My eyes followed the movement of her breasts as her breathing increased. I could smell her fear, and it made my dick press against my pants. I needed to get away from her before I took her down right then and there.

“You can’t keep me here!” She screamed.

“I can, and I will.”

I left her in the room and locked the door. A second later, she pounded on the door, screaming for me to let her out, but I wasn’t going to until I was ready.

Nobody prepared you for what to do when you were kidnapped, but who actually thought they would be kidnapped, especially as an adult? I damn sure didn’t. Plus, I wasn’t a small girl, so the fact that a man could toss me over his shoulder like I was nothing baffled me. He didn’t even blink or act like it bothered him when I hit and screamed at him. I still didn’t know why he did it and what favor he wanted from me.

I’d never seen him before, because I would have known if I had. He was a lot taller than me, and I was tall for a woman, at least that was what I’d been told. Jalen was taller than me, but this guy would probably tower over Jalen. His arms and back were huge too. If I wasn’t so pissed at him, I might have tried to fuck him. He had to be packing something lethal between his legs. If not, that would be a major disappointment.

I shouldn’t have been thinking about him like that. I didn’t know how long I had been locked up in the empty ass room he tossed me in. I hadn’t moved from the bed that was against the wall. I guess I should be happy that it at least had that because there was nothing else in the room. There was no radio to listen to or television to watch. I couldn’t even look out the windows because they were covered with something that made it hard tosee out of them. I knew if I tried to get out, it wouldn’t happen. I was hungry, sleepy, scared, and I had to pee. The least he could have done was let me use the bathroom.

“Evil bastard,” I mumbled as I changed positions on the bed. For the longest time, I sat on the edge of the bed. It was surprisingly comfortable, but I wasn’t trying to get too comfortable because I wouldn’t be here that long.

My father and I weren’t on the best of terms, but I was sure he wouldn’t leave me with a man who probably planned to kill me. I prayed that he didn’t.

If my father didn’t come, I knew my uncle Evan and Cayenne would look for me. They would burn this whole damn house down to save me if they had to. A small smile spread across my face when I thought about my uncle and cousin. They were my saving grace on plenty of days. Cayenne was my best friend, who was more like a sister than a cousin. We used to do some sneaky shit when we were younger. We didn’t have it easy growing up, and Uncle Evan was the only adult we had that tried to give us as normal of a life as possible.

Cayenne still had her grandmother on her mother’s side, but I had no living grandparents left. That was another reason why I tried so hard with my father. He really was all I had left.

I knew my father wasn’t shit ever since I was young, but I still tried to love him.

I finally let myself lie on the bed, but I wasn’t getting under the covers, no matter how cold I got. I didn’t know who had been on the bed, even though it looked clean. It actually looked new, but I couldn’t be sure.

I stared at the ceiling and thought about the last time I saw my mom.

It was when I was seven. My mother and I were in my bedroom playing when my father came into the house on a rampage.

“Elaine! Elaine!” my father yelled as soon as he closed the front door. “Where the fuck are you, Elaine!”

My mother turned toward me and put her hand up to her lips. “Stay in here, and don’t come out until I come and get you. No matter what, I love you so much, Peppy.” She pulled me into her arms and hugged me tighter than normal, then kissed my forehead before she left the room.

I watched with tears in my eyes as she left my room and closed the door.

“I know you heard me calling your nasty ass. What’s this I hear about you going over Charles’s house and sucking his dick!”

“Harold, please. First of all, that isn’t true. Second, your daughter is in her room, and she shouldn’t be hearing this kind of stuff.” My mother’s voice was calm, while my dad probably stood in her face like a raging bull.

I’d seen my father angry before, but I had never heard him talk to my mother that badly.

“You think I give a fuck about that? I want to know why my wife is in the streets being a whore. I do everything for you, and this is the thanks I get?”

The next thing I heard was a slap, followed by my mother’s screams.

That was the last time I saw my mother.

At some point, she’d gotten herself together. I always wondered why she never came back to get me. My uncle told me she planned on coming back to get me, but she suffered from an epidural hematoma and died almost instantly. From what I learned, it could have been something that my father caused, but we would never know how true that was. It was bad enough my father was the reason she left; I didn’t want to think his actions were a cause of her dying too. I wasn’t sure if I would be able to take that.

My uncle told me my mother’s last words were that she was sorry, and she loved me. For months on end, I cried for the loss of my mother and never getting the chance to make amends.

Oftentimes, I dreamed of how life would have been if I had better parents, or at least if my mother had come back and got me. She was my best friend when I was little. She would sing to me whenever she brushed my hair. She always played with my doll babies when I wanted her to. Sometimes she took Cayenne and me to get our nails painted and shopping. It was so much fun until it wasn’t.

Tears streamed down my face as I thought about how my life had turned out, and I probably would die in this strange man’s house.

My mind went back to the big, strange man.

“Oh, God. How many other women has he kept hostage in here?” I whispered.