Free Escape by Sheritta Bitikofer Page B

revealing his true demon self under his human façade. His ears morphed into tall points and hair stiffened into spikes all over his head. Gone was his heavenly fragrance and replaced with the stench of sulfur that assaulted her nose so much that she felt the impulse to gag.
                Amelia choked for air, whimpering as she felt warm blood ooze from the puncture holes he was driving into her flesh with his claws. Connor opened his mouth wide as a roar bellowed forth and a slimy forked tongue slipped over his bottom lip.
                She watched with horror as he leaned into her neck and licked the blood away. Amelia shivered at the sensation of his saliva lingering over her skin. Every part of her shuddered with the desperate need for air and safety. She had never felt so close to death in her life and she doubted that she would ever be this close again.
                Connor’s lips grazed the sensitive outside of her ear. A new sensation flooded over her, making her whole body feverish.
                “Is this real enough for you?” he whispered, his voice throaty and deeper than before. His fiery hot breath made beads of sweat roll down her neck and back.
                Amelia’s mouth opened to answer, but no sound would come out besides the crackled noises of a girl who couldn’t breathe.
                His grip tightened and she could just barely see his glare from the corner of her narrowing sight. “Is it?”
                Amelia’s head quickly bobbled in an affirmative nod, but his hold upon her neck didn’t loosen right away.
                Connor pulled away so their eyes met. She knew that he could see the utter fear in her eyes. There was no hiding it this time. And he would forever know that he could scare her greater than anything else in this world, which she was beginning to realize was quite real. This was no nightmare. This was all real, too real.
                Just as she felt she would pass out from the lack of oxygen to her brain, Connor’s grasp slowly opened and his claws dislodged from her skin, but his sweaty palm was still resting upon her throat. His body eased away from hers and despite her rolling eyes, she could see his face return to normal. She much preferred his blue eyes to his demon ones.
                He stayed there for a moment with their bodies still flush together. Amelia was defenseless and anxious, unsure of what he would do next. His stare softened from pure wrath to something much less. It was a kind of placidity, void of emotion or feeling of any kind.
                He slowly released her body, letting her lungs expand to their full potential. Her knees buckled beneath her and she thought she would crumble into a heap on the ground if Connor hadn’t liberated her neck to catch her around the waist just in time. Amelia’s hands fell upon his chest to help steady herself.
                She could feel his muscles flex under her fingers and all of the sudden she felt a new and foreign sensation. It was so similar to fear that if it were not so intense, she wouldn’t have noticed. Her stomach twisted into nervous knots and the blood seemed to rush from her head so suddenly that she thought she would faint. She determined the feeling was something she had felt a little earlier, only magnified so strongly that she couldn’t will it away.
                And just as suddenly as she felt this flow of anticipation, she saw something flash in his eyes. It was the same vulnerability mirrored in her own expression. Did he feel something too? How could someone go from terrified out of their mind and then hopelessly, but happily confused all within such a brief moment of time?
                Connor guided her away from the tree and she was able to stand flat-footed once more on the path. It was only then that she was able to break her stare away