The air turns thick with my fear. My throat feels like it’s closing up.
The threat has changed. I noticed it last time, but it’s worse now.
Ryan’s nostrils flare when he looks at me.
His eyes are dark and menacing.
His gaze drops to my mouth. He can’t—NO.
He’s already so close that our noses nearly touch.
I know what he’s thinking. His lips, forced on mine.
I won’t survive it.
I turn my head, staring somewhere past him, even though I barely register what I see.
I gather what little strength I have left.
“You’re harassing me.”
He slams his hand beside my head, hard enough for a book to slide off the shelf. It drops on the floor with a quiet thunk.
His eyes gleam.
“Don’t act like you don’t want the attention,” he whispers, his breath hot against my ear.
“You’re asking for it. You always were.”
“St—stop.”
His smile is monstrous.
“Or what?”
I remember how I used to hope against all hope that someone would care enough to step in.
Stop him because I couldn’t.
No one ever did.
Then—
Two fists grab Ryan’s shirt.
He’s ripped backward so violently his feet leave the ground.
He hits the floor with a shocked sound, then gets hauled up again like he weighs nothing.
“Get the fuck away from him.”
Caspian.
Standing between me and Ryan like a wall of unyielding granite. Relief floods my chest. My knees give out. I sink to the floor, shaking.
Caspian looks ready to kill.
I have never felt safer.
