Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 84219 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 421(@200wpm)___ 337(@250wpm)___ 281(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84219 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 421(@200wpm)___ 337(@250wpm)___ 281(@300wpm)
I give her a minute before moving closer and placing my knee on the bed.
My eyes stay locked on her face, looking for any sign that she’s panicking as I move into a lying position.
Samantha takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. She keeps her eyes shut for a bit longer, then opens them and turns her head to look at me.
“I think this is a waste of time. I’m comfortable with you, so I don’t think anything you do will make me panic.”
Turning onto my side, I prop my head on my hand and say, “Maybe it will help if you talk about what happened.”
She thinks about it for a moment, then admits, “It’s difficult. Every time I try, it’s as if I get transported back to it.”
“You were okay while Dante tattooed you because I was there. Give it a try.”
She turns onto her side and locks eyes with me. “Okay, but don’t get your hopes up.”
With my other hand, I take hold of hers and brush my thumb over her skin. Her gaze lowers to our joined hands, and she remains quiet.
My eyes drink in the sight of her beautiful face, and I’m so fucking happy she’s back. It’s been a long ten days without her.
I missed my wildcat at the office and my vulnerable kitten at night.
Her tongue darts out to wet her lips again, then she says, “The domestic abuse isn’t what destroyed me. It’s what happened after I broke up with him.”
I know the fucker carved his name into her, so I’m bracing for the worst.
She’s quiet for a long while before she says, “I used to wake up in the mornings feeling like I had a hangover, even though I didn’t drink any alcohol. It happened for a couple of weeks.”
A frown forms on my forehead as I listen to her.
“I felt weird…as if I couldn’t connect with my body.”
Her eyebrows draw together, and her voice trembles as she says, “Turns out he was drugging me.”
Jesus Christ.
“I only found out because, for some reason, I came to after he drugged me.” She pauses, and I watch as she struggles to get the words out. “I couldn't move or open my eyes. I couldn’t speak.”
Indescribable anger rushes through me until my heart races in my chest.
Fuck, I can’t even imagine how she must’ve felt being a prisoner in her own body.
“I was so scared,” she whispers, her voice hoarse. Her eyes dart to mine, and I see the horror and trauma she’s been forced to live with, trembling in her green irises.
It’s a blow to my heart, but what she tells me next grinds my soul to dust.
Samantha
As Todd climbs onto the bed, I’m unable to move a muscle or make a sound.
It feels like I’m a prisoner in my own body, and it makes me feel claustrophobic as panic and fear bleed through me.
There’s a sticky substance between my legs, and it has my stomach churning because I know what it means.
Todd had sex with me while I was unconscious.
He raped me.
My heartbeat speeds up as my mind races, putting all the puzzle pieces together.
For how long has he been drugging me? Since that first morning I woke up feeling like a bus ran me over?
I thought I was losing my mind.
I feel him crawl over my body again, and it makes every fiber of my being fill with disgust.
How many times has he raped me?
His hands roam over my breasts and down my side, then suddenly, I feel a sharp pain as something cuts into my skin.
Oh God. Stop!
“If you weren’t so stubborn, I wouldn’t be forced to brand you,” he whispers. “Don’t worry. I’m going to carve your name over my ribs, as well.”
No!
The pain increases with every cut, and my heartbeat speeds up until it’s nothing but a terrifying flutter in my chest.
When he’s done and my side is on fire, I feel his tongue swipe over my skin to lick up my blood.
“Mmm…you taste so good.”
Jesus. He’s deranged.
While my mind reels from the nightmare I’m in, intense fear coats my skin because I don’t know what he’s going to do next.
Todd settles over my body, and I feel his erection between my legs, which makes my stomach roll violently while my soul cringes back from the disgust and degradation I’m forced to endure.
When he shoves himself inside me, it feels as if my soul is trying to detach itself from my body.
He lets out a groan. ‘Do you feel how good we fit together, Sam?’
I’m overcome with anger, hatred, and a broken feeling that keeps growing until it’s a gaping hole that sucks my mind into a world of darkness.
My body feels every thrust.
My lungs breathe.
My heart beats.
My mind is consumed by the depravity that’s being inflicted on me.