30. Zela
“No, fuck no!” Ozy scrambles backward, shaking his head vigorously, his eyes glued to mine.
I choke on each breath, gasping, curling onto my side as I fight to get enough oxygen to my lungs. Every breath burns my throat and lungs as I get the precious air I’d been without. My gasps turn to coughs that shake me from head to toe, and my eyes water.
“Fuck, Z.” I hear the self-loathing and desperation in his voice and wonder how I missed the signs.
Looking back, I hear it now; hell, I even see it. I’d just been blinded by the fact that he was gone.
Or at least he was supposed to be.
But judging by the man on his knees, hovering beside me as if unsure what to do, I’m going to assume he never went far.
Fuck, I’d been such an idiot.
All the nights I’d cried over him, wishing I could have seen him just one last time or gotten the chance to say goodbye.
I’d thought he was taken from me, but that was wishful thinking. He’d never gone anywhere; he’d been right under my nose the whole time, earning his way up the DuPont chain to be their best little lackey.
Cold determination settles in my stomach. I feel lighter; the freedom that comes with letting go of the vision of Ozy I’ve had all these years, even as dread runs through me.
Never meet your hero.
“Zela, I’m sorry. I didn’t know.” His words are rushed, panic making his voice an octave higher than I’m used to.
Finally, my coughing begins to subside, and I push myself up on shaking arms, giving him my back, unwilling to look at him.
Good thing I don’t have Reed’s knife on me still; I might just jam it through his hand as I feel it come up to wrap around my arm, pulling me toward him.
Or maybe it’s too bad; he could obviously benefit from a lesson on when not to touch someone.
I shrug off his hold, pushing to stand. My legs shake, and everything fucking hurts, but I manage, somehow.
“Little warrior, let me help you…”
I can’t hold it even though I try for the sake of my battered throat. A laugh is ripped from me at the use of his old nickname, though it’s without any trace of humor.
Help me.
Isn’t that rich?
I spin around and look down at him, this man who I would have given anything for, in a new light.
“I don’t need your help,” I hiss, my voice rough and raw, and I see his eyes soften.
He doesn’t even attempt to stand; instead, he chooses to remain on his knees, but even still, he’s tall, still coming up to my chest. I try to control myself, but I can’t seem to stop the way my eyes roam over him, looking for every similarity and every new piece of this stranger.
“If I’d known, I swear I wouldn’t have, but you have to understand—”
“Understand that you were going to rape me?” He flinches at my words, and I feel empowered by his reaction.
This huge man cowers before me.
“Or understand that it was okay when you thought I was just someone else?”
“No!” he shouts in a rush, holding his hands up in surrender before he shakes his head. “I mean, yes, but I didn’t have a choice. I have to protect my sister and mother from the monster she married.”
I look down at him and see the truth in his eyes. The Ozy I know loved his mother more than anything else in the world, and while he didn’t have a sister back then, it’s not hard to imagine him fierce and protective.
“Everyone has a choice, and you made yours.” I turn to walk away, but again he stops me, his fingers wrapping around my hip to pull me back, and it’s the final straw.
Turning, I pour all my hurt and anger into my leg as I bring my knee up, and it catches him right across the face.
Unfortunately, it’s not a lot, given how fucking exhausted I am, but it’s enough for him to drop his hand, needing it to catch himself as he topples to the side, his other hand coming up to hold his jaw.
I expect him to yell or curse, but a smirk pulls at his lips as he looks up at me.
“Not the sloppy, helpless kid anymore, huh?” His eyes are sad, and I have to look away, knowing I’ll cave if he keeps this up.
“I’m nobody to you, not anymore,” I tell him, forcing the words out even though they feel like they are tearing my heart out as I say them.
And then I leave without looking back.
He’s following me; I can feel him at my back like my own shadow, but he stays far enough away that I choose to ignore him. I don’t have the time or the energy to fight with him right now. Who knows how much time I’ve already wasted? It feels like an eternity.
“Zela, ru—” Ozy’s shout is cut short by a grunt of pain, and I whip around just in time to see him go down, hard.
Even with my anger still burning hot, I can’t stop the way my body responds, and I’m moving back toward him only to stop abruptly when I see what happened, or should I say, who.
“Fuck, you might be even more irresistible like this,” Jace all but purrs as he licks his lips, his eyes dragging down my body and making me feel even grosser than I did being covered in mud.
I stand frozen for a moment before I register the large branch at his feet that I know wasn’t there a few moments ago. If it were, I would have tripped on it.
Which means…
Panic fills me as I do the only thing I can: turning and taking off into the trees, praying I don’t black out, or maybe that would be better.
He doesn’t hesitate; the sound of his boots sloshing through the mud and every puddle makes my heart race until I’m positive it’s going to beat right out of my chest.
"You were made for me, Zela! You can’t run from destiny!” he singsongs, and he’s closer now. I can hear him so clearly that I know I won’t make it.
All of this for what?
My foot catches on something I can’t see as my eyes well with angry tears, and I curse the universe for my inability to control my emotions.
He hits my back hard, and all I can do is brace for impact, but it never comes. At least not the way I expected.
I peel my eyes open to find I’m on top of Jace. His eyes are bright, and the smile on his face is so damn wide it looks like it should be painful. His arms are wrapped around my waist, holding me to him, and he’s breathing fast and hard.
Did he…
No, there’s no way he would do that, right?
But nothing else makes sense.
“Did you take the fall?” I can’t help but ask, and I swear his smile grows as he nods.
He doesn’t give an explanation as he rolls us so that I’m trapped below him, and I’m still so shocked I forget I’m still in danger for just long enough that I’m trapped.
“You can’t leave because you're mine. I don’t give a fuck what Kol said. I can’t let you go. I won’t. You’re mine, Zela, and I’m yours, forever.”
I didn’t think it possible, but he sounds even more unhinged than usual, and as I begin to squirm, his brows pull together for a moment, and he pauses.
His eyes roam over me, and I’m not sure what he’s looking for, but as he pulls up my sweater, I know I won’t escape again.
It had taken everything I had the first time, and even then, it was more a stroke of luck than my own ability.
The air is thick, and I struggle to breathe as I try to move out of his hold, and still, all he does is watch.
Finally, he leans in, pressing his nose to my cheek. I feel him take a deep breath before he presses a kiss to my cheek that’s so gentle it has me questioning if I imagined it or not.
Jace doesn’t do gentle; I’m not sure he even knows how.
“Fuck, I’ve dreamt of the way your pussy will feel wrapped around me, milking my cock of every last drop of cum.” He groans, and the words are strangled and full of need as he presses into me.
His cock is hard, and as he pulls my legs open and slides between them, I can’t stop the sharp intake of breath as he presses against my clit.
I need therapy because, despite hating him, I still can’t deny I’m attracted to him, and it’s not even just his looks, though those help.
No, there's something about them, has been from the moment we met, and it’s only grown and festered as each day passed.
I want to fuck him about as much as I want to stab him again, but not here, and definitely not now, at least the fucking part.
I’d totally stab him again right now if I had a fucking knife.
He makes quick work of pulling his cock out, and instead of hesitating the way Ozy did, Jace is giddy as he sinks into me, muttering words of affection and love that would make a girl feel great if she wasn’t being taken against her will in the middle of the rainy woods by her psycho stepbrother.
We both groan as he bottoms out and he releases his hold on my arms in favor of gripping my hips, pulling back and slamming back into me hard enough that my pussy clenches and my eyes roll back in my head.
“Fuck, you look like a goddamn goddess like this,” Jace rasps, his fingers digging into the bony skin of my hips.
He’s going to leave a mark, and for whatever reason, maybe I’ve hit my head one too many times, or maybe I just don’t care anymore, but I don’t hate the thought of carrying his marks around.
“Let me worship you, Little Fox. Let me ruin you,” he hisses, snapping his hips faster as he goes, and I don’t have it in me to speak, or I’d let him know he already has.
The fucking DuPonts have ruined everything, me included, and after this, I’m not sure there will be enough pieces left of the girl I was.
Or if I even want there to be.
My pleasure builds as he continues to fuck me like a man starved, and his words blur into a dull hum in the background as I look up at the trees that cage us in on all sides.
Movement to our right catches my attention, and when I look, I find a dark figure with an umbrella watching us. He’s dressed mostly in black, so he blends in pretty well, but his skin is pale, and there’s no missing the way he’s palming his crotch.
Kolson pisses me off on the best days, but something about knowing he wants me, craves what Jace has and he doesn’t, might never have…
Fuck, it’s like a drug pumping through me and pushing me right over the edge in the most intense orgasm I’ve ever had as I scream my release for the world to hear.
Jace’s smirk is cocky for a moment before it melts away, and his face morphs into one of shock, his head whipping up to look around, and my ears ring.
What the hell?
A shot rings out, startling me, and I realize I’d been so lost in him fucking me that I missed the first one.
I definitely need to get my head looked at.
This time, Jace jerks back, and his cock slips out, his attention elsewhere. I realize for the first time that it’s not quite as dark.
The sun is coming up!
That thought is enough to sober me and kick my ass into gear. I might not be able to escape Jace, but Kol said I could be free, and I’m so close.
I have to try.
Shoving to my feet, I take off. I hear Jace call out behind me, but I don’t stop to soak in his words; my mind’s only thinking of the next step as I move through the trees.
“Zela!”
The sound of my name gives me pause, not because someone is calling for me, but because of who is calling for me.
He shouldn’t be here, not only because it’s dangerous but also because he shouldn’t have known we were here, wherever here is.
“Not so fast,” Kolson sneers, coming out of nowhere, wrapping an arm around my chest, a knife pressed to my throat, making me freeze. “You lose, little sister.”
He nods toward the horizon, and I see the sun as it begins to rise in earnest now. I don’t even try to stop the tears that track down my face, but I keep my eyes forward, unwilling to give him any more satisfaction at my misery.
“Let her go, Kolson,” Reed calls, and I turn my attention toward him, and where he stands with Jace on his knees, his hair gripped in his fist, holding him there, a gun pressed to his temple.
He must have been the one shooting a minute ago.
I guess that makes sense considering he always has that gun on him, but somehow I’d never thought he would actually use it.
“She is ours, a DuPont. We can do with her what we please. You should know your place.” His words are venomous as he spits his reply as if Reed doesn’t even deserve his acknowledgment.
“Let her go, or I’m going to put a fucking bullet in his head.” To his credit, Reed doesn’t seem the least bit fazed. It’s almost as if someone asked him about the weather, but something tells me he isn’t bluffing either.
Kolson seems to know that too, judging by the sound of his grinding molars.
With a groan of annoyance, he pulls his knife away before shoving me forward. Caught off guard, I stumble and fall onto my hands and knees.
Jace looks like he wants to reach for me but can’t, and a second later, I hear him grunt before he falls onto the ground, splashing into the puddle we’re both in, before I’m being scooped up.
I look up to find Reed, his familiar face giving me more comfort than I would have thought possible after what just happened, even as a deep frown mars his usually happy face.
“I’m so sorry, kid,” he breathes as he continues taking us who knows where. It doesn’t matter, not really. I’m not sure he could make this night any worse, but he sure as fuck can make it better. He has been ever since he fired that first shot.
Exhaustion makes my limbs feel heavy, and I lean my head on his chest as my eyes fall closed, unable to fight it off any longer.
Hopefully, I don’t have a concussion.
“It’s alright. Get some sleep. I’ve got you now. You're safe.” I’m not sure if he’s trying to convince himself or me, but I believe him.
Reed is the only person I have left, and if I can’t believe him, well, I’m not sure I’ll survive another betrayal.
The last thing I hear is Reed’s soft words as his lips press to the top of my head, and darkness finally takes me.