by Gemma James
“You’re lucky the boss wants you alive,” Military Dude warned, his beefy face flushing with color incongruent with his blond hair. He was so pissed he looked ready to burst. Zach awoke a couple of minutes later and crawled to his feet, huffing shallow breaths through tight lips.
“He’s got the key on him somewhere,” he rasped out past his bruised throat.
“Don’t you fucking move,” Shelton’s guy said, holding the gun to my head as he searched my pockets. Time seemed to stop as he withdrew the gold chain from which a single key dangled.
The key to Zach’s ultimate triumph.
The key to my ultimate failure.
The key that would end Alex’s life as she knew it.
7. Shock and Submit
Alex
Zach hadn’t returned since he’d come and gone with lunch and another water bottle. As each dark second ticked past with no sound of life coming from above me, I started to panic.
Where had he gone?
When was he coming back?
Was he even coming back?
The scenarios plagued me. The what-ifs. What if he’d wrecked his car and was laid up in the hospital somewhere? I couldn’t care less about his well-being, but until someone found me down here, I was at his mercy. I needed him for survival, and I hated it.
I was close to needing a paper bag to breathe into when I heard it. The faintest of sound. A door opening. A thump. Feet on the stairs to the loft bedroom?
He was back.
And then, for the longest time…nothing.
I railed at the darkness surrounding me, fought tears that begged to fall for the hopeless isolation that trapped me. I was going mad down here.
I was going to die down here.
“Please, please, please, please…” The chant was a whisper on my parched lips. A friend to my lonely ears. It had been a day since I last saw him. Maybe two.
It felt like a fucking eternity.
And I knew I was in trouble now that I welcomed the sight of him. Now that my sandpaper mouth yearned for the water he could give me, and my belly grumbled for the food he could provide.
Footsteps.
Above me.
I tilted my head and imagined the nondescript ceiling from my perch on the cot, free of spackle or other interesting patterns that could keep a person company, if only there were light to see by. Another footfall landed, and I tracked the noisy movement above me. A few moments later, the cellar door creaked open. Sharp light flooded the space, and I blinked until the ache in my temples subsided.
The way his boots hit each step, with deliberate and careful footfalls, set me on edge more than usual, because his presence owned the air around me. Zach managed an unhealthy dose of smugness in everything he did—the way he talked, the way he smiled, the way he moved.
The way he was moving now.
I braced myself for another interaction with the monster as he came to a leisurely stop on the other side of the bars.
“Sorry I disappeared for so long.”
I was scared to ask, but I recognized his game. “Where did you go?”
“I paid Rafe a visit.”
The mention of his name sent my heart into a tumble. I sat up straighter, interest piqued. Knowing Zach the way I did, this wasn’t good news, but I thirsted for any information on my husband.
“Is he okay?”
Zach let out a bitter laugh. “Of course that’s the first question you’d ask.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a key, dangling it from a gold chain I remembered all too well. “Maybe you should have asked why I went to see him.”
He didn’t have to elaborate. My gaze latched onto the familiar key, and I swallowed a lump of terror. Locking myself inside this prison, sacrificing my pride for more time…
It had all been for nothing. Now the standoff was over, and there wasn’t a thing I could do about it.
Zach pushed the key into the lock and turned, and I barely heard the echoing click. I was frozen, held captive by the loud buzz in my head—the alarm giving me a warning I was incapable of heeding.
“He didn’t give that key to you.” Certainty infused my tone. No way did Rafe give that key up willingly, and the realization grabbed me by the throat. “Did you hurt him?”
“I didn’t have to.” Zach pulled the door open and stepped inside, and a telling tick went off in his jaw. He didn’t like where this conversation was headed. “He knows what the stakes are.”
“So you used his son against him.” I didn’t have to ask the question—I already knew the answer.
“Don’t look at me like that, Lex. I don’t want the kid hurt any more than you do. Fortunately, Rafe knowns when to cooperate.” He took another step toward me, and I shrank away, pushing up against the wall.
“Don’t touch me.”
With a sigh, he crossed his arms. “We can do this the easy way, or the hard way. Either way, you’re coming upstairs with me.”
“Why? So you can take me off the island?”
“No,” he snapped, grabbing me by the shoulders and hauling me to my feet. “So you can wash that bastard off of you.”
“Let me go!” I screamed at him as he dragged me from the safety of the prison, my voice escalating in panic with every hard-earned foot Zach won. We were halfway up the stairs, my feet dead-weight underneath me, when he backhanded me.
I gulped down another hysterical plea for him to stop, and the resulting silence rang in my ears.
“Goddamn it, Lex. I don’t want to hurt you. Don’t make me fucking hurt you!”
“Please let me go. Please.”
He kept pulling, and I dug in my heels, determined not to let him take me from the cellar. But he was too strong, and as he dragged me through the cabin Rafe had built for us, as if I weighed nothing, the panic inside me bloomed, shining a spotlight on the futility of the moment.
I couldn’t stop this.
Inevitability wound around me, enshrining me in helplessness as he forced me up another set of stairs to the loft bedroom. Sunlight poured through the skylights, washing the room in a late afternoon glow. Drawers stood open, contents spilled. The closet had been unlocked and ransacked too.
My eyes veered to the dresser where I’d left my folded wedding dress.
Gone.
Just like Rafe.
Just like hope.
Zach pushed me to the end of the bed, and I bit back a sob as he grabbed a contraption that resembled a collar. He must have set it there, because I sure as hell hadn’t spotted that thing the morning I awoke to find Zach in the kitchen.
“Wh-what is that?”
He pressed into my back, effectively pinning me to the mattress, and snickered in my ear. “Guess who had a shock collar locked inside one of those drawers?”
“No! Get off of me!” Screaming at him, I pushed against the bed, frantic to buck him off my back.
Zach was like a fucking tank, armed with the type of obsession that made him immovable. Strength slowly bled from my limbs, and I muffled a defeated sob into the comforter, going limp underneath his weight as he worked the collar around my neck. The locking mechanism latched into place, and the fit was snug, ensuring the prongs of the electrodes bit into the back of my neck.
“Rafe will kill you for this!”
Zach laughed. “It’s poetic, really. I had no idea he was so twisted.”
Betrayal stormed through my blood. This was Rafe’s fault. He’d left me here in his depraved funhouse of sadistic kink, and then he’d given the fucking key to Zach, allowing him free rein. Even knowing that Rafe was in an impossible situation didn’t stop the rage from simmering, because now Zach had access to each one of my husband’s twisted ideas.
Rafe had left knowing what I was facing. The knowledge sank in a little more, and my heart ached…scorched and burned as if he’d stabbed it with a knife made of ginger.
It didn’t matter that logically, I knew why he’d done it—knew that he hadn’t had a choice without harm coming to his
son. I still hated him for leaving me, even though the same protectiveness for our unborn child ruled my actions.
Zach’s lips brushed my ear. “Just give in. Stop fighting. He’s not coming back for you.”
Another sob rose, became a hiccup caught in my throat. “I don’t love you. I’ll never love you.” His frustrated sigh rustled my hair, and as he rose to his feet, I pushed off the mattress and turned to face him. “Why would you want someone who doesn’t love you?”
“Even a feral animal can learn to love the hand that feeds them. I’m all you’ve got now.” Dread strengthened in my gut as he held up a remote. “And I don’t want to do it, Lex—swear to God I don’t want to hurt you—but I will if you don’t cooperate.”
“Is this the best you’ve got?” I raised my chin, clinging to false bravado. “This plan of yours to keep me prisoner in my own home? Rafe’s brother, or someone else, will find me here eventually.”
“Adam is out of town, just like Rafe’s prison buddy. We’ve got time.” His eyes darkened, taking on a stony hue. “And get this. Lover Boy has this place wired. If you go beyond the doors, you’ll wish you hadn’t, so don’t try running.”
The weight of the collar cinched like a vise around my neck, slowly squeezing the hope and breath from my being. But I had to hold on to the silver lining, because Zach wasn’t taking me off the island yet.
“For the last four days, I had to wait.” He reached for the buckle of his belt. “I’m done waiting.”
“No.” My voice was unnaturally high, on the verge of hysteria. “No, Zach. I’m telling you no.” The words shook off my lips as I placed a hand over my belly. Protecting the life growing inside me had become instinct.
His gaze zeroed in on my wedding ring. “Give it to me.”
I hid my hand behind my back, fingers locking into a fist. “No.”
“Yes,” he hissed, taking a step toward me. “Unless you want to test the effectiveness of that collar.”
My heart broke at the thought of taking off my ring. I still remembered in vivid detail the day Rafe had slid it onto my finger for the first time. Alone in the woods, naked against a tree.
It’d been one of the happiest days of my life.
“Please, Zach.”
Not my wedding ring.
“Do as you’re told, and I promise I won’t hurt you. It’s as simple as that.”
My eyes stung as I pulled the ring off my finger, but I couldn’t bring myself to drop it into his outstretched hand.
Not yet.
Eyes downcast, I fisted it, and the jade stone dug into my palm.
“Now, Lex. Hand it over.”
I lifted my arm, forcing my fist closer to his. Giving him my ring was harder than submitting to a blowjob. It was harder than standing before him naked because that piece of jewelry symbolized the commitment between Rafe and me. It made our vows real and not a figment of my imagination; reminded me that no matter what Zach did to me, no matter how long he kept me prisoner, I still belonged to Rafe, and he belonged to me.
Now that symbol resided with my worst enemy, tucked out of reach in the pocket of his jeans.
He really had won.
The only hope I had left was stalling him. “What do you want, Zach?”
He took my chin in his harsh grip. “You’re not a stupid girl. You know a smart girl is one who spreads her legs.”
Shaking my head, I broke free of his hold. “You’ll have to rape me.”
“If that’s what it takes.” He shrugged before grabbing me by the shoulders and pushing me into the bathroom. Hot tears slipped free, one after another, leaving tracks of despair down my cheeks. A loud sob escaped my throat, one I couldn’t hide, and I hated myself for that sign of weakness.
“It’s okay,” Zach said, his tone unusually soft. “You can cry and scream all you want. No one will hear you.” He urged me toward the shower stall.
“What about the collar?” My fingers shook as I ran them along the back, where the electrodes irritated my skin. “Is it safe to get it wet?”
“It’s waterproof. Says so on the device.” He flipped on the spray. “Get in there. I want every last bit of that bastard off what’s mine.”
I could fight.
I could run.
I could scream and cry and beg.
I already knew none of those things would work.
I had to be smarter.
Stronger.
Willing to sacrifice my body. It was the only way I would have a chance at escaping. It was the only way to keep my unborn child safe.
As he removed his clothing, I stepped underneath the spray. He stepped in after me, and I let him wedge my thighs apart. He took his time washing me to his satisfaction, running his soapy hands over every inch of skin, paying extra attention to my breasts and the area between my legs. The whole time, I greedily swallowed the water that cascaded down my face, quenching my thirst from my time spent down in the cellar.
The shower seemed to go on forever. I wasn’t sure if that was a blessing, or a curse, because his sickening touch left tracks on every inch of my body, making my skin crawl. Eventually, he shut off the spray, and my heart throbbed in my chest as he rubbed a towel over my damp skin.
Time was moving too fast.
Time was running out.
I knew what was coming next, and the thought of it made me sick. Literally. I barely made it to the toilet before I spewed what little food Zach had given me. After I’d purged the last of it, I dabbed my mouth with toilet paper before facing him.
His expression was an unreadable, stoic mask. “If you barf when I fuck you, I’ll fry your pretty little neck. I’m not kidding, Lex.” He bent and retrieved his jeans from the bathroom floor. “The only thing I want out of your mouth is ‘fuck me harder.’ Do you understand me?”
“Fuck you, Zach.”
A twitch of his jaw.
That’s all the warning I had before electricity streamed through my bones. My muscles locked into unbearable spasms, and I opened my mouth to scream but no sound came out. Unable to breathe or voice my pain, I dropped to the floor.
I wanted to beg for it to stop. Wanted to take back the epithet that had set him off in the first place.
The hot current was endless, and my soul seared because Rafe had planned to use this on me. That hurt most of all. And yet I wished he were here to hurt me all the same. I’d take this torture everyday to have him back. Just when I reached the edge of unconsciousness, the charge stopped, and I sobbed so hard my stomach cramped. I held onto my belly, terrified for the life growing there.
Zach picked me up off the floor and flung me over his shoulder. “The only one who’s getting fucked is you.”
That electric shock had sizzled the fight right out of me, leaving my limbs heavy and boneless. It was hard to breathe.
Impossible to think straight.
I could barely move, and that gave Zach the ultimate power over me. He flopped me onto the bed like his own personal fuck doll. After staying strong in that cellar, I had nothing left in this moment.
Only submission and sacrifice.
Time seemed to suspend, leaving me in a mosaic nightmare. I floated in another realm as he grabbed the straps of the restraint system from underneath the mattress. He captured my left wrist inside a cuff before doing the same with the right, then he moved to my feet.
I snapped out of it as he shoved my legs apart. “No!” My heel caught him in the nose, and he stumbled back, fingers pinching his nostrils shut.
But I hadn’t kicked him hard enough. He studied his hand, brows narrowing as if he expected to find his skin marred in crimson. A twitch of a smug smile pulled at his lips, and it was then I spied the looped belt he fisted.
Yanking at the restraints, I glared at him. “Go ahead. Hit me you sick fuck!”
“Jesus, Lex. This place is a sadist’s wet dream, and you call me the sick fuck?” With a grunt, he brought the leather strap down on my breasts.
“Ahhhh!” My sp
ine arched, body lifting off the mattress for several agonizing seconds.
“Spread your fucking legs.” He lashed me across the thighs this time, and his knuckles whitened as he prepared to strike again. “You know I’ll make you bleed.”
When his attention drifted to my stomach, I couldn’t help but whimper. I envisioned him carving into my belly again, digging deeper and deeper until Rafe’s name was gone. Until all that remained was a bloody, mutilated canvas.
Zach’s ultimate masterpiece of raging art.
My legs parted without my permission, self-perseveration in the driver’s seat now, and he fastened the cuffs around my ankles, turning me into a spread-eagled fuck toy, unwilling and defenseless, but that didn’t bother Zach. For over half of my life, he’d taken and taken and taken some more.
This time was no different.
I wanted to believe the lie in order to cope. Wanted to ignore the fact that everything had changed. I’d changed. I wasn’t alone anymore. I had Rafe.
He was mine, and I was his.
But he wasn’t here. Zach was, pushing two fingers into my pussy to get me ready for his cock. It took a while, but eventually, my body betrayed me, and his touch grew slick and warm. He climbed onto the mattress and settled between my thighs.
My brain went on auto pilot.
“Beg me to fuck you.”
I didn’t answer, and he slapped my cheek.
“You’re going to beg for it.”
So I begged for it, and that’s when the violent thrust of his cock snapped me out of lethargy. I bawled as he filled me with his blackness, plunging to the hilt until I stretched to accommodate his girth. There was no room for anything but him inside me.
I felt another piece of me die. I hadn’t realized there were any pieces left for him to murder.
“Christ,” he groaned. “You feel so fucking good. It’s been forever since I’ve been inside your cunt.” He pushed up on his arms and watched as his cock slid out before sinking inside once more. “I’m gonna put my baby in your belly again. Gonna make sure we always have something connecting us.”
Thank God the effectiveness of his sperm was one thing I didn’t have to worry about. Closing my eyes, I turned my face away.
