Only Pretend by Nora Flite Page A

could escape.
    It was not to be.
    He took me to the ground, flattened me on the dust of the street. The sun-warm rocks burned my skin, but I didn't care. "Get off of me!" I shouted, mud caking to my forehead. "Someone help me! Why won't you stop him!?"
    Leonide rolled me over, stunning me with a crisp slap to the face. My ears rang, eyes stuck on the villagers standing around. None of them were looking at me. They acted as if they weren't seeing what was happening.
    He dug his fingers in my scalp, pinched my wrists in his other hand. "You stupid fucking girl." He sounded like the engine of his car. "Did you actually think you could just run away like this?"
    My chest thrummed, but I would not let myself cry anymore.
    "You thought you'd get here, and that these people— my people— would choose you over me?"
    I went limp listening to his disgust. His people? Peering at the crowd, thinking of the man on the phone, I understood. They called him. They told him I was here. That's how he found me so fucking fast.
    These people were in his pocket. They would never help me.
    Leonide throttled the veins in my wrist until I couldn't bite back my shout. "Stop it, please!"
    Roughly, he rolled me forward. "Kneel," he snapped, violence glowing in the pits of his eyes.
    Wiping at the dirt on my cheek, I sat up as he asked.
    Amazingly, he slapped me down again. Colors danced in my brain, blinded me. "You keep fighting me, Celeste. Do you really not understand by now?"
    I don't. I don't understand any of this. Closing my eyes was cut short. He yanked me by my hair, forced me to sit on my heels. "Please, just stop this! I'll behave!"
    "You'll behave?" He barked a laugh, turned me so I faced away from him on the street. Still he held my blonde strands, worked them like a leash. " Now you'll obey? Do you think I keep you hidden away, train you in private, for me , Celeste?" I said nothing; groaned as he shook me. "No! You stupid fucking girl, I train you in private for your own good! Yours!"
    Leonide pushed me again. I had no strength to catch myself, I toppled onto my elbows. Around us, the people avoided their eyes. Yes, I thought sullenly, don't look. You wouldn't want to see what you're allowing to happen under your nose.
    His shadow fell, stretched over me and predicted my defeat. "Kneel, Celeste." Hanging my chin, I once more did as he bid. All I could see was my own hands in my lap; they were scuffed and cut from the street. I hadn't even felt the pain.
    "Turn around."
    Inching on my bruised legs, I did. I saw his polished shoes, my own face staring back at me. Over my head, something metallic cut the air. I knew the sound, but the situation was so out of place, I just... No. It can't be.
    "Look at me, Celeste."
    Pure terror moved me. Arching my neck, I saw what he was doing. He had his hand on his zipper, ready to pull his erection free. My tongue turned to ash. "Please don't," I whispered. He arched an eyebrow. "Sir! Please don't, sir! Sir! "
    Not here. Not in front of everyone.
    There was no sympathy in his face. "Oh? You're begging me not to use you where everyone can see? Not to take what any man can, at any time he chooses, from a good little wife?"
    I came close to blurting that I wasn't his fucking wife .
    What I did instead was no better.
    Crumbling forward, I wrapped my arms around his leg. Every atom was shivering, my body hot and cold and too unsteady for anything logical. "Please," I said against the cloth. Under it, I felt the firm edge of his strong calf muscle. "Not here. Anything but here. I'll be good, I won't run again. I promise."
    "A promise from you means nothing." I clung to him even tighter. “I want you to hear me, right now. These people are my people. They know me, they know what I do for them, and they will always protect me as I protect this town. You aren't the first girl to run. You certainly won't be the last.” I hung on until the sound of him zipping his pants brought a burst of relief to my heart.