I drive my knee up toward his balls, but he shifts, shoves his forearm across my chest, and presses me deeper into the wall.
“Get off me!”
Those blue eyes—ice-bright and inhuman—lock on mine.
He forces the knife down, guiding my own hand, until the edge slices into my skin. I suck back a hiss, feeling the warm trickle beneath my sleeve.
“Still got that little bite,” he mutters against my ear. His breath reeks of mint and alcohol. “Good. Makes it more fun when I break you.”
I try to twist away, but his body crushes mine like a cage.
“Though…” His lips curl into something wolfish. “You looked better with your mouth full of my cock.”
I freeze.
“What, that memory hit a nerve?”
“You’re gonna wish you’d fucking killed me.”
His grip tightens, my wrist bones grinding together until I’m sure they’ll snap. He leans in closer, but I don’t back down.
I slam my forehead into his face.
The crack is loud. Pain ricochets through my skull. He grunts, caught off guard, and I use the opening, ripping my arm free as my knife hits the ground with a dull clatter.
I bolt.
My boots slam against broken pavement, blood pounding in my ears. I don’t look back.
But I don’t have to.
“Oh, kitten, you think you get to run?”
He catches me in seconds.
His arm wraps around my waist, yanking me backward like I weigh nothing. My back crashes into the wall again. His forearm crushes against my throat, pinning me in place.
He leans in, his nose brushing mine. “Every time you run, I’m going to make it worse. You don’t get to escape me. Not ever.”
I spit. Right in his stupid face.
For a single, suspended second, everything freezes.
Then his smile curves into something unholy.
He slams my skull against the brick wall, stars burst behind my eyes. Before I can even suck in a gasp, his hand clamps around my jaw and forces it open. His fingers ram into my mouth, choking me.
“Open wider,” he snarls. “I can rip out every one of your fucking teeth and shove them down your throat. You think that’d shut you up? Think that’d stop that smart little mouth from running?”
I gag, struggling against his grip. My jaw aches from the pressure.
“Do you feel strong? Spitting in the face of the man who could skin you alive and still fuck your twitching body before you bled out?”
I thrash harder, my nails clawing at his arms, but he doesn’t even flinch.
“Don’t confuse my patience for mercy.” He finally yanks his fingers from my mouth, his spit-slick grip dragging down my chin. “Iwantyou angry. Iwantyou fighting. So when I finally ruin you, when I carve you open from the inside out, you’ll know exactly how fucking powerless you were.”
“I’ll kill you. I swear to God, I’ll fucking kill you.” I mean it. I’ll die before I ever submit to a monster like him.
