I nod again, but that’s not enough for him. He reaches out and grabs my chin. “Speak,” he commands like I’m his dog. “Say it.”
“I changed my mind, Uncle Carl.” My heart nearly hammers through my chest as I’m sure he’s about to reveal the shoe I’m sitting on, but he doesn’t.
“That’s good. That’s very good, Sable.”
He licks his lips, like he can’t decide what to do first, but he lets go of me. His hands drop to his pants. First, he opens his belt. His hands move sloppily with excitement, and my fear reaches an overwhelming crescendo. He pulls them down to his knees, which can only help me. It’s hard to run with your pants down. As he moves the waistband on his underwear and reaches for his cock, I make my move.
My knee swings, striking him in the balls. Despite all the force I put behind it, his hands are in the way, gripping his dick. The hit doesn’t land quite right. “Fuck, ow, goddammit!” he screams, but he’s not winded or about to cry.
Fuck, I silently echo. I try again, but it’s too late. Uncle Carl shoves my leg away before it touches him. Violent eyes narrow, retribution flashing behind them. He moves instantly, a hand closing around my neck. With his grip tight, he forces me flat against the bed. His body slides over mine, his sickening weight pinning me down. I breathe for only a second as he gets into place, and then he tightens his grip until there’s nothing.
“What do you think you’re doing, stupid bitch?” Uncle Carl snarls.“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”
He doesn’t expect me to reply, not when he can feel me suffocating beneath his hands, but I think it’s clear to both of us I’ve failed. My vision blurs around the edges, but I won’t go down without a fight. My legs twitch beneath his weight, but I can swing the arm with the shoe. He presses me further into the mattress, hard cock digging into my soft belly. Bile rises at his excitement. The heel is still tight in my hand, but with him on top of me now, it’s behind his back.
“Kick me in the balls and what?” he asks me. Our bodies are so close now. He lets me breathe, and his breath fills my nostrils.
“Hurt you,” I answer, and his hand tightens even harder than before.
“How did you turn out to be so fucking stupid?” The words are nothing compared to the feeling of his hips bucking forward, searching for friction.
His cock is hot against my leg. He lowers his head as his fingers try to get hold of my underwear. He peppers wet kisses along my cheek and neck. Eyes blurry from the tears, I search for my best move. I only have one chance left, and I need to take it before he’s inside me.
“This is the beginning of the rest of our lives,” Uncle Carl says, dick in hand.
CHAPTER 15
SABLE
River water rushesover my tongue, as if it’s been lodged inside me since my father brought me to the bottom of that river. My time has come so many times now that I wonder what superhuman stubbornness is keeping me alive. My vision comes in and out, panic taking over as I search for my point of attack. My panties shred beneath his hands, and I’m bare to him. Goose bumps cover my skin, a visceral fear unlike anything I’ve ever felt.
He shows his teeth like an animal as he leans back, preparing to shove himself inside me.This is my very last chance, and his eyes are wide open, unlike his balls.
Lunging forward, I shriek as loud and hard as I can, using his surprise as another weapon against him. The hand with the shoe shoots forward, the heel digging into his cheek just below his eyes as I shove.Fuck, I missed.He grunts in pain, eyes closing reflexively as he blindly tries to get a hold of the shoe. He grabs my arms, forcing me into a grapple. This time, he’s left his balls undefended. My knee swings again, the contact square on. A pitiful grunt leaves him as he crumples forward. As he falls, I swing with all my might, sharp little heel pointed at him. It doesn’t matter where it lands, I won’t stop fighting.
The heel catches in the wet flesh at the corner of his eye. A sense of bloodlust I’ve never felt takes over as he screams. Rather than swinging again, I shove with all my might, throwing my body weight behind it. Battle cries spill out of me as our leverage changes, and we’re upright, another shove, and then suddenly I’m over him. He swings with his free arms, punches, landing, but lacking the strength it would take to stop me in this state. It’s him or me and I’m past the sensation of pain.
He gives up on fighting me off to prevent the damage to his face. He struggles beneath me, body moving far more than my own did when our positions were reversed. His strength outmatches mine, but the pain serves as a serious distraction. My advantage over him is a thinner margin than I would ever choose to bet on. My heart is in my mouth, and my life is on the line as I push harder than I ever have in my life.
“Fuck, you fucking bitch!” he shouts, and I answer with a grunt as I gain another inch. Uncle Carl screams a sound so frightening that my stomach turns, and I nearly lose my nerve. “Please, Sable!”
A wet shluck and a popping sensation vibrate through the shoe and deep into my bones. Suddenly, the struggle ends, and everything is quiet. My hands don’t relax, shoving and shoving, as tears pour down my face. My eyes refuse to make sense of what’s happened until hot, wet blood spills over my hands.
My uncle lies beneath me, both of our genitals exposed, but thank God they’re not touching. Blood oozes out of the corner of his still open eye, showing no signs of slowing. The other pupil points in a slightly different direction, but it still stares at me. The hand around the shoe still hasn’t let go, and it’s either pulling it back out or loosening my fingers, yet I don’t move.What have I done?
The breath that rushes out of me breaks into a wet sob. Finally, after hours, my fingers give up the shoe. The ache in myjoints is unlike anything I’ve ever felt, and I hold my hand like a claw as I wait for it to move again. The shaking fingers of my non-dominant hand touch his neck, searching for a pulse. His skin already feels a little too chilly, and when I find the artery at his neck, there’s nothing but stillness. Managing to unlock my body, I climb off him, every inch of me revolted with the proximity to his nudity.
My bare ass hits the mattress beside him, and I cringe at the thought of running through the woods in any of the options in the closet. At least I can leave in the morning. What’s one night in the house with his body? The pointy heel pierces deep into the corner of his eye, the sole of the shoe floating just above his cheek. I thought choosing myself over my father and leaving him at the bottom of that river was going to be the hardest thing I’ve ever done, but life has other plans in store for me.
I killed Uncle Carl.
His cock is still out, but there’s no way to cover it without touching him, and there’s no way in hell I’ll do that. The indignity of the situation haunts me as much as my actions. Everything is wrong, and I’m not sure how I got here. Bellthorn and the boys pop into my mind as the blood warms the mattress. Would I have wound up here without them or did Uncle Carl always have this type of escalation in store?
My body refuses to move even when the blood soaks into my thigh. The heat is gone faster than I’d expect, and it chills me as it touches me. I beg my limbs to move, to run, but they disobey me. My watch over my uncle’s body reminds me of a vulture, jaw set and eyes dead. Carl was a terrible man, and I’m glad he’s gone, but dammit this feels wrong too. My heart breaks at the utter loneliness. I got into that damn car with him. I left Bellthorn, and it’s hard to ignore how every choice I make seems to lead to one less Briarwick in the world.
Perhaps the Briarwick curse is a mantle you inherit, and now it simply resides in me.
“Sable?” A voice interrupts the scene, but my eyes and body stay locked tight.
