by Linnea May
“But—”
“Do you fucking understand?”
My voice roars through the small room with marrow-deep ferocity. And it does the job. Riley’s submissive side rises to the surface and she hurries to nod in agreement, her eyes firmly locked onto mine when she breathes, “Yes, I understand.”
“Good girl,” I praise, and let go of her chin.
She sighs in relief, but pulls the duvet up to her ears now, as if in shame.
“Just to be clear: you don’t have to fuck him,” I snarl at her. “You will be bait, a Venus flytrap, as you called it. But you do not have to fuck anybody.”
“But you said—”
“I know what I said, Riley. I said you’d have to turn his head, to make him trust and like you enough for him to take you home. That’s all. I just need you to make him believe that you will sleep with him, but that doesn’t mean you’ll actually have to do it.”
“What does it mean, then?”
Her face is stern when she looks at me now, sitting up straight, her eyes slightly narrowed and her lips pressed together.
“It means you’ll do what you can to get into this guy’s home, and I’ll provide you with something to spike his drink once you get there,” I explain. “We need him knocked out for a while so you can go about your business without him noticing. Once you’ve done what I need you to do, you’ll make sure to place him in his bed, maybe leave a little note to thank him for the great night, and then leave the place. When he wakes up, he’ll be hungover and exhausted, but he’ll think it’s from a hot date and a good lay.”
Riley grimaces and a tremor of disgust travels through her body while she processes my words.
“No,” she objects. “No, Cain—if that’s even your name—I don’t think I can do this. I just…can’t.”
“You’ll have to, and you know why,” I say coldly.
Her curious gaze follows me when I get up from the bed. It’s time to bring this chat to an end. She won’t say yes to this tonight, maybe not even tomorrow. I didn’t expect her to go along with my demands—threats or not—right away. She’ll need some time. Time that I will spend wisely winning her over. It can’t be done tonight, especially when she’s still not fully comprehending the extent of all of this.
“Where are you going?” she bellows after me when I turn my back to her. “We’re not done talking!”
I snort. “Oh, yes we are. Good night, Riley.”
“Cain!” She shrieks after me, and I can hear the bed creaking when she moves on it. “Don’t go! Please don’t l-”
Her pleas are cut off when I let the door fall shut behind my back, not pausing or turning around even once as I walk away from my little Riley’s cell.
Chapter 15
Riley
Time moves slowly when there’s nothing to occupy your mind. It moves even slower when there’s no way to tell how much time has passed. I don’t have my phone or any other clock, and there are no windows down here, so I don’t even know whether it’s day or night.
It was early evening when I left the coffee place, and pitch dark by the time I was brought here. That is all I know. I don’t know how much time passed between me being locked down here and Cain coming down to talk to me. An hour, maybe? Or less? How long did he stay? And how long ago did he leave?
That last question is especially intriguing to me because I fell asleep at some point, and despite feeling oddly refreshed when I woke up, I have no idea whether it’s the next morning or still the middle of the night when I hear the lock of the door being turned again.
I sit up straight right away, my anxious eyes glued to the doorknob as I watch it turn, my heart beating wildly. I don’t know whether to be happy or scared about the prospect of company—until the door opens. My heart lurches. It’s not Cain who walks into the room, but one of the two thugs who brought me down here.
The one with the large gap in his front teeth.
“Hello, sweetheart,” he slurs after the door closes behind him. “Miss me?”
I recoil with disgust when he approaches me. He’s carrying a small silver tray, which he places on the mattress next to me. Thank God he keeps his distance and makes no move to sit down next to me like Cain did earlier.
“What time is it?”
I never knew that one could crave the answer to this mundane question as much as I do right now.
Control, Riley. It’s all about control. Not even knowing what day, let alone what time it is, only deepens the power divide between you and those guys.
“None of your business,” the creep grunts in response. “You just worry about that.”
He nods toward the plate he placed next to me. There’s a small bottle of water next to something that looks like a wrapped-up sandwich. And an apple. My stomach is growling with hunger, but this platter doesn’t look appealing at all. It looks like prison food.
How fitting.
“Enjoy.”
With that, the guy turns away from me and makes a move to leave the room.
“Hey, where’s Cain? When is he coming back?”
The guy lets out a disgusting snort as he stops to turn around and look at me. “Already missing your boyfriend? What, am I not good enough for the little princess?”
He turns menacingly and comes back to me in wide, determined steps, his grimace locked on me as he approaches. I move away from him, dragging the blanket with me to shield my naked body from him, but he yanks it out of my hand, evoking a desperate cry as I curl up in terror.
“Please, please, no, no!” The words leave my lips in a horrified staccato as I imagine his grabby hands on me. “Please, don’t hurt me. Don’t… don’t touch me!”
And just as I prepare for impact, my mind already surrendering to his unwanted touch, he stops mid-motion. Towering over me with the promise of a terrible threat shrouding the air between us, he freezes and looks down on me while I stare up at him with a silent plea.
“No questions, capiche?” he barks at me. “You just shut your pretty mouth and do what I tell you. Understood?”
I glare up at him, trying to read the situation. Something tells me that his job is merely to intimidate me, to make me cower and submit, but without him having any leverage. I noticed the way Cain talked to these men. They’re nothing but simple henchmen who work for him.
“I don’t take orders from losers,” I dare to hiss at the man. “You can’t hurt me. You can’t even touch me. Y—”
“Can’t touch you?!” he roars, jumping forward.
I’m too dumbstruck by his sudden move to evade in time, so he wins the upper hand when his stubby fingers close around my wrist. A shriek of surprise flees my lips as he yanks me forward. He drags me toward him, his grip so tight that it’s a piercing pain all on its own, while I struggle to support myself with my other hand.
My cries of protest are quickly silenced when he manages to get a hold of my other arm as well and I’m pulled across the sheets, butt naked and helpless. A clamp of disgust closes around my throat when he forces me on my back before him, my legs aimlessly kicking as I try to keep him away from me.
I want to cry. I want to scream for help. I want to make his fucking ears ring with the sound of my horrified voice—but my throat is so closed up that I feel like I’m about to throw up every time I try to form any kind of words.
I’m on my back, pinned in place by this gruesome man, who reeks of sweat and cold smoke, my exposed body in stark contrast to his rugged jeans and battered leather jacket. I gag when he lowers himself on top of me and I can feel something hard pressing against my lower belly.
“No!” I finally manage to cry out. “No! Get off of me!”
He laughs darkly, revealing that horrible hole between his front teeth.
“Oh, come on, you little slut, I know you’re into this!” he slurs at me, his vile breath dampening the skin on my face. “I bet your cunt is dripping wet from this!”
I retch beneath him, panic setting in as I feel every fi
ber of my being revolting against this man’s intrusion. I can’t believe this is happening. I can’t believe Cain would let this man rape me.
Tears begin to blur my vision, and I take them as a welcome blessing. The less I see, the easier this will be to endure, right?
I squirm and fight as much as I can, but he is so much bigger and stronger than me that I can’t even move an inch beneath his heavy body. Panic sets in when I realize that he has let one of my wrists go, but he still manages to pin me in place with just one arm—as his other one moves down to my hips.
“Who can’t touch you now, you little slut? Let me show you what I can do,” he lisps, his face moving even closer to mine. I can feel his thick, clumsy fingers fondling my core.
“No!” I burst out, my voice so shrill and laced with choked tears that I barely sound human. “Nooo!”
“Oh, yes, I’m gonna find that wet little cunt and then I’m gonna—”
“Stop! Right now!” a voice thunders from the doorway.
A familiar voice.
Cain’s voice.
Relief washes over me in an instant, despite still being jammed between the mattress and the thug, whose hand is still dangerously close to my center but no longer moving.
The guy frowns at me, the anger flaring in his muddy eyes with such clarity that it sends a shock right down my spine.
“Get off of her right this fucking second!” Cain commands as he lunges forward.
The thug’s infuriated gaze is still on me as he slowly retreats from me, sending another shudder ratcheting through my body when he steals one more unwanted touch from me by caressing the inner side of my upper thigh as he slowly gets up.
I crawl away from him as quickly as possible and return to the only safe place available—wrapped up in the big duvet blanket that’s been my only comfort ever since I got down here.
“Out!” Cain barks at the guy, who’s still staring heatedly at me, while subtly rubbing his erection.
I gulp and turn away, hiding my face under the blanket as I seek protection in the soothing dark. There’s no light showing the terrifying reality in here, sounds are muffled and nothing but the soft fabric of the duvet touches my skin.
I don’t know what’s happening outside my safe haven. I don’t know if the guy has left as he was told, or if he’s still lingering next to the bed, still hard with greedy lust for me, still leering at something he can’t have. I don’t know if he left. I don’t know if Cain left with him or if he’s still there, ready to take what I denied his henchman.
I don’t know. And right now I wish for nothing more than for all of this to end. I wish to wake up from a slumber, disoriented and troubled by a nightmare—but safe. Safe and free.
But the moment I feel a heavy hand on my left shoulder, invading my cozy cave through the thick fabric of the duvet, I know that I can wish all I want.
This is not a nightmare. This is a reality I can’t escape from.
And it won’t end any time soon.
Chapter 16
Cain
I can’t believe this fucking asshole. His instructions were clear: intimidate her, make her feel small and frightened, say whatever you want to scare the shit out of her—but never touch her, unless you absolutely have to.
She’s mine. Mine to play with and mine to train. She needs to be absolutely dependent on me, and only me.
It’s a classic good cop-bad cop game we’re playing, but it’ll only work if Jack learns to adhere to the rules as I’ve laid them out. I never gave him permission to come close to her like that, to touch her, to fucking rape her. My stomach turns at the thought of what might have happened if I hadn’t shown up when I did. I know Jack has been lusting after Riley from the moment he saw her. She’s his type and she seems like easy prey, a girl who is at our mercy, vulnerable, and so irresistible with her seemingly innocent allure. I can’t really blame the guy for wanting her because fuck, I want her, too.
But unlike him, I will have her.
I’m the only one allowed to lay a hand on her in any capacity. And if he doesn’t get that, I’ll have to make sure that he’ll never be alone with her again.
Riley is sitting on the bed, hiding underneath the heavy blanket with only the top of her head peeking through, only a few brown strands of hair revealing her presence beneath the massive lump of fabric.
“Sorry for that,” I say as I sit down next to her on the mattress.
She moves under the blanket, and a moment later, her eyes peep out on top, a deep furrow between them as she lowers the blanket just enough to reveal her face.
“Sorry for that?” she repeats, mocking my voice. “Are you fucking kidding me? That guy tried to rape me! How can you let this happen to me? What kind of monster—”
“I didn’t let it happen, did I?” I cut her off.
She huffs. “Uh, yeah, maybe not this time. But you left me alone with him! And you don’t seem to be rattled by this at all.”
“Trust me, I’ll take care of Jack. It won’t happen again.”
The crease between her eyebrows eases, but only slightly.
“What won’t happen again? Him trying to rape me, or you leaving me alone with him?”
“Both. I promise you that.”
Her probing gaze rests on me while she seems to consider my words. I can see the gears working between her ears, her lashes fluttering subtly while the grip on her safety blanket grows weaker and less urgent.
“Are you expecting me to thank you?” she says eventually, her voice brisk and cold.
I shake my head. “No. But what I want you to do right now is eat. You haven’t eaten in a whole day, and we can’t have that.”
Awareness flashes across her face, as if she just realized something. She doesn’t say anything, but her eyes lazily wander over to the tray on the bed next to her.
“I know it’s not much, but it will have to do for now,” I tell her. “You’ll get something warm later today—if you prove yourself worthy.”
She lets out an indignant huff.
“Prove myself worthy,” she repeats in a low voice, defeat dominating her facial expression now. “And how exactly do I do that?”
She doesn’t look at me but keeps her eyes glued on the packaged sandwich.
“By being a good girl today,” I inform her. “By listening to me, by cooperating—and by not causing scenes like the one I just witnessed.”
“Causing scenes?!” she shrills at me. “That asshole almost rapes me, and you blame me for causing a scene!”
“You provoked him,” I say. “You insulted him.”
Her eyes widen and her lower lip begins to tremble again, a subtle taste of pain now overshadowing the look on her face.
“You weren’t here,” she murmurs. “How would you even know…?”
She pauses, and her smart eyes scurry around the room, latching onto every corner as she seems to search for hidden cameras.
“Riley,” I say, tearing her attention back to me. She looks at me with one eyebrow arched, seemingly expecting an explanation I’m not willing to give.
“I need you to listen to me,” I begin to say—and she rolls her eyes.
“Yes, you need me to do a lot of things.”
“Watch it,” I hiss, and she flinches as I raise a finger in front of her face. “I’m not here to argue with you or deal with your tantrums.”
“I know,” she retorts, accompanied by a condescending smile. “You’re here to comfort me and make me feel all safe and warm, aren’t you?”
Startled at her words, I tilt my head to the side in question.
“Oh, Cain, how stupid do you think I am?” she taunts me. “It’s so obvious what you’re doing. You order those guys to be the assholes I fear, while you keep appearing at the most convenient times to be my knight in shining armor. This is so Psychology 101.”
She rolls her eyes again, and this time I really have to restrain myself from grabbing her and bending her over my knee. Of course, she underst
ands what’s going on. I’m not surprised that Riley sees right through my tactics—but that doesn’t mean they won’t work on her.
“Did you think threatening the life of my sister wouldn’t be enough to make me play along with your stupid plan?” she spits at me now. “Or are you just hoping to gain my trust so you can keep using me as your little puppy, one who helps out whenever you need me to? How do I even know you’ll ever let me go once this is done?”
I clear my throat, trying to remain as calm as possible despite the rage that is tingling inside me.
“You have my word, Riley,” I promise. “You’re free to go after this is done, and I will never contact you again.”
Her face is hard to read right now. She doesn’t look relieved at my promise, but rather she appears to be… hurt?
“I can’t believe that,” she sighs. “How could you let me go after involving me in all of this? I know too much. What makes you think I won’t run to the police as soon as you let me go?”
“Because you love your sister,” I respond. “And her life will be in your hands. That won’t stop just because we’re done. If you send the police after me, she’s dead.”
Her face crumbles into a grimace of agony as she whispers, “This will never end, then.”
“It will if you let it.”
Riley swallows hard, slowly shaking her head.
“You’re tricking me,” she accuses. “How can I believe anything you say after what you did to me? You’re no better than those ugly thugs. No, actually, you’re worse!”
Tears are shimmering in her eyes when she looks at me now, anger charting deep lines on her pretty face.
“You’re a fucking monster,” she cries. “A monster playing nice just so I play along with his wishes. That’s just so fucking—”
“Okay, fine!” I interrupt, and she jerks back when I jump up from the bed. “I don’t have time for this. You don’t want me to be nice to you—fine, don’t eat then, smart ass!”