Page 6 of Safe and Sound

And I’m not freaking wearing panties because this…psychopath tore them off me. Even I know that can’t be safe. I turn to tell him I will go straight out the front but I’m not about to tempt fate by going out the back when he makes a growling sound that reminds me of a hungry bear.

He starts for me and I’m not stupid enough to stand my ground this time. I back up before I turn and take off running. Fuck it! I’ll just have to chance the darkness and whatever is waiting for me out there in it. I don’t make it very far before I am being pulled back and swept up in strong arms that are way too familiar. This time he doesn’t try to move me where he wants me or spin me around so he can spank me yet again. This time he just picks me up in his arms like a groom picks a bride up to carry her over the threshold.

This isn’t some romantic gesture and Rennik isn’t my hero. “No! Don’t…”

“Don’t speak, Estella. Not one word. Keep your mouth shut.”

He starts moving towards the back of the building. My arms have gone around his shoulders automatically. Then I remember and start wiggling, both hands try to reach down but all I get is shaken.

“Damn it, woman! Hold still!”

“I’m…I’m not wearing panties, Ren. Everyone will see…”

He gives me a long-suffering look before growling at me again. “Put your arms around my neck.”

I do what he says because…what choice do I have? He uses the arm he’s got wrapped around my legs to trap my skirt between us, but it pulls the top of my dress lower almost making my boobs pop out. I gasp as he growls again, and heat from his gaze lands on my newly bared skin.

He doesn’t wait for me to try to yank it up but just starts walking again. We’re out the door and around the building before my mind catches up with what is going on. He’s carrying me to my car.

Once we're beside it, he doesn’t sit me down like I thought he would but instead growls for me to reach around him to grab my purse in the hand behind me. I didn’t even realize he had picked it up after it fell on the floor when he pulled me into the back room. I fumble around until I can grab my keys but even then, he doesn’t sit me down.

“Give me the keys, Estella.”

I hand them over and wait for him to yank open the door after unlocking it. He finally sits me down in the front seat and reaches for my seatbelt buckling it for me.

“Straight home, Estella. You go straight home.”

He hands me the keys.

I am shaking so badly I can barely get the key in the ignition and wait for him to leave but he doesn’t leave to go back inside. Or to his own car. Instead, he backs up and stares me down. I take shaky breaths as I focus on backing out of the parking spot and do as he says, I go straight home.

By the time I get myself in my room and the dress off, all I can do is relive those moments in the back of the club. The moments with my stepbrother. I ball the dress up and shove it in my closet. No way am I ever going to be able to wear it ever again. No way am I ever going to be able to wear anything even remotely sexy again.

I played a stupid game and got a prize befitting the idiocy of it. He said he would tell Ben about the website; would tell him I went to a club to meet a man I willingly knew was much older than myself. Would Ben really kick me out? Probably if Ren told him to. Damn it! What have I done?

I go on the site just to delete my profile but can’t help but feel a moment of sadness at the fact the man I was falling in love with isn’t real. Well…he’s real it’s just…ugh! The very idea has my nose burning and my eyes stinging.

I thought I had found someone I could trust and build something with, someone of my own. It was the first time I felt something for someone. The first time I was intrigued by a man. And it turns out it was my stepbrother.

Feelings I hadn’t let myself feel for years come rushing through me. Feelings that are dirty and wrong. I shouldn’t be thinking about Rennik like that. Shouldn’t admit that the one time -before tonight- he had me over his knee I was having shameful thoughts and getting wet for someone that is off limits and way out of my league.

Rennik is hot. Okay. There, I admitted it. No harm done. He can make my heart race and my palms turn sweaty and truthfully, I’ve always had a huge crush on him. But I realized there was no way anything could happen even if my mom andhis dad never married. He always saw me as nothing more than an annoying kid, someone to be tolerated instead of really looked at.

When Marcie hit on him, a sick part of me wanted to hit her with my fist. Another part of me thought it might be good to see Ren with someone. He never talked about anyone or brought anyone home. Maybe seeing him with someone else would let the crush die a cold, hard death. But Ren didn’t go for Marcie. He told her she wore too much perfume and her makeup was caked on. .

It didn’t stop her. She still hit on him. He eventually told her she made him sick. I thought it was because she was my age and that was why the thought of her made him sick. Now…I guess I never really knew my stepbrother well enough to say that was the reason.

All I have is my mom and Ben. I don’t know what I’ll do if he says something to Ben or gets him to kick me out. Where will I go? Can I really…sell my body for a place to stay and food to eat? The thought has my stomach rolling in revulsion. God, what am I going to do?! I pace and worry all night long, only falling asleep when the first rays of sunlight start breaking through the night and then only because I am exhausted and completely worn out. I don’t find peace once I go as my worries and fears creep into my fitful dreams. Dreams about Ren telling everyone what a naughty girl I am and how I liked having his hands on me, how I got off on it. I jerk awake when a knock on my door sounds like a judge's gavel in my dream.

I groan when I look at the time on my phone from where I am clutching it. I’ve not been asleep more than an hour and now my mom wants me to wake up. Damn!

“Mom, give me a few minutes.”

The door opens despite my request, and I rise to my elbows so she knows I’m at least trying to get up…and freeze in my bed. My mother is not the one standing in the doorway. My stepbrother is.

His eyes rake over me and I realize I’m in a small black cami set that doesn’t cover nearly enough. The strap on one side has fallen off my shoulder and my breast has nearly fallen out but I can’t seem to move to fix it.

He comes into the room and shuts the door behind him. What is he doing?

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