My Beautiful Poison (Wicked Poison 1)

My hands remain by my sides, not lifting or touching him in any way, even if he doesn’t seem to notice or care.

“We need to talk.”

“Yes, later,” he says, his mouth leaving sloppy kisses all over mine. I attempt to pull away, but he keeps me close, his hands grasping hard, causing bruises, I’m sure. “I need you.”

“Not now, Anderson. I want to talk.”

“Later,” he says in a deeper, more stern voice.

I try to push away, but he doesn’t let me. “Anderson… Let. Me. Go.”

“No. You need to be reminded of how suited we are for each other.”

“No, I do not.” I pull back.

He stares at me. “You do. You love me.” He goes for my lips, and his mouth comes down hard on them. Anderson is a shit kisser—too hard and too sloppy. I don’t give him access, but that doesn’t stop him from taking what he wants as he tries to keep kissing me.

Managing to pull out of his embrace, I escape his hands and separate us.

“You need to leave.” He steps toward me, but I hold up my hand. “Leave,” I say in a voice I didn’t know I was capable of.

Anderson’s eyes lock on mine. It’s then he sees me. Sees I don’t want him. And when he does, a look passes across his face that truly makes me scared.

“You are mine, Rylee.”

“I am not. I am mine, Anderson. No one owns me.”

He laughs. “Bullshit! Everyone owns you. Your parents. Me. Fuck, who else does?”

“I’m my own person, and I don’t want you here anymore.”

“You don’t get to decide that, Rylee. You’ll be my wife soon,” he says through gritted teeth with a touch of smugness in his voice.

“I won’t marry you,” I tell him with as much force as I can muster. “I want you to leave and never come back.”

I watch as his top lip quirks up, then back down.

“You seem to be delusional right now.” He takes a breath. “I’ll give you a week to get your head right. That’s all I’m giving you, Rylee. Then I will be taking what’s mine.” Anderson reaches for me again, and I manage to step back so his hands don’t touch me. He glares at me with hard, uncaring eyes that hold no emotion. He doesn’t care about me. I’m simply a means to an end for him. A trophy, and I won’t have it. I won’t allow him to come near me again.

“Just leave, Anderson. I don’t know how many more times I have to say it.”

His teeth grind at my words, but he turns and shifts through the doorway quickly, slamming it so hard the adjoining walls rattle.

Finally pulling my bag down and off my shoulder, the door opens again, but this time, my mother is standing there.

“What was that about?” She glances at my bag, which is on the floor, and steps in, picking it up and placing it on the bed. “Are you two fighting?” she asks while checking around the room.

“I won’t marry him. Hell, I don’t even want to see him again.”

She pauses and fixes her attention on me. “You simply need sleep,” she says and turns toward the door.

“Why do you want me to marry him so badly?”

“Because you’ve been with him forever, and he adores you. He can support you in any way you wish.”

“I can support myself, Mother,” I say back to her. “And I may have been with him since high school, but now I’ve grown up, I want better for myself. He’s cheated on me. You want me to be with someone who doesn’t respect me?”

“You think you can do better than Anderson? He comes from the best family in the country. Everyone knows who they are.”

“I know I can do better. Anyone is better than Anderson,” I retort back with more venom than I meant to. It’s not her fault. She simply doesn’t know what an awful human he is.

“His mother loves you, and she doesn’t like anyone,” she says. “That right there tells me you are perfect for each other.”

“You’re delusional.” I shake my head and walk to the door, standing there holding it open. “I need some rest. I have work tomorrow.”

She rushes past me as she heads out the door. “Just think about what you’re doing. Your life with Anderson could be perfect.”

I scoff at her and shut the door behind her with perhaps a little more enthusiasm than I should have as it slams shut.

No. My life with that man would be a nightmare.

Of that, I am one hundred percent certain.

Our city is large, but the town we live in is small. It seems everyone knows everything about everyone. People gossip. The rich mingle and tell each other everything, then they tell the others, and it never stops. It’s like a game of telephone, gossip, slandering each other—it’s horrible to witness most of the time.