Page 16 of No, You Hang Up

“Fucker!” I hiss instead, and he increases the pressure of his hand on my stomach. “Ouch!”

“You’re such a brat, aren’t you?” But he definitely doesn’t seem upset by the revelation. His words are almost crooning, but he doesn’t let up. His fingers just hold my wrists too-tight, and his other hand digs into my stomach while he grinds against me. “What’ll it take to get you to use my name, hmm?”

Writhing against him really isn’t the right move, but it’s all I have. Unfortunately, it just makes the pressure between my thighs that much more noticeable, and I swallow the groan that’s building in my throat. “You could give me your knife,” I suggest finally, my words catching slightly in a way that makes a grin tug at his lips.

“Oh, you’re so cute.Adorable, even.” His hand on my stomach shifts upward, dragging my shirt up a few inches before his fingers find my throat. For a moment, I’m sure he’s going to wrap them around my neck, to strangle me and watch me choke for air while he continues to taunt me.

But his hand finds my jaw and he curls his hand around my face, holding me almost sweetly. Then he lunges downward in a quick, smooth motion as his fingers tighten on either side of my mouth to force my lips open with a shocked, pained gasp.

Huxley takes advantage of it, and his mouth crashes into mine with aggression, sharpness, and nothing sweet or romantic. He snarls against my open mouth, fingers still pressing tight to keep my jaw wide, and licks at my teeth, my lips, my tongue, and every bit of me he can reach.

Before long, I’m panting against him, and his breathing picks up to match. He swallows every small sound of protest greedily, matching it with aggressive and possessive noises of his own that make my stomach twist and the pressure between my thighs build.

He’s so good at this.

Somehow, he knows exactly what I like, though this side of me is not one I exactly share with other people. My love of roughness, of having someone’s hands on me to remind me I’mtheirs, is something I keep locked up.

Fuck, he shouldn’t be able to do this to me. I remind myself he’s going to kill me. That at any moment, I’ll feel his knife between my ribs and this kiss will be the very last thing I ever experience. Not that it’s theworstthing I could get to feel, given how my life has gone, but I’d prefer not to die tonight.

That’s the thought that spurs me to rip my hands free when his grip loosens ever so slightly, and I surge upward while managing to flip us over.

Huxley takes an audible breath and gazes up at me, shock and amusement in his eyes. He doesn’t fight me, though, and a grin curls over his scarred lips. “Okay, little bunny.” He chuckles indulgently. “You can be on top. All you had to do was ask?—”

“God, do you ever shut up?!” The words are out before I can stop myself, and just as he moves to sit up, I lash out at him with my best try at a right hook. It’s definitely not going to get me into any boxing tournament, and the bones in my handscreamin protest, but at least it knocks his head back to my pillow and lets me launch myself off of my bed.

His snarl of a laugh follows me as I grip the doorframe and turn to run down the hallway into the living room.

I need to get out of here.God, I wish I grabbed my phone from him. Or his knife. That would’ve been smart, if I could’ve managed to get either from him.

“Fuck,fuck,” I hiss, turning toward my front door. But I see the heavy end table I inherited sitting in front of it, and I realize why he gave me so much time to hide before coming after me when I was in the closet.

He’s so prepared and smart about this that it’snot fairwhatsoever.

“How is this happening to me?” I groan, turning instead to the patio door. It’s still locked, but unobscured, and I run to it to fumble with the lock for an agonizing second and a half. “How is my karma this bad, huh?” I’m still talking to myself. “Fucked over as a kid, and now the state’s most prepared serial killer is in my house.Damn it!”Yanking open the door, I run out onto the patio, mentally mapping out the route to the back gate. If I can get there, if I can just get into someone else’s yard, and?—

A heavy weight slams into me, knocking me to the ground and shoving the air right out of my lungs. “You really are fun, Kai.” Huxley chuckles as his hand wraps quickly around my face to block my mouth. “I haven’t had this much fun inages.”

eight

I’d scream if I could.

I’d yell for my neighbors, for anyone, for even fuckingGodat this point to save me as I fight and writhe and bite at Huxley’s gloved hand. He’s stronger than he looks, and way stronger than me, though I do get a few good kicks in.

“Lovely girl, as much as I want to fuck you in your yard under the sky like the animal you’re trying to be…” He drags me to my feet, his breaths coming in heavy pants as he works to hold on to me. “You’ll make too much noise. We both know you’ll scream the second—” I manage to sink my teeth into the meat of his hand, though all I taste is dirty leather and something metallic that I refuse to name. Huxley groans, though it’s not exactly a displeased sound.

“Yeah, you can bite me like that if you want, Kai.” He chuckles, then with a yank, he has me on my feet. Since I’m off balance, it’s easy for him to drag me back toward the still-open patio door. “I hate to break it to you, but I don’t feel a lot through the gloves.”

I groan against his hand and roll my eyes. He’s insufferable, and I yelp when my heels hit the concrete of my patio.

With a huff, he readjusts his grip to jerk me upward with a murmured, “Sorry,” in my ear that I’m pretty sure I’m imagining. That, or he’s the world’s most considerate killer, and I have no idea how to deal with that.

He turns us again to close the patio door, and when I hear the lock click, it’s like something inside me plummets to the floor.

It feels a lot likehope.

When I try to make a noise of protest, it becomes a too-soft, too-scared whine, but thankfully it’s drowned out by the sound of aggressive knocking on my front door.

Both of us freeze. Standing in my kitchen with a killer’s arms wrapped around me and his hand over my mouth, forcing me to be quiet, I’m not sure which of us is more caught off guard.

---