Snowden brought us halfway around the world.
We swapped the tropical climate of the Philippines for mountains and impassable snow and entered a fortress.
The imposing monstrosity of stone felt as cold as the frigid temperatures outside. I imagined our world would narrow down to a cold, dank cell somewhere in the basement.
"You did well on the plane, boy." Snowden walked in front of us.
Forest moved beside me; head bowed, spirit broken, body defiled.
I wanted to reach out to him but resisted the urge. From the way he flinched when I drew close, it might be best if I keep my distance.
Or was that an even greater mistake?
Forest didn't need distance. He needed comfort. I wanted to wrap my arms around him and make all of this go away.
As a former rape victim, I knew that would be the worst thing I could do. I remember not being able to stand people touching me. It triggered me, but I also remember the aching loneliness. That descent into my head, the distancing myself from the world, it had nearly been worse than the abuse.
We entered the fortress and were led through a maze of passageways. Instead of heading down to a dank cellar, we climbed ornate stairs.
Snowden led us down a hall and to a door. He pushed it open.
"These are your rooms. The door will remain locked for now. You and I still have a few things to work out, don't we?" He cocked his head and placed a hand on Forest's arm.
Snowden's thick fingers curled around the back of Forest's arm, stroking him. Revulsion ripped through me at the way he felt Forest's arm.
Forest cleared his throat. "Yes, we do."
"You surprised me." Snowden looked at Forest, then shifted his attention to me. "I expected more of a fight."
"We have a deal." The low rumble of Forest's voice held steady as he regarded Snowden.
"Yes, I suppose we do. Honestly, I like this. I prefer not fighting with you. It makes things more like they should have always been."
Forest glanced at his arm. "You never intended to keep me as a lover. You had other things in mind for me."
"This is true, although I realize it for the mistake it would have been. You would not have survived the rings, and that would have been a terrible loss." Snowden turned to me. "These are your rooms, Miss Sara. You'll stay here with Forest when not serving me."
Serving him?
My wide eyes made Snowden chuckle.
"Leave her alone." Forest's possessive growl had the fine hairs on my arms lifting.
Snowden finally released Forest's arm. He splayed his hand across Forest's chest.
"I said I wouldn't touch her, but she's going to be right by my side, fetching, carrying, pretty much doing what an assistant does. Since she is your assistant, that now makes her mine, and I could use a bit of executive assistant help. Besides, it's more convenient to keep her close by." Snowden gave a wink. "I find constant reminders to be exceptionally effective."
I still wore Snowden's smelly shirt and was naked underneath it. My dignity had been taken, but I considered it an insignificant thing when compared to what Forest had endured and would continue to face.
My brows pinched with confusion as we entered an expansive suite. Anchored by an exquisite sitting room, two doors lead off from the main room. One led to a bedroom. I could see the massive bed from the doorway. I assumed the other led to a bathroom.
What the hell?
Considering our status, I found the opulence of our accommodations unconventional.
Where were our basement cells?
Snowden ushered us into the small sitting room, which held a grouping of couches. Plate glass windows looked out on a snow-covered landscape.
We were in the mountains. From the height of the peaks, I guessed the Alps, but we could be anywhere.
The flight had been brutal.
Unlike my flight to the Philippines, they didn't drug me.
I endured the flight wide awake while Snowden put Forest through hell. I tried not to look, but there had been no escaping what happened.
Guilt swam through me because Forest wouldn't want me to witness his degradation. Not that I had a choice. Part of Forest's pain came from having me present, and Snowden did whatever he could to enhance Forest's pain.
I couldn't leave him to face this horror alone.
Forest rarely met my eye. When our gazes crossed, he quickly averted his eyes with shame.
Bruised and broken.
That seemed to be Snowden's game. He physically abused Forest and systematically broke him down mentally.
Forest took it all. He never once fought when Snowden raped him, and he didn't defend himself when Snowden let our sadistic guards use him as a punching bag.
Forest's pain filled the airplane with misery.
Eighteen hours of torture. He couldn't take much more.
Forest and I stood together, too stunned by the recent change in our circumstances to reach out to each other for comfort.
"I think you'll find your rooms comfortable."
Snowden gave a brief tour, treating us more like honored guests than his prisoners.
"There's a king bed in the bedroom. I know you'll want to snuggle. Bathroom is over here."
He spoke about us sleeping together and showering together as if we already engaged in such activities.
A yawn escaped Snowden. "Now, as much as I'd like to spend more time getting reacquainted, I'm a bit put out by that flight. You have the night to rest. In the morning, Paul will show you around."
"Paul?" Forest's voice sparked with interest.
"Yes, he's assigned to your security detail. Mind your manners with Paul. He has a strong arm and my full permission to use whatever measures are necessary to keep you in line."
"Thank you for the rooms." Forest swallowed and let his gaze sweep around the suite. "Our arrangement remains. No one touches her."
"Yes, yes. No one touches Miss Sara, and you do whatever I say." Snowden walked his fingers up Forest's chest. "Now, how about a kiss goodnight?"
The man was certifiable.
He acted like we were guests instead of prisoners.
As Forest leaned down to kiss Snowden, his eyes cut to mine.
I gave a slow blink and turned away. I don't know if I did that to spare Forest having me watch him willingly kiss Snowden, or to spare myself the horror of watching it.
I wanted Forest to resist Snowden. This felt all kinds of wrong.
It was dirty, disgusting, and yet kept me safe. Or at least as safe as I could be as the captive of a madman.
Once the shock wore off, we would need to figure out how to get out of this hell.
If the shock ever wore off, and that was a pretty big IF.
Snowden turned the kiss sloppy. If he kept on…
I didn't want to think about that. Snowden had the libido of a racehorse.
My heart ached for Forest.
We were fortunate, however, because Snowden broke off the kiss. A yawn escaped him.
"Goodnight, boy." He patted Forest's cheek. "Get some sleep. You're going to need it. We have a busy day tomorrow. Lots of things to discuss."
"Of course, sir."
Snowden left us. The door drew shut, and the distinct sound of a lock turning clicked through the silence.
That sudden absence of sound suffocated me as we stood there, not talking to each other about what had happened. It was unlike Forest not to have something to say.
When I thought of him, his smile had always been the first thing that came to mind. Once you got past his rough exterior and gruff voice, everything about Forest was…soft.
That's not a word most people used when describing him.
Most called him hard, uncompromising, distant, and cold.
But I knew Forest better than most.
A hero who saved orphaned children, he was a champion's champion with the quirkiest humor I'd ever seen. Kindness lingered inside his huge heart.
He'd always been accompl
ished at putting a smile on my face when I needed it most.
I could see how people considered him cold and unapproachable. He wasn't the kind of man who asked about a person's day or welcomed any of the messy emotions that tiptoed out after such a request, but he saw the important bits and pieces.
If he thought a person was worthy, he would do anything to help them.
Goodness spilled from Forest; it lingered in the softness of the smiles he doled out as if they were the most precious thing in the world. He was the safest person to be around because he genuinely cared about making the world a better place.
I looked at him, my heart breaking because that man no longer existed. Instead, only the shell of the man I once knew remained.
Everything that made Forest the man I loved was gone.
He gave one look at me, then headed to the bathroom. He kicked off his shoes, pulled his shirt over his head, yanked down his pants, and stripped out of his briefs. The actions were automatic, practically robotic, and yet stunning.
He really was magnificent.
"I'm taking a fucking shower." His voice was husky, tired, and every step he took was ponderous and slow.
He left me with my mouth gaping and head spinning.
The shower turned on, and I simply stood in the middle of the room, not sure what I should do. A second later, he poked his head out of the bathroom.
"Come on, Sara. Get in here. We both have filth to wash off."
"I'll wait until you're done."
"No. You're coming in here."
Shock rippled across my face. Surely, he didn't want me to join him?
"I'm not leaving you alone out there." His attention shifted to the locked door.
"Forest…"
"You stay by my side. Do you understand?" He pressed his temple against the doorjamb and let out a deep sigh. "Whatever thoughts are in your head about right and wrong have no place here. Take that filthy thing off and let's wash the last day off our bodies."
"I don't think that's the best idea."
"Please don't argue with me. I don't have the strength to fight you on this. It's just a shower."
Not sure what was happening, my feet moved of their own accord. I didn't know if it was the command in Forest's voice or the bone-weary fatigue in my body, but I didn't question the thought of taking a shower with my boss.
I simply moved.
Forest took my hand in his. He pulled me to him and folded his arms around me. It didn't escape my attention, he was completely naked, although it didn't seem to faze him.
"We'll get through this. I promise. I'll find a way to get you out of this nightmare."
Wrapped in his arms, I felt, if not safe, at least hopeful he would find a way to make the impossible possible.
Forest always came through. Whatever needed to be done, no matter the cost, he would do it. This both comforted me and tore me apart inside.
The price he would pay to keep me safe was unconscionable.
I never loved him more than I did at that moment. I wanted to kiss him, not in a romantic way—except who are we kidding, I wanted that—but simply to let him know I cared.
My world would unravel if I felt his lips on mine.
Chapter Seventeen
Forest
I didn’t have the energy to deal with the shock rippling across Sara’s face.
Her emotions were too raw, too powerful, too out there in the open.
They were messy, painful things.
And I didn’t have the strength to sort through them.
I had two tasks.
That was all I could focus on.
Number One: Wash Snowden’s filth from my body.
Number Two: Keep Sara by my side.
No way was I leaving her alone.
We were in enemy territory.
There would be little I could do to keep her safe. Snowden already thought she and I were lovers. He expected something like this—for us to comfort each other.
No reason to let him think otherwise. The more he believed something existed between Sara and me, the more power I held over him.
That shouldn’t make sense, but it was the truth.
Snowden wanted my total surrender. He didn’t want our encounters to be a battle of wills, and he didn’t care to fight me physically as he took me.
The man was a sadist, but he’d softened since I’d seen him last. He’d weakened. I was in the prime of my life while the sun was setting on his.
Before—I had to think of the first time he controlled me as Before. Now, was Today—but before he had brutalized me for sport. The more I fought back, the more aroused he became.
I had been smaller then, a boy on the cusp of becoming a man. Tall and lean, I didn’t have the strength to fight a fully-grown man.
I had it now.
Our places were reversed.
Snowden knew it. I knew it.
And he knew I knew it.
It made him fear me.
So why take me now?
It wouldn’t take much to snap his neck. Each time he fucked me, I held the power to end his life in my hands.
Hell, I could bite off his dick when he shoved it in my mouth if that’s what I chose.
He placed a great deal of trust on the hold he had over me, but that was the thing. Snowden had all the control he needed in Sara.
Ours was an uneasy arrangement.
And somehow, I would use his assumptions about Sara against him. I just had to figure things out.
“You need to take off the shirt.” I turned on the shower and rotated the valve until scalding hot water poured out of the showerhead.
Her cautious gaze turned to me, then shifted away.
The accommodations Snowden gave us, the comfort he afforded us, came with a message. It spoke to the deviousness of his mind.
It could be taken away in the blink of an eye, or by a single act of defiance on my part.
His most effective weapon was the past he shared with me. I knew how his mind worked. There had been no need to state the obvious. Just like we both knew I could kill him at any moment, we also knew the balance of power had been well established.
The threats he levied against Sara kept me in line. There was no need for him to explain what these accommodations meant.
Behave, and Sara wouldn’t be put in a cell.
Behave, and Sara would be able to stay with me.
Behave, and he wouldn’t hurt her.
I intended to be the most well-behaved person on the planet.
Sara hadn’t moved since I pulled her into the bathroom. I tentatively reached out to touch her cheek and leaned down until our eyes were level.
“It’s going to be okay. I promise.”
A vale of tears shimmered in her eyes. She was going into shock as the events of the past day played through her mind.
I could see her torment. I felt her pain.
The sad truth, however, was that we didn’t have time to wallow in such things.
I brushed away a tear as it slowly rolled down her cheek.
“I need you to be strong.” I couldn’t survive this if I had to be strong for us both.
What I had to endure would test me.
Snowden wanted me broken, and I had no illusions he would do precisely that.
He had my body to use as he wished, but he wanted my mind. He wanted my adoration and unwavering loyalty.
He wanted to break me, but I knew what he wanted most.
The man wanted my love. He wanted me to want him with desperate hunger.
We’d spent a lifetime circling each other. I chased, and he evaded until he flipped everything upside down and lured me into his trap.
The bastard was a devious fucker.
He would get what he wanted.
I didn’t know how I would resist him because he had everything to break me in the form of the sweet angel standing in front of me.
The thing was…I would break.
I would bear that burden.
>
Sara, however, would not. Somehow, I would get him to release her from this nightmare.
“Sara…” I tilted my head until our foreheads touched. “Don’t disappear on me. I need you.”
“Forest…” Her breath came out a whisper. “The things he did…”
“Are things he’s done before.” I let out a sigh and swept my finger along the soft angle of her jaw. “It’s just a body.”
“He doesn’t want your body.”
It scared me that she understood the real battle I waged.
“You’re right. He wants more.”
“And?”
“We’ll find our way through. Do you know what Skye always told me?”
Sara gave a shake of her head.
“She told me hope was as limitless as the summer sky. We just need to believe.”
“Oh, my God! Your sister.” Sara broke before me. Deep sobs wracked her body. “He killed her.”
The rage I had so meticulously squirreled away resurfaced. Fire churned in my gut, and my grip tightened against Sara’s jaw.
She winced and pulled back.
Horrified at what I’d done, I stumbled back. She cupped her face and looked up at me.
All I saw was red.
A red mark on her jaw.
Fire burning in my veins.
Flames from the rocket.
Snowden would pay.
But I had hope. The helicopter hadn’t exploded. It fell out of the sky and into the sea.
Hope.
If it was as limitless as the summer sky, then I had to believe it was as deep as an ocean.
Sara closed the distance and pressed her hand against my chest. Her fingers splayed over my heart, and I felt a steady lub-dub beating beneath her palm.
As long as I was alive, I would hold on to hope.
“I’m so sorry,” she said.
Her touch, soft and gentle, warm and comforting, didn’t elicit my usual reaction when a woman touched me. This felt like an extension of my body rather than an unwelcome intrusion.
I didn’t shudder. The hairs at the back of my neck didn’t lift in revulsion. My gut didn’t churn with disgust.
I stared at her hand against my bare skin and shook my head.
What was this?
“Skye didn’t deserve—” Sara’s voice cracked, but I stopped her before she could say anything further.
Forest's Fall (Captive Hearts Book 3) Page 14