by A. M. Kusi
“Come on. Just relax. I promise you’ll enjoy this as much as me.” He kissed her neck, as she clumsily tried to push him back. His hands wrapped around hers, turning them both around and pinning her to the door.
“Stop! Griffin. No!” She pushed at him with all her might, as his grip tightened around her. His hardness poked her belly. The more she struggled, the more turned on he seemed to get. Fear raced through her veins as she trembled. There was no one coming to save her. She had to save herself.
“Be quiet,” he whispered in her ear. His tone did not turn angry. “Wouldn’t want the neighbors to hear.”
Yes. She did want them to hear and call the cops. As if he’d read her mind, he clamped his hand over her mouth.
“I wonder how embarrassing it would be to have to tell the police how you baited me all night. How you wore this slutty little number and went as my date to a party where so many other people could attest to you being by my side the entire night. How we danced and just couldn’t keep our hands off each other,” he said.
Flashes of their night replayed in her mind, casting a shadow of doubt.
“Imagine telling the officer you asked me to take you home and invited me up to your apartment with promises of bringing me to bed.”
She shook her head. His hand muffled her argument. That wasn’t what happened. He was twisting everything.
“Now imagine their faces when I explain that you liked it rough, because you’ve got some daddy issues. I’m just the family friend. The employee of said father that you were using to get back at him.”
Tears dripped down her cheeks and over his hand that was surely leaving bruises. Her head was pounding as a wave of exhaustion hit her. Her limbs became heavier. Her legs wobbled as she struggled to stand.
“Now, once this kicks in, you can relax and thank me properly. I promise once you see how good this feels, you’ll understand.”
He licked her ear as she tried to turn away. Griffin turned her face with his bruising grip, forcing her to look at him. Moving his hand to the back of her head, he slammed his mouth against hers. His tongue forced between her lips as her stomach flipped in disgust. She struggled against him, rejecting his violent kiss. He bit her lip. Isa winced in pain, tasting blood. Pushing him away with all her might, she tried to break free. But there was no way she could overpower him.
“Are you going to be quiet now?” he asked, backing his face away. He had a crazed look in his eyes.
She nodded, calculating a way out of this. He dropped his hand to her throat, his unspoken threat clear.
“Did . . . you . . . drug me?” she asked, her leg giving out.
He smirked, his once kind blue eyes now devoid of any emotion as he guided her to her knees.
“Just a little something to help you relax.” But the water he’d given her hadn’t tasted any different.
He unzipped his pants. Bile rose in her throat as he pulled himself out.
Isa had never felt more violated and powerless in her life. Part of her held on to one last shred of hope.
But reality was a bitch. The truth was, no one was going to help her.
What was it that she’d learned in that women’s self-defense meeting at college? They’d said to cry fire instead of help; more people were likely to come and aid you.
She looked towards the door. That spark of hope filled her. A last-ditch effort. She gathered all the strength she had left. She wouldn’t go down without a fight. She screamed as loud as she could, “Fire! Fi—”
She was silenced by a loud slap across the face that sent her body tumbling over. White-hot pain stung and throbbed as her hands searched frantically for anything she could use to defend herself. The weight of his body crushed her as he squeezed the hand held tightly against her throat. He was letting her know just how much she was at his mercy. She didn’t want to die. In that moment, she decided she would do whatever it took to stay alive.
“Okay,” she cried, giving in. Her eyes fluttered as she struggled to stay alert. Whatever he had used on her was taking effect. It was like trying to move in quicksand. The more she struggled, the harder it got.
His grip loosened enough for her to gasp a breath of fresh oxygen. He pressed her legs apart. The sound of ripping fabric cut her heart in two—an announcement that she was about to become a statistic.
Her fingers gripped the cool plastic tightly.
Survive.
***
Ethan had lost her in the crowd after seeing that asshole’s hands all over her on the dance floor.
Jealousy and rage heated his body as he searched for her. Had she moved on so quickly? Did what they’d had mean so little to her?
He spotted the asshole first before they’d disappeared in the crowd. Ethan had pushed his way through and up the stairs, trying to get a better view of the room. But she was nowhere to be found. He knew he must have stuck out like a sore thumb, wearing a T-shirt and jeans under his coat. He had snuck in the back with the servers.
He pulled out his phone. A text from Harper lit up the screen. Isa had left with him. Harper had included Isa’s new address, but he hesitated. What if she was in there with Griffin? Could he take her back knowing she had been with another man since everything had happened between them?
***
His stomach a mix of roiling emotions, he took the steps to the floor of her apartment. The neighborhood was sketchy at best. Dangerous for someone like her to live in. The dingy building made his heart sink. Why hadn’t she told him she needed his help? This place didn’t look safe, and it smelled terrible.
He found her door, raising his hand to knock. A loud groan followed by a thud sounded on the other side. His body heated with rage. He turned the knob and rammed his body against the door, sending splinters of wood flying as he broke through. The door caught on a tangle of two bodies on the floor.
Fear seized him and adrenaline coursed through his veins. Griffin was on the ground with his pants down and dick out, his whole body twitching. Ethan shook with a fury he hadn’t known he possessed at the sight of Isa panicked with a ripped dress. Her lip was bloody and a bruise was quickly forming on her face and neck. Her trembling fingers were wrapped around something pink and shiny. Her eyes were fluttering as if she was struggling to keep them open. And then she Tasered Griffin in the dick. Fuck!
Ethan sprang into action, fisting Griffin’s shirt and ripping him away from Isa. She made a sound as her head bobbed to the side. Her tear-filled eyes locked on to his, and relief filled her expression. Something inside him snapped loose in a fit of rage that lit his body on fire and burned him from the inside out. His fists smacked, ripping the skin on his knuckles as he punched Griffin in the face. Blow after blow, he kept going, hearing bones snap and seeing nothing but red.
“Ethan.” Isa’s distant voice brought him back to the present. She was crying, mascara running down her face.
Ethan tore himself away, his need to protect her stronger than his thirst for revenge. He pulled his coat off and wrapped it around her. Griffin was moaning in a mess of his own blood. Ethan cradled her head softly, but she made no attempt to lift her arms. What had Griffin done to her? Her body was limp as she cried softly, closing her eyes.
Ethan pulled out his phone and dialed Nicky. He talked to Isa while he waited for his friend to pick up. “Isa? Baby, you’re safe now. I’ve got you. I won’t leave.”
Chapter 33
“You’re one of the lucky ones,” Detective Nicky Wallis said as he closed his notebook.
Isa sure didn’t feel so lucky with a pounding headache and the burn of Griffin’s bruises now a deep purple across her skin. Being poked and prodded, photographed, and questioned from the moment she had woken in the hospital had not been her ideal Christmas morning. Even though Griffin hadn’t gotten far, a piece of her innocence had been stolen that she could never get back. She had pieced
together what she could remember for the detective. Everything was so fuzzy.
“You’re free to go. I’ll keep you in the loop with any updates. Griffin Smith is sitting in a cold cell right now, nursing a broken nose and cracked jaw,” the detective said as he walked towards the door, nodding to Ethan.
Ethan had been by her side since she’d opened her eyes. The shock had only added to her distress. She didn’t want him to see her like this. How could she face him after everything?
“Thanks, Nicky,” Ethan said, extending his torn and bloody hand.
“Sometimes this job pays off when I get to put assholes like him away.” Wallis nodded again and left the room.
Ethan stared at her in silence as if he too was struggling with what to say. “Are you okay?” he finally asked.
“I’ll be okay.”
“Are you ready to go?”
“Yes.” She pulled the scrubs the nurse had given her tighter across her chest in an attempt to shield herself from the cold that had reached her bones.
“Harper is waiting for you. She’s got a room ready—”
“Can you just take me home?” she asked, her voice small and shaking as she tried to keep it together for a little longer. She couldn’t stand the pity in his eyes.
“You need to be somewhere safer,” he argued, placing his coat over her shoulders.
“No, please. I don’t want to. I just want to go home,” she begged.
“Fine,” he agreed.
She’d done it. It was over, for now.
***
“We’re here,” he announced.
She opened her eyes, wincing at the brightness before she opened the door. The cold winter air sent a chill that seeped into her bones. He followed her up the stairs, where she opened her apartment door. She shrugged off his coat, every part of her feeling vulnerable and exposed to him.
“Thank you for everything,” she said, handing him his jacket.
“Can I come in?” he asked.
She met his eyes and fought back tears. She wanted nothing more than to be held in his arms, to feel safe and loved, even if only for one more time.
“I just want to make sure you’re alright,” he pressed.
She nodded and held open the door, unsure of her voice.
“Let’s clean you up,” he said, taking her hand in his.
His touch jolted her as the familiar energy crackled between them. A tear escaped and cascaded down her cheek. He led her down the small hallway, finding the bathroom door open. He pulled her inside and grabbed a washcloth on the sink. After running the water for a few minutes, he soaked it and brought the warm cloth to her forehead.
She reached for it, placing her hand over his as she began to sob. He held her against his chest while she fell apart. She wasn’t sure how much time passed, but her heart ached a little less in his arms. She would stay here forever in his embrace if she could. At least as long as he would let her. Isa swiped at her eyes.
“Let me do it,” he said, wiping her face clean gently.
Her cheek was tight and swollen where Griffin had squeezed her. The washcloth came away with dried blood as he tenderly wiped her lips. His jaw clenched as he touched the source of the bleeding.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
“Ready to change?” he asked gently.
“I want a shower.”
Ethan backed up and turned on the rusty taps. “Do you want me to help?”
She was numb and angry. Everything was backwards and upside down. She needed a moment to breathe, and that was impossible with him around. “No.”
“Okay, I’ll go,” he said, giving her one last look before he reached out and rubbed the pad of his thumb across the red angry marks on her neck. Anger flashed in his eyes.
“It’s over,” she assured him.
He looked at her one more time before he left the bathroom. He walked away, leaving her feeling more alone in that moment than she ever had. He hadn’t wanted her before, and now that another man had had his hands on her . . .
Isa took off the dress with shaky hands and climbed into the water before adjusting it to near scalding. She scrubbed her body as hard as she could, trying to erase the memories burned into her flesh. Fresh sobs came as her knees gave out and she fell to the floor of the tub.
Strong arms wrapped around her, and the water was shut off. Ethan didn’t leave. He lifted her out of the tub as she dripped water all over him. She was carried over to her mattress and covered with the towel. He lay next to her, holding her as she cried, until she drifted into sleep.
***
Isa woke sometime later to an empty bed. She opened her eyes finding no sign of Ethan. She was still naked, so she got up and pulled on a T-shirt and a pair of cotton sleep shorts before walking out into the combined kitchen-living-room area. Ethan sat on the secondhand beige couch with his head in his hands.
“Hey,” she said, her voice hoarse.
He stood. “Hey.”
Isa went to the sink for a glass of water, feeling dehydrated from all the crying.
“Thank you for last night,” she said, turning his way.
He walked up to her so that his nose was nearly touching hers. His closeness reminded her of how good they were together, of all the moments they’d shared tangled in each other. She would never escape him. This pull between them was magnetic; potent and powerful; brutally addictive.
“Why are you living here?” he asked.
She needed to tell him the truth. “I know it isn’t much, but it’s mine. I worked hard for this. I can take care of myself.”
“Yes, I know you can. But why didn’t you tell me you walked out on your parents that day?” he pleaded.
She swallowed and took a deep breath. “You said . . . you broke up with me. I knew if I told you I had nothing, you would have complicated things with your family and helped me out of your sense of duty. I didn’t want that.”
He stared intently back at her for a moment before answering, “I didn’t break up with you. I told you I just needed some time to digest things and we could talk when you got back from Europe. You said it was over.”
“You said maybe we could talk when I got back. You had made your decision and you know it. You walked away before I did, in your heart. Admit it.”
He looked around the room, sighing while rubbing a hand over his face. “No, Isa. That isn’t what I meant. And it still doesn’t explain why you lied to me.”
“You pursued me when I wasn’t ready to commit. I gave you a chance. When things got difficult, when you needed me, I stuck by you without hesitation. When the truth about my father came out, you said you wanted a break, which we both know is a nice way of saying you want to break up but still string along the other person with hope.”
He shook his head as she continued.
“I gave up everything, and I don’t regret that. I should have cut that monster out of my life a long time ago. But I was suddenly alone, and the one person I needed to lean on decided I wasn’t worth sticking around for. I understand what my father did was reprehensible. I know your mother will see him every time she looks in my eyes. I know how much you love your family and value their input in your life. Those kids need you and their grandparents. I would just be getting in the middle of it. You would resent me eventually.” Isa watched his expression as she said, “It just hurts. I wish you would have tried to find a solution before walking away so quickly. I lied to you because I didn’t want to be hurt any further. Because I knew you would take care of me even though it would hurt your mother and therefore you.”
“You didn’t even give me the chance to make the decision for myself. Which is it, Isa? You wanted me to stay to find a solution, or you wanted to leave me and be a martyr?”
His words were a slap.
“Get out.” She narrowed her eye
s at him and backed up to the counter.
“You were scared I was going to leave you, so you left me before that could happen. I sure as hell would know if I was the one who broke up with you. Why would I do that? I love you,” he said.
He . . . he still loved her? As much as she wanted to pretend that the choices she had made were noble, they were made from fear. She’d worried he wouldn’t choose her, because she believed she wasn’t worthy. She had left every other relationship before her partners could leave her. She’d hurt before she could be hurt. Isa had been sure Ethan would walk away, so she did the leaving first.
“Why would you pick me over them?” she asked.
He took a step forward. “Why do I have to choose one or the other? Why can’t I have both? You didn’t hurt my family; your father did. You came to our rescue when we needed you most. You held me together when I fell apart. You got me help when I was too afraid to ask. You took care of me. I love you, Isa Grayson, and that will never change. No matter who you’re related to. I just needed a goddamned minute to digest the news.”
She considered the honest black eyes staring back at her and asked, “You still love me? You w-would choose to be with me?”
Ethan reached his hands out and cupped her face. “You hold the other half of my heart. You are the very breath in my lungs. You are the sunshine on my rainy days. The light in the darkness. My masterpiece. You are the love of my life. I will never stop loving you.”
Isa’s lungs hitched as her chest filled with warmth that raced all the way down to her belly. “I love you too.”
“I’ll pick you every time, baby. I don’t just want to love you when things are easy. I want to love you through the hard stuff too,” he said, right before his lips touched hers gently, softly. It was as though he too were worried this was all a dream after the month of hell they had spent apart.
“I choose you too,” she whispered in his ear, as his arms wrapped around her protectively and possessively. They enveloped her in a nest of safety, protection, and love. She burned in all the best ways for him. Her body craved his taste, his touch, and his scent.