Page 2 of Break Me

Sweat rolls down the side of my face as I lift the ax over my head and bring it down hard.

Over and over.

I ignore the pain in my muscles. Pain I can deal with, but this intrusive violation of my life, I can't.

I should've known when Violet and I became an item that things would go bad.

What can I say... I wanted a challenge.

It's been years since I stepped away from my dominant lifestyle.

I never want to go through the emotional turmoil that comes from having a sub.

Truthfully, being a submissive takes a lot from a person, but having the energy and will of a dominant can be taxing as well.

No one truly understands what I see. How I have to be extra observant, extra protective, extra everything all for a submissive who turns out only to be reliving childhood trauma while not forging any bond with me whatsoever.

I just can't do it again.

Lifting my arm to wipe the sweat from my forehead, I grit my teeth as I feel my phone vibrate once again in my pants pocket.

When will this nonsense stop. It's been well over a week since Violet put that ridiculous ad online, and I'm still getting trolls and other irritating people messaging me.

Most of them telling me that I should kill myself for being such a horrible human being, others making fun of my previous way of life.

It doesn't matter how much I try to explain to them that the ad was wrong, none of them take even a second to believe me.

I guess that's what Violet wanted.

When our relationship became more about how I could hurt her then how much she loved me, I realized it was way past the time for us to break up.

Unfortunately, she didn't see it the same way. I didn't want to be just a dominant to her. I wanted to be the man she loved.

When I broke things off with her, she didn't accept it.

She came by every day as if she still lived here.

When I finally made it clear to her that she was no longer welcomed, she threw a fit and promised me that I would never find a woman like her.

That quickly turned into her verbal attacking me, telling me that I wasn't a real dominant.

That I was a fake. She told me that I couldn't handle a real submissive and that I was a fraud.

It stung, I'm not going to lie, but it was just her being hurt. Still, the relationship was toxic. I should've seen it from the very beginning.

The buzzing in my pocket stops, only to start right back up again.

I've stopped answering the people who respond to the ad.

It's just not worth my time or energy. They won't understand what I have to say.

They don't care. They only want me to fuel the drama they've already played out in their minds.

I don't have the time nor the energy for that.

I let my eyes slide over the large pile of wood I have chopped up for the coming cold snap. It's more than enough. In fact, I think it might just be too much. I'll have to find somewhere to store the excess.

As I lean down and start to pick up the splintered pieces of wood, my ears perk up at the sound of an engine coming in my direction. The distinct sound of a fan belt that needs replacing and the uneven thump of a wheel that needs to be filled up.

Fucking Violet.

I don't have the patience for her today.

Maybe I can go hide in the house. I scoff at the idea.

Like that would stop her.

Waiting for the menace to make her appearance, I walk up to my porch and lean against the railing. If she is going to have another fit, I'd rather she didn't do it in my place.

Just because I've got enough money to buy the place twenty times over doesn't mean I like getting custom furniture remade over and over.

After another three minutes, Violet finally pulls to a stop in front of me. She doesn't even smile as she's sitting in the car. Instead, she just stares at me through the window, glaring. Pissed.

Is she expecting me to walk over to her and beg for her forgiveness? Maybe to break down crying. It's not going to happen.

She gets out of her car and slams the door so hard the sound echoes in the air.

"I thought I told you about coming back here. Am I going to have to call the police and put in a restraining order?" I question as she makes her way in my direction.

"A restraining order? Like you ever would. You don't want those kinds of problems with me, Emmett." She hisses at me.

I clench my teeth together and breathe through my nose before I reply. She's right. I don't want those kinds of problems. The main reason I live all the way out in here in the wilderness is because I don't want any kinds of problems.

"What do you want, Violet?" I question and she gives me a sinister smirk.

"Oh nothing, I just came up here to see if you had any company. Wanted to warn the poor souls of what kind of monster you are."

"Monster? What the hell are you talking about? There was nothing monstrous about our relationship. Everything we did was consensual."

"Consensual? You were lying to me. Hiding what you really were from me." She squeezes her little hand together and takes a step in my direction.

"It's my personal business, I don't owe you any explanations."

"The hell you don't. How the hell do you think I should feel, finding out that the man I'm spending all my time with likes to beat on women. You probably tied them up, took pictures, got off to it. Don’t lie to me, Emmett. That’s who you really are, right?”

"What I did with any women before you is none of your business. Did I tie you up? Did I take any photos of you?"

Not once in my relationship with Violet did I ever try to bring in any dominant/ submissive play.

She only heard about that part of my life when she found a key to my shed where I kept my equipment.

I didn't expect her to go snooping in that area.

I guess I should have hidden my dark secrets a little better.

"How the hell should I know. With your depraved mind, maybe you did, and I just don't know. Tell me the truth, Emmett did you drug me and have your way with me? Maybe you have hidden cameras in the house I don't know about?"

My jaw drops and I scoff at her ridiculousness.

"Are you serious? Now, you're accusing me of drugging you?

You know damn well I've never done anything to you that you didn't want me to do.

Stop acting like you're some kind of victim in this whole thing.

We were in a relationship. There are parts of me you don't like, and we ended it like grown adults.

That's it. There's nothing more to the story. "

"You wasted my life!" She screeches at me.

I'm through being yelled at. Through having to explain to her my reasons.

I'm grown and can do whatever the hell I please.

"I'm going to tell you this one time and one time only.

Get the hell off my property and don't come back.

There's nothing left for you here. You don't want anything to do with me.

Fine. Leave me the hell alone." I snarl at her and turn my back to go into the house.

"Don't you walk away from me. I deserve better than this. I deserve some sort of compensation."

My feet skid to a stop the second I hear those words come out of her mouth. She's hinted at this before, but she's never out right said it.

Money. This is about money.

Slowly, I turn back to face her. "You think I'm going to pay you for bringing this chaos into my life." I squint my eyes at her but don't move closer. The last thing I need right now is for her to accuse me of being threatening.

Violet shrugs her shoulders and looks away from me. Good for her. She should be ashamed for how brazen a request that is.

"I don't know what you're talking about, but I do know I'm not walking away from this without something to show for my time. Think on it, and I'm sure you'll come up with something."

"Get. Off. My. Property." I snarl through my teeth.

Finally, she heaves a sigh and curses me under her breath, but she turns and gets into her car. She peels out of my driveway, her tires spinning furiously, spitting dirt and gravel in my direction before she drives away.

I don't know what I ever saw in a woman like Violet.

She's sexy, sure. Has that I dare you quality about her, yeah. And the sex was...okay. But even all that isn't enough for me to deal with her bullshit any longer.

I'll just take this as a warning for the future.

Women are fucking crazy.

As I watch the tail lights on her car disappear, I wipe the spray of dirt from my face and walk back over to the stack of logs that I've just chopped.

How the hell did I get myself into this mess?

I tried my hardest not to be as controlling as I used to be. I let her walk all over me. Bit my tongue. Watched myself disappear just to keep her happy. And still, I’m the monster in her story.

Though I want to believe this is the last time I'm going to see Violet on my land, I doubt it.

I grab for the axe, getting myself ready to chop more logs I don't need, but I have to do something with all this excess energy. As I lift the axe over my head, my phone buzzes in my pocket again.

I toss my head back and groan loudly to the sky. Maybe someone up there will hear my frustration and cut me a little break.

Surely, this can't go on.

I lift the axe again, muscles aching, chest tight. No one’s shown up yet. Just anonymous screens and keyboard cowards clawing at my past.

But something tells me… they’re only the beginning.