Page 88 of Ace My Heart

“And …fuckedyou? I don’t know about you, but I don’t feel like I’ve beenfuckedunless there’s some level of pleasure in it for me!”

“You didn’t feel fucked because you can’t feel pleasure unless you’re acting like a filthy whore!” Ben roared.

I froze, any retort caught on the choking lump in my throat.

“Stop making excuses!” Ben warned, “Don’t expect me to just let you go now that I’ve sacrificed so much for you!” He shook me until I could feel my teeth clacking together in my skull.

Adrenaline rushed through me and my voice returned. I screamed. It was enough to stop him shaking me.

“That’sexactlywhat I expect you to do, you freak! It’s not my fault you’reinsane!”

He gaped at me, but his fingers still grasped me, his nails digging into my skin.

I kneed him in the groin. The choking grunt that he made as he released me to clutch at his balls was supremely satisfying.

“Drop dead, you psycho!” I screamed, turning and running as fast as I could back towards the door.

“Don’t think you can come crawling back after this, you ungrateful little slut!” he growled.

“Don’t worry, I won’t!” I slammed the door behind me with as much force as I could muster.

There was no way I was waiting for the lift – I was too full of adrenaline to stand still. I dashed for the stairwell and took them two at a time, leaping around the turns. I burst out the door and flung myself into Brad’s car.

“What the hell happened?” Brad asked, his eyes roving over me as I collapsed back against the seat, gasping for breath. I had no energy to tell him the story.

“Just take me home, please,” I begged breathlessly. Brad started the car and roared back onto the street.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Free Falling

By the time we got back to the Eastern Suburbs from the North Shore, the adrenaline had worn off and I was trembling so hard my teeth chattered.

“Are you going to tell me what happened now?” Brad asked me as he took the key out of my quaking hands and let us into the apartment. I made my way to the lounge and fell onto it.

“Mel, what are these marks on your arms?” Brad demanded. I felt him touching me, his fingers cool on the sore parts of my forearm. I couldn’t answer. My voice had gone into hiding.

“Did he hurt you anywhere else?” Brad asked, his voice quiet. I shook my head, eyes still closed.

I had that feeling I sometimes got when I was really drunk, and I lay down, like I was falling from a great height, even though I knew I was lying in my bed. Like I was free falling.

I opened my eyes to stop the sensation, and my vision was filled with Brad’s concerned face peering down at me, his grey eyes grave. My own eyes filled up with tears. And once they started, I couldn’t stop them – they flowed harder and faster, until my body shook with sobs.

Brad held me close, and I clung to him, the sobs slowly subsiding until I was just weeping pitifully. Brad leaned back to look at me.

“Do you want to talk about it?” he asked. I shook my head, wiping the tears away.

“Just don’t let go of me, okay?” I whispered. Brad held me tighter.

“He didn’t deserve you anyway, Mel. If he treated you badly, he doesn’t deserve you.”

“I wish I’d never met him!” I groaned against Brad’s shoulder. “I wish he’d leave and never come back!”

Brad pulled me upright, so he could wrap his arms around me properly.

“I wish I could make him go away for you, Mel.”

I looked up at him then. He reached towards my face and brushed a stray tear off my cheek. He seemed on the verge of saying something to me – his mouth opened and closed once or twice, like he couldn’t decide whether to say it or not.

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