Essence felt her heart stammering, the vibration making her ribs rattle as he downed the rest of his drink and then rose from his chair after setting the glass on the table beside him. His movements deliberate and the earlier thought of him being a cobra ready to strike caused her hands to rub nervously along her shins. She wished she could get herself off the floor, but she was far too overwhelmed to move.
He stood over her and looked down with a gleam in his eye. “I like you like this.”
“Like what.”
“Wrecked.”
She didn’t know how to respond to this but the way the darkness of his eyes almost blacked out the whites as he regarded her like prey, gave him a feral appearance. She was terrified.
“The thought of you with bloodshot eyes, tear stained, and lips swollen and puffy from chokin
