Kane pulled away from her touch. “Don’t,” he said curtly.
The young woman ignored his rebuff. “He was such a jerk. I can’t even believe you’re the one who got arrested.” Her voice was bubbly and obnoxious.
The realization of what I was hearing sunk in, and I could feel my face falling even as I desperately willed my reaction to stay cool and even. “Excuse me,” I muttered as I stood from my desk and walked out of the room.
I needed to be away from him. I needed to be so far away from him that none of this could hurt me. But my mind circled around it like a vulture unable to stop eyeing the carnage. He’d been at the bar with her. Her. And then he’d gotten arrested and called me. Me. Never mind what he’d done in my kitchen that morning less than twenty-hours after being out with another woman who he was without doubt trying to fuck.
How dare he?
I paced in the lounge, back and forth in front of the vending machine, and I gnawed on my thumbnail, chewing it down to nothing. When I finally walked back down the hall toward the classroom, I was fuming with rage.
I entered the room, and I started talking before all the students were even in their seats. My voice was clipped and short, and I forged on into the study guide simply wanting to get through it so I could march my ass out that door and be done with this. By the time I was finished, my voice was hoarse, and I’d not stopped talking once.
“Remember this test will cover the entirety of the Ancient World, and I will give you a hint now, there will be one rather long essay question related specifically to Plato’s Allegory of the Cave. Be prepared, because that one question alone will comprise 50 percent of the test points. If you have any questions related to the information on the study guide…” I said even as I snapped my briefcase closed quickly. “…send me an email or give me a call. Otherwise I’ll see you all next week.”
I picked up my briefcase, and I walked from the room.
Chapter Eleven
Kane
Eleven Years Ago
The man was stroking himself as he watched her, and I could barely look at him. Fuck, I could barely look at her either, and every time I did, her eyes would meet mine and tears would trickle down her cheeks, pooling around her lips that were distended by my dick. They would quickly trickle down to her chin, and then more would take their place. She looked humiliated. She looked terrified. She looked like there was no greater hell in this world.
She was right. There wasn’t.
I closed my eyes, trying to ignore everything but the feel of her. I needed the feel of her and nothing else in my head, because it needed to be me. I needed it to be me just as much as she needed it to be me too. But blocking out this nightmare was nearly impossible. When her mouth was suddenly torn from me, my eyes flew open to see her being yanked backward by the hair.
The man pulled so hard and violently that she was slammed into the hard floor behind her, ending up on her back, her legs open awkwardly.
“Do it,” the man said as he smirked at me. I stared at him for a moment, but then my eyes flit down to Helene, pausing on her face for a moment before moving farther down to that one spot between her legs I was going to destroy. I’d wanted everything I was about to do to her, and that was being turned into a nightmare. I gritted my teeth, letting fury drive the fear away.
I pushed off the ground, grunting as anger coursed through me, and I came down on top of her, hovering over her body. My face was pinched and angry. “Goddammit,” I muttered through gritted teeth.
The man just laughed as he crouched down by Helene’s head. “Get on with it.”
I glared at him, but he just kept laughing.
“Now.” His eyebrows shot up, and he winked at me. “You know you want it. That is a hell of a sweet looking *.”
When I looked back down to Helene, her expression was slack, and her eyes were staring at my neck. She wasn’t here anymore. She was gone, and I wanted to be wherever the hell she was, because this man was going to force me to torture her, and I didn’t know how to survive that without going insane.
I pushed gently against her, and her eyelids fluttered, and she whined. She shook her head back and forth, shutting her eyes. She was struggling to stay gone from this place in her mind, and feeling my body against hers was reminding her that she was in hell. I nudged again, and her eyes flew open.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered. “I’m so sorry.” And I pushed as a scream tore loose from her mouth.
Chapter Twelve
Kane
“What the hell do you mean you’re kicking him out?” I asked incredulously.
The social worker, head nurse, and center administrator were looking at me. Their faces were identically set to the same apologetic, understanding expression. Mine was not. I was glaring, staring back and forth from one to the other of them.