Page 19 of Fervent

We were out of options. I’d searched every inch of this room by touch, had spent hours listening, hoping to find something that would give me a clue. We weren’t getting out of this damn dirt hole unless we tried.

“What are you doing?” she asked, her voice small. Timid. Hurt.

Rejected.

“I want to fuck you, sweetheart. Believe me, I do. But I just had an idea.”

“An idea?” Disbelief dripped from her tone.

I had a lot of ideas tumbling though my chaotic mind, most of them deranged and dirty and involving her at my mercy. None of them involved being in this place and at the mercy of others.

I tightened my fist around the chain. “Yeah. An idea.”

The persistentthump thump thumpof my fists on the door blasted my ears. I was surprised everyone in the place wasn’t screaming at me to quiet down. But having someone yell at me and possibly bark threats would be a step up from them outright ignoring me.

“Can anyone hear me?” I shouted again. I’d been wailing on that door for several minutes, though it felt closer to an hour. Faltering, I drew in a deep breath and listened carefully for the hint of footsteps, the jingle of keys. I couldn’t see a thing, but I knew Rafe waited nearby, chain held tightly in his hands, ready to trip up whoever opened that door.

First, I had to lure them into the room.

“Please!” I cried again. “I need some help in here!”

Footsteps sounded on the other side. I bolted away, the darkness whirling around me, and sat in what I hoped was the middle of the room so Rafe would have enough slack in the chain. The welts on my ass burned, but there was no time to change position. Someone pushed a key into the lock, and I held my breath, trying to calm my trembling limbs. This had to work. God, please, let this work.

The door burst open, and someone stood in the entrance, their tall build a silhouette against the bright backdrop of the tunnel. “Whaddya bitching for?” His beam tore through the blackness and lit me up like a spotlight.

“I’m bleeding,” I said, leaning back on my elbows and spreading my thighs. “I need a tampon.” I bit my lip, which probably came across as coy to him, but I was really trying to mask my fear. This plan was screwed if I couldn’t get him into the room.

The guy took a step inside and shone the light between my legs. “Where’s your boyfriend?”

I spread my legs further, hoping to keep his attention. “Can I get a tampon? Please?”

He took another step toward me, the beam of his flashlight casting over the bed, and I let out a sigh of relief.

“I asked you a question, bitch. Where’s the guy?”

“On the shitter.”

He swerved the light to the other end of the room, where the unoccupied bucket sat, and let out a curse under his breath.

Rafe’s shadow moved from behind the door, and he flung the chain over the guy’s head, bringing him down with a bone-jarring thud. The flashlight dropped to the ground and went out. I fisted my hands as the pull of the chain on my neck tightened. A scuffle broke out, and grunts and groans ensued. A bundle of shadows wrestled.

“Rafe?” What would I do if he didn’t answer? What would I do if this didn’t work? What had we done? They could kill him. This was stupid. So stupid.

“Rafe!” I said in a loud whisper.

One of the shadows rose and yanked on the chain, propelling me across the ground. I grabbed at it with ineffectual hands, barely rising to my feet, and dug my toes into the dirt. Fear constricted my throat with each step forward. Strong hands grabbed my shoulders, and that’s when I recognized the heavy breathing. Rafe’s breathing.

I slumped against him, close to losing it, and his arms wound around me for a moment.

“Gotta get moving, baby.” He let me go, and a few seconds later, the flashlight switched on. He aimed it at the prone form of the guy who’d opened the door. He didn’t look like he was waking up any time soon.

“If he doesn’t have a key for that thing…” Rafe said, shining the beam at the choker around my neck. “There’s no way in hell I’m leaving you here.” He bent and patted down the guy’s body, paying special attention to his pockets, and withdrew a set of keys.

I shuffled my feet, my pulse skittering too fast, as Rafe started his way through the bundle. “Hurry.”

“Just breathe,” he said on his fourth or fifth try. “We’re getting out of this fucking room, I promise.” He pushed in another key and turned it, and this time, the chain fell free of the choker.

Rafe grabbed my hand. “Let’s go.”

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