, in truth, he was. They’d never crossed paths at the college before.
There was a drunken haze in his eyes and something else too. Something wild. Savage. Merciless.
And then—
He grabbed her. Roughly — without warning, without a word. Nina didn’t even have time to make a sound before he dragged her into the nearest bedroom and slammed the door shut.
“What are you doing?” she whispered in panic.
The room was dark. He was still holding her, breathing against her neck. His fingers squeezed too tightly, painfully. Her heart hammered with terror.
“I saw how you watched me all night. You were devouring me with your eyes,” he said hoarsely. “Just like the rest of them, huh, doll? You want me? Say it. You want me. I can give you that. Right now.”
The music was so loud that no one heard her scream.
Nina struggled, tried to break free, tried to reason with him, but he didn’t hear her.
His breath smelled of whiskey, his fingers dug into her wrists, painfully, leaving future bruises.
He wasn’t himself. He was that very demon everyone talked about.
A demon who knew no mercy, no restraint, no boundaries.
She fought in his arms like a trapped animal, but he was stronger. Much stronger.
“Let me go,” she gasped, crying as she tried to tear herself free.
“Shut up.”
His voice cut into her ears, dull, drunk, strange.
“You’re all the same. You just pretend…”
He threw her onto the bed. Nina jerked, struck his chest, tried to crawl away, but he crushed her wrists and pinned her to the mattress.
She was a virgin. She begged him to stop. But Jasper seemed completely out of his mind.
After it was over, Nina lay on the floor, curled into a ball, shaking with horror.
She didn’t even hear the door open right away.
A hoarse, strangled voice called her name from the doorway.
“Nina?”
She flinched. That was Frank.
He’d been late because of a night shift. On the way to the party, Nina had sent him a short message saying she’d be out for the evening. He’d promised to get off early, and now he’d found her like this.
He sat down beside her and carefully touched her shoulder. She jerked as if she’d been struck. One look was enough for him to understand everything.
His face went empty, dead with shock. Then rage ignited in it. But it was too late.
Nina stared at one point as the cold seeped into her bones.
Frank sat beside her, his hands trembling. He didn’t know what to do with her. The music downstairs had finally gone quiet. The monster was gone, leaving her to drown in pain. Her short dress had turned into a crumpled rag.
“We need to call 911.”
She shook her head violently, sobbing.
“No. Please. Don’t.”
His hand froze in midair.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I should’ve been here.”
He blamed himself.
And, to Nina, it seemed that he went on blaming himself for the rest of his life.
That was probably why she eventually married him. Because he knew everything. Knew it all and still didn’t turn away. Because he supported her and kept coming back again and again, even when she didn’t want to see him.