DangeroustoKnow by Lily Harlem Read Free Book Online Page A

channel of my
neck, to my throat.
    I dropped my weight. In some corner of my mind I imagined
sinking to the floor and crawling away. It was a mistake. As my body slid the
grip on my throat stiffened.
    Tightened.
    Constricted.
    He pulled back from our one-sided kiss. His black gaze
sought mine as he locked his long fingers around my neck.
    “Going somewhere?” he asked with a sneer.
    He was gripping me too tight. Airflow was not efficient. I
opened my mouth to tell him to let go.
    He squeezed even harder.
    Airflow was now impossible.
    Bucking, I grasped his wrists, dug in my nails and lifted my
knee to bang into his groin.
    Nothing.
    Not even a wince.
    Panic, horror and dread bombarded my system. I couldn’t
breathe. He was strangling me.
    I grappled for his face, intent on scratching out his eyes.
He tipped his head back and a cruel smile curled his lips.
    “You’re not going anywhere,” he said. “I’ve got you.”
    My brain was chugging, my cheeks on fire, and my diaphragm
tugged violently, desperate for oxygen. My eyes widened and bulged as a million
regrets zipped through my mind.
    Why?
    His grip was viselike. Hard and intense. A ring of iron
around my tender flesh. Black dots invaded my vision. Like ants they marched in
from the periphery. I was going to die. He was murdering me. Jovica was killing
me, here, in this grimy, stinking room.
    My time had come.
    And it was all my own fault. I’d sought out the danger,
hadn’t paid heed to the recklessness of my actions even though I knew it could
come to this. So intent was I on being a whore I’d risked everything and now
would pay the highest price.
    In a last-ditch bid for escape, I stamped on his feet. But
my muscles weren’t working properly. It was a flailing, watery drip of a
counterattack. My body was no longer my own. It belonged to Jovica, my
executioner. No one would ever find me, not up here.
    A detached sensation came over me. Strangulation was quick
and it was doing its job. I gave in to the lethargy, the acceptance of death.
Closed my eyes, wishing my last sight hadn’t been my murderer’s face.
    As suddenly as he’d grabbed me he released me. My neck at
least.
    “Breathe,” he snapped, cupping my chin and tilting my head
up with a rough jerk.
    My chest heaved and I sucked in a deep, croaking breath.
Filled my lungs to the max and gripped his forearms for support.
    “Breathe, whore.”
    I gulped and gasped. The black ants receded. My throat was
on fire; it had been crushed and screamed its agony through every nerve of my
being.
    “Oh God, let me go, please,” I begged in a dry voice.
    “Do you have any idea what the fuck you are doing?” he
snarled with his teeth bared.
    “Please.” My eyes brimmed with stinging tears. “Please, I
want to go home.”
    He dropped his head, pressed the tip of his nose against
mine. “I’m not a nice guy,” he said in a low monotone. “Not by any fucking
stretch of the imagination.”
    “Please, Jovica, let me go.” I’d read somewhere about using
names. Was it good or bad? I couldn’t be sure.
    “But out there are guys who are really fucking horrible.
Evil, depraved men who can think of things to do to you that defy imagination.”
    Flattening my hands on his bare chest, I tried once again to
push him away. He didn’t even falter despite my hardest shove.
    “These guys would fuck you then tear you up, mutilate you
and make you wish you were dead before eventually, finally, they would put you
out of your misery. Leaving this earth would be a relief. Do you get what I’m
saying?”
    Tears streamed down my face. “Please, please, I want to go.”
    He tilted his head. “Do you get what I’m saying?” he
snapped.
    “Yes, yes.”
    He narrowed his eyes. “Then go, but remember this fear. Hold
it in your dumb fucking blonde head. ‘Cause if you don’t the next thing that
happens will be a small ad saying you’re missing.” He stepped back, releasing
me. “You’ve had your fantasy, now go