Breaking You (Blackthorn Elite 2)

“You think this hurts?” I squeeze her arm a little tighter before shoving it away. Then like a lion, I stalk toward her. She, of course, takes a step back until she’s reached the wall, leaving herself nowhere to go. I hold back a bitter laugh. She’s making this too easy.

“W-what are you doing?” Her lips quiver as I place my hands flat against the wall behind her. Caging her in, I invade her personal space, giving her no room to breathe. No place to hide. Nowhere to run. She shivers, and I love the sight of her scared and weak. Her sweet floral scent assaults my nostrils, and I force myself to breathe through my mouth.

“You made a big mistake coming here. This is my turf. You need to leave and don’t fucking come back. One warning, Harper, that’s all you’re getting.” I shouldn’t even give her that, but I’m feeling generous, feeling like giving her an out.

She shakes her head, and silky brown strands of hair fall into her face, “I have a scholarship to go to this school. I can’t just leave. And what does it matter? How was I supposed to know that you would be here?”

My jaw ticks, she has a fucking backbone. Yet, another thing I’ll take pleasure in breaking if she stupidly decides to stay.

“I don’t give a shit about how you got here; all I care about is making you disappear. You need to leave. Now.”

Shoving against my chest, she tries to push past me. “Get out of the way.” Even through the shirt I’m wearing, her touch burns my skin. Her push just moves me closer to the edge. Determined to get my point across, I grab both her wrists and shove them against her chest, holding them there.

“Leave, and I’ll forget that you ever showed your face here. Stay, and I’ll break you so badly you’ll leave a shell of the person you are now. Either way, you’re going to leave.”

She visibly gulps, her throat bobbing, and I want to trace that delicate throat of hers, feel the flutter of her heartbeat under my fingers.

Digging deep, she stands a little straighter and fights against my hold. “You’re insane, I’m not leaving, and you can’t make me. We don’t even know each other anymore, and me being here has no effect on you. Now let go of me before I report you to the campus police.”

I laugh right in her face, “Do it. That would be hilarious.”

“What happened to you?” she whispers the words so soft I’m sure she didn’t intend to speak them out loud.

Leaning into her face, I keep an inch of space between our faces. “I don’t think I’m required to tell you a single fucking thing. But because you asked so nicely, I’ll tell you. What happened to me was you. I want you gone.” I bare my teeth. I want to bite her and mark her skin.

“I’m not leaving, Warren.” The way she says my name, all breathless and shit, it does something to me. It’s like she is poking the monster inside of me. Awakening it with nothing but her voice.

I don’t even think, all I do is react. Releasing her hands, I slam my fist into the brick beside her head, nearly hitting her in the process, and I use my other hand to grip her chin between two fingers. I pinch hard, and the blood swooshes in my ears when I see her wince. I should feel something, anything, but I don’t. The idea of hurting her…it only makes my cock harder, makes the blood in my veins heat.

“You know what this means then, don’t you?” I seethe, barely restraining myself. Her full bee-stung lips are right in front of me, begging to be kissed.

Wide-eyed, she shakes her head once more, and her chin wobbles in my grasp, giving away her fear. Good, I want her to be afraid. I want her a trembling mess beneath my feet. Looking at her once more, I memorize her body, dragging my predatory gaze over her. I want to strip her bare and fuck her until she screams.

No. I roar internally. I can’t let her get under my skin. I can’t give in to my weaknesses.

“I’m going to break you, crush you until you’re begging me to take mercy on your pitiful body.” Releasing her chin, I turn and stalk off, knowing that if I don’t, I might do something I’ll regret. I want to scare her, hurt her, but not physically. I fist my hands so tightly that my fingernails dig into my palm, probably piercing through the skin. I don’t care though. The pain is just what I need to continue onward.

With each step I take away from her, my blood cools a little more, and my mind clears. Slowly, I return to the Warren everyone knows me as; the all American boy with a panty-melting smile and enough charm to leave the ladies dazed and confused.