Forever (Betrothed 7)

I quickly jumped back, not wanting another wound that might actually make me bleed to death. One cut in my arm wouldn’t slow me down. I had at least twenty minutes before it became a problem. But if she landed another blow, like in my stomach or my thigh, near major arteries, I’d be in trouble.

She danced in her heels like she was in flats, probably because she was a professional ballerina. She jumped to the right and swiped at me, aiming right for my stomach.

Shit, she was going for my artery. It was fucking intentional.

“I ain’t no average bitch, boy.” She struck again, trying to get that same spot.

I had the opportunity to twist her arm back and get that knife free, but I was so bewildered by what she’d just said. “What?”

“I’m gonna bounce on a dick, boy.” She tried to stab me again.

I took a couple steps back. “Are you paraphrasing Beyoncé right now?”

“Hell yes, motherfucker. And I suggest you run before I kick your ass just like she would.” Her green eyes were fearless, like a hunter in ancient times that couldn’t afford to be afraid. She had to kill the animal to feed her family and survive, to win the battle to preserve her tribe. Nostrils flared and lips pressed tight together, she was savage, ice-fucking-cold. She spun the knife again around her wrist then made a move. This time, she went for my neck.

Crazy-ass bitch.

I stopped focusing on all the stupid shit flying out of her mouth so I could finally disarm her. I grabbed her wrist and spun her around, grabbing her by the neck and slamming her hand down onto my thigh so she would drop the blade.

But she didn’t.

My arm wrapped around her mouth so she wouldn’t scream.

But then she started to stab me in the leg without seeing where she was aiming, just frantically trying to get me in whatever way she could.

I moved my body away and kept hold of her, and while I was distracted, she bit down on my arm as hard she could.

I ground my teeth together and screamed from the back of my throat, suppressing the noise as much as possible so people wouldn’t run over to see the commotion, but damn, that hurt more than the knife wound. “Alright, I’m sick of this shit.” I grabbed her wrist and spun it around until it was about to break it. With my other hand on the back of her neck, I bent her over like a dog. “Let go.”

“No.”

I pushed harder on her wrist, bringing the bone to the breaking point.

She didn’t whimper. “That’s all you got, fuckboy?”

I lost my temper and threw her into the nearby car, and her body flattened against the solid door. She landed with a heavy thud. Thankfully it was an old, dusty car that didn’t possess an alarm system, so an obnoxious noise didn’t ring out. She groaned when her body slammed into it, but she still didn’t drop the knife.

I pushed my chest against her back and kept her pinned in place so I could yank the knife from her hand. It still dripped with my blood. Now that the battle was over, there was blood everywhere. Drops from my cut were on the sidewalk, grass, and all over this piece-of-shit car. It was on my clothes, on her dress. It looked like a murder scene.

I slipped the knife into my pocket. “We can do this one of two ways. Easy way or hard way.”

“Hard. Always hard.” She bucked her hips against me as she tried to throw me off.

She was quite the adversary with a knife, but when it was just her body against mine, she stood no chance. It was like throwing herself against a brick wall. All she would do was hurt herself and leave me untouched. “Alright.” I wrapped my arm around her throat and squeezed, cutting off her air supply so she would eventually black out. I could’ve given her a syringe full of sedative and that would’ve been a lot more pleasant for her, but I wasn’t in the mood to be polite to this psycho.

She struggled to the very end, fighting with a strength that was so fierce it was a mystery where it came from. She fought harder than most men, didn’t give up even when hope was pointless. And she lasted a lot longer than anyone ever would.

Then she finally went under.

I released my arm from her throat and supported her body. “Jesus fucking Christ.” I sighed in relief because the bullshit was finally over. We were both covered in blood, and I was irritated that the whole thing had taken fifteen minutes when it should’ve taken fifteen seconds. I threw her over my shoulder and carried her to my truck farther down the road. Thankfully, no one was out because it was so late, so I did all of it unseen. I opened the passenger door and propped her inside before I shut the door and came around to the driver’s side.