𝐃𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐝

Chapter Twenty-Two

B E L L A M Y

It was still dark out when I woke up in the middle of the night. Noah shifted behind me, and soft, inaudible words left his lips as he tossed and turned.

His frown worried me, and I knew that the beads of sweat on his forehead had nothing to do with the warm weather.

"Noah," I whispered, sitting up and turning towards him.

He didn't respond, instead, his words got clearer. "No...please, no..."

Panic spread through me, and I reached for one of his arms to see if I could wake him up. It looked and sounded like he was having a terrible nightmare, and it hurt me to see him like this.

"Noah, wake up," I said a little louder, grabbing his shoulder and softly shaking him around.

His eyes shot open, and before I could register what was happening, he flipped on top of me and grabbed my throat with full strength.

There was no lust in his eyes as he squeezed the life out of me, and I struggle underneath him, trying to get air in my lungs.

"No...ah..." I choked out, tapping his forearms to get him to stop.

All my blood made its way to my head, and I saw stars in front of my eyes as he pressed harder, pushing me into the mattress.

My throat hurt and my eyes burned, but I kept looking into his, using all the strength I had left to fight him off of me.

Then, he recognized me.

He released me and stumbled backward, falling against the wall and looking at his hands like they had betrayed him.

I coughed loudly, trying to fill my lungs with as much air as I could, blinking the tears away. Oh my god, he was going to kill me.

My chest still burned as I crawled back against the headboard, staring wide-eyed at Noah.

"I'm so sorry," he said softly, and it almost came out as a sob.

I was still high on adrenaline, breathing hard as he slowly looked up, his eyes red and watery.

Who had hurt him so bad that he was like this? Or was it something that happened in prison? As much as I was scared of him, I felt bad for him.

"Noah," I rasped, staying in place.

He seemed broken, looking at me, the green in his eyes vibrant against the red around them.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, slouching against the wall behind him and resting his head back.

"What happened?"

He sighed, looking at the ceiling. I wanted to help him, get rid of his demons, and hurt everyone who hurt him. Though, he was the one who hurt me.

"I'll be fine."

I stood from the bed, slowly walking up to him and sitting down on the floor in front of him.

He brought a hand to my face, brushing his fingers over my cheek. "I'm sorry I hurt you, in more ways than one."

"It's alright—"