by Mia Knight
“We want ten million. Cash,” the calm captor said.
“Drop off?” Gavin asked without missing a beat.
“Reno. Ten o’clock. I’ll text the address.”
“Who’s your boss?”
Gavin sounded calm, but Lyla knew that when his voice went icy like that, heads rolled.
“We don’t have a boss,” the hotheaded pervert snapped, taking the phone back from his emotionless counterpart. “We’re our own boss.”
“You made a mistake, taking something of mine,” Gavin said quietly. “You’re walking dead men.”
“You have many enemies,” the quiet man said. “What did you think would happen once you revealed a weakness?”
“I want to speak to her again,” Gavin ordered.
“She can hear you,” the stupid captor said in a singsong voice.
“Lyla, I’m coming for you.”
The line went dead before she could respond. Lyla couldn’t stop shaking.
“He’s pissed off some dangerous people,” the cooler captor said.
Lyla focused on him, but still, she said nothing. Gavin would come for her, she had no doubt about it. These men, these despicable, perverted and cold men were walking dead men and for the first time in her life, she understood that some people shouldn’t live. The captor, the one that used her like an inanimate object with no feelings caught her attention when he brushed his hand over his crotch again. Lyla forced herself to look at him. She poured all the loathing she could into her eyes. She should be cowering and stay as silent and compliant as possible, but uncontrollable fury pumped through her veins.
“Fuck.”
Lyla’s heart skipped when she saw that the pervert had another hard on.
“One more time,” he said and started forward.
“No.” His partner pulled him back. “I shouldn’t have let you do it even once. If Pyre thinks you fucked her, he might give us less money.”
These men didn’t know who they were fucking with. They had no idea how possessive Gavin was. Touching her with one finger was too much. What these men did—kidnapping and using her as a sex doll bought them a first class ticket to a slow, painful death.
The disgusting captor slipped his hands into his pants and pumped his cock, eyes focused on Lyla’s face. “I won’t touch her. I’ll just come on her face.”
“No.”
“Come on. I know you want her too.”
Lyla gagged as he ran a hand over his partner’s crotch, obviously trying to arouse him. The quiet man didn’t push his partner’s hand away. He stood there, letting the other man stroke his dick through his pants. When the horny pervert dropped to his knees and pulled the man’s pants down, Lyla pressed herself against the wall, wishing it would absorb her. She tried to block out the sound of what was happening behind her. Oh, God. She heard quickening breaths, moans and then a grunt of relief.
“Can I have her now?” the eager one asked.
“No.”
“What? I just sucked you off.”
“I’ll give you a twenty later.”
The door slammed on the pervert’s whines. Lyla vomited in the corner of the room and gagged as she scooted away and huddled in the opposite corner. This couldn’t be happening. She jumped at every little sound, praying that they wouldn’t come back. These men were animals. They didn’t look at her as a human being, but something to be used and tossed away like trash. They would fuck her and slit her throat without blinking an eye. There were so young to be so cruel and inhumane.
Lyla closed her eyes and willed Gavin to find her. If she was in Vegas and they were sending him to Reno... Gavin was smart, ruthless and had countless resources at his fingertips. He would find her. She had to believe that or go mad.
***
Lyla woke when a hand clamped over her mouth. It was dark. The only light in the room came from a cell phone propped against the wall. The light blinded her and when her eyes adjusted, her heart nearly leapt out of her chest when she saw a pair of desperate, depraved eyes staring back at her. The pervert was back. Even as her mind snapped into full wakefulness, he slapped a fresh strip of duck tape over her mouth.
“He stepped out for some cigarettes. We don’t have much time,” he panted and ripped her dress from neck to belly button.
Lyla bucked and slammed her bound wrists against his chest. The force of it knocked him on his ass. She tried to get to her feet, but with her ankles bound, she toppled back to the floor.
“Stupid bitch.You think you’re too good for me, huh?”
He rolled her onto her back and finished ripping her dress in half. Lyla went cold with terror as he grabbed his phone and raised the light so he could see her body, clad only in underwear.
“Fuck, your skin is so pretty. If I had my knife, I’d mark you so every man that fucked you would know I was the first to make my mark.”
Tears leaked out of the corner of her eyes. Her body trembled in revulsion. He appeared even younger in the harsh light, yet the expression in his eyes was an ancient evil that had no place in a human.
“The world is divided into two types of men,” the pervert said as he slid a grubby, dirty hand over her breasts, down her quivering stomach and then beneath her panties. “Men that ask and men that take.” On the last word, he shoved his fingers into her dry core.
Lyla head kicked back at the pain. Her head hit the concrete so hard, she saw stars. The pervert jammed his fingers into her body unmercifully, completely immune to her cries and body’s rejection of the intrusion.
“Come on, get wet for me, slut,” he said and picked up the pace. “We don’t have time.”
Lyla cried out as his dirty fingernails jabbed into the wall of her vagina. What the fuck was he doing? Apparently, he only fucked sex dolls because he didn’t seem to know that no woman would respond to this. If she wasn’t gagged, she would have told him this while she ripped his balls off. Lyla had never been so furious and terrified in her life. Despite her throbbing head and the hopeless situation, she struck out with her bound hands and managed to claw his face. He screeched and dropped the phone on its back so the room was thrown into complete darkness.
“You bitch!”
The blow came out of the darkness. Lyla’s head collided with the floor and everything went black.
***
Someone was screaming. The sound of agony pierced through her pain. Lyla’s eyes opened. Dim orange light filtered through the small window. Lyla felt a flurry of movement to her left. She was covered in something warm and sticky. Even as she tried to remember where she was, there was an awful gurgling sound and the screams abruptly stopped. Lyla saw a faint light nearby. Pervert’s phone. The light was smothered by the floor and something else... As memory returned, Lyla’s hand went for the phone. The darkness and awful silence made panic dig into her belly. She raised the phone, which was dripping with something. Lyla raised the phone and pointed the light next to her.
A large man crouched over a mangled thing Lyla didn’t realize was a body until she registered that the floor was covered in red. Lyla let out a choked sound and the man turned his head and looked straight at her. At first Lyla didn’t recognize the murderous savage as Gavin since his face was covered with blood. The image of his face bared in a snarl, of his eyes, feral and eclipsed by hatred made her fingers contract with fear. The phone fell from her hands, bounced and then lay face down in its owner’s blood. The prism of light exposed a gory room out of a horror movie.
“Lyla.”
She didn’t recognize his voice. It sounded hoarse, as if he gargled with glass.
“Lyla, are you—?”
Lyla ripped the tape off her mouth and retched. Even when she emptied everything out of her stomach, she dry heaved. Hands skimmed down her back and then a soaked jacket fell around her. She didn’t realize how cold she was until his animal heat engulfed her. When Gavin lifted her into his arms Lyla buried her face against his slick chest. Voices echoed around them.
“Holy fuck! Lyla?”
She recognized Vinny’s voice, but she couldn’t look up and tell him she was all right because she wasn’t sure. Gavin spoke and she recognized Blade’s voice as well. There was a flurry of activity around her, but she blocked it out. Gavin ducked and then a car door slammed. Gavin eased his hold to cut through the ties on her wrists and ankles. Her limbs were numb from being in one position for so long. Lyla wasn’t aware she was crying until Gavin spoke.
“Shh, Lyla, you’re safe,” he said, voice gruff.
Lyla grabbed fistfuls of his ruined suit and shook her head. She couldn’t talk, couldn’t begin to tell him what happened. He didn’t ask. Her body hurt, but what scared her the most was the throbbing between her legs. How far did pervert go before Gavin arrived? How many times did he fuck her? What did he do to her? A sob escaped and then another until she was crying as she’d never cried before in her life. She pounded Gavin's chest with her fists until she was exhausted and slumped against him. Gavin didn’t say a word.
When the car stopped, he carried her outside. The cold night air made her very aware of the fact that Gavin’s jacket concealed her nakedness. The tattered strips of her dress clung to her legs wet with blood. Lyla hiccuped against Gavin’s chest and fought the need to vomit again. She felt so dirty, so violated. Gavin hurried somewhere, never easing his hold on her, never letting her feel for one moment that she was alone. More voices, hushed and concerned and then the sound of running water. Lyla heard a hollow echo as he stepped into a shower stall. Gavin let her feet touch the tiles. She hissed as feeling returned to her arms and legs with a vengeance. Her limbs quaked, unable to handle her weight. When Gavin tried to tug the jacket off she yelled unintelligibly, desperate to hold onto anything that would cover her. With an arm around her waist to hold her up, Gavin stripped off his clothes.
The spray bounced off them and tinged the glass stall with red droplets. Lyla gagged. Gavin turned her sideways so she could puke, but he didn’t let her go. He shampooed her hair. Lyla couldn’t stop shaking or look at him. Her mind was locked in a blank state that she didn’t try to fight. She slumped against Gavin and watched the water wash him clean. He carried her from the shower to the bath tub, which was filled with steaming water and climbed in with her. He wrapped her close and rested his forehead against the back of her head. The heat didn’t penetrate and the bright lights in the bathroom made her feel exposed after the darkness in that hell hole. She couldn’t stop shaking.
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry, Lyla. Can you forgive me?” he whispered.
Lyla swallowed hard. Tears slid down her face. Lyla hugged the jacket to her and pushed at the hands around her waist. She needed to be alone. She didn’t want to be held. Gavin’s arms tightened for a moment before they fell away. They sat like that until she scooted forward so they weren’t touching. Gavin left the tub. The water level dropped and she sank deeper into the water. She heard the rustle of clothes and then dropped her head forward when the bathroom door closed.
She wasn't sure how long she sat there when the door opened again. She tensed as a woman Lyla had never seen before knelt beside the tub. She had long white hair twisted into a french twist. The stranger smiled kindly at her.
“Hi, Lyla, I’m a doctor. I want to have a look at you,” she said.
“I-I’m fine,” Lyla replied through chattering teeth.
“I was told you went through something traumatic. I know you’re cold. Mr. Pyre gave me pajamas for you.” She held up a pair of sweat pants and an over-sized sweater. “You can have these.”
Lyla wanted the clothes, but didn’t want to leave the safety of the tub.
“That jacket is stained. You want to wear something clean, don’t you?”
Lyla shuddered and then nodded.
“Are you in pain?” the doctor continued.
Lyla nodded, staring straight ahead. Her head throbbed and she felt seasick, stomach pitching and rolling even though she was sitting completely still.
“I can give you something for the pain, but I want to examine you first.”
Silent tears slipped down Lyla’s cheeks. A gentle, cool hand brushed over her hair.
“I can help you, Lyla.”
Lyla swallowed hard and slowly released her death grip on the jacket. She parted it and began to sob. The doctor spoke soothingly as Lyla allowed the jacket sink to the bottom of the tub. She slipped the tiny strips of her dress off her shoulder and that too pooled around her.
“Can you stand?” the doctor asked.
Lyla gripped the side of the tub and pushed. It took a moment for her legs to steady, for her head to stop spinning. The doctor immediately engulfed her in a towel, which she buried her face in. The doctor helped her out of the tub and sat her on the seat in front of the vanity.
“I’m going to give you a quick exam, okay? Then we can get you into your clothes,” the doctor said.
Lyla nodded and got a glimpse of herself in the mirror. Her face was bloodless. Her eyes shone with glassy horror. Lyla looked away and felt faint when the doctor brushed her hand over her head.
“You have several bumps on your head.”
The doctor’s calm, clinical tone kept Lyla from losing her mind. The doctor knelt in front of Lyla and slowly opened the robe.
“I just want to make sure you’re okay. We don’t want any scratches or cuts to get infected.”
Remembering the pervert’s dirty hands in her, Lyla jolted. The doctor spoke quickly and firmly, stroking Lyla’s rigid back.
“We want to make sure there’s no repercussions, yes?”
Lyla nodded and closed her eyes. She opened the robe and felt the doctor’s hands move quickly and efficiently over her body. A steady stream of tears slipped down her face.
“Are you on any birth control?”
“IUD.” Thank God.
“I want to check you down there. Can you handle that?”
Lyla nodded. The doctor positioned her on the bench seat and with her eyes still closed, felt the doctor prod, pause.
“I can see your IUD. I need to take it out.”
Lyla trembled like a plucked bow. “I can’t—I can’t get pregnant, right?”
“You’re bleeding. Do you have your period right now?”
Lyla shook her head wildly.
“I’m going to take out the IUD and examine you more thoroughly, okay? Tell me if I’m hurting you.”
Her whole body hurt. Her mind was a dizzy whirlwind of fear and pain. Lyla didn’t feel anything as the doctor examined her and reported that there was a tear in her vagina. That fucker’s fingernails—. “H-He was dirty. He was rough. I-I—”
“Let me clean you up and swab you to see if there was anything transmitted.”
Transmitted? Lyla wanted to scream and fight. Instead, she lay there and let the doctor finish her examination. The doctor cleaned the cuts on her wrists and ankles and wrapped them with bandages before she helped Lyla into pajamas.
“You have a concussion, vaginal lacerations and bruises. I’m prescribing pain killers. You need a lot of bed rest. I’ll let you know the results of the test.”
“C-can you tell how many times he—” Lyla asked, stumbling over her words.
“You’re bruised, bleeding and tender, but I don’t see semen. I will let you know the results. Here’s the morning after pill.”
Lyla held out a hand and downed it even though her mouth was dry as dust.
“I’ll be back in a few days and I’m only a phone call away.” The doctor hesitated and then said, “If you need to speak to me, I know a lot of great counselors.”
Lyla nodded. The doctor helped her into the bedroom and Lyla realized that she was in Gavin’s house, not Manny’s. The doctor helped her into bed and handed her pain killers. Lyla took those too, but this time drank from a water bottle on the nightstand. She pulled the covers up to her chin and tried to get warm. The doctor left, dimming the lights as she left. Lyla lay there, tossing and turning. Her body hurt, her
insides hurt and every time she closed her eyes, she saw that fucker’s face. She needed someone beside her, someone who would beat back the memories battering her. She needed her monster. He came for her and destroyed that twisted human being. Suddenly pissed, Lyla staggered to the bedroom door and flung it open.
Blade stood in the hallway. His eyes flicked over her, but his expression was unreadable.
“Lyla?” he asked cautiously.
“Where’s Gavin? I want Gavin,” Lyla said through chattering teeth.
“He’s—”
“Get him for me.” He hesitated and she screamed, “Now!”
Blade backed away with his hands up and ran. If Lyla wasn’t so shaken, she would have been amused by the turnabout in his attitude. Instead, she tried to keep herself in one piece as she stood there, waiting. Male voices echoed down the hallway and then she heard the sound of footsteps pounding towards her. Gavin stopped in front of her, hollow-eyed and wary. Lyla hesitated only a second before she launched herself at him. Gavin caught her as she wrapped her arms and legs around him.
“You can’t leave me,” she babbled.
“Lyla—”
“You can’t!” she shouted and buried her face against his neck, trying to absorb his heat, his scent. “You can’t leave me like this.”
A tremor passed through Gavin as he walked to the bed and got in with her clinging to him. He lay on his back and pulled the covers over them. She tucked her head under his chin and lay over his big, strong body. I’m safe, I’m safe, she chanted in her head and willed herself to believe it.
“You stay with me,” she ordered.
“I won’t go anywhere,” he promised.
Lyla relaxed fractionally. She closed her eyes and let his presence wash away the horror. Her shaky breaths filled the room. Gavin’s hands moved over her gently, as if she were made of glass. Tears soaked his shirt. Neither of them said a thing.
***
Lyla woke with a scream.
“Shh, baby girl, I’m here.”