Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 102708 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 514(@200wpm)___ 411(@250wpm)___ 342(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 102708 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 514(@200wpm)___ 411(@250wpm)___ 342(@300wpm)
The dipshit’s hands instantly flew to my vicious hold, trying to pry me off, but I didn’t give him a chance. I went full force, yanking him away from the tree, only to slam his body back into it. Gripping his hair, I spun him around so his back was to my front and smashed his face into the willow instead.
I didn’t pay any mind to the blood dripping off his face as he stumbled to remain upright. Using his momentum, my fist connected with his jaw before he even saw it coming. His head snapped back, taking half his body with it. I was over to the piece of shit in one stride, grabbing his shirt and punching him in the face repeatedly.
I delivered blow after blow to his stomach, his ribs, his chest, and back up to his face. Hearing hasty cracks in my fist’s wake.
I let the asshole go, and he fell to the ground, covered in blood and whimpering in pain.
“Get up!” I angrily ordered, kicking him in the ribs. He recoiled, feeling more of the agony I was spitefully delivering. “Get the fuck up!”
Out of nowhere, Isla grabbed a hold of my shirt from behind me, but it didn’t stop me in the least. I heard it rip in her grasp as I continued my assault on Justin’s face and body, hitting him until my knuckles felt raw and aching.
I felt her hands on my shoulders, desperately trying to pull me off him. When I didn’t, she used my own momentum and forcefully spun around, snapping me back to reality by the frightened expression on her face. She rapidly made me realize what the hell I’d just done.
She fell to her knees on the grass beside Justin, trying to tend to his knocked-out body. I halted her attempt, clutching onto her wrists and roughly yanking her to her feet. I turned her to face me instead.
No one was around us, and I was surprised we didn’t gain a crowd. She didn’t back down, using all her strength to shove me away.
I stepped toward her. “Isla—”
She pushed me again and again and again, the words on the tip of her tongue, her wrath was right there for me to touch, to feel. I could see her struggling to form her words, battling to get them out.
So I did what I did best—I baited her.
“What? Huh?” I folded my arms over my chest. “What do you have to say? You never have anything to say!”
She shoved me harder, her eyes brimming with tears as she started to slam her fists into my chest. I let her take her aggression out on me. Her adrenaline was pumping through her veins at full force, blowing through the woods. She was in fight-or-flight mode because of me, and I hated that I dragged her there right beside me.
This didn’t go as planned. I shouldn’t have brought her here. That was my first mistake. This became something it wasn’t intended to be.
I allowed her to shriek.
To hit me.
To do whatever the hell she needed to calm her ass down and come back to me.
I took every blow to my bruised ego and my tattered soul until finally, I got what I wanted all along.
She screamed, “Is this who you are?! Is this what you do?!”
Her voice was smooth like silk, but it still sliced me open like daggers on my skin. Her words hit me as hard as my fists had laid Justin out.
She fervently shook her head, scowling, “Do you even know who you are?”
“Yeah,” I firmly argued. “I’m the guy who just beat his ass for fucking talking to you that way.”
She stumbled back, winded.
All the fight in her was gone as if she had only just realized why I kicked his ass. Her lips trembled as she backed away from me, slaying my heart a little more.
Fear was evident on her face.
For me?
Or because of me?
Her eyes shifted over to Justin, and I stressed, “He is not dead,” trying to ease the strain between us.
“Oh,” she mocked. “So that makes it okay?”
“I’m just spitting facts. You can retract your claws because he’s not dead. He just got taught a very valuable lesson. You should be thanking me instead.”
She strained.
“He fucked around and found out, but look”—I gestured to her—“it got you talking to me. Who would have thought the kitty could speak?”
She took one last look at me with so much uncertainty in her gaze, digging the dagger deeper into my chest. The fatal expression on her face vanished, replaced by nothing but remorse and shame. There were so many sides to her, so many truths to see hidden behind those captivating green eyes of hers.
Her bright red hair was a nice added touch. At that moment, she looked like a glowing goddess to me. Maybe it was the moonlight cascading on her pale skin. Or it could have been the white dress that was illuminating her features and curves against the night sky. The strap on her dress had fallen, and I stepped closer to her. Slowly, I lifted the strap back onto her shoulder.