Page 21 of Delivered to the Devil

I blink my eyes and shake my head as if waking up from a strange dream. Reality returns to my awareness as I glance around my surroundings. The tables, the customers, the beaten-up Izsák, and the suit-clad man. My breathing flows calmly, I realize as I linger on him, and as I go about work, I find that I can breathe a little freer with Janos close by, watching over me.

CHAPTER 11

“Numb”

by Linkin Park

Rebecca

Having the next day off is as much a burden as a relief.

I badly need time to relax, but I’m so anxious I can’t find peace in anything. My entire system is in fight-or-flight mode. I constantly feel like danger is lurking right around the corner, and my head keeps conjuring terrifying images of yet another nightly visit. Because I am convinced it will happen at night. Like Janos said,play at night. Gabor seems to keep up his proper politician façade during the day and lets the beast loose after dark.

Knowing this, it’s easier to keep the worries down during the day, but come night, the anxiety rages through me with a tearing force. I trot back and forth in my small apartment, jumping at the tiniest sound and checking the peephole every five minutes.

After two hours, I’m exhausted and realize I can’t keep doing this. Refusing to stay victim to this fear, I slip into bed and turn on the TV. It’s a poor distraction. I keep scanning the room every other minute, and it’s a struggle to keep from darting to the hall to check the peephole. It takes another two hours before I’m so depleted that I drift off.

***

A hand touches my shoulder gently and rolls me onto my back. I hum at the soothing feeling as I reach for the comforter. I can’t find it though, and when two warm hands slide up my stomach, I stop searching. I don’t need the comforter when these hands are on me.

A new pair of hands grabs my ankles. These are cold and rough, and when they yank at my legs, I realize something is off—very off.

Snapping my eyes open, I stare straight into Janos’s eyes. They shimmer coldly, like the blade of a knife. Not even the soft glow from my nightlight can ease the startling severity. It’s not just his eyes, though. Everything from his blank expression and sharp features to his tailored suit and broad shoulders makes him look callous. But when he pushes up my T-shirt, his hands are gentle. It makes me forget I should be scared, and I find myself so mesmerized by his ruthless beauty that I willingly lift my arms.

A forceful jerk on my pants snaps me out of the trance, and the urge to fight kicks in with a shot of adrenaline through my veins. I throw myself across the bed, but Janos is just as quick as he jumps onto the mattress, grabbing me by the waist and hauling me into the restrictive band of his arms. I writhe against him, yet it only takes him seconds to tug my T-shirt off.

When he presses me back down on the bed, I send him a plea through my eyes as I beg, “No, not again.” But there’s no help. He’s as uncompromising as he’s gentle as he presses his palm to my chest, and the dichotomy is a cruel mind-fuck that has me drawn to him even as I push at his arm.

His partner, on the other hand, is mechanical aggression incarnate. He’s in such a hurry to get me naked that he gets inhis own way. When my pants lodge around my ankles, he keeps yanking, getting nowhere.

“Get off her,” Janos orders with an irritated edge as he moves to the foot of the bed to shove the scrawny man away.

Taking advantage of the short reprieve, I scramble toward the headboard. Once again, Janos makes me feel like a clumsy puppy as he grabs my ankle and hauls me back with a single tug. He’s not even annoyed. He’s pure, calm control, and it scares the shit out of me.

I push up to sit and lash out at him, even knowing it’s useless. I need to fight or I won’t be able to live with myself tomorrow. Flailing my hands wildly, I go into full attack mode, but Janos freezes me with a feral growl as he jumps onto the bed. In the blink of an eye, I go into defense mode, scooting back as he crawls over me like a hungry lion.

“I’m sorry,” I blurt as he settles his large body over mine, rendering any movement impossible. My arms go slack on either side of my head as he pins me with his sharp stare. There’s no resistance left in the face of his mighty dominance.

He scoffs. “You’re too submissive for your own good.”

I squeeze my eyes shut as shame crashes over me. His words are like a cut to an already deep gash. My chest tightens, and all I want is to draw in on myself and disappear from the world, everyone in it, and myself.

But a swipe of his thumb across my cheek pulls me back. It holds a startling gentleness, and I open my eyes to find something like curiosity flickering in his gaze as he studies me.

“Pretty and vulnerable,” he whispers, as if mesmerized by my helplessness.

I part my lips, stunned by his words, and close them again, gulping when I can’t find any words of my own.

I don’t move when he crawls off me; I barely even breathe when he grabs the hem of my panties. I just keep staring at himas fear and desire pound through my system, crashing against each other. He stares back, keeping my body loose and pliant with the sheer force of his gaze as he removes my last scraps of protective fabric.

His expression is cold again, bordering on cruel with the scar slicing through his brow. But as he stands up and takes in the full length of my body, something I didn’t expect flickers in his eyes.Concern.

I glance down my torso where his eyes linger, and there’s the source of his reaction. Protruding ribs and small breasts have me squeezing my eyes shut and pushing air through rounded lips. I know I have lost weight, but I haven’t been able to face the full brunt of it by studying my body. Now, the tiny flicker of concern in this hard man’s expression throws the ugly truth right back in my face.

A couple of fingers nudge my chin, coaxing me to open my eyes. Hesitantly, I do so and look up at Janos.

“We’ll fix this,” he says, or rather, promises as he shrugs out of his suit jacket.

---