Total pages in book: 37
Estimated words: 32429 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 162(@200wpm)___ 130(@250wpm)___ 108(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 32429 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 162(@200wpm)___ 130(@250wpm)___ 108(@300wpm)
It's giving off a rancid smell and I know it's going to put me under. It takes less than a second for me to pass out, pulled back into the world of nightmares where Xavier is still hunting me just like he was in the forest before.
***
I don't know how much time passes, but when I wake up, I'm in the back of a moving truck with my hands and my ankles tied. I can't see anything because there's a blindfold over my eyes, cutting me so tightly in places I can't see an inch in front of me.
The desire to start sobbing again wakes up in me, desiring to come out to play. But I don't let the tears fall. I've cried so much over the past months, it would have disappointed my parents to know just how far I've fallen. I promised myself I'd stay strong throughout my ordeal with Xavier. That I would not break down - not for his affection, not for his love and not for his cruel whims.
But now I'm alone in the back of the truck, and I have no idea where I'm going, who snatched me and where they're taking me to.
The world is full of dangerous men. And I'm a vulnerable girl on my own, trying to escape them, but knowing deep down that they'll always hunt me down in the end.
I ponder the possibilities.
It can't possibly be my father, because he'd never stash me in the back of a truck like this.
It could be Xavier, but why would he go to this length to pretend it wasn't him? There is no reason for him to blindfold me or tie me up like this. He probably knows I would come with him willingly.
So then, only one option remains. I recall the dangerous men in my life I was thinking about before I got taken. The last one I thought of was Xander, Xavier's brother.
If he's the one who has me, I know I'm already doomed. I have no doubt that he treats his victims as cruelly as Xavier does his, and I've seen his brother kill too many people to think Xander will have mercy on me.
The last option is that this is someone even worse than the brothers. It could be someone who truly means me harm, someone I can't convince with my carefully taught sensuality that I'm worthy of his affection. Someone who could truly hurt me...
Thoughts of what's going on fill my head, which leaves it buzzing with too many worries to count. Alarm bells are going off in my mind, and I'm struggling to come to terms with what's happened. It seems like every time I manage to get away, I'm dragged back by my hair. And now I've lost one other thing, my sight. I can't see anything in front of me. The world has turned to black. I suddenly feel even more vulnerable. Even if my arms and legs weren't tied together, I'd still be at the mercy of the person who put me here. Because without seeing, I can't do anything.
I can't escape, I can't run away. And whoever has me knows I'm fully at their mercy.
The truck keeps going. I soon realize I'm alone in the back of it. There's no one else here, surely. I don't hear another noise but my own heavy breathing, waiting for the punishment that will soon come.
I don't know how long we drive, but it must be hours. The hunger is getting worse and worse, making my stomach rumble in the back of the truck. I groan and try to wriggle myself free of the cruel, strong grip of the ropes that were used to tie my hands together. My arm is still in a cast and I know that's going to need to come off because it's probably healed by now. But being handcuffed like this probably isn't doing it any favors.
All that's left for me to do is lie and wait until someone comes get me and makes me their toy. Just like it's always been - nothing's really changed. I remain a pawn.
Chapter 2
XAVIER
Tallulah doesn't know it, but I'm sitting behind the wheel of the truck she's stuck in the back of. Of course I was always going to take her. There was no way I was leaving things up to chance. Leaving her alone to be taken by anybody else. But she won't know that it's me not for a long, long fucking time. The idea formed in my mind when I took her, and pretending to be my brother was the cherry on top of the cake.
I gave Tallulah a present for her disobedience.
I'll pretend to be the worst person I know in the world, only to scare her back into my arms, where she belongs.