Page 126 of Ruin Me Gently

My fingers fumbled in my pocket, slick with sweat, searching.

I could fight.

Iwouldfight.

Thank you, Mr. Stalker.

The cool metal pressed into my palm as I clicked the button.

A shrill, piercing wail split the night, so loud it made my own ears ring. Clark flinched, just for a second, but it was all I needed.

I plunged the small blade of my self-defence keyring into his arm.

He cried out as his gaze snapped down to where the metal was now buried into his flesh.

“And you,” I hissed through clenched teeth, twisting it deeper, “are a fucking pathetic excuse of a man. A miserable, rotting, useless sack of shit who needs to crawl—”

His snarl ripped through the alleyway, cutting me off. “Oh, you nasty whore.”

Pain ripped through my ribs as I hit the wet cement with a crack.

Oh, fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck.

Big mistake.

The first kick landed square in my stomach, knocking the air from my lungs in a violent, choking gasp.

Another.

Ribs.

Another.

Hips.

The worldblurred, the edges of my vision pulsing in and out as blazing agony flared across every nerve ending.

I tried to curl in on myself, tried to protectsomethingbut it was useless. He was a storm, a relentless, raging force.

“You disgusting little—”

A final, vicious strike to my side sent pain splintering through me like shattering glass. A strangled sound left my throat, something between a sob and a scream.

“LILITH!”

The voice cracked through the air like a gunshot.

Everything stopped except the pounding in my skull, the searing pain licking up my ribs, the sharp sting of cement scraping my cheek.

“Fucking move! Do something! Don’t just film it!”

I cracked my swollen eyes open enough to see Clark’s head snap toward the source of the sound.

The air shifted.

He was ripped back.

He flew, slamming backward against the opposite wall with a force so brutal it sent shockwaves through the alley.

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