Page 126 of Hush (Fighting Fate)

I screamed.

“Shut the fuck up, you stupid bitch!” he growled.

I kicked and twisted frantically. He shifted, trying to get a better grip on me and keep me quiet at the same time. Using my free hand, I raked my fingernails over his face and grabbed at his ear, ripping his lobe down as hard and fast as I could.

“Fuck!”

His grip slipped. Using the momentum, I slammed my head back again, screaming when another bolt of pain stabbed at me inside my skull, but it was enough for me to break free. He grabbed at me again, but I lashed out with a jab at his throat.

Not stopping to see how incapacitated he was, I ran. As I rounded the corner in the dining room, I felt my dress tug hard and heard it rip. My body jerked forward, free of his grasp, but he was too close. I knew I’d never make it to the back door before he caught me again.

With only instincts guiding me, I darted around the kitchen island, stopping on the other side as Aaron eyed me from the other side.

Now that I could see him clearly, I was seriously scared. He looked completely unstable. His eyes were freaking crazy. They were bloodshot and…just big. The pupils were so dilated it made his whole iris look like it was black. He looked like a god damned demon. It didn’t help that one of them twitched every couple of seconds either.

Then he had blood trickling from each nostril, obviously from when I’d head-butted him, and he was breathing incredibly hard. I could tell he was furious. His jaw was set so tight I could see the cords of his muscles bulging, and the vein on his temple was pulsing like mad.

“You have to make everything so fucking hard, don’t you?” he spat. “But you’re not getting away this time. I’ve got too much riding on this.”

I had no idea what he was talking about, and I really didn’t want to know. I just had to get out of there. I just had to get to Noah.

Grabbing the first thing I saw, I picked it up and threw it at him. Bits and pieces scattered all over the bench as it was upended. Aaron ducked, but the dish glanced off his shoulder, making him curse.

I thought about screaming, but out here near the kitchen, I could hear just how loud the music was. There was no way Noah was going to be able to hear me. I thought maybe I could hold Aaron off long enough for Noah to wonder what was taking me so long.

I groaned. Why was no one else coming to use the freaking bathroom?

I looked back down, searching for something else to throw. If I could get him to duck again, I might have enough time to make it. But there was nothing. That dish had been it.

Then something caught my eye. It was the key Noah had put there. The key that he’d used to lock his gun in the draw. My gaze flashed over to the cabinet on the other side of the dining table. Could I make it? Maybe without my shoes.

Reaching down, I grabbed one off and threw at him as hard as I could, immediately doing the same with the other. Then, snatching up the key, I feigned running towards the back door, then quickly changed direction when Aaron darted to intercept me, dashing around the far side of the table instead.

As I faced off with him on the other side of the table, I wondered how long it would take me to unlock the draw. I remembered there was no safety on the Glock, and Noah hadn’t removed the magazine when he’d put it in the draw, so if I was right, it should be ready to shoot.

“Enough of this fucking shit, Kaeli. I told you, you’re not getting away this time. I’ve got nothing to fucking lose, and I’m going to fucking take you whether you like it or not.”

With that he jumped up on the table and scrambled over towards me, knocking chairs over as he went. I screamed, darting to the side and around the table before he could grab me.

The back door loomed in the distance, taunting me. With Aaron on the far side of the table I thought I might have a chance at making it, but no sooner had I thought it, he was jumping the table again.

I screamed, louder this time, hoping someone would hear me.

Not knowing what else to do, I grabbed the massive glass vase off the center of the table and threw it at Aaron with all my might.

As it smashed into him, I scrambled to the cabinet and fumbled to get the key in the lock. The second it turned, I reached inside and took hold of the gun.

Then Aaron grabbed me.

Chapter 70

Noah

I watched Kaeli walk inside, the happiest I could ever remember being. The flirty little look she sent me over her shoulde

r made me instantly hard.

“Oh, to be eighteen again,” Isaac said beside me.

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