Haynes, K. R. - The Light in Her Eyes [In Her Eyes] (Siren Publishing Classic)

by K. R. Haynes

  In her mind, Chloe could hear Randall’s voice urging her to move to stand up and fight. Not to give up. Gingerly she rose to her feet, pushing past the pain whipping throughout her body, and lunged for the masked bastard. Her fist connected to his jaw and he stumbled back, more from surprise of her attack on him. Nevertheless, it wasn’t enough to stop him. The bastard advanced on her once again.

  His eyes, so dark with rage, were the only thing Chloe had time to see before he slammed a fist to the other side of her head. She collapsed to the floor, lost to the pain from the hit. Blackness engulfed her vision. She was vaguely aware of her arms being pulled roughly behind her back. The bastard tied some kind of abrasive material around her wrists. The coarseness of the material burned and rubbed against her bare skin on her wrists. Then to her utter disgust the bastard threw her limp body over his shoulder so hard her sore ribs collided heavily against his shoulder blades, causing her to lose her breath as pain once again exploded down her side. Her body finally gave up on the fight to stay awake and surrendered itself to the darkness of unconsciousness.

  * * * *

  Jake was surprised to see Chloe’s car parked in the driveway of her house when he drove past. Knowing she’d been staying over at her friend’s place, it seemed odd that her car would be here this morning. Shrugging, he drove on, figuring Chloe was probably hanging at her place with her friend watching a movie or something. Or whatever the hell women did for entertainment these days.

  The street did seem quiet though. On his previous drive-bys in the mornings the busy suburban street was usually a hive of activity. Not today. Glancing up at the sky, it seemed, well, eerie. Dark clouds were moving in from the south, a storm expected later in the day.

  Rain. Just what he needed. Not.

  Jake made a mental note to himself to drive by Chloe’s place once his errands were done. If her car was still there, then he’d drop in and make sure everything was all in order. Putting his foot down on the accelerator, he drove up to the end of the street and headed into town.

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Her head throbbed from the multiple blows she had received from the bastard. The skin on her wrists burned from the rope binding them tightly together. Slowly, Chloe opened one of her swollen eyes, peering out from underneath the lashes, realising she was still in her house. And, thank god, still fully clothed. She sighed with relief at the knowledge she hadn’t been sexually assaulted while unconscious. The action of sighing made her chest ache from the numerous kicks to the ribs she had received earlier from the bastard. She was going to be sore for days, if she survived this nightmare.

  Not taking into account the punishment Randall would dish out to her for defying his orders. Randall’s type of discipline Chloe welcomed with open arms, loved even. What the bastard had been dishing out to her over the past couple of hours was something else entirely. This bastard’s form of physical punishment was something Chloe had to take against her own will. All because the bastard was fucked up in the head and had decided that she deserved this form of brutal abuse.

  In her eyes, this wasn’t punishment. It was torture. Physical torture in the worst way. One of the cruellest kinds of physical torture a human being could do to another human being.

  Yes, she might be a woman, which made her weaker than her male counterpart. But Chloe had the will to survive. Something the bastard probably never counted on her having. After all she was just a bitch to him, and a useless one at that. He was wrong to underestimate her though.

  Chloe had something that gave her the will to live, the will to survive. Something this bastard had probably never had or believed in. Not that she cared what the bastard believed in. Her will to survive was Randall and the love he offered to her on a daily basis with or without her submission. Then there was the love she held in her heart for him. The love they gave to each other was her greatest form of strength for her own survival.

  As she shifted her gaze around, trying to determine where the bastard might be lying low, Chloe tried not to move her body around. She couldn’t draw his attention to her non-unconscious state.

  She could still feel him, in her home.

  She wasn’t actually sure where he was, but his evil presence lurked nearby.

  The faint scent of gas assaulted her nostrils moments later. Then the black steel-capped boots of her attacker came into her line of vision not long afterward. Chloe willed herself not to look up at him, knowing that would only cause him to hurt her more. And she hurt enough to last her a life time. She had to pretend to be still knocked out if she planned on getting out of here alive.

  Hearing him grunt out a sting of profanities and other vulgar words, Chloe remained silent and still. Something that was hard to do especially when the bastard swung his leg toward her, the steel-capped boot of his colliding once again with her already tender ribs. Unbearable pain assaulted her. Biting down on her own her tongue, Chloe fought to hold in the scream of anguish wanting to escape past her bloodied split lips. She could not alert him to her being awake.

  If he knew…oh god, if he found out that she wasn’t unconscious anymore it could get incredibly worse for her. Chloe knew this, so she screamed soundlessly on the inside. The intensity of the stinging agony racing throughout her body was more than she could handle. More than anyone could possibly handle.

  She could feel herself slipping back into her unconscious state. She couldn’t allow herself to be sucked under again. She had to stay awake. Gas leaked from somewhere inside her home. She had to stay awake. The bastard was still inside her home. She had to remain awake to fight him.

  Randall. His name, his words, his sparkling sky-blue eyes gave her comfort in her darkest hour. They provided the strength she needed to fight against the blackness clouding the edges of her mind. It would be so easy if she could succumb to the blackness. Then she wouldn’t have to live through all that was about to happen to her. If she let herself be taken by the blackness edging in her mind she could forget.

  It was harder to remain awake, knowing that she would remember every little detail of everything the bastard did to her for the rest of her life.

  Somewhere inside her, Chloe knew he would come for her. That Randall would find his way to her and rescue her from this nightmare. She just hoped he wasn’t too late. She wanted to scream her fury at the bastard hurting her now. But she couldn’t. When the bastard kicked her in the lower back, her body bucked from the unexpected force. She cried out in pain when he forced her to her feet by pulling her up by her own hair.

  The bastard had being playing with her this whole time.

  He knew damn well she had been awake.

  Her body trembled from both the pain lashing through her and the fear of what the bastard had planned next for her.

  With an open hand he slapped her hard across the face. Tears streamed down her bloodied and bruised face when the bastard tore the front of her blouse open. Chloe screamed “No!” at him. He didn’t stop though.

  His leather-covered hands manhandled her breasts roughly through the black lace of her bra, bruising her flesh even more. Bile rose in her throat from his touch alone. His hands felt coarse against her flesh. She tried to fight against him in an effort to dislodge the grasp he had on her.

  Feeling one of his hands travelling lower down her body to the zipper on her jeans, Chloe thrashed around in his hold even more, screaming “No!” at him.

  Her hands still trapped behind her back made it all the more difficult for her to break free from his unyielding grip he had on her. Panic set in when she heard the lowering of the zipper of her jeans.

  Her voice shook when she yelled “No!” to him again. Fear lacing her voice, her body shuddered violently from a combination of the sheer terror of his hands on her body taking what he wanted from her and from her own pain.

  She had to stop this. She couldn’t allow him to vandalise her body in this way. Couldn’t allow this bastard to touch what belonged only to Randall.

  Her bo
dy was only for Randall to touch, to explore and to take. This bastard had no right to grope her like this. The bastard had no right to take what didn’t belong to him.

  Chloe managed to fight free of his hold on her and stumbled backed away from him. Hearing him yell at her, “You little bitch,” had her edging back even further from him. She couldn’t run though. Her legs were barely holding her up as it was. Her hands still tied behind her gave her no way to escape him.

  Seeing him advance toward her, Chloe was determined not to concede to the violence the bastard was about to throw her way. She wasn’t going down without a fight. She at least owed Randall that much.

  Suddenly the scent of gas became increasingly stronger in the room. Coughing from the choking feeling the gas gave her, Chloe watched in disbelief as her attacker backhanded her across her already battered and bruised face.

  Falling to the ground from the force of the blow, she was vaguely aware of the bastard’s retreating presence. The front door slammed shut. The bastard had the nerve to make his exit via her front door.

  Now here she lay on the hardwood floor.

  Battered, bruised, and bloodied.

  Her torn blouse lay open and loose around her, exposing her bra-covered breasts to anyone who rescued her. One of the straps on her bra had broken loose during the struggle with her attacker. Glancing down, she could already see bruising forming on the half-exposed breast were it had been so roughly manhandled. Her breasts were actually painful from where the bastard had touched her so violently.

  Her hands still tied behind her back rendered her helpless to cover herself up. She was too battered and bruised to even move. The strength she had found within herself to ward off her attacker was all but gone now. All she could think about was the pain, the bruises on her flesh left behind from the bastard’s rough handling of her. The marks the bastard left behind on her body.

  She felt weak.

  She felt ashamed.

  Tears leaked from her eyes from the realisation of how awfully close she had come to being permanently violated by that bastard. Her body shuddered violently from the thought. The pain, the bruises on her flesh left behind from the bastard’s rough treatment of her would fade away in time. Physically her body would heal with time. Mentally, though, she wondered if she would ever be able to get pass this attack.

  She wouldn’t have given up what belonged only to Randall, not without a fight.

  She would have fought her attacker every step of the way.

  On the verge of unconsciousness, knowing she couldn’t remain here on the floor, she needed to get help to her somehow.

  Feeling her mobile in her back pocket of her jeans, Chloe wiggled her tied hands down till she could grasp the mobile with her fingertips and tug it free from her back pocket. She cursed, remembering the damn thing was still switched off from last night and she hadn’t gotten around to turning it back on yet.

  Okay, she could do this. Yes, the smell of gas leaking inside her home made her nauseous. Yes, her body felt like it had done ten rounds with a boxing champ in the ring. She could do this though. Calmly, Chloe felt around for the button at the side and held it down for five seconds, until it vibrated, letting her know it was switching back on. The wait for it to power back up was excruciating.

  Once her phone came back online, she flipped it open and hit the emergency button then waited for it to connect to an operator. When the faint voice of the female operator echoed over the phone line, Chloe screeched to the woman her address and brief description of what had happened. The woman promised to have an ambulance there within the next fifteen minutes, and the fire brigade there within five minutes. Chloe sighed in relief. Thank god her house wasn’t far from the local fire department, was her last thought before she blacked out again.

  * * * *

  She awoke with unfamiliar hands and voices surrounding her. Realising her hands had been freed, Chloe blindly pushed the hands upon her body away. Her eyes flew open when the hands came back. She screamed and cried hysterically for them to get their hands off of her, only to have their hands coming back the more she pushed them away from her. One of the firemen crouched down to her eye level. He told her that she was safe now and they were going to carry her out of here and out to the awaiting ambulance.

  Chloe wanted to fight them still, no matter what they told her. She wasn’t safe, not until Randall was with her. “Randall!” She screamed his name as loud as she could over and over again. When the firemen lifted her gently from the floor and began to carry her outside, Chloe knew in her mind she was safe. But her body thought otherwise and thrashed around within their grip.

  One of the firemen called out to get Officer Randall here pronto and he didn’t care how they did it, just get him here fast. They knew about her and Officer Randall how? Then Chloe heard Jake’s voice not far from her. Jake was here?

  “Chloe, oh god.” Hearing the break in Jake’s voice as he came up to her, Chloe knew she must look as bad as she felt.

  “J–Jake…Jon, please,” was all she had the strength to say before pain engulfed her, causing her to cry out.

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Jake couldn’t believe his own eyes when he saw Chloe being carried out by the firemen. He wanted to hunt and kill the fucker who dared to hit an innocent woman like Chloe. The rage burning out of control within him was hard to rein in when he caught sight of her delicate face and body all battered and bruised. Blood welled in the cuts to her lips and on her cheeks where the skin had spilt from being bashed. Her clothing was tattered and torn down the front, and bile rose in his throat when he thought about what may have happened to her.

  Only hours earlier, he had driven past her place and seen her car there but had failed to stop and check in on her. Kicking at the ground with his foot, he cursed out loud as he pulled his mobile free. Randall, the poor bastard, was going to be beside himself when he set his eyes on the damage the attacker had done to his Chloe.

  Jake knew Randall. He was aware he was a fellow Dominant and no doubt once Chloe had healed from her injuries she would feel the full force of the punishment Randall would dish out to her. Although Jake had a feeling Chloe would accept everything her Master gave her and more. Hell, if she could survive this attack on her life, she could survive anything.

  * * * *

  His phone vibrated in his pocket when he stepped into the command centre for another briefing on the investigation he and Mick were heading up. Flipping the phone open, Randall stepped out into the vacant corridor. “Talk to me,” he uttered to whoever was on the other end, not bothering to check who had called him.

  “Randall, Jake here. We have a situation. I, ahh, need you down here now.”

  “Where the fuck is here and what the fuck is going on, Jake?”

  “It’s Chloe.”

  Uneasiness rolled through him as he stammered out, “What about her? What the fuck is going on, Jake? I don’t have time for this shit. Just give it to me straight.”

  Randall heard Jake blow out a harsh breath before he answered his questions. In his gut he knew what he was about to hear would haunt him for days to come.

  “She’s been attacked, Randall. The asshole beat her up pretty badly.”

  “Where is she?” Randall had to rid himself of the pictures running through his brain at hearing Jake tell him his Chloe had been beaten. “Precious,” he murmured to himself.

  “Where, Jake? Where is Chloe now?”

  “She’s at her house.”

  “She’s where?” Randall could feel his rage building rapidly inside him. What the fuck was Chloe doing at her damn house? “Was she there alone?”

  “By the looks of it I would have to say yes.”

  “Fuck. Shit!”

  “I don’t know why Chloe went to her house this morning alone. The bastard must have been waiting for her or something. Whatever her reasons for coming here, you need to get your arse down to her place promptly, Randall. Chloe, she’s- messed up pretty badly and w
on’t let anyone go near her. You need to get down here fast, for her sake, man.”

  Randall was already walking out the police station as soon as Jake had mentioned Chloe’s name. “Leaving now,” he told the PI before flipping his phone shut.

  Chloe, his precious Chloe had been hurt by the one targeting her. Randall felt sick to the stomach not knowing what had happened to her. If the attack had been…God, he couldn’t even think it. But what if the attack had been a sexual attack? How could he possibly help her get through this? What could he offer her besides himself, his love and support? Would that even be enough to get them both through this? Could he ever be enough for her again?

  Randall scrubbed a hand over his eyes to remove the wetness gathered there. Beating a fist down hard on the steering wheel, he screamed out, “Fuck!”

  Grabbing his phone, he sent a quick text message to Mick, filling him in on what was going down at Chloe’s place. He then threw his phone down on the seat next to him.

  Backing out of the car park, the tyres of his truck screeched across the black tar as he accelerated out of the station’s car park. Randall didn’t give a flying fuck if he broke every goddamn road rule to get to her. He drove hard and fast to get to Chloe’s place. He had to be with her. He had to see her with his own eyes. He needed to feel her in his arms and hold her tightly against him. He needed to know that she was alive and safe.

  God help him if something ever happened to her that she couldn’t survive. His life, well, wouldn’t be worth shit if Chloe wasn’t standing there beside him to share it with, day in, day out.