Survival Games

by J. E. Taylor

  “Promise me you’ll protect her,” he whispered again, more urgently.

  Ty nodded and looked around the room again.

  “Say it,” Eric said.

  “I promise,” Ty answered.

  Eric reached through the mirror and put something in Ty’s hand. “Give this to her.”

  The metal settled in Ty’s palm and he stared at it as if it were from outer space. When he raised his gaze to the mirror, his slack-jawed, wide-eyed reflection stared back. He closed his mouth and twirled the old-fashion key in his fingers before depositing it in his pocket. His stomach growled and he headed to get something to satiate his hunger.

  “I’m really losing it,” he said as the bathroom door closed behind him.

  Chapter 40

  The door swung open and Mike shot to his feet, meeting Frank’s gaze.

  “Back up,” Frank commanded with the Taser pointed at him. He bent down, grabbing something that lay in the hallway beyond Mike’s field of vision.

  It took a moment to recognize the battered unconscious body that Frank dragged into his room, but when he did, his fury at Ty transferred to the sadistic son of a bitch in front of him and he launched at Frank. The Taser shot hit him in the chest and pain exploded through his body as he crumpled to the ground.

  Did the bastard just giggle? He turned his eyes in Frank’s direction; the smile on the nutcase’s lips confirmed the awful cackling he heard beyond the buzzing in his ears. Frank hauled him into the chair and chained him in place before yanking the Taser hook out of his skin.

  He left the room and Mike lowered his gaze to Jessica. Her face was still beautiful despite the black and blue tones covering her skin. A swirl of emotions overcame him, relief, jealousy, hate, guilt and each negative emotion was tainted with the love he felt for the woman. He looked up at the broken monitor, his mind whirling and he gritted his teeth, his glance snapping back to her, specifically to the black dress shirt draped over her frame. The shirt Ty wore last night.

  Frank returned, setting a portable DVD player in front of him and pressed play. The screen filled with her room as Ty entered. He couldn’t pull his eyes away from her standing in the white dress and then the dress was gone, and she was in that bastard’s arms. The betrayal was complete.

  “I begged for her,” he said as all his illusions shattered. “I killed for her,” he stammered.

  “I’m leaving her here for you. Do anything you want but I want her alive. Understand?” Frank said as he pressed a remote and the cuffs holding Mike in place released. The door clicked closed behind him.

  Mike glanced between the video and back to Jessica. “Fucking bitch.” He rubbed his wrist, wincing at the sudden pain that traveled up his arm from the shattered bones. He returned his gaze to the video, her riding that fucker, the black fabric of his shirt covering her back. The playful smile on her face taunted him and he crossed to her, staring down as fury raged in his skin.

  Ty’s words from weeks ago rang in his ears. Best fuck I ever had. Mike saw red. He ripped open her shirt and spread her legs. Even as she started to stir, he thrust inside her, muttering under his breath.

  Pain brought her out of the dark nothingness and Jessica groaned, her eyes cracking and her hands pushing on the bare chest above her. Mad ramblings filled her ears as he muttered and muttered with each violent slam of his hips.

  “I begged for you and killed for you. And you fucked him?” Mike screamed.

  Jessica blinked at the face above her, recognition set in and she pushed harder. “No!” The volume of her cry gave him pause, enough so she was able to buck him off and roll away. Scrambling to her feet, she yanked the ruined shirt tight around her, backing away from him.

  He came after her. “I would have given my life for you, you bitch!” He lunged.

  She sidestepped and yelled, “Stop!”

  “I’m not going to stop until I get what he got,” Mike said, pointing to the screen.

  “I never meant to hurt you,” Jessica whispered and glanced at the player. Ty rolled her over on screen and whispered the words she demanded. She brought her gaze back to Mike.

  He lunged at her again, knocking her into the concrete wall.

  “You don’t want to do this,” Jessica said and he pinned her with his body. His eyes crazed with fury, his hands rough and brutal in their quest.

  “I’ve waited for seven years for this,” he growled and threw her to the floor. “Don’t tell me what I want!”

  Jessica scurried to her knees, crawling across the cold concrete until he slammed into her back, his elbow piercing the space between her shoulder blades and she dropped to the ground under his weight.

  “And you wanted me, for seven years,” he whispered in her ear.

  “Not like this,” she said, crying. “Not like this.” She closed her eyes and put her forehead on her hand, sobbing into the concrete. This place had reduced the man she once loved to this ugly version of a warped, muttering, monster.

  He pulled away and stumbled to the bathroom.

  She remained on the floor, her chest tight enough to choke the sobs, holding them in place as she trembled. Retching sounds came from the bathroom and louder, harsher sobs followed. She rested her cheek on the cool concrete and stared at the bathroom doorway, lacking the strength to move.

  Mike didn’t come out.

  Sobs filtered out after the sounds of the flushing toilet dissipated and Jessica found the strength to get to her knees. She pulled Ty’s shirt around her and stood on wobbly legs, walking toward the noise.

  She sat down next to him on the floor.

  “Get away from me,” he whispered.

  She leaned back against the wall and closed her eyes, holding her knees. The tears kept coming. “I’m here because of you,” she whispered and glanced at him.

  He nodded, his eyes staring somewhere on the far wall.

  “I didn’t know you were here,” she said and he met her gaze. She put her head down on her knees, tightening her grip and trying to stop the shakes that took hold. “I thought you were dead. I went to your funeral. I watched as your coffin…” She couldn’t finish and she turned her head, meeting his still-angry gaze. “Part of me died that day, Mike.” Her voice shook as she went on. “I loved you for so long, part of me died when they buried you.” Her own anger pushed past the humiliation and devastation. “And just now, out there,” she pointed to the other room, “you crushed what was left of me.”

  She stood up and left him staring after her.

  She took a seat in the far corner of the room, her back to the mirror. Eric called, his small voice crying for her and she shut him out, consciously turning off the connection. She didn’t want to hear his promises, his pleas to hang on.

  Her head dropped to her knees and when she closed her eyes, it was his face she saw. His hair speckled with melting snow flakes, his blue eyes hesitant and unsure as he held out the sparkling diamond for her. Ty’s breath came in white plumes and the perfectly fitted black suit shimmered against the winter landscape.

  Her eyes snapped open, the vision holding even against the gray concrete. His face, his beautiful unscarred face and one word echoed in her mind.

  Impossible.

  Even so, the image tore through her, ripping her soul apart as effectively as a hollow-point bullet and she knew. She knew she would beg to save his life but she didn’t know if she would for the man in the other room.

  Mike ventured out some time later. “Why?”

  “Why what?” Jessica snapped.

  “Why him?”

  Jessica shook her head as her eyes locked with his and a slightly hysterical laugh escaped. Why? That was as good a question as any and there was no reasonable answer for Mike. None that she expected him to understand anyway, especially since she didn’t understand it herself. It just was. “I don’t know,” she said and he knelt in front of her.

  “I’m sorry, Jess.” His green eyes still glossed with tears visibly displaying the pain and horr
or he felt at his own actions.

  “You raped me.”

  He winced at the words and looked at the floor. After a few seconds, he nodded.

  “He never did.”

  Mike’s gaze snapped up to hers and his eyes narrowed. “What do you call chaining you to the bed and… and…”

  Jessica tilted her head. “That was his attempt at seduction.”

  “You said you didn’t want him.”

  She met his blatant stare. “I lied. I’m good at games, remember?”

  His jaw dropped.

  “It was a game. A game I had to play in order to survive.” She leaned forward. “A game that worked but then again, I didn’t have anyone else riding on it and frankly, if I had known you were here, I’m not sure things would have turned out the same.” She sighed; leaning back and glancing up at the cameras and then back at him.

  Mike half smiled. They had played cat and mouse games for years. “Games, huh?”

  “Yes and despite what you think, Ty never raped me. He manipulated me, seduced me and coerced me, but the man never raped me.”

  “I’m sorry.” He reached out to touch her face with his good hand.

  Jessica grabbed his wrist. “No. You don’t get to do that now.” Her eyes flashed a warning.

  “You look like hell,” he said after a moment.

  The absurdity of his statement caught her off guard and she burst out laughing. It was the first time she had laughed, really laughed in months.

  He started to laugh too. He moved so he was sitting next to her and took her hand in his good one. She stared at the gesture, but didn’t pull her hand out of his soft grasp.

  The laughter wound down as they looked at each other.

  “Thank you,” Mike said leaning his head back on the glass.

  “For what?” She wiped her tears and winced. Her face hurt.

  “For laughing. I missed your laugh,” he said.

  She glanced sideways at him. “That had to hurt,” she said pointing her chin toward his hand and started to giggle again. He joined her. This time they continued laughing, leaning into each other until tears streamed down their faces.

  Frank flew in the room and their laughter died. “That’s the best you can do?” he yelled at Mike. “That isn’t making someone pay.”

  They stood up slowly, still holding hands. He stepped in front of her to shield her from Frank’s wrath.

  “He loves her, he fucked her and she let him, don’t you want to make him pay?” Frank seethed.

  Mike nodded. “But not by hurting her, I’ve already done enough of that to last a lifetime.”

  “Mike, don’t,” she whispered from behind him.

  “It’s okay, Jess,” he replied. “I got to hear you laugh again.” He fell to the ground in front of her, the Taser embedded in his chest.

  She raised her eyes to Frank and charged. She wanted to claw his eyes out, to hear him scream in agony, to hear his bones snap. He moved faster. The sharp crack of bones snapping filled the room and sent her flying into the wall, pain exploding in her side and her breath locked in her chest. Her ribs throbbed where his fist connected and she crumbled to the floor, holding her side and concentrating on drawing air into her shocked lungs.

  He grabbed Mike and strapped him into the chair, hooking the electrical conductors to the metal. He pointed the remote and Mike cried out as his body went rigid.

  “Stop,” Jessica said. “STOP!” she yelled, getting to her feet unsteadily. Frank complied.

  “I deserve a blow job,” Frank said. He swept the DVD player off the chair and sat down. “C’mon bitch, let’s see what that mouth can do.”

  “No,” she said, holding her side and gasping.

  “Then he dies,” Frank said and pointed the remote again.

  “Okay. Okay,” Jessica said quickly before he pushed the button again. She stiffly crossed the room and dropped to her knees between the two men. Unwanted tears slid down her cheeks and she inhaled, wincing as the expansion of her lungs pushed on her cracked ribs.

  “Don’t,” Mike whispered. “We’re going to die anyway. Don’t.”

  “I can’t watch you die.” She turned, laying her head on his leg, shaking with silent sobs. His fingers grazed her cheek the second before Frank grabbed a handful of her hair and pulled her toward his lap. His hard member was out and ready for her mouth.

  “Don’t, Jess, not for me.”

  “Suck or he dies!”

  Jessica opened her mouth to protest and he plunged the tip of his cock inside. A slightly salty taste made her gag and he pulled her further down his hard shaft. “Now suck me.” His dark eyes glared at her and half closed when she pressed her lips over his skin. Breaking her glare, he smiled at Mike.

  Raw fury consumed her and she snapped her teeth closed, locking her jaw together and yanking away as violently as she could. His smile morphed into a grimace, followed by a high-pitched scream. Blood, thick and metallic filled her mouth around the chunk she bit off and she turned, spitting the mess onto the floor. Gagging as the hot copper taste coated her throat, but that didn’t stop the near hysterical laughter that bubbled up. She turned to glare at Frank. His hand clasped tightly around his ruined member, the scream still filling the room but his other hand descended fast, striking her in the temple.

  Everything went black.

  Chapter 41

  Mike sat helplessly locked in the chair while Jessica lay unconscious on the floor. Frank hadn’t killed him yet, but the promise, the threat he issued when he stormed out of the room hung over him like a black cloud. His body still twitched from the brief electric shock that punctuated the threat. His ears buzzed and he slumped, his head tilted against the wood and his eyes closed. For a minute, he wanted to remember, wanted to remember what his life had been like before he was snatched out of it. Wanted to remember what she looked like without the black and blue hazing. Wanted to remember her.

  The chemistry between them had always been intense from day one. He would walk into the room and if she was there, it was as if all of the hair on his body stood on end.

  He remembered sitting next to her in a meeting one day and she had this short dress with her legs crossed. He couldn’t help himself; he grazed his hand over her bare knee. She took a slow deep breath, half smiled and looked sideways at him. That always killed him. She recovered before anyone else in the meeting took notice.

  After the meeting, she leaned over to him and whispered, “You are so bad.” Smiling, she walked away.

  Later that same week, in a separate meeting, she slipped her shoe off and ran her foot up his calf under the table while he was trying to explain something to the group. He ended up forgetting where he was in the explanation and had to start over. She was highly amused by his reaction.

  Any time they physically touched, his entire body burned for her. Every now and then, he would whisper something dirty, and she would give him the same deep breath, half smile, sideways look that made him have to go splash his face with cold water. Every now and then, she would add a very sexy lower lip bite as well, which drove him completely nuts. It was a cat and mouse game that they played well but unfortunately, they were both taken, so they never actually did any of the things they insinuated.

  The only time they crossed the line was a memory that came back time and time again over the past seven years. He thought about her more often than he should and that day was always where his mind wandered to. They were alone in her car going to a good-bye lunch for a co-worker and he pointed her the wrong way. She pulled into a driveway to turn around. When she reached over his seat and looked over her shoulder to back out, he planted a kiss on her. It was impulsive and caught her completely off guard, so much so that she almost got in an accident.

  After she collected her bearings, she sent that sideways look at him with a small shake of her head and a musical laugh that all but asked Are you insane?

  Lunch was a blur; all he wanted to do was get back in the car with her. Pulling o
ut of the parking lot, he slid his hand up her skirt, grazing her stockings and smiling at her flustered expression. She again made a wrong turn and let out a slight laugh, shifting her gaze to him as she spun the car around. But she didn’t stop his gentle exploration.

  “You’re wet,” he whispered and he was rewarded with her blooming cheeks and a slight nod. Her eyes locked on the street before them but glazing over with a lust so strong he felt the electrical connection in the car. “Take your stockings off.”

  She laughed; her eyebrows rose and her gaze flitted between him and the crowded road. “I’m not Houdini.”

  He continued to rub her gently and took her right hand, placing it in his lap. A small sweet sound escaped her lips and her hand slid the length of his hard shaft before she pulled it away and grasped the steering wheel.

  She looked at the clock in the car and at the hotel they were about to pass and then at him. Uncertainty filled her features.

  “What do you want, Jess?”

  “Everything.” She paused and looked at the road. “Nothing. I don’t know.”

  They looked at each other. The hotel passed by and so did the opportunity to act on their attraction.

  He opened his eyes as she stirred on the floor. “Jess,” he whispered and closed his eyes again; going back to the day she left.

  She said she had a great job opportunity closer to home but he always suspected he had a lot to do with why she was leaving. It was close to a year after that car ride, and they had continued playing the cat and mouse game the entire time. The heat between them was still as intense as it was that day in the car, as the day they met.

  She found him between meetings, gave him a hug, saying goodbye. He trembled as he held her; he still remembered her coconut shampoo and the way she felt in his arms. He didn’t want her to go and he didn’t want her to see him lose it either. He told her to keep in touch and walked away as quickly as possible. He could still hear her sobbing as she told a good friend she had been fine until she said goodbye to him.

  He still remembered how she made him feel when she was near him, when she laughed, when she cried and when she said goodbye.