Pain and Misery

The faint morning light filtered through the curtains, warming the room with a soft glow. I blinked awake, my body heavy and sore, the unfamiliar scent of someone else's pheromones lingering around me. My heart sank as I became painfully aware of the weight draped over me—Julls' arm resting possessively across my waist.

The blanket was the only thing shielding my nakedness, and the memory of the night before came crashing down like a tidal wave. Panic set in as I turned my head slightly, meeting Julls' sharp, predatory gaze. He smiled, the corners of his mouth curving in satisfaction, and leaned in to kiss me gently on the lips.

"Good morning, darling," he murmured, his voice a low rumble.

I flinched at the term, my stomach twisting in discomfort. His hand trailed to my stomach, resting there with a possessive familiarity that made me shudder. "Let's nurture this very well," he said, his words smooth yet laced with something that made my chest tighten.

I didn't respond. I couldn't. My throat felt dry, and my emotions were a tangled mess of guilt, despair, and overwhelming helplessness. A single tear escaped down my cheek before I could stop it. Julls' eyes narrowed slightly as he wiped it away with a thumb, his touch gentle but utterly devoid of comfort.

I wanted to scream. I wanted to run, to disappear. Nathan's face flashed in my mind—his warm, steady presence, his arms that always felt like home. I wanted him. I wanted his embrace, his love, his mark on me. But that had been ripped away. In one cruel night, everything I wanted, everything I thought was mine, was taken by this man lying beside me.

I didn't even know if a child would come of this bond. The thought alone made my stomach churn, and yet I was too numb to voice the storm raging inside me.

Julls shifted, sitting up and gathering me in his arms like I was something precious. I tried to resist, but my body betrayed me, still weak from the night before. He carried me to the bathroom, his steps unhurried, his grip unyielding. The warm water of the bath did little to soothe me as Julls' hands roamed my body again, reigniting the nightmare. I closed my eyes, retreating into myself as he whispered things I didn't want to hear, his tone laced with possessive adoration.

The day blurred after that. Another round of passion, another night spent in his arms, my mind and body screaming for release from this endless cycle.

When I finally stepped back into my house, my family greeted me with worried expressions. I forced a weak smile, brushing off their concern with a lie about staying at a friend's house to work on an art project. It felt like the words burned my tongue, but they accepted it, nodding with only mild suspicion.

I escaped to my room, collapsing onto my bed and burying my face in the pillow. The scent of home was faint, but it was enough to bring tears to my eyes. I missed the simplicity of my old life—the safety of it. I missed Nathan.

Days passed, but they didn't feel like my own. Julls kept me close, pulling me into his orbit like a star that had no choice but to revolve around him. He took me to his office frequently, keeping me there for hours on end. Every time I emerged, my body was stiff, my face flushed, and my heart heavy. Some days, I didn't even make it out of his office at all, left to recover from whatever he demanded of me behind those closed doors.

Now, we were in his car again. My head rested against the window as I stared blankly at the streetlights passing by, my exhaustion weighing heavily on me. Julls sat beside me, his hand resting on my thigh. His fingers moved idly, sliding and caressing in a way that made my skin crawl.

I swallowed hard, clenching my fists in my lap. I wanted to tell him to stop, to shove his hand away, but fear kept me frozen. The memory of what happened the last time I resisted was enough to silence me.

My waist ached. My entire body was worn down, screaming for rest, but Julls didn't seem to care. His pheromones still lingered in the air, suffocating and inescapable. I bit my lip to keep from crying out, closing my eyes and wishing, desperately, for sleep to take me. Maybe if I closed my eyes long enough, this nightmare would fade away. Maybe I'd wake up, and none of this would have ever happened.

But deep down, I knew that wasn't true.