Page 107 of Mine to Protect

And the second reason I wasn’t stupid scared was Cas. He would find me. He would save me. If he was still out there, then I had a chance at surviving this. I just had to hold on until he could.

The person who abducted me from the house was a hazy memory at best. It was a male though, that much was sure. Blips of him talking to me in the car, detailing what he was going to do, were unfortunately clearer than everything else.

Again I swiped my tongue across my lips, hoping to find relief.

Saving my energy for when I’d need it, probably to fight the guy off, was important, but I couldn’t stop from trying to free my feet and hands. A sob bubbled in my throat, but I pushed it back down. Tears wouldn’t get me anywhere except more dehydrated and tired. I had to survive this.

Taking in the dark room for the hundredth time, my gaze landed on the small stream of light coming from what looked to be an adjoining room. The light pouring through the edges of the wood said the place wasn’t well constructed, or was maybe just really old. Now and then voices seemed close, but the steady, highly annoying hum of some engine made it hard to tell if they were real or in my head.

I hoped in my head, as crazy as it sounded. The voices in my head wouldn’t hurt me.

I gasped at the door swinging open, nailing the back of the other wall. Bright light flooded into the small room, and I slammed my eyes shut, shielding my face at the visual assault. Slow blinking, I allowed my eyes time to adjust before peeking back toward the door.

My heart slammed to a halt.

A man stood in the doorway, but the bright light beaming behind him doused his face in shadows. What I could see was an average man, maybe slightly overweight if the bulges over his hips were any indication. Shorter than average for a guy too. It had to be him. The man we were looking for. Of course someone like that would want to overcompensate and take the wives of stronger, alpha men.

He didn’t mutter a single word as he came in and shut the door behind him. With each resounding step against the dirt floor, he drew closer, and I shrank against the metal chair in an attempt to disappear.

The joints of his knees popped as he squatted in front of me. At that angle, the light illuminated his profile, which was about as unassuming as one could get. He was your basic middle-aged white guy. Not handsome, not ugly. Just blah. Of course, I wasn’t about to tell him that.

The toe of his boot pressed against my toes, holding them to the ground. My eyes stayed focused on his as he gripped my knees and forced my legs apart as wide as they could go with my feet tied. With every muscle I’d built with my years of running, I pressed my knees back in, resisting.

A low chuckle sounded around the room.

“I like you,” he said. A sudden waft of stale breath floated into my nose. Bile rose, burning my throat, but I pushed it down. He wouldn’t see a reaction from me. That was what he wanted. “We have to be fast.”

His small hands shoved up my thighs, slamming into the apex. Crudely he rubbed the heel of his palm up and down.

That time I couldn’t stop, and a small desperate whimper slipped past my lips. His smile grew to show a row of crooked teeth.

“You can be as loud as you want, baby. No one will hear you.”

I believed him.

“Watching you, playing with you was fun. Did you like my gift on the trail?” He chuckled at my narrow-eyed glare. “Thought you’d like that. You’re special, the one we’ve been looking for. And finally, here you are.”

A soft hand slid farther north, dipping under my sweatshirt and caressing the skin of my stomach.

“Fucking marines,” he muttered to himself. “How does that jackass feel now, dumb fuck. I took you from his own damn house. I’m sure he fed you with lies of you being safe, how he’d protect you. Look at how wrong he was.”

“He wasn’t wrong,” I said before I could think twice about my words. “You’re the dumb fuck for taking me from him. He won’t stop until he finds me, which he will. And when he does, he will kill you.” My breaths came in long, deep pants, my anger building with every word I said. “Let. Me. Go.”

His knuckles against my cheekbone whipped my head to the side. I only registered the shock of his hit when another blow came from the other side with more force, cracking against my eye socket.

I should be strong. Shouldn’t cry, shouldn’t feel so desperate. Cas was out there. But I did.

I didn’t want to be there.

I wanted to go home.

38

Cas

The second theambulance doors were shut, I pounded my fist against the back, then turned and vomited up what little I’d had to eat, splattering it over the gravel. I stared at the evidence of my inner turmoil. A vision of Alta scared, being hurt—alone—rolled my stomach, shooting more of its contents up my throat and onto the driveway. Hands gripping my knees, I let everything out, all while the dozen or so local police officers and crime scene techs pretended not to notice.

“Here.” A bottle of water appeared in my periphery. “Need a minute?”

---