Hurt Like Me

by P. A. Brokenshire

  "Are you ready, Pet?"

  She glanced at the door and back at me. I was afraid then. Afraid she would back out, that she would tell John, that this would be the end. Instead, she swallowed thickly, adjusting the claws on her hands. She looked up at me, setting her lips into a determined line.

  "Yes, Sir."

  A devious smile took over my face, my skin prickling, my cock pulsing. I felt like my whole body was a live wire. The voice became a distant memory. There was just her and me and this moment.

  "Run."

  She took off out the back door and I gave her a couple seconds before I started after her. It wasn't long before my chest was burning, my lungs starving for oxygen as I jumped over fallen trees and stumbled across endless woods. I could see her a little bit ahead of me. I wasn't worried about catching her. My work was strenuous, my muscles full from the hours that I spent lifting wood framing and tile and sheetrock. Avery was lucky she had good genes.

  I growled, loud enough that it echoed in the night air and Avery glanced behind her. A stupid mistake. A mistake that would cost her. She tripped, falling onto a patch of leaves.

  "Stop fucking running from me!" I could hear the heavy footfalls behind me as my breath caught and I stumbled.

  I shook away the flash of memory as I closed in on her. She stumbled away from me; her eyes big as saucers with true fear as I scrambled for her legs. She changed then, in the blink of an eye, from flight to fight. She clawed at my arms as I ripped her pants down. I relished in the burn.

  "Stop!" She screamed and I hesitated for the briefest moment before I remembered the safe words.

  "Safe words?" I asked her and she shook her head. That's all the approval I needed. I pinned her beneath me as she scratched and squirmed. She screamed 'no' a dozen times as I wrestled her top up along with her sports bra. I took the opportunity to suck on her skin, to tease her nipples with my tongue. The moan that she released was heavenly.

  "See? You like it, Pet," I panted into her, holding her hands above her with one hand as I pulled my cock free. My skin burned from all the places she had managed to slice me open, but the air was cold, and she was warm. So fucking warm. And wet. I could feel it on the tip of me before I thrust into her. Her fight diminished. She was unable to pretend when it felt this good. I felt power at her submission. My skin hummed.

  I released her hands and captured her throat and she remembered, she remembered to fight. Her claws found my back as I buried myself into her.

  "You're such a good girl," I praised her with slow, intense thrusts and her eyes rolled back. "My little violent pet."

  I let my hand fall from her throat, squeezing my way down her body as I lifted one of her legs onto my shoulder so that I could go deeper. I bit her lightly on the leg as I stroked my fingers across her stomach, down to her thigh, and then back up. When my fingers grazed her clit she tried to twist away, but she couldn't. Not with her leg in my arm.

  "Where are you going, Pet?" I teased, pulling her back to me as she clawed at the ground. With every shift of her body my cock twitched, my balls tightened. I toyed with her clit, rolling it with my thumb and she screamed in pleasure.

  "Garrett!" My name, she screamed my name, and I could feel her squeezing me as she came, milking my own orgasm. I pounded into her with purpose then with both my arms wrapped around her leg.

  "Say it again, Pet. Say my fucking name!"

  She said it again and again as I thrust into her until finally, I came, driving her into the ground as I growled out a deep moan. We both panted desperately, and I felt that light sensation wash over my body. Silence took over my thoughts and I managed to hold back the shudders of relief this time. I wouldn't cry here in the woods. We had to go back, and she would see. I couldn't let her see.

  "Are you okay?" she asked.

  "I should be asking you that," I said, pulling her top down and sliding free of her before helping her with her pants as well. I tucked myself back in my sweats and went to get up, but she pulled me back down by my hair.

  "I'm good." Her hold loosened and she brushed softly through my hair, the claws only gently scraped. She looked at me sharply with concern. Leave it to Avery to read too deeply into things. I needed her to stop thinking so damn much.

  "Good," I replied quietly before capturing her lips. A sigh escaped from her mouth into mine and I felt her face soften as I brushed some loose hairs back from her cheeks. I could taste that chocolate cookie now, the one that I had baked her from scratch. Chocolate and Avery was a good combination.

  We lingered for a moment as I kissed her gently. I wanted her to forget whatever she had been thinking, but honestly, I enjoyed it too. I liked the feel of her lips moving slowly across mine and the gentle humming noise she made even if it was tame.

  Finally, when I was sure that her brain had turned back to mush, I helped her to her feet and we walked back to the house. I made good on my promise to shower her, but Avery was so tired, falling asleep as I scrubbed her body. When I was done, I had to actually carry her to bed. With her fast asleep I pulled out another book. Something I hadn't read. Something fresh. A new start.

  Chapter 28

  Avery- Present

  When I awoke briefly in the middle of the night I caught Garrett reading. Another favorite of mine. It was a book about fairies and Greek gods. A lot of action, but also a fair amount of romance. His eyebrows furrowed in deep concentration. He was so intense that I felt like I was intruding on a private moment in my own bedroom. I remained still, looking up at him carefully in the dark. It was better not to move anyway. My entire body ached from our violent romp in the woods, except my lips. My lips had been caressed, had been gently stroked by his own. I could still remember the taste of cinnamon. It was the thought of that kiss that soothed me back to sleep and by the time I woke up for good he was long gone, and the book was on my nightstand.

  I didn't know how he could work without any sleep. The guy barely slept, and I wondered if it had something to do with those nightmares of his. I'd heard the things that he had screamed, the pleading desperation. I wouldn't want to sleep if my night was filled with that kind of terror. Imagined or not. I put in my eight hours of work and tried to think of something other than last night as I got ready to see dad, failing miserably. If I was being honest, I think I only worked a good four of those eight hours. It was even worse now that I didn't have work to keep me occupied. My brain was running a mile a minute with thoughts of those claws, his hands, the sounds he had made. I caught myself pulling up my sleeves to admire the bruises on my wrists, replaying it all again for the hundredth time when I heard the doorbell ring.

  My pulse quickened as I rushed to the door, feeling my body ache with every step. I cautiously peeked through the peephole. A man stood there with his hands shoved in his pockets. His black hair was slicked back, and he looked around impatiently with beautiful dark, almond eyes. He looked familiar, though I wasn't sure why. I must have seen him around town while running errands. I wasn't sure who he was though, so I hesitated to open the door.

  "Garrett!" He shouted, knocking on the door. "Come on, man, answer the damn door. Chris has been texting and calling you for like 3 days."

  Chris...I didn't even know that Garrett still talked to his brother. Well, maybe he didn't. That would explain why this guy was here on his behalf. I pulled open the door and the man looked taken back for a second. He clearly hadn't been expecting me. I saved him the trouble of fumbling for a greeting.

  "Sorry. Garrett won't be home for another hour or so."

  "Oh...uh, sorry. I didn't mean to disturb you." He reached out to shake my hand. "I'm his brother-in-law, Spence Lee-Hathaway."

  Brother-in-law?! I remembered hearing about him. The town had been a buzz of activity when Chris had come out and more so when he got married. Honestly, I'm not sure how we all didn't see it sooner. Chris had been an immaculate dresser in high school. No straight man ever dressed that good as a teenager. I'd never seen pictures of his husband
and the man in front of me was gorgeous. He looked like he belonged in one of those K-pop groups. I couldn't help feeling butterflies in my stomach at the sight of him. A girl could still look. Good for you, Chris.

  "Avery Finley," I said with a wide smile. I reached out my hand, forgetting entirely in my excitement that my wrist was thoroughly covered in bruises and on full display. Unfortunately for me, Spence noticed.

  "Oh my god, are you okay?" He asked, turning my hand in his. My pulse shot up as I pulled my arm away sharply.

  "Yeah, I'm fine." I pulled down the sleeves on my sweater to cover the bruises as he looked at me with concern. "Do you want me to give Garrett a message or something?"

  "Oh, yeah, of course. Can you just have him call Chris back?" He asked, taking a step back, clearly still worried. I was hoping he would just let it go. I gave him a nod and he turned to leave, but abruptly changed course, turning back to me. Of course, he wouldn't leave it be. The last thing I wanted to do was explain my newly wild sex life. I stopped mid door close. "Listen, I know it's none of my business, but you should know...Garrett isn't in his right mind."

  Well, that was fucking rude. My embarrassment turned to anger. It must have shown on my face because Spence quickly started to wave his hands defensively in the air.

  "I didn't mean it in a bad way," he said, shoving his hands on the door when I started to shut it again. "He quite literally isn't stable."

  No wonder he had been ignoring his brother. If he was half as much of an ass these days I could see why. I'd been home for three weeks and I hadn't heard him call his family once and they had never called while I was around. I didn't know the full story there, but I knew enough. They had stayed away from him and he had done the same. Maybe that meant that they had given up on him being a good person and that they believed he was beyond saving. That just wasn't true. Dad saw something in him and maybe...maybe I was starting to see it too.

  "You know, just because he is a recovering addict, doesn't make him crazy. He's working through it."

  "That's not why I said that. It's not the drugs." He heaved a sigh, clearly searching for words. He took his hands off the door, shoving them in his pocket. "Garrett has a lot of trauma. It's not my place to tell you, but...well, he's got baggage and the drugs were just another way for him to avoid them. I hope you're keeping your distance from him is all."

  He gestured to my arms that were now covered. Shame flooded me, hot sticky shame, mixing with all my anger. I wasn't embarrassed about what I did with Garrett, far from it. That didn't mean I was ready for everyone to know. Not yet. It wasn't his place to judge me so easily, but isn't that what everyone would do? His family, my dad, everyone in this town would take one look at my bruises and think there was something wrong with me too.

  "Maybe you should mind your own business."

  I slammed the door, locking it behind me. I heard his car on the gravel driveway and only then did I go back to getting ready, the flutters in my stomach gone, the memories from last night clouded with this new concern for what people might think. I pushed off that unease. Fuck everyone else. I knew what I wanted. Last night had been exactly what we had both wanted and if people found out and were sickened by it then that was their problem, not mine. When I was situated, I pulled my phone off the charger and texted Garrett.

  Your brother-in-law stopped by. He said you need to call Chris.

  Less than a minute passed before I got a response.

  Maybe he should mind his own business.

  I laughed hard, ending in a snort. We were very much on the same wavelength with that.

  Chapter 29

  Garrett- Present

  The sun was beginning to set, and my body was aching from last night's activities. It was the only thing that was keeping me from losing it completely.

  Avery's text had me on edge, then again everything had me on edge. The high from last night had worn off much quicker than I expected. Add on to that all the calls I received from Chris and I was officially smack dab in the middle of some panic episode. I'd chosen not to respond. He hadn't reached out to me in over a year and I hadn't tried either. I wanted to make sure I was better before I saw him again. I thought that day might be getting closer, but my panic said otherwise. All I wanted now was to fuck Avery until I couldn't breathe, couldn't think straight.

  "That's all your good for."

  My phone rang again. I glanced at the screen, ignoring the call before returning my eyes to the road. Now was not the time for Chris to become so damn needy. With John recovering and Avery in town it definitely wasn't the time to start reconnecting. I could only destroy one person at a time and right now I was corrupting Avery good and well. He would just have to wait his fucking turn.

  "Can't you do anything right?"

  I dug my fingers into a scrape on my arm from last night, feeling the blood trickle before gripping hard on the steering wheel of John's truck, trying to pull my concentration back to the road.

  "Did you really think you could hide from me?"

  "Shut up!" I shouted, smacking my hand against the dash. The sting of pain and fresh blood on my arm was enough to get my heart pumping. This wasn't how it should be. Last night I felt wonderful. My mind and body had been so relaxed while I read and embraced the ache of my bones. Then the stupid voice started up the moment I got that text. It was relentless at the first thought of Chris. It's like mother was taunting me, pushing me away from Chris even in death. He'd always been her favorite.

  "It's your fault he left. He didn't want you."

  I could practically feel her hands digging into my hair, the water choking me. I accelerated, my foot slamming down on the gas. It was too soon for this, for the choking feeling to start. It usually only happened in my sleep, but now it was invading the day. My body was breaking out in a sweat as I turned on to the gravel drive. It was too soon, and I couldn't think, couldn't function. I slammed into park and jumped out of the car.

  "Stop! He can't breathe!"

  Shit! The memory of Chris hit me like a battering ram to the chest. It was out of place in the daylight. This hadn't happened since my first few months sober. Why now? Maybe hooking up with Avery was making me weak, driving my past away too much so now when it wore off it hit faster and twice as hard? I ignored the thought. I really didn't fucking care. I just wanted it to stop.

  "Are you ready to go or do you want to shower-?"

  I didn't let Avery finish the sentence. My lungs ached. I needed to shut it off. She didn't stop me as I closed the distance between us with a grunt. I forced her mouth open with rough kisses, dragging my tongue across hers as the voice howled in my mind.

  "You ruin everything!"

  I fumbled to pull off my jeans. I wanted to be buried in her. I wanted my damn mind to stop.

  "Hurt me, Avery," I growled into her mouth, dragging my mouth down to her throat after I freed her of her sweater. My fingers expertly unlatched her bra as I sucked urgently on her skin. Her nails pressed into my back as she ripped off my shirt, but it wasn't enough. I needed more. "Bite me, choke me. Just fucking break me, god damn it."

  The sound of my voice, desperate and angry, was enough to make her gasp in surprise. I could feel her body tense.

  "What's wrong, Garrett? What-"

  I snarled at her, lifting her up so her legs wrapped around my waist and carried her towards my bedroom. I didn't want to infect her space with my insanity. And that's what this was, pure insanity. I could taste the bath water in my mouth, soapy and warm.

  "Not now, Avery!"

  She didn't stop me as I threw her onto the bed and ripped down her pants with her underwear. She could ask endless questions later. Questions that I probably wouldn't bother to answer.

  "Get off him!"

  Chris' voice screamed in my mind as I pressed Avery into the mattress. No foreplay, no nonsense. She wasn't slick when I entered her, filling her with one deep thrust as she winced. That's not how this worked. I shouldn't be causing her pain. The voices muf
fled as my dick adjusted to the warmth. I could be better now. I could fix this. I didn't move inside her. Instead, I brought my mouth down to hers like I did last night in the woods. I kissed her slowly and deeply until I felt her soften.

  "I'm sorry." I pulled back, until I was just barely inside her. She was breathing deeply, her nails finding purchase on my arms and chest involuntarily with fresh desire.

  "It's okay," she said. My head began to swim as she pushed me to the side and pressed me down into the bed. She sank herself down on top of me. Slowly, inch by inch. She was wet now, ready. Her nails scraped along my chest and I released a groan. This angle, this moment. It felt intense and when she started to move I leaned up to meet her, wrapping my arms around her body.

  "Feels so good." It wasn't just her body that made me say it, the silence in my mind was almost as intoxicating as her flesh. I kissed her chest, licking and nipping, sucking her nipples into my mouth one by one and twirling my tongue.