Page 20 of Dark Notes, Volume Two

“Not yet. Please, just give me some time.” Her voice shakes, threatening to shatter my calm.

“Look at me, Angel.”

She lifts her head and gazes at me through tear soaked eyes.

“I’ll give you time, but you will tell me because you know I’d never judge you for whatever truth you’re hiding from. There is nothing you could tell me that would make me want you less. You’re mine now and that means all of you. The light parts and the dark ones.”

She tilts her head with a faint smile on her lips while she stares at me like she’s trying to figure me out.

“You’re confusing. Mean. Controlling. Then suddenly you’re sweet. Jett Black, you baffle me.”

I run my nose up the side of her neck, inhaling her sweet scent and growl against her skin.

“I’m not mean. I am passionate about what I want, unwilling to compromise when it comes to owning every part of you. Controlling your beautiful body is one of my favorite things to do. And I think you like it too. Be honest with both of us, Angel. Do you not like it when I tell you exactly what to do?”

I nip at her flesh, and she yelps.

“Answer my question.”

She drops her head to my shoulder as if she can’t look at me while she confesses the truth.

“I like it, okay? The way you’re rough with me, tell me what to do and the way you degrade me. I want more of it, Jett. Maybe I shouldn’t like it. I should probably even be offended by it, but it’s what I need. I’m so fucked up, but then so are you. Somehow, you’re the only man that has ever found a way to dull the pain.”

“Dull the pain?” I ask, needing clarification because I want to make sure we are on the same page.

“The physical pain numbs the emotional. I can’t explain it better than that.”

Gently, I nudge her head up and cup her face and force her to look me in the eyes.

“Will you tell me if that’s what you need?”

She shrugs her shoulders, but that isn’t good enough for me.

“People use safe words to make things stop if it gets to be too much. How about we use one when you need pain. That way you don’t have to talk about it. You can simply say the word and I’ll know what you need.”

“Prison,” she says softly.

Trigger Warning

TRIGGER WARNING: The following chapter depicts on page rape by a step-parent by way of a flashback.

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Chapter Ten

MIA

“Prison,” I say, bile rising in my throat. Thoughts of my step-father make me physically ill, and the sad truth is he’s going to come for me in a matter of months once he’s released. His obsession began when I was only nine, and it never ended. Somehow, he always manages to find my address when I move. Even in prison, he’s always able to locate me. There will never be a day when he doesn’t. I was ten the first time he ‘gave into his urges.’ The last time, on my twentieth birthday, I fought back, and the violence nearly took my life.

“Such a pretty whore, taunting me all night with your tight little cunt.”

I back away from the door as he progresses forward with a glint in his red eyes.

“Please don’t.” I beg as I move back again, and he lunges forward, grabbing my throat.

We are alone in this house. My mother is gone for three days to a college campus with my superstar athlete brother. Nothing will stop him. I avoided it last time by running, but this time there’s nowhere to go and he would chase me even if I could make it to the front door.

Marc squeezes hard, cutting off my air, and grits through his teeth.