Page 45 of Ruined

“One of these days pet, you’ll scream for me, and when you do…” His thumb swipes across my bottom lip. I slam my eyes shut, not wanting to feel the tingles starting to course through my body. “You’re going to beg me to cut you.”

My eyes fly open, and as if nothing happened, Ryker backs off, stepping away and slipping into his room. My brain flips at his words…

“Beg me,” Henry grunts into my ear. “Fucking beg me like the worthless bitch you are.” His cock slams into me, and my back burns as they pour some sort of liquid over me. I can’t breathe, let alone say anything. But I also haven’t spoken—they took that away from me.

“Sh—shit,” Henry moans, pouring himself inside me. Tears leak down my face. You’d think I would be crying from the pain, but I’m not. Henry continues to cum inside me every timehe rapes me.

Henry moves himself off me, allowing someone else. Only I know they won’t rape. No, after Henry finishes, it’s always Igor. He’s the one who likes to burn me and cut my calves.

I don’t have time to prepare myself before he drags his blade down my left calf. My body shakes, and the restraints jerk against my skin, digging into my ankles and wrists, causing them to bleed.

I’m going to die.

I slide down the counter until my ass hits the floor. Bringing my knees to my chest, I suck in a breath, trying to get air into my lungs. I’ve done this on my own, been doing it for the past three years. But this is different. Ryker was the one who caused the panic in the first place. But I don’t find myself upset with him. No, I’m upset with Jace for leaving me, especially after he said don’t be alone with Ryker.

Jace leads me along the dirt trail path around the woods, and if I didn’t know better, I would think he’s leading me somewhere to kill me. I keep my ears trained, listening to everything around us. It’s peaceful, almost like a movie, the birds chirping, the winds whistling around us. It’s almost enough to make me feel calm and not on edge. The knots in my stomach deflate and the hood protecting me is lost as I let the wind touch my skin.

The further we get into the woods, the more I slowly become comfortable. Being out in the open would have scared me, but with Jace with me, I don’t feel scared anymore. I feel this calmness, this peaceful state wash over me.

After a while of walking behind him, I see the lake Jace mentioned in the clearing. It’s empty, nothing but the warmth of the sun beating down.

“You should smile more often,” Jace breaks into my thoughts.

Stopping in my tracks, I glance up at him, surprised to see him smiling. After Ryker hurt his feelings, he didn’t utter a word except that we were leaving and to give Ryker a list of stuff he needed from the store.

“I’m not upset that he knows ASL,” Jace finally says.

My brows pull together to a deep frown.

“I’m upset that he can talk to you…I want to, I want to be able to talk to you.” He sighs. That makes sense, but doesn’t he realize he does talk to me? He knows how I feel, doesn’t he? “Stop frowning so hard, it’ll get stuck.”

Rolling my eyes, I’m not entirely sure what to say. I understand now why he would be upset if Luna could talk to him, and I couldn’t. Not in the way I wanted to, at least. I would be angry as well.

Stepping closer, I place my hand over his chest, trying to tell him that Ryker doesn’t mean anything to me. I don’t care about Ryker. He’s a dick and could rot in hell for all I care.

“I should also apologize. I left you alone when I told you specifically not to.”

Nodding my head, I agree. He told me not to be alone with Ryker, and yet not even twelve hours later he left me alone in the kitchen. Then I had a panic attack, but Jace doesn’t need to know that. He’ll just blame himself, and I don’t want that.

Jace steps back, reaches around to his backpack and pulls out the whiteboard, handing it over with a marker. I take it immediately, uncapping the marker.

I don’t want to talk to him,I write shoving it back towards Jace. The more I think about him not understanding that even if we can’t talk like Ryker and me, I can still talk to him. I would rather write on the whiteboard than deal with Ryker.

“What did you say to him?”

Smiling, I take the board back and write,That I wasn’t a pet and then I called him an asshole.

Jace chuckles. “He definitely is an asshole.”

Nodding my head, I think, Ryker isdefinitelyan ass, and I should’ve stabbed him harder.

“Come on, let’s go put our feet in the water.” Jace reaches for my hand. Smiling back my panic, I place my hand with his, letting him lead me down the hill. Watching my step, I try my best not to fall when the trail ends and now, I’m walking in the grass. It would be my luck I would fall and end up rolling down into the lake.

Helping me to a boulder, I take a seat, making enough room for Jace to sit down next to me. Sitting back, I stretch my legs out. For the first time, I’m not ashamed of the scars on my neck and I find myself wanting to take my sweatshirt off, even if he would see the scars.

“It’s warm, you should take your sweatshirt off,” Jace says as if reading my mind.

Taking a deep breath, I sit up, pulling it off. I don’t look at him. Instead, I take my time folding the clothing. Doing anything possible to not look over and see the pity or disgust in his eyes.

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