by L. P. Dover
And just as I said that, a twig snapped in the distance and echoed as if it was right beside me. Or was it right beside me? My breath ceased in my chest and I froze. Please don’t let it be him, please don’t let it be him, I repeated over and over. I stayed perfectly still, hoping that if it was him or just an animal that it would pass me by. It was pitch black and my clothes weren’t bright so I knew I could blend in. A few moments passed with nothing but silence, so I blew out a shaky breath and pushed off the tree, except I didn’t get far…
Thirty-three
“Did you think you could get away?” Daniel snarled in my ear, wrapping his arms around my waist. “You should know better than that. I guess I’m going to have to do this the hard way.”
“No,” I pleaded desperately. “Please don’t knock me out.”
I sagged in his arms, defeated. Was I ever going to escape him? What was taking Brett and Mason so long to find me? Surely they would’ve caught up to us by now.
“Why should I trust you?” he growled. “You broke it by trying to run away from me. You have a lot of making up to do if you want to gain back that trust.”
Trembling, I swallowed hard and stood there with my back to his and his arm still squeezing down on my neck. What was he going to do? Slowly, his grip started to cease and he swiftly lifted me up and threw me over his shoulders. “There’s only so many incidents I can take before I get fed up, Melissa. All I can say is that you’re walking a thin line right now.”
Daniel hustled us through the trees and in no time at all we were in the car and headed back down the road. My back hurt from the scrapes and I cringed every time I moved. Daniel handed me a soda and a bag of chips that he must’ve gotten at the store. As much as I hated to take his offering, I was starving and my head hurt like hell.
I guzzled down the soda and sighed as the fizziness filled my belly and helped the starving ache. At least the caffeine would help me stay alert and awake for a little while longer. Only when I gazed down at the bag of chips did I start to panic. It wasn’t the chips that had my heart beating out of control, but the absence of something on my wrist. My watch is gone!
In that moment, everything came tumbling down. I could feel the blood draining from my face and the dread settling in the pit of my stomach like a ton of lead. My only hope of getting away from Daniel had just been lost by my stupid attempt to run away. It was probably lying in the woods somewhere all broken, shattered, and untraceable.
“Are you okay?” Daniel asked, looking back and forth from me to the road. “You don’t look so good.”
“I don’t feel good,” I choked out. Now that I thought about it, I didn’t feel good at all. The car felt like it was swaying back and forth and my eyes were getting heavier by the minute. Everything moved in slow motion as I turned my head to look at Daniel. My tongue felt thick and dry when I opened my mouth to speak, slurring my words, “What’s happening to me?”
Daniel smirked and reached over to rub my thigh. “I decided I wasn’t going to take any more chances on you tonight. You need to sleep anyway if you’re going to be worth a damn to me, so rest up. You’re going to need it.”
My mind couldn’t form a coherent thought from the dizziness, but I did understand one thing. He drugged me. Probably with the sleeping pills I knew he took on a regular basis. “How…many?” I asked slowly.
“How many what?” Daniel retorted innocently.
I swallowed hard and opened my eyes to see him one last time. “Pills…how many of your sleeping pills did you give me?”
His hand traveled up higher on my thigh and I didn’t have the strength to push him away. I couldn’t even feel where he was touching anymore. Devilishly, he smiled and licked his lips. “Don’t worry, baby. I didn’t give you much. Just enough to put you out for a few hours while I find us somewhere to stay.”
The last thing on my mind when I passed out was the cold realization that there was a huge probability that I would never see Brett again, but by God, I was going to try my hardest to find a way. I am going to find a way.
When my eyes fluttered open, I had no idea if it was day or night. All I knew was that I was lying on my stomach, naked from the waist up in a bed. Daniel must’ve gotten us a hotel room and carried me in because I sure didn’t remember a single thing. The shower water was running and I could feel the steam billowing out into the room and coating me in the moisture. My back didn’t hurt nearly as bad, but I could still feel the sting.
Groaning, I moved my arms and legs and sat up, covering my breasts with the sheet. It took a few minutes for my blurry vision to adjust and focus on the room we were in. It wasn’t a fancy hotel by far, but I assumed Daniel did that on purpose. If the police were looking for us they sure wouldn’t think to look for him in a dumpy motel.
The bedside table had some brochures on it so I scooped them up and read over them quickly to find out where we were. Holy shit, I’m in Ohio!
Daniel exited the bathroom just as I was about to have a meltdown. Wide-eyed, I held up the brochures. “Are we really in Ohio? How long was I out?” I asked incredulously.
“Yep,” he quipped, sitting on the edge of the bed. “We’re right outside Cincinnati. By tomorrow we will be two Canadian newlyweds on their way to their honeymoon. I have a friend who lives in Toledo who’s going to fly us over the border and give us all the paperwork we need. I talked to him while you were out and he said everything’s good to go.”
“Oh my God,” I breathed, closing my hand over my mouth. The bile rose in the back of my throat and I felt sick. Running to the bathroom, and taking the sheet with me, I collapsed onto the floor and dry heaved into the toilet.
I could feel Daniel’s presence behind me but I didn’t want to look at him, or even begin to think that my life was really that screwed up. “Are you okay?” Daniel questioned cautiously, but then immediately turned angry. “You’re not pregnant are you?”
The thought made my chest ache, but from out of nowhere I actually sat there and laughed. I laughed until I cried and Daniel stood there staring at me as if I was the one who was crazy. Wiping away the tears, I got to my feet and glared at him. “For your information, no I’m not pregnant. It might happen to be the fact that you drugged me with God knows how many sleeping pills. Not to mention I haven’t eaten anything since you kidnapped me.”
Daniel crossed his arms over his chest and shrugged. “I wouldn’t have had to drug you if you didn’t go running off. That was your own fault.” He tilted his head back in the direction of the room. “I actually picked you up something to eat while you were passed out. Why don’t you take a shower and then you can eat. Your back looks like shit and needs to be cleaned. When I saw all the blood I had to make sure it wasn’t serious.”
“Well, thank you for your concern, but I don’t need an audience while I take my shower. You can leave now,” I remarked through gritted teeth.
Daniel’s grin widened and he bit his lip, his eyes wandering down my body. I held the sheet tighter and swallowed hard. “Okay, I’ll leave you alone … tonight,” he said, backing out of the bathroom. “But soon, baby. I have needs, too.”
The second he was out of the bathroom, I slammed the door shut and locked it. There was no escaping out of this bathroom, but at least I could have some privacy for a while. I turned on the shower water and waited for it to get hot. I glanced at the door one last time before I stripped off my now ragged jeans and tossed them to the floor. My toiletry bag wasn’t in the bathroom and I refused to walk out, so I decided to make do with what was already in there.
The water had a dingy smell to it, but anything would do for the moment. Once the shower water hit the sores on my back, I gasped and turned quickly away. Biting my lip, I slowly washed the front of my body before letting the water hit my back again. I knew it would hurt like hell, but my sores needed to be rinsed off. I did my best to soap up a washcloth and run it over my tattered skin to help clean off the dirt and dried blood. I wanted the pain to go away.
I wanted to feel numb.
Instead, my body didn’t listen and I felt every ounce of heartbreak, every single ounce of loss, and it all came crashing down on me. Sinking to the shower floor, I did something that I hadn’t done since the night I told Brett everything that happened with Daniel. I cried and shook until the shower water turned ice cold; and even then, I cried some more.
Thirty-Four
When I finally crawled out of the shower, I was shivering uncontrollably and couldn’t stop. My chest was on fire and it felt like I was hyperventilating. Teeth chattering, I staggered out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around my body since I didn’t bring my clothes in with me. The second Daniel saw me he bolted away from his computer at the desk and took my face in his warm hands. It almost felt like they seared my skin I was so cold compared to his heat.
“What the hell did you do, take a cold shower?”
He lifted me in his arms and placed me on the bed, his face was a worried mask as he wrapped all the blankets around me and tucked them in. He climbed in behind me and folded me in his arms. I wanted to pretend it was Brett, but even I knew my imagination wouldn’t let that happen. Being too weak to move or speak, I didn’t even respond to his touch when he rubbed my arms and legs to generate heat.
“I promise everything will be all right, baby. You’ll be happy with me. I know it,” he whispered in my ear. “You need to stop tormenting yourself.”
The shaking grew worse and he cursed under his breath behind me. Please, just let it end, I thought to myself. Closing my eyes, I thought of Brett. Of how his gray gaze glittered like the sea after a storm, how his arms held me close, and how his lips tasted when he would kiss me. I could almost imagine I could hear his voice whispering in my ear how everything will be okay and how he would find me. For me to trust him. With thoughts of Brett consuming my mind, I drifted off into the deepest and best sleep since being taken, and I prayed that I could stay there with him. Unfortunately, I wasn’t so lucky.
When I woke up, I had no clue how long I was out that time, but there was one thing for certain … I was burning up. The blankets were still wrapped tight around me and Daniel still had his arm draped over my stomach. I tried to wriggle out of the blankets, and once I got free of them tucked around me, there was something else that gave me pause.
“Good morning, baby,” Daniel whispered huskily in my ear. “I can’t believe you slept so long. I thought I was going to go insane with you lying beside me naked.” He pushed his hips into my ass, and when I tried to get out of his hold he held me tighter.
I groaned and let out an audible huff. “Yeah, I can see how hard that must’ve been for you. Do you mind letting me go?”
“I don’t think so,” he growled low. Daniel bit down on my shoulder, and I cried out, hissing in anger.
“Ow, Daniel. What the hell are you doing? Get off of me … now,” I shouted. I tried to jerk away, but he held me tighter against his body. His hand rose higher and undid the towel around my body so he could expose my bare breasts. His hand grasped onto one and kneaded it firmly, almost painfully.
“Shh … baby. I’m not going to hurt you. I’ve needed you for too long, Melissa. Please let me love you and be with you the way we used to be. I miss the times we had together.”
“You can’t force it, Daniel,” I warned, my heart beating out of my chest in fear. I had never been in a situation like this before, and even though he was my ex-husband and never hurt me other than the altercation at his house, it was still scary as hell. I swallowed hard and continued, “If you do force me, then no amount of loving me will make me love you back. Please let me go.”
I gripped his wrist and tried to pull his hand away, hoping to get him off me, but it didn’t work. Panic started to build and I knew I had no other choice but to fight if it came to that. Oh, please God don’t let it come to that. I knew I wasn’t strong enough physically to fight him off. Daniel quickly turned me over so he could see my face, and pried himself between my legs by pushing my thighs apart. His hands held mine firmly by my side and I was trapped … two seconds away from a fate I didn’t even want to imagine.
Daniel lowered his body onto mine, his eyes so dark that I couldn’t even tell it was him staring back at me. It was the same look that had my blood chilling when I was in the car with him earlier; the same look that scared the shit out of me.
He smiled down at me and said, “I’m not forcing you, Mel. I know you want this just as much as me. I keep remembering the way you looked when we got married and those words you said to me that night when we made love. I want to hear you speak to me like that again. I want to feel your tight little pussy clenching all around me.”
Tears pooled in my eyes, and when I closed them to block out Daniel’s ice cold gaze the tears ran hot down my face. “Don’t be nervous, baby. You know I love you, right? This will be good for us both. Once I make love to you, you will forget all about Brett and the life you had before.”
Brett.
There was his name, the man who would fight for me no matter what. As scared as I was, I had to fight back for him. I wasn’t going to lie there and let him take me without a fight, even if he was a man I used to love and share many intimate moments with. Those times were over. I was a different woman and in love with a different man. I was strong. I was a fighter.
“No,” I demanded angrily, piercing a deathly glare at him above me. “Nothing you could ever do to me will make me forget about Brett. I love him, Daniel, not you … not anymore.”
His smile immediately vanished and the room took on an unearthly chill. He gripped my chin and squeezed, holding me in place while he bent his head low to speak against my lips. His voice was laced with venom when he snarled, “Well, isn’t that just a shame. I was hoping our first reunion would be fun, but I see you don’t want it to be that way.”
He descended on my lips with punishing force, delving his tongue in deep, and biting my lip. I bucked against his body and screamed as loud as I could, but it was muffled by his hand as he slammed it across my mouth. “I see you want to play rough today. I remember you used to like it like that if I’m not mistaken.”
I jerked my head hard and away from his hand. I could feel the adrenaline pumping through my veins and I knew I was ready to fight. I might not make it out of the room, but by God I was going to try. The only thing I hated was what I was about to do, or better yet, what I was going to let him do.
“Fine,” I spat. “You want me, then take me. I don’t care anymore.” Releasing the tension in my arms, I relaxed them and didn’t fight against his grip. My legs loosened against his waist and I let them fall open. I had never felt more vulnerable in my life, but I had to make him think I was giving in.
Daniel gazed at me, hesitantly. “You’re not going to fight me on this?” he asked, a smile growing on his face.
I gritted my teeth and turned my head. My hands were still bound above my head in his vice like grip, but I hoped he would let them go at some point. Sighing, I closed my eyes. “No, I’m not going to fight. Just get it over with,” I told him.
Chuckling, he leaned down and bit my ear lobe before trailing kisses down my neck. His grip was loosening on my hands, but I needed them free. As he moved lower to lick down my breasts, he finally let my hands go so he could massage them while he sucked on one of my nipples.
Daniel groaned. “Your nipples taste so good, baby. I could suck them all day long.”
I bit back my hateful remark by biting my tongue, and keeping my anger in check. My hands were shaking, but it was only because I wanted to hit something, preferably his face. If I could just move over a little bit I could reach for something to hit him with. As his head moved lower down my stomach, my insides tensed when I realized what he was going to do next.
Shit!
Daniel kissed his way over my stomach down to the inside of my thigh. My heart was thundering out of my chest and I wanted to scream for him to get the fuck off of me, but I knew I couldn’t. In his
mind he might not have seen it as rape since we used to be married and he loved me, but in his now warped mind I had no clue what kind of psychotic thoughts he possessed.
He nuzzled my clit with his nose and then buried his face in my sex, gripping my thighs tight. I bucked against the bed and moved over in the process so I could get closer to the bedside table. Daniel moaned and said, “Ah, I see you like that now don’t you? See … I told you you’d enjoy it.”
Dammit! I need to move closer to the table. Having him touching me felt wrong on so many levels; all I wanted to do was cry and fight and get away, but I had to time it just right and use enough force to make an impact. My bag was on the floor by the bed so all I needed to do was get it, hopefully throw on a shirt, grab the keys to the car, and run out. He will definitely be surprised when I drive out of here in his stick shift car that he thinks I probably can’t drive.
When he delved his tongue deeper, I bucked again and moaned, moving my body closer to the edge. Lifting my hands above my head, I gripped onto the headboard and slowly moved them over to the table. Daniel chuckled. “Does it feel good, baby?” he asked gruffly.
Swallowing hard, I took in a deep, shaky breath and nodded. “Yes,” I breathed. “I need more.”
He chuckled again and started to taste me more vigorously. Slowly, my hand grazed the lamp on the table and thankfully it was one that could be moved and wasn’t part of the table like you find in fancier hotels. Daniel was moaning and licking me greedily and I knew I only had a minute or so before I needed to make a move.
Gripping the lamp post, I counted to three. One…two…three.
Daniel looked up just as I heaved and bashed the lamp down on his head not only once, but twice. Blood spurt out of the opening in his head and I screamed and scrambled off the bed. He collapsed onto the mattress and then down to the floor, groaning, as I ran and grabbed my bag. The tears in my eyes blurred my vision, but I hastily opened my bag and felt around for a shirt and pants.
