Dark Secrets (Dark Secrets #1)(189)
Author: A.M. Hudson

All sound blotted out around me, leaving only him and I in a world standing excruciatingly still. But the subdued cry in the back of my throat turned to a high shriek when Jason’s fangs tore from my flesh without loosening their hold. The skin came away with a long, peeling sensation, each nerve disconnecting with one last shudder.

I couldn’t scream, couldn’t make my voice find my lips; they quivered, sitting parted, fighting to feel the air come past them. But there was none—no air, no hope. The muscles in my wrist had detached from the bone, I was sure, leaving the edges of my skin floating on a wild, hot wind—freezing, then burning as the venom raced back through in the opposite direction. Please stop! Please.

“I’ll stop when you’re dead.”

I tried to roll my body—to send myself to the ground—but he held me fiercely, slowly smearing his tongue across the wound. I kicked both legs, hooking my heels into the bark to push my hips out from under his, but couldn’t get free. And all the lies David told me—

“The venom numbs the flesh…”

“You know I’d never let you fall.”

“I will always protect you.”

—thrashed about on the trails of my agony, rising in waves of hatred for all; all man, all vampires, for everything that ever was or ever would be. I wanted it to stop. Life to stop. The world to stop. I wanted to scream, to cry with all my heart and beg him to tell me why. Why? Why aren’t you here? Why did you leave me to die like this?

This pain didn’t belong to me. I shouldn’t be here.

I cried, letting the sound be whatever the agony in my soul needed it to be, and as I imagined my Mike finding me, cradling me in arms of safety, saying, Baby, I’m here. I’m here, you’re safe now, the cry came from a place so much deeper than I’d ever cried before. He’d make it all okay. He’d make it stop.

David? I turned my head to look at the empty expanse of space beside me. David. Please come for me. Please don’t leave me here to die.

Jason drew his lips away, moved them up my arm, over my shoulder, stopping just below the softer skin on my chest. His silky hair smelled like apple, and the softness, where it brushed against me, made me relax a little.

My legs gently fell on either side of the branch, my feet dangling into oblivion. “Is that it?” I asked softly, keeping my eyes closed. “Will I die now?”

Jason laughed against my ribcage. “No. I’m going to bite you again.”

Before I could think to react, the sear of venom barred my tears and the weight of his body against mine forced the branch into my spine, as if it would rip me in half. I opened my mouth to scream, but Jason pinched the base of my throat, gagging me with my own tongue.

I let go of the branch and dug my thumb into his wrist, merely making him hold tighter—trapping my anguish inside of me.

Then, like holding your breath for a second too long before finally inhaling, he released my throat, leaning back to look down at me.

Tiny, rasping breaths of agony lifted my chest in quick jolts. I ran my swollen tongue over the roof of my mouth, trying to open the passage again. “I can’t—” I stammered. I can’t breathe.

“Okay, just calm down. I’ll fix it.” He rubbed his thumb across the lump in my throat, and the tension eased, oozing past my dry lips, as if the venom in my limbs had finally seeped into my muscles. I could actually feel it assimilate, like a drop of food dye in a glass of water, making the burn in my arm feel like hot sauce on raw skin.

The predator wiped his sleeve along his mouth, breathing heavily as if he’d just enjoyed a swig of cola on a really hot day. “I knew you’d taste lovely, Ara-Rose. After all, my brother always did like them… sweet.”

I didn’t see how that was relevant. I really didn’t care to know how he enjoyed my blood; all I could focus on was the violent quiver of my jaw, making my teeth clatter in my mouth, and the deepest, most binding cold I’d ever suffered. “K…K…”

“What?” He pressed his ear to my lips.

“Kill me.”

He sat back, a cruel smile shining out under the blood. “Only if you beg me nicely.”

“P—” I shut my eyes, moistening my throat. “Please.”

“As you wish.”

Nothing but a breath of perfect silence passed me, a cool breeze parting my lips, lifting my hair from my face as the ground rushed up to meet me.

* * *

Sharp vibrations rattled through my core, resonating with the sound of dry pasta snapping between teeth. The impact of the fall struck me only as a memory when my body came to rest in a dishevelled lump at the base of the tree.

Jason appeared beside me, crouching into a soft landing. Though I was weary and suffocating under pain, I could see his face perfectly in the darkness now. His tight lips broke into a malicious spread as our eyes met, and he reached down to shift my body, curving my rag doll limbs to the correct position. I could feel them move, but they felt lank and hollow, like the empty sleeve of a coat.

“Shh,” he said, brushing my cheek. “Don’t cry.”

I tried not to—tried to breathe, but every time my lungs expanded, a sharp jab made me stop. I just wanted to be dead.

“You will be soon, sweet girl. And it’s better this way—if you can’t move.” He sat taller, indulgently eyeing my half-naked form. “It won’t take me as long if I don’t have to pin you down.”

My lip folded down tightly, trembling. I held perfectly still, wiping an imaginary cloth over my body to rid the creeping, icky feeling tingling up my spine—branching out from where his hand rested against my leg. I didn’t want this end. I didn’t want to lose my virginity like this. I just wanted to be loved—to feel the touch of a person that wanted me like I wanted them. Please not this, Jason, please—kill me, but don’t do this to me.

He studied my face for a long moment, the crease in his brow slowly growing deeper, his lips going tighter, his eyes narrowing.

Warm tears ran in streams over the sides of my face, and the burning in my limbs ceased, giving way to a dull, knife-like sear. But my mind focused only on Jason towering over me—my legs apart beneath him, his body free to enter mine, as I had no way to stop him. I just wanted to bend my knee and kick him in the groin again, send his balls into his throat.

“Now, now, sweet Ara. Be nice.” He rose up over my body to wipe the tears from my cheeks, but stopped, his head cocked. “Look at you—so broken, so sad, but still just so pretty.”