Free I Know What Love Is by Whitney Bianca Page B

and tried to listen. I knew he was coming for me, but I had hope. I hoped he wouldn't be able to find me in the tall stalks.
    It was my one chance to get away. I was completely convinced that if he found me, I'd never get free again. I tried to be quiet and hold my breath, but it forced its way out of my lungs in jagged sobs. I was hyperventilating and I couldn't calm down.
    Not when Elliot was coming for me.
    A snapping sound had my senses on high-alert. Another snap, and I shot my eyes around me, looking for him. I spun around to run and catapulted myself straight into his arms. I screamed as he pulled me close to him, his bare chest slick with sweat. I fought against him, swinging my arms and kicking on our way down, but when my back hit the ground, the wind was knocked out of me. He was heavy on top of me and I could scarcely breathe.
    “ I got you, baby,” he said,  his voice rough in my ear. “I fucking got you,” he repeated like he couldn't believe it. I could hear the anger at the back of his throat and sure enough, his fingers clamped around my neck and squeezed. I felt my eyes bulge out of my head, my hands scratching at his naked arms and drawing blood. “You think you can leave me?” he gritted out, the muscles in his chest straining as he strangled the life out of me. “You don't get to leave.”
    I whimpered, the fear of dying so palpable I could taste it on my tongue. I knew he was going to kill me, I just didn't realize how soon he would do it. I kept struggling because my body wouldn't stop, but I didn't really feel flesh hitting flesh. I felt like I was floating above my body, watching Elliot kill me. Our skin glowed white under the moonlight and the cornstalks walled us in, leaving no room for escape. It felt claustrophobic and terrifying.
    “You're mine,” Elliot rasped, sounding unhinged. He was finally losing it, I realized. “You're fucking mine and I'm never letting you go. Never .”  He squeezed hard to emphasize his point and my vision blacked out. The ringing in my ears went silent and I couldn't hear or see for what felt like hours. I was dying and there wasn't a damn thing I could do about it.
    Then he released my neck and I was back in my body in a flash, painfully retching up the little bit of food I'd had that night. He hovered over me, his hands roaming all over my body, as if checking if I was in one piece. I had no control over myself for a long while, I'm not sure how long. I could only curl into a ball and try to breathe.
    He took my chin in his hand, roughly angling my face and forcing me to look at him. The tears clouded my vision and made it hard to see his face, but he softly wiped them away, like he hadn't just tried to kill me.
    “You were planning this, weren't you?” he asked, his voice low. “It was all a lie, wasn't it?” I couldn't speak, so I didn't answer him. My silence angered him and he tossed me roughly over onto my back. I moaned in pain, arching into him. He angled himself between my legs, thrusting his hips into mine, reminding me that he was in charge. “Answer me!” he growled, lowering his face so low that his nose brushed mine.
    “ No,” I whisper, my voice hoarse and broken.
    “ That's fucking right,” he responded. “I know you liked it. I felt it.” He ran his lips across my cheek and I shuddered, anger and hatred boiling under my skin. “Your body doesn't lie to me, even when you do,” he said. “Does it?”
    “ No ,” I forced the word out, my teeth clenched. I wanted to say whatever he wanted to hear. I wanted him to be happy with me, happy enough to let me live. I didn't know that a quick death might have been preferable to what the future held.
    I didn't know a lot of things. I was swiftly learning, though.
    With a low sadistic laugh, he hauled up my limp body and tossed me over his shoulder, like I weighed nothing. I didn't fight—my body was weak and my spirit was broken. My one chance, and I'd blown it. I was beaten and we