I abandon my notebook on the table and grab my bag, slinging it over my shoulder, and I run. I don't wait to be caught, I run before I'm once again the victim in a situation I never wanted to be in. My calves burn as I run to the exit door. I hear them behind me, but I don't look back. I don't pause. I don't stop.
I make it to the second to last shelf before I feel a pair of arms wrap around me and jerk me backward. My backpack is thrown off somewhere behind me in the scuffle, but I don't stop fighting to worry about it. I thrash and kick, and I’m about to scream when a warm, strong hand clamps over my mouth, silencing me.
"Calm the fuck down."
Rhys. Of course. I should have known only someone as psychotic as him would try and kidnap me in the library.
Not once, but twice.
I thrash under his hold, trying to break free to no avail. He just holds me tighter, and after a few painstakingly silent, tense minutes, he releases his hand from my mouth.
"What's wrong, little lamb, I thought you loved your precious library?"
"That's before I was assaulted by a psychopath." I try and stomp his foot, but of course he’s a step ahead and easily sidesteps me.
"Mmm, kitten has claws tonight, I see. I like it when you fight back." His voice is low and taunting in my ear, and they send a shiver down my spine. Everything he whispers is a threat. I'm never safe when he's around. Even so, I want to fight him with every ounce of my being. I may not be outspoken or confident in life, but when it comes to him, I feel a type of fire deep inside me and it only ignites when he's near. I strain to break free from his hold and he laughs mockingly at my attempts.
I clench my jaw so tightly, my teeth might break, but I’m completely fucking trapped.
He loosens his hold around me and I feel the cold of where he was just pressed tightly against me.
"Figured I'd find you here all alone on a Saturday night." He bends down and picks up the textbook that's fallen from my bag. "European History. Hm, you know if you ever need a tutor… I've got the highest GPA in the entire class. I'm always around to help the needy, less fortunate students." He grins, and shoves the book toward me.
It hits me square in the chest and pushes me backward. He takes a step closer. For each step he takes, I take another back.
"Tell me, Valentina, does being Ms. Fucking Perfect get you off? The holier-than-thou attitude. How many times did you touch your pussy this week? Did you come around your fingers while you thought about choking on my cock?" He continues stalking forward slowly, predatorily as I've come to know of him, the snake and the mouse.
In his eyes, I'm ripe for the taking.
"Does it make your sweet pussy wet, feeling superior to all of your classmates?"
"You're disgusting. All I want is for you to leave me alone, and find some other poor innocent girl to prey on because I'm sick of your shit." My stomach revolts, but my heart quickens. There’s an unfamiliar feeling of something deep in the pit of my stomach. A featherlight touch of butterflies swirl at his filthy words.
My back hits the cold wood of the shelves, and I clutch my textbook tighter against my chest, using it as a shield. He walks closer until I feel the toe of his old, worn Vans hit my Chucks. There's something different in his eyes tonight, and I can't place it.
I can't quite put my finger on it.
He seems less intense. While he's still a sociopath with a penchant for sexually assaulting unbeknownst females, he seems more… playful tonight. It’s confusing and I can’t make sense of yet another side of Rhys Blackwood. In truth, it’s terrifying because it makes him that much more mentally unstable.
Good thing I have no plans to stick around and find out why. I have no desire to be the pawn in this game any longer.
"Can we not do this tonight? I have a final next week I have to study for. Unlike you, us average people actually have to work for the things we want."
I bend to pick up the rest of the notebooks, flashcards, and my laptop that have strewn out of my backpack on the floor. Instead, Rhys's hand finds my throat and wraps around tightly, slamming me against the bookshelf.
"You don't know a fucking thing about me, so how about you keep your fucking mouth shut for once before spewing shit you know nothing about? Apparently choking on my cock once wasn’t enough to deter you." Gone is the light in his eyes I just thought I saw. I've obviously hit a nerve because it's been replaced by a dark, cold, unwavering version of Rhys.
"Drop the shit." His voice is cold.
My only chance of escaping here unscathed is ruined by my fucking mouth, once again. I don’t understand what I said that seemed to have flipped this switch inside of him.
"I'm not in the mood for your mouth tonight, Valentina, so do the fuck as I say. Need I remind you what it is I'm holding over your head, or that my punishment to you is nothing compared to what the fuck you caused?"
My breathing quickens, and I feel the familiar thud of my heart beating madly in my chest.
I drop the textbook onto the ground next to me and brace myself against the shelf behind me. Waiting for the snake to strike.
“Make me, Rhys. All talk, no action. Make me, asshole,” I whisper raggedly, my voice trembling. My words say one thing, yet my voice is anything but convincing. Our gazes meet and I hold my chin higher, shooting him a defiant look.
His laugh echoes throughout the library, causing me to shiver. It’s cold. Deadly. Reaching into his pocket, he produces his phone and scrolls for a moment before showing me a video. It’s him and I in the library the day he first touched me. He’s got me pinned to one of these very shelfs and I look… completely pliant and in ecstasy, while his face is buried into my neck and his hand travels up my thigh underneath the fabric of my skirt.
While the video is completely deceiving, and is not at all how the night went down, by looking at it… you’d never know. It’s damning in every shape and way and causes a wave of nausea to hit me. He has me in his grasp so tightly, I’ll never get out alive.
“One fucking click, Valentina. One click is all it takes to ruin your life. Are you really willing to find out? Are you willing to sacrifice everything for your pride and to be so fucking defiant?” He steps closer.
"Turn around." When I don't follow his command, he spins me around so quick I almost topple over as he fists my hair in an ironclad hold which causes my entire body to come alive. Anger and fear mixed with the traitorous thread of arousal. Part of me is terrified of being at his mercy once more, the other part wants to see just how far he’s willing to go. If he’s willing to threaten my college career, I’m not sure there’s any length he’s not willing to reach. The heat of his hot breath caresses my neck in anything but a warm embrace. My hair stands on end. The air between us is electric and I know remaining on this path, I'm going to end up a casualty in the war that rages on between us.
"Hands on the shelf."
I hate complying with his illicit commands. But, if I don't, I might as well hand him my future on a silver platter addressed to him.
He has a hold on me and I can't break free.
It started because I stole his secret, but now he's stolen my sanity. I’m his, and there is nothing I can do to stop it. I could fight all day, I could run, I could hide. But at the end of the day, Rhys is the most detrimental poison in my life. He'll spread through my veins like cyanide.