The pain of those words sliced deeper than his slap ever could.
As his words registered, shame as she’d never known washed over her.
She’d given this manexactlywhat he wanted—power over her. There she was, cowering, apologizing, and promising to give in to his demands when she hadn’t done a single thing wrong. Not a single thing to warrant this treatment.
She’d never been so low, and she hated herself for allowing it.
A small flame of defiance, the one she’d had her entire life but had snuffed out since meeting Jason, flared to life, deep in her gut, a tiny spark under a tidal wave of alarm. She was tired, so tired of stamping down her own wants, needs, and personality.
“S-stop it.”
He leaned in until their noses touched. “What the fuck did you say?”
Dark eyes she’d once thought she loved hovered an inch from hers, full of fury and hate.True hate.
Why was he here? Why did he stay with her, a woman he so obviously loathed? Jason was an attractive man, or at least she had thought so at first. His behavior and personality made it difficult for her to appreciate his physical appeal as she once had, but women came on to him all the time. He could easily find someone else. So why did he stay here, making her life miserable?
Why do you let him?
She dug deep, taking a breath. Enough was enough. “I saidstop.” She squared her shoulders and stared him straight in his untrustworthy eyes. “Take your hands off me, Jase. I’m not dumb. I said I won’t go to the party. B-back off.”
Her voice might have trembled, but the words hit home. This was the first time since early in their relationship that she’d talked back to him, and even as her insides quivered, pride filled her chest for half a heartbeat.
“Oh-ho.” He let out a bone-chilling, sinister sound. “Little kitty dresses like a slut and suddenly thinks she has the claws of a jungle cat.”
He grabbed her throat and shook her against the wall.
The attack knocked the air from her lungs.
“I’ll put my hands wherever the fuck I want to,” he shouted as spittle hit her face, and she gagged and choked. “Wanna know why?”
Pressure built in her head until it felt like it would explode right off her neck. His hand squeezed until she feared her windpipe would collapse in his fierce grip.
She gasped and coughed, clawing at his hand in a futile effort to draw in a breath. Her nails scraped his skin, finding no give. Panic exploded full force now, a roaring in her ears that drowned out everything else.
She tried everything she could think of, thrashing, kicking, scratching, but nothing broke his death grip.
Her vision began to blur as a rushing sound in her ears made it impossible to hear, and rivers of tears streamed down her cheeks.
Her mother’s face flashed through her mind with the way she smiled when Beth came home for Christmas, the way she always smelled like vanilla and home. Her father’s voice, low and steady, telling her she could always come back.Always.
She’d never see them again. Never hug her mom. Never hear her dad call her baby girl.
This is it. He’s really going to—
Then, as suddenly as it started, the brutal pressure on her throat vanished.
Her legs sagged, but her chest spasmed as she sucked in air as quickly as possible. She coughed and gagged as the air rushed into her abused throat, each breath like swallowing glass.
“I asked you a fucking question,” Jason screamed in her tear-stained face. He grabbed her hair in a punishing hold, tilting her face up and stretching her aching throat, which he still held, but not to the point she couldn’t breathe.
She had no idea what he’d asked her, but she knew she needed to say something if she wanted any hair left on her scalp.“Y-yes,” she croaked.God, let that be the answer he was looking for.
“Because I fucking own you,” he whispered in her ear, making a chill run down her spine. His lips brushed her ear, intimate and vile. “I’m the one who puts up with your shit so I can put my hands wherever the fuck I want, whenever I fucking want to. Get me?”
“Y-yes,” she rasped. She tried to nod, but he had her head wrenched back, and her chin tilted up too high.
“That’s better,” he said. “Now get on your fucking knees. You owe me a damn apology.”
