Chapter 14

~Nicki~

 

“You stupid little bitch!” Greg roars as I crash into my bedroom wall.

I scramble to turn around and I see him rubbing his cheek where I just punched him. He stalks towards me. I try to get to my feet but I’m disorientated from smacking my head into the drywall.

He’s on me again before I know it, hauling me to my feet and pushing me roughly against the wall. I see the beer bottle in his hand. He sees me looking and for some reason it incenses him. He smashes it against my desk beside us and the bottle neck breaks off from the impact. He grips the neck and holds it in front of my face, his hands shaking with barely-contained fury.

“You shouldn’t have stopped me. Now I’m not gonna be gentle about it.” He grips my neck with his free hand and squeezes hard, forcing a sputtering gag to erupt from my throat. “Now I’m gonna take you hard. Brutally, Nicola. How do you like that?”

His hand slides under my skirt. I clamp my legs shut.

“Stop!” I scream. “Stop it!”

He smiles maliciously, baring his disgusting crooked and decaying teeth. He’s so close that I can smell the alcohol on his breath. He smashes his fist into my face. Hard. I cry out and it just enrages him more.

“Shut up!” he snarls.

I spit in his face and try to buck him off me. But he’s too strong. Shit, how do I do this? I don’t know crap about self-defense.

He wipes his face and his eyes are black as they bore into mine. They flick to the beer bottle. And before I know what’s happening, he jabs it into my left arm. I scream as it tears through my flesh. It’s searing, excruciating. He twists it and I fight the overwhelming urge to throw up from the overload of agony.

The only thing I’m still aware of is his hand sliding further up my skirt, between my legs. All I can do is scream as he pushes my panties aside.

And then I hear a thunderous smack. My bedroom door.

He’s ripped away from me a second later.

“You fucking piece of shit!” a familiar voice roars.

A wave of light-headedness assaults me and I collapse to the floor. All I can hear is crashing, thudding and swearing. I force myself to look up and that’s when I look upon my rescuer.

John Kingston.

 

My eyes snap open and I bolt up in bed, screaming in absolute terror. I can’t breathe. I can’t…I can’t stop shaking. I’m faintly aware of an aggressive knock at the door.

“Nicki! Open the door, sweetheart! Nicki!”

Several moments pass before I return to reality and realize what’s happening. I climb out of bed and unlock the door. I’ve barely opened it a crack when he pushes through and flings his arms around me.

“John,” I sob against his chest.

“I heard you. It’s okay. It’s okay, sweetheart,” he says softly into my hair.

I look up at him. “I’m sorry I was so loud. I’m okay. I’m fine. Go back to bed.”

He kicks the door shut and locks it. “No.”

He picks me up before I can utter a protest and carries me to the bed.

“Close your eyes and try to go back to sleep. I’ll be right here. I won’t leave you,” he says as he tucks me back into bed.

He walks around the bed and climbs in on the other side. But, unlike normal, he doesn’t get under the covers with me. Instead, he lies on top of them and wraps his arms around me over the covers.

I eye him in question.

“You’re naked,” he tells me.

What? Oh shit. I am, aren’t I? “I—”

“It’s okay. Go back to sleep now,” he whispers in my ear.

I nod and close my eyes. I open them a moment later. I find him gazing at me…lovingly? “John?”

“Yes, sweetheart?”

“I’m scared.”

His arms tighten around me and he tells me, “There’s no need to be. I’ve got you.”

“Thank you,” I say as I close my eyes again.

He strokes my hair soothingly.

That’s the last thing I remember before I fall asleep in his arms.