Total pages in book: 126
Estimated words: 115400 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 577(@200wpm)___ 462(@250wpm)___ 385(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 115400 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 577(@200wpm)___ 462(@250wpm)___ 385(@300wpm)
Approving of my silence, he gives a curt nod. “Follow me.”
Without another word, the tall stranger turns on his heel and stalks toward the exit, every eye in the room watching him with fearful caution. He doesn’t bother to look back at me. He simply expects that I will follow every last demand given, and that’s exactly what I do. Sticking to his side, I’m spurred on by the idea of finally stepping outside of this wicked warehouse.
We take the stairs, and as we reach the top to find the burly security guard, I can’t help but meet his stare. It’s still so full of pity that I’m forced to look away. The guard opens the door, and I expect my captor to walk straight through it. But when he stops and waves me through, allowing me to pass in front, I’m taken aback. Trusting my situation enough to know nothing is about to happen in the next few seconds, I hesitantly step past him and over the threshold.
His hand drops to my lower back, guiding me through the door as any gentleman would, and my back stiffens at his touch, a shiver sailing over my skin. Trying to ignore it, I step out into the cold winter night, the chilling breeze settling right into my bones.
Quickly glancing around, I take in my surroundings and find us in what looks to be an abandoned industrial estate. Each broken streetlight and run-down building looks as sorry as I feel.
My gaze settles on a black SUV with darkly tinted windows parked right by the door as if waiting for me. I stride toward it, my gaze shifting from left to right, waiting and watching for any chance I have to make my escape.
“You do not want to discover what lies in wait for you if you try to run from me,” he warns, moving in beside me to reach for the door handle of the SUV.
Swallowing over the lump in my throat, I shoot a timid glance at him as he holds the door. “I wasn’t going to.”
His gaze narrows slightly, and it’s clear as day he doesn’t believe me, but instead of calling me out, he nods toward the open door. “Get in.”
I flick my gaze between the door and him, knowing the second I get into his SUV, it’s all over for me. “Who are you?” I ask, waiting only a second before blurting my next question. “Where are you taking me?”
“There will be time for questions when I get you back to my manor,” he explains. “Until then, you will remain silent.” Then with another pointed stare, he indicates for me to get in his SUV, but this time his sharp gaze warns me of my fate if I do not obey immediately.
Not wanting to put my life on the line any more than I already have tonight, I silently slide into the back of the SUV and watch with unease as this mysterious man gets in beside me. He closes the door, and the tension rises in the car.
A tear sails down my cheek, splashing onto my collarbone, and with that, the driver hits the gas. I take a moment to grieve the life I once knew because, from here on out, I’m as good as dead.
3
KILLIAN
The heaviness of this sweet girl’s despair fills the air like an impenetrable tension as she sits in the car beside me. Her hands curl into tight fists on her bare thighs to mask how they shake. She’s fucking terrified, but she can’t hide it from me. I know fear when I see it. I can sniff it out in any room. I’m drawn to it like a moth to a flame, and once I have it in the palm of my hand, I corrupt it.
I’ve never met a person I couldn’t break, and as for this innocent woman who just became mine? Well, fuck. Breaking her might be the best fun I’ll ever have.
I live and breathe off the fear I invoke. It’s like an illicit drug I’ve become addicted to, and the moment my gaze connected with hers across the warehouse, that potent fear within her spoke right to my soul. I knew I had to have her. I was going to make her mine, and when I set out to do something, I never fail. It’s not in my blood.
I’m not known for being a man who negotiates for the things I want. I take. Whether it’s by contract or force, and she is no exception to that.
It’s after two in the morning, and we still have a three-hour drive ahead of us. I turn to look at my new prize, letting my gaze sail over her face. There’s no denying how beautiful she is, even through the dirt and grime stained across her slim face and the blood matted in her long golden curls. There’s no telling how long she was held captive in that cage, but looking at her like this, it’s clear Ezekiel and his men didn’t exactly go to great lengths to take care of the women they traffic. But truth be told, the kind of men who were bidding on these women aren’t the type who care if a woman appears clean or not. They care about the assets of her body, how tight her cunt is, or just how loud they can make her scream in agony as they fuck her until she bleeds—a fate this mysterious beauty only narrowly escaped.