Page 7 of The Sweetest Revenge

"Who's there?" My voice cracked.

Heavy breathing. Close. Too close.

"This isn't funny." I backed away, hands outstretched in the dark.

Something touched my arm from behind, and I whipped around. Stepping backward, I slammed into something hard.

A scream tore from my throat.

Strong arms wrapped around me, holding me tight against his chest. A mixture of masculine scents surrounded me, making it hard to pinpoint one specific smell.

"Let me go!" I thrashed against his grip, muscles straining.

A palm slapped over my mouth, smothering my scream into a muffled whimper that vibrated uselessly against his skin.

"We don't want you here." His breath scorched my ear, the voice unfamiliar, rough, and distorted.

Then he was gone.

I took off running but didn't make it far.

Tripping, I stumbled forward. Pain shot through my hands and knees as they slammed against the hard floor. I scrambled to my feet, heart hammering. Where was he? Them? I didn't know how many there were. I shuffled backward, eyes straining, desperate to escape whatever—whoever—waited in front of me.

This felt calculated, planned. The power didn't go out from the storm. Someone turned it off, and if I had to guess, whoever was responsible for locking up for the night was long gone.

The heat of his body reached me before he did, and all the air rushed from my lungs as long fingers wrapped around my throat, shoving me back. My back slammed against something—a bookshelf?—so hard it rattled.

I sucked in a harsh breath, inhaling a scent I'd recognize anywhere.

"Zaiden," I whispered, the name falling from my lips before I could stop it.

My stomach fluttered, a dizzying riot beneath my ribs. My breath came quick and shallow, not just from fear. Heat bloomed across my skin, contradicting the terror squeezing my lungs. I should have been thinking of escape, of survival, but instead, I found myself hyper-aware of every place Zaiden's body nearly touched mine. The wrongness of my reaction only intensified it.

A low growl rumbled deep in his throat as he dragged his nose up the side of my face. "I love the smell of fear." His fingers flexed the tips pressing into my pulse point as his free hand landed on my hip. "Are you scared of me, Ariella?"

He squeezed, momentarily cutting off my air supply and leaving me unable to say, 'fuck no.' That wasn't exactly true, though.

"I'm in complete control." His lips brushed mine, the touch feather-light despite his words. "I could fuck you against the bookcase, and no one would ever know. I could squeeze a little tighter." The pressure increased. My hands flew to his wrist, nails digging into skin as my lungs screamed for air. "I could break you. Right here. Right now."

His grip loosened, and I sucked in a sharp breath. "Then do it." I gritted out.

He huffed out a humorless laugh as he pressed his nose to my cheek, and I could feel his smile against my skin. "Oh baby, I'm going to break you." He pressed his hips into mine. "I'm going to do it so slow it's torture watching your life crumble in front of you." His thumb stroked the pulse point in my neck. "And I'm going to enjoy watching it."

"Fuck you." The words tore from my throat, rough and defiant. Even if he broke me, he'd never see the cracks.

His lips pressed against the shell of my ear. "I don't fuck dirty little whores."

My teeth clenched so hard my jaw ached. "Go to fucking hell, Zaiden."

He dropped his hands and stepped back, disappearing. "You should leave town and never come back, or you'll regret it, princess."

I reached out for him, but he was gone.

A shudder shot through me as the darkness felt like it was suffocating me.

"Zaiden?" My voice broke on his name. The silence that answered pressed against my eardrums, worse than his threats had been. The thought of being alone was more terrifying than Zaiden. My hand flew to my chest, fingers splayed wide as panic consumed me.

The lights flickered once, twice, then blazed to life with a harsh electronic hum.

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