The Scars That Broke Her

Chapter 23

An evil grin spread across his features as he stalked toward me.

Not good. Not good. So, not good.

Forcing myself away from the wall, I stood. Despite feeling sober, I knew from I was anything from it. My body swayed, my head swirled, my fingers prickled, as I carefully made my way towards him. All thoughts of freedom and happiness left my body with each step I took, now replaced with anger, hatred, and fear. The pit in my stomach returned, but not from the alcohol.

From him.

He was the last person I wanted to see, and I had fully believed he had gotten the message when I ignored any of his attempts at rekindling our relationship. While I knew I could – should – stay away from him, I knew without a doubt his approaching Tate would not end well. His steps staggered as I reached him, he was about as drunk as I was.

"What are you doing here?" I hissed. Eli's hand clamped around my wrist, pulling me along with him through the party and away from the comfort of my wall. He moved me through the hallway, which was substantially quieter than the rest of the house, and into a bedroom, closing the door behind him.

"Long time no see, Noa." His eyes raked over my body, slowly taking in every inch of me. I didn't miss the extra time it took for him to move from my exposed mid-section.

"What are you doing here." I tried again, irritation and rage overpowering my once blissful emotions.

"Kenna needed alcohol. I provided." Eli chuckled, taking a menacing step toward me. I could feel the bile rise in my stomach. He knew Kenna. Kenna invited him. Even despite all the work I put in to avoid him, he still found me. He reached for me, "Words can't describe how much I've missed you."

I took a step away from him, determined to stand my ground. I would not go back to him. Not when I was just beginning to feel without him. "Usually when a girl doesn't answer your calls and texts, its because she doesn't want to talk to you."

Anger, quickly replaced by lust, flashed through his eyes as he reached for me once again. This time I wasn't quick enough to escape his grasp. His gruff hands cupped my cheeks roughly, pulling my face to his and smashing my lips against his. The scent of alcohol and weed filled my nose immediately making me nauseous.

I squirmed against his grip. I didn't want this. I didn't want him. Eli's tongue forced its way through my lips sloppily filling my mouth with his unwanted saliva, only making my bile rise even more. His hand moved from my cheek to my breast. Rage filled my entire body as he felt free to touch whatever he wanted. I wasn't his to touch.

I didn't want this.

I didn't want him.

I clamped my teeth down. Hard. Blood filled my mouth as Eli yanked away, his eyes wide with shock. His shock only lasted a second though. In the next, I was met with a sharp stinging in my cheek while stars flooded my vision. I stumbled to the side, clutching my cheek my own eyes widening with shock now. I shouldn't have done that.

Eli didn't give me time to recover as his fist came down again sending me flying to the ground. Pure and utter rage filled his eyes painting him in red. I have seen Eli mad. I have seen Eli furious. But this was something else. There was something else mixed with these emotions, something I couldn't identify. My hand was shaking as I brought it up to my nose. Sticky, red blood coated my fingertips and panic soured through me at the thought of a broken nose. Cale would never let me out of the house if I came home with a broken nose.

His large hand reached down, tangling in my hair, as he yanked me to my feet. My eyes blinked through the stars as I tried to focus on him and getting out of this situation. His other hand gripped my chin so tightly I was sure he would leave marks as he forced my eyes to his.