Filed To Story: Pretty Poisoned Novel by Elle Mitchell
I frown, and he sits in that space next to me. So much for him hiding upstairs.
“Get over it, Teagan,” Declan says. “I’m not going to apologize to you; I’m not sorry.”
“I didn’t expect you to,” I tell him.
I try to make myself smaller somehowto sink further into Luca’s side. I don’t want to leave the rest of them. I know that means I’ll have to make some kind of peace with Declan even if I don’t want to, but I don’t have to right now. I don’t have to kiss him or touch him; I don’t have to be soft or sweet to him in the middle of the night. He’ll find someone else to hunt and forget about me.
We can exist together separately. I’ll just have to be more careful.
“Do you think my brother is going to save you from me?” he asks.
“I love you, baby, but I am not getting involved in whatever this is,” Luca says.
“Does someone need to save me from you?”
He shrugs. “I know how to deal with brats. Whether you like it or not isn’t a concern of mine.”
Ignore him. I’m going to ignore him. River takes my hand and switches my empty glass with a full one.
“See? I knew you’d want two,” Declan says. “Maybe you just need to admit that I know what’s best for you, and that was all I was ever doing.” He pulls River into his lap. “Riv used to be a brat, too.”
“She’s still a brat sometimes,” Hazel says.
“Can you just stop fucking talking to me?” I snap.
“Excuse me?”
“Well, you know everything about me, right? So, you know that I have social and emotional problems, and you’re causing me distress in both areas.”
“Am I?” he asks. “What are you going to do about it?”
My chest contracts. “Nothing that will make you happy.”
“Teagan, would you relax?” Luca says.
“You need to shut her up before I shut her up,” Declan says. “And right now, I don’t think she’s going to be so happy if I do it.”
“Do you need something to keep that mouth busy, Teagan?” Luca asks. He lowers his voice and adds, “You really need to stop, angel. You don’t know what you’re doing.”
“I’m just going to go read.”
“Because I got up early to get all the books you wanted,” Declan says. “You’re fucking welcome, Teagan.”
I grit my teeth to keep from snapping back at him. I take my drink and books upstairs and find a quiet spot to read alone for the rest of the drive.
Even Luca leaves me alone.
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I don’t talk to either of them when we get to the hotel. I follow River and Hazel into a room and start getting ready. I shower, taking my time straightening my hair. I’m putting on mascara in the bathroom mirror when the door opens; I don’t need to look up to know it’s him. I see his reflection in the mirror, leaning against the doorframe.
“Is this part of your temper tantrum, too?” Declan asks, running his fingers through my hair.
To be honest, I think it was part of my temper tantrum. If he likes my curls, then I’m not wearing them.
“I’m not having a temper tantrum,” I say, shrugging him off.
“What do you want, Teag?”
“Nothing.”
“You said I wouldn’t give it to you. I can’t unless you ask for it, so ask for it.”
“I just want you to give me the same treatment you gave Layla and pretend that I don’t exist.”
“Would you stop fucking pouting? I didn’t do anything but give you what you wanted.”
I snap my contour kit closed and throw it on the counter. “No, you didn’t!” I shout. “You did not give me what I wantedyou manipulated me! None of my choices were my own! That’s the only thing I have. That’s the only thing I want.”
“But can you honestly say you wish I hadn’t done it? You wouldn’t fucking be here.”
“You hurt my fucking feelings! Do you get that? You hurt me, you tricked me you made me feel stupid just like everyone else in my life does all the time, and now, I don’t even want to look at you. So, you know what? You get over it. One person in the world doesn’t like youbig fucking deal. What do you care?”
He shakes his head, then turns and kicks the door closed. “Fuck!” he yells. He comes up behind me and grabs me by my throat. “It’s a big deal because I picked you for me. You’re mine, and I am never going to be done with you.”
“I thought no one belonged to anyone, and I could leave whenever I wanted,” I hiss through my significantly reduced airway.
“Well, I make the fucking rules,” he growls. “I can break them. Besides ” He traces the ‘L’ carved into my chest, just above where the towel is tied off over my breasts. The hand around my throat tightens, and he says, “It looks like you already belong to someone. Is this what you want, Teagan? You want me to be more like him?”
I feel his hard cock against my ass, andI can’t help itI arch my back against him.
Maybe he’s right. Maybe I do want him to be more like Luca.
“Mmm no. Not like that, you little slut.” As he releases my throat, one arm circles my waist, holding me tight against his hard body and my towel falls to the floor. I gasp for air while I struggle to break free of his hold, but I can’t even move my arms.
“I’m going to enjoy this more than I’d like to admit,” Declan says. He takes his knife from his pocket and runs the flat side up my stomach and then over one of my hard nipples. “I fucking love your body and your perfect fucking tits. You know, people like us don’t always have the best sense of self-preservation. I think I need to remind you what you’re dealing with.”
He turns the sharp end of the knife into my body, pressing just hard enough to break the skin.
“You said I don’t need to be afraid of you,” I hiss through my constricted airway.
“You don’t as long as you behave.”
I watch a small stream of blood run down the front of me in the mirror. The knife’s tip aligns almost perfectly with the top of the ‘L’ on the left side, and I realize what he’s about to do.
And I don’t want it.
“Declan, please don’t hurt me,” I beg. “I’ll be nice. I’ll be sweet for you if you want. Just please don’t.”
“It won’t be that bad, Teagan,” he says. “Then, you won’t be able to forget who chose you or who you really belong to even if I did let you go. And Teagan, I am never letting you go anywhere.”
I grit my teeth and scream as the knife digs deeper into my skin. Blood gushes down the front of my body in a river of deep scarlet. When Luca did it, it was different. I felt desired and lovedmaybe even by both of them, as ridiculous as that sounds. I thought I was special.
But I’m not special. I’m a toya plaything.
And so, I sob. “Please stop,” I cry. “It hurts. That’s too deep.”
“Stop squirming,” he says. “You’re making it worse. I’m going to puncture your lung if you don’t fucking stop.”
He starts on the second line, and I do my best to stay still because I’m pretty sure he means itI’m pretty sure he is going to puncture a lung. I scream through clenched teeth and wait for it to be over.
And when it is over, he licks the blade clean, then releases me, and I fall forward onto the countertop. “Declan,” I sob. “I don’t think I’m okay it’s too much blood. I think I’m going to pass out.”
With my head swimming and my vision blurry, I slide down the side of the counter and onto the floor. I look up at him from the cold, wet tile, but I can’t really make out his face he’s just the silhouette of a figure in dark clothes standing over me.
New Book: Returned To Make Them Pay
On her wedding anniversary, Alicia is drugged and stumbles into the wrong room—straight into the arms of the powerful Caden Ward, a man rumored never to touch women. Their night of passion shocks even him, especially when he discovers she’s still a virgin after two years of marriage to Joshua Yates.