Total pages in book: 61
Estimated words: 58604 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 293(@200wpm)___ 234(@250wpm)___ 195(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 58604 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 293(@200wpm)___ 234(@250wpm)___ 195(@300wpm)
“Forgiveness is for the weak. I like the fire your hate gives you.” He smiles like he hasn’t just destroyed everything. “Harley didn’t feel it when I peeled the ink from her flesh…”—he points his finger at me—“but you will.” A flood of panic rushes through me, seeping all the way down to my bones.
Picking up his blade, he palms my thigh, pushing it open.
“What are you doing? Stop it,” I command, attempting to squeeze my thighs closed.
Raising his hand, he smacks me across the face. A sting spreads over my cheek. The force of it jars my shoulder, tugging at my wrist. The rope tears my flesh, soaking the binding with my blood. He grips my jaw. “Keep moving.” He threatens, stroking the blade down my panties. “My hand might slip giving you a new hole for me to fuck.”
“You said you loved me.” I sniffle.
“And I do. That’s why I want to keep a part of you.” A sharp puncture burns my skin. His steel blade cuts into my leg, tracing my tattoo. “You can scream, baby. You know I love the sound of your pain.”
I bare down with gritted teeth and close my eyes, begging for the torture to end. But I don’t scream. I won’t give him that. I focus on freeing my wrist, wiggling it past the rope using my blood as lubrication.
“It kills me to do this to you, but you know I don’t share, Princess. I will never allow you to be with another man.”
I battle the searing sting slashing my flesh. “Kill me and get it over with. I’m done listening to your bullshit.” Sweat breaks out across my forehead, and my breathing grows shallow.
“Don’t rush me,” he fumes. “I didn’t want this.” He waves the knife in my face, my blood staining the tip. “This is on you and fucking Harley.”
“Don’t say her name,” I warn, my eyes widening as my hand slips free.
Smirking, he rests his hands on my knees, getting in my face. “Or what?”
I rear my head back and bring it forward as hard as I can, my forehead crashing against the bridge of his nose. Adrenaline courses through me, numbing the pain. I yank my other hand free. He falls onto his back, clutching his face, the knife still in his grip. In a hurried blur, I wrench at the fastenings on my ankles, a wave of hope falling over me when they come loose.
Tyler mutters something incoherent and is up, rushing toward me. Picking up the chair, I throw it at him and bolt. I don’t stand a chance against him one on one. I need help. I need Callan.
My bare feet squish against the rotten carpet. The pounding of Tyler’s footfalls sound behind me, almost making me skid and fall. “Princess!” he roars. My breath flees my lungs when something hard hits me in the legs, knocking me into a stack of chairs.
I hit the wet floor, the chairs battering down on me. Turning onto my back, I shove them away and manage to brace for his approach. I kick out, my foot connecting with his junk. He doubles over, an “oomph” escaping his lips.
“Fucking bitch,” he splutters, phlegm spraying from his lips. Clawing my way to my feet, I race to the door he came through earlier. Glass clinks under my soles, tiny shards stabbing into the skin. I crash into a foyer, hitting the shell of what was once a slot machine in my haste.
“Hey!” I scream as a glow shines through a panel of half-boarded-up doors. Pushing myself forward, I smash my hands against the glass.
“Hey! Hey!”
“You can’t be in there, ma’am. This is private property.” A male informs me.
“Help me! Help me!” I hammer on the glass, checking over my shoulder for Tyler. The door suddenly gives way, and I fall forward, my knees and palms slapping the concrete outside.
“What the hell?” A man gasps, shining the flashlight down on me, a huge set of keys jangling from his belt. My eyes scoot past him to the security car behind him, its engine humming and door wide open.
“Who hurt you, ma’am? Are they inside?” I climb his leg, taking his offered hand. Worry lines pinch his features as he drags his gaze over me. My eyes dart back to see Tyler launching himself at us.
“No!” I flinch, holding up my arm. A glint of Tyler’s knife glimmers under the moon as he raises the weapon. The security guard startles, fumbling with his belt. It’s not fast enough.
Tyler buries the knife into the man’s stomach. The man falls against him, mouth agape, eyes wide. Tyler wraps an arm around him, heaving the blade free and plunging it back in. My feet move. Fight or flight. My ass hits the car seat and I slam the door closed before Tyler can register my movements. The key dangles from the ignition, and a sob scratches up my throat.