I nod. “I’ve moved on, and now I need you to.”
“No,” he drawls. “You’ve just forgotten what we had. Remember the first day we met at that blood drive?”
The mention of that memory has dread poisoning my gut.
When I don’t answer, he does. “You were as obsessed with me as I was with you. Then you bled on my cock and have been mine ever since. Mine!”
I blow out a disbelieving laugh through the emotion clogging my throat. “It didn’t stop there, Xander! You cut me open. You’ve given my body scars that will never fully heal. You’ve made me bleed over and over again because you have a bloodfetish and like watching me break. I hated every minute of it, and I’m not going to let you hurt me anymore!”
His fingers drum on the table, his narrowed eyes a solid void piercing into mine. “Don’t give me that shit. The pain made you wet. You shattered on my dick every. Single. Time.”
Yeah, so that it would be over.
Because you forced it out of my body like my pleasure was yours to take.
Tears streak down my fevered cheeks. I lick my salty lips, my voice quivering. “You need to leave. I’m not yours anymore. I never was.”
Immediately, I know it’s the wrong thing to say out loud as his fingers flex and he lifts the gun. Using the barrel, he motions the handgun toward the door carelessly. “Let’s go.”
“Please. Just let me go, Xander—” Tears fall from my eyes.
“No. I don’t think I can do that, Kate. I win. I found you.” He marches around toward my side, gripping my shoulder painfully to haul me to my feet. Pushing me, he shoves me around the table toward the door. “I’m not letting you go this time.”
FORTY | KATE
“Walk,” Alexander shouts.
My eyes slam shut, tears falling from my lashes as I turn toward the exit. Xander digs the barrel into the middle of my spine, as if he’s walking me to my execution. He pretty much is when he leads me down the long, bleak hallway.
The silence is overtaken by my thundering heartbeat, pulsating in my ears and masking my tattered and uneven breaths.
Shakily, I open the door. Not even the rush of the end-of-summer air blowing through the central area of the park can soothe me.
I frantically peer around, my heart squeezing through my throat, hoping someone will see me. Save me. But if he’s in this uniform, it means he has authority and is an employee on the night shift, and I’m not sure how many they have on staff tonight. Usually, it's two or three; however, he said he was the one making the rounds. To anyone else on shift watching the security footage, it would look like he caught me doing something and is escorting me out of the park. I feel his chest soclose to my body that I’m sure the gun would be hidden between us unless someone is looking closely.
I’d say I’m surprised Xander went through all the trouble to secure a job here, but I’m not. It’s another challenge that adds to his high.
His obsession.
I could scream. Run.
Then I remember the cold tip of the barrel digging into my back, a constant reminder that he’s in control and I’m not.
“Xander, you need to let me go.” I slow my pace leisurely, hoping the extra seconds will buy me some time. “There are people here who you shouldn’t underestimate.”
“Shut the fuck up, Kate. Your excuses won’t change this. I’m putting an end to this game. You won’t be able to run from me anymore, sweetheart.”
That nickname is a bucket of ice water over my head, making me tremble as I hook onto something he said. “What do you mean I won't be able to run anymore?”
His maniacal tone grinds through my ears. “Before I got that lead that gave me your whereabouts, I had time to plan our future. There’s a nice, renovated basement in the bottom of the house I bought with your name on it.” Nausea slams through me. “A place where you’ll be safe.”
Safe.
I know safe. This isn’t it. And I would give everything for Preston to find me.
The thought of him has the straps on my thigh burning into my flesh like a reminder.
My blade.
