Page 44 of The Boy I Loved (Eternal Hell #1)

“Please,” I whispered. If he had an ounce of humanity left, he’d listen to me. He had to know this was wrong. My hands curled tighter around the bars, my fingers trembling where they rested.

Dominic ignored me, reaching for the button on his jeans before shoving them down his thighs and past his knees.

My stomach lurched with disgust, acid rising to the back of my throat.

I couldn’t watch this. He kicked off his shoes and did the same with his boxers, moving to stand behind her.

He placed a hand against the back of her shoulder to force her forward, and with reluctance, she went.

“Fuck,” Tristan groaned. “She’s gushing blood.”

He wasn’t wrong. It was running down her thighs, splattering onto the cement floor beneath her.

With a surprising gentleness, Dom swept his hand over her pussy, coating it in her blood before painting her asshole with it.

It smeared across her olive skin, contrasting against the dim lighting.

He slowly eased a finger into her backside, shoving it in and twisting, using the blood as a lubricant.

I didn’t know how to feel—relieved that he wasn’t going to push inside her vagina, jealous that he was screwing another girl, sad that she had to endure this after so much trauma, or thankful that he was at least listening to me somewhat, even if it wasn’t exactly what I’d meant when I told him it could cause damage.

Once she was stretched to his liking, he lined himself up with her ass, and pushed in gently, gripping her hips for momentum.

Nia made a strangled sound. But I couldn’t tell if it was from relief or pain.

My breath came out fast and ragged, mixing in with the stale, rancid air surrounding me.

My knuckles ached with how hard I was gripping the bars, my eyes burning with unshed tears.

Tristan’s mouth was moving, excitement sparking within his eyes, but I couldn’t make out what was being said, not over the sound of the blood rushing through my ears .

Dominic’s hips jerked, slamming into the woman’s ass with ferocity.

A choked sob fled her mouth, her fingernails scraping against the cold, cement floor.

My head spun, torn in half by the knowledge of the boy I thought I knew and the things happening right before my very eyes.

The version of Dominic I grew to love wasn’t here.

In his place, was a cold, heartless monster—one who sought destruction and wanted to inflict pain on those around him.

It felt like my heart was being grinded slowly, shatters of it cascading around my feet as I watched helplessly.

His name was on the tip of my tongue, but I knew calling out to him would only make things worse, especially with Tristan here.

All I could do was stand there and watch.

Blood coated his entire dick as he retracted, only to push into her again, her body jostling beneath him.

Nia turned her head, her eyes locking onto mine.

That was when I saw it: defeat, helplessness, dissociation.

Her dark eyes had glazed over, snuffed out by the horrors she must have endured.

My stomach coiled with a mixture of things, but the most prominent ones were heartache and guilt.

How could Dom stand there and tell me he had no other choice when he’d chosen to do this willingly? Was he doing this just to prove a point to me? That he was no better than the rest of the monsters who circled this place like vultures? I didn’t understand it. I didn’t understand it at all.

When he moved his hand to place it on her upper back, shoving her harder against the floor, he left behind a smeared, bloody handprint on her narrow hip. My breath stuttered out, the floor tilting beneath my feet.

It was too much.

Dominic couldn’t even hide the pleasure on his face. He could pretend all he wanted, but the way his lips parted and his eyes glazed over was his giveaway. He enjoyed this.

It seemed to go on forever, but after a while, her sobs turned into gentle moans and her body relaxed against the floor.

She couldn’t fight it any longer. It didn’t matter that what he was doing to her was wrong, her body didn’t know the difference.

I’d experienced that with Mason, though that wasn’t nearly as traumatic as this.

Dominic’s pants filled the space between us, the sound of his hips slapping against the back of her thighs echoing through the basement. He turned his head, locking his gray eyes onto mine as he continued to rape her. He did it so easily—like it was second nature.

In this moment, I hated him. I hated him so much it ate me from the inside out until it festered inside me, blistering the warm fluids running through my veins.

He wasn’t doing this just to prove a point.

He was doing this because he wanted to. It was as simple as that.

For a brief moment, I’d let myself hope.

I’d allowed myself to think that there had to be some kind of logical explanation for this, that there was no way in hell he’d do the things he was doing now of his own volition. He proved me wrong.

After a while, his thrusts became uncoordinated until he was jerking against her, his moans echoing from cell to cell. A groan rumbled through his chest, his fingers digging into her sides as he spilled into her ass, never taking his eyes off mine.

This was the boy I’d pined after all this time? This … this fucking monster . What did that say about me? The signs had to have been there. I couldn’t have been that fucking blind.

Dominic pulled out of her, a mixture of semen and blood trickling down her legs and splattering against the floor between them.

He was breathing heavily as he righted himself, not seeming to care about the blood covering his legs or cock as he tucked himself away and tugged his jeans and boxers up over his hips, fastening them like he didn’t just commit the vilest, most inhumane act that existed.

He pulled himself to his feet, not bothering to help Nia, who seemed to struggle pushing herself up off the floor.

When my eyes connected with Dom’s again, I let him feel it all: the rage brewing within me, the hurt, the shock, and the pure hatred .

Tristan slapped a hand against Dom’s shoulder, a grin splitting his stupidly handsome face. “You never cease to surprise me,” he praised, like what Dominic just did was something to be proud of.

Images flashed within my mind—memories of running through the woods, laughing while Dominic chased me.

The first kiss we shared and how it felt in that moment.

There was a yellow butterfly, the one I’d found in the woods.

Birthday parties, camping trips, friendship developing into more.

It all hit me like a tidal wave, flooding through me with a viciousness that set me off balance.

None of it mattered anymore. Because with one, horrendous act … Dominic had ruined it all.

I did see him differently now.

He was a horrible person with no humanity left. How could I love someone who would do things like this to someone else, even if it was to keep me safe as he so eloquently put it? The answer was simple. I couldn’t.