Adea
I couldn’t help the feeling of helplessness as it rushed through my body. I knew he wasn’t the same as when he first did this. I knew he said he wouldn’t hurt me but… I… I relaxed my body. I needed to seem accepting. I needed to come off as wanting this. I ignored the little voice that whispered how much she wanted it.
The water sloshed around us and I tried not to peer over my shoulder at him. I didn’t want to see what he was doing. As much as I wanted to know, I kept my eyes on the trail leading away from the pool.
I don’t know what I was expecting but it wasn’t what happened. When his firm hard hand connected with my left cheek, I cried out. It hurt and tears rushed to fill my eyes. My vision blurred as another slap sounded and pain spread out where his palm landed.
I grunted and gripped the grass. This wasn’t my first time being hit, Ethan had done it but it hadn’t been like this, it hadn’t been this hard. Shane groaned, his breathing came out rugged as he massaged the area he just slapped.
I bit my lip to stop myself from crying out. I flinched from his touch on my sensitive skin. I didn’t have time to prepare myself when pain erupted across my cheek again. This was okay, this was fine, and I was alright.
This punishment was far better than what I thought was going to happen. I could take this. I could take this, anything more and I wouldn’t know what to do with myself. When he pulled my dress up, I had expected the worst.
When the material tore, I think my heart stopped. Goddess, I had frozen as I wondered what I was going to do, what I should do. What was the right move now? I wish Korra was here to tell me what to do.
A muffled cry sounded in the back of my throat as he hit me again, harder this time and closer to my sex. Again and again, harder than the last. Before he was done, I was pleading for him to stop.
“Your ass looks good pink from my hand,” Shane murmured. “Will you do that again?” His voice was low, dark, and hoarse behind me. He sounded as if he were restraining himself and I thanked the Goddess that he was.
“Yes,” I said quietly. “Wait, no. I mean I won’t, I won’t do that again.”
My mind was a jumble of thoughts and I didn’t know what I was saying. Goddess, I was making a fool of myself. I know he got what I meant and I wasn’t going to say anything more.
I knew he understood me when he lowered my dress slowly over my backside. I tried not to flinch or jerk away from him. When I stood to my feet, he turned me around to face him. I hated that I was in this position.
I hated the liquid that slid down my thigh. I had to be crazy. That’s the only explanation for this. I didn’t want to think about what that could even mean. I didn’t want to look into his eyes, I didn’t want to know if he saw it. I was angry, hurt, and flustered.
“You did so well,” Shane whispered as he lifted me up and pulled me into his chest. “Other than your slip up, you’ve been so good.”
As he started to walk, I lowered my head to his chest. We didn’t talk as we headed back. The sounds of his feet against the pavement, the sound of water dripping from our body to the ground, and the sound of his heart beating against my ear filled the silence.
I don’t know how long we’d been heading towards the car. Running through the forests hadn’t felt like much but as we walked back it felt like an eternity. When the car finally came into view, I was relieved.
I avoided eye contact as he lowered me. My gaze slid down his neck, chest, and piercings when my head snapped up as my feet touched the ground. It wasn’t the muscles that caught my eye but the tattoo that set there.
He’d been shirtless this whole time and I didn’t even look at his tattoo. I couldn’t look away, it was so familiar yet I couldn’t place it. I started to reach out but froze as it all started to connect.
As recognition struck, I was left gasping. It felt as if all of the air had been sucked out of the room and I couldn’t breathe. I felt as if I’d been punched in the stomach and no matter how many times I inhaled, I came up with nothing.
Shane’s tattoo. The one I’d been so curious about, the one that peeked above his t-shirt, the one I had needed to see was of a large half-shifted hand gripping a bleeding heart. Of course, it felt familiar.
It shouldn’t have taken me this long to realize what it was. I’d seen it countless times in my nightmares. I should have known what it was right away. It had plagued my nightmares since before I even met him.
Tattooed to Shane’s chest was Ethan’s heart. The exact moment I’d seen over and over. Internally, I was shaking my head and screaming. There’s just no way. There’s no freaking way.
What did this all mean? It didn’t make any sense. The only way it could make sense is if Shane had seen it too. If he had, it would make sense why he said what he did at the meeting.
If that were the case then why didn’t he come for me? If he knew he was going to win, why wait? I struggled to grasp the thoughts that were spreading through my mind. What did this mean?
Did he know everything? Did it mean anything? There’s no way he had that tattoo and didn’t know. Is that what he meant when he said he had nothing but time? Had Shane known about this? Since when?