Page 76 of Bear
Unease rolls through my body. While it’s given Lennon a chance to escape, I don’t like that we no longer have eyes on Hunter. What’s that fucker up to?With my heart in my throat, I watch as Lennon hesitates.Please, Stella Bella. Don’t let anything we’ve done or said sway you. Justrun.
THIRTY-FOUR
LENNON
Chaos ensues at my back,but my feet carry me swiftly away from it. I knew Elliot would probably not have been warned that she was about to be auctioned off as some dude’s cum bucket for the night. And sure enough, it’d been cringeworthy to witness her reaction to being pulled up on that stage. Girlfriend hadn’t wanted any part of it, and what’d been more interesting to me was watching those guys from Hawthorne Hall frantically bidding on her. They hadn’t won, though, and my stomach roils, unsure of what’s about to happen, how everything will pan out. My face burns. The guys told me everything I saw and heard would be an elaborate act… but how far are they willing to go? Did they want me out of there and up in my room on purpose?
Without fully understanding everything at play here tonight, I make a mad dash for the exit, passing by one brother after another, all in masks. They’re a blur, including one outside the door, deep in an agitated phone conversation. I kick off my heels and snatch them up, then race for the stairs, my heart thumping unevenly in my chest. Stepping onto the upstairs landing, I dart down the hall to my bedroom with Bear’s command ringing through my head.Lock yourself in, both sets of doors. Don’t open them for anyone.Out of breath, I yank the door open, slip into my room, and turn to shut the heavy wood door behind me.
I jerk backward, my brain not registering at first what’s happening. A tall, burly man—in a mask, of course—has appeared out of nowhere. Had he followed me? I try to slam the door shut on him, but he wedges his foot in between the door and the frame.
I’m so surprised, I stumble back a pace, dropping my shoes to the floor in the process. His lips curl into an ugly smile, his brown eyes glinting at me from behind his devious-looking black mask. “What do you think you’re doing? Get the fuck out. The party is downstairs.”
He huffs out a disturbing laugh and steps into my room, shutting the door behind him. “Really? I think the party is right fucking here. You made it so easy for me, too, racing up here the way you did. I’ll remember to thank the guys for that.”
An uneasy, sick feeling overwhelms me, causing bile to rise in my throat and sweat to slick my palms.They wouldn’t have. No. They didn’t.My breathing becomes more and more shallow as anxiety overtakes me, but I bite down on my lip to prevent its wobble.What kind of elaborate hoax is this?
A moment later, though, something else takes precedence in my thoughts. This predatory fuck has something in his hand that glints in the moonlight coming in from the balcony doors. I blink hard, staring at it, and my eyes widen in alarm.
A knife. He has a knife. The blood drains from my face, not that he can see that in the darkened room. “Who thefuckare you? What do you want?” I try to keep my tone even and sharp, but fear crawls its way into my every movement, my body beginning to shake.
He wets his lips, acting like he’s pondering my question. One corner of his mouth lifts. “We’ve met before. You might not remember. Did you really think you’d get out of the auction tonight?”
My head spins, and I don’t have time to process what he said because he stalks relentlessly toward me. Every backward step I take, he advances.
“You didn’t really want to play with the little boys tonight, did you?” He cocks his head to the side, leering at me. “That’s okay. You’ll have more fun with the big boys instead.”
What?I spin on my heel to get away, but he lunges, grabs me, and pulls me to him, my back to his front.
He whispers in my ear as he holds the knife near my throat, the blade grazing my skin. “Where do you think you’re running to?” I hold my breath, afraid to even breathe. My chest jerks from the effort, and he chuckles darkly in my ear before he moves us past the end of the bed.
Right in plain view sits the frilly, frothy white nightie I’d worn for the guys. My heart jackhammers as he picks it up with the tip of the knife. “I think you need to wear this for us.”
I don’t even know how to answer, and I definitely don’t like where this is going. Swallowing hard, I take it from him. He releases me, pushing me slightly, and as I turn to face him, he growls, “Take off the dress,” the rumble in his voice lethal.
I shake my head. “No.”
It doesn’t take him a split second to have the blade poking at my chest. He gives me a perverted, menacing smile as he applies pressure with the blade, making me gasp out in pain. “Do it.Now.”
My eyes crash shut, and with jerky movements, I lift my hands to the straps of the beautiful dress I’ll never look at the same way again and slip them from my shoulders. The garment falls easily from my body, pooling at my feet on the hardwood floor.
His filthy gaze follows, taking in my bare breasts and the tiny pair of lace panties—the same pair Mason had seen me in from the balcony—before traveling down my trembling legs and back up. He picks up the nightie, assessing it. “Yep, that’ll do. Put it on.” He throws it at me, and I only catch it because it hits me square in the chest. With shaking hands, I pull it over my head.
He gives me a lascivious grin. “Like sex on a stick, baby.”
A commotion makes both of us jump, doors opening and closing, one after another outside my bedroom. Someone is systematically checking the rooms, coming closer and closer.
My masked captor grabs me, hauls me over toward the window seat, and shoves me onto it. “Sit right fucking there.”
I blink but quickly do what he says, drawing my legs close to my chest. My breath catches as out of the corner of my eye, I spot Bear heading into the pool house with Elliot over his shoulder.
Through his mask, his eyes glint as he gets in my face, his hot breath making me feel sick. “You say a motherfucking thing, I’ll slit your fucking throat.” Another door opens, then slams shut. Whoever is out there is close. He tilts his head to the side and whispers harshly, “You’d better hope that’s not one of your lover boys or they’re dead.” He slips behind the thick floor-length damask curtain to hide.
My hand covers the painful spot on my chest that he jabbed. If he had pushed any harder, he’d have sliced into my skin. I don’t know who’s coming through that door, but I can’t even entertain the idea of crying out for help. This guy is certifiable.
The door flies open, taking what’s left of my breath with it. One of the Hawthorne Hall brothers, the one who bid four-thousand dollars on Elliot, bursts into the room, then stops short, staring at me. He’s a big guy, maybe slightly shorter than Bear but just as broad and muscular, probably the kind who spends his spare time working out.
My heart rate ratchets up, and my automatic response is to scoot back on the window seat at this newcomer’s arrival into my unpredictable situation. I can’t keep my eyes from darting everywhere, calculating whether a run for it would be worthwhile in the end. But no, he’s hiding not a foot from me, and I have no doubt he’ll follow through on his threats.Don’t panic, don’t panic, don’t panic.Outwardly, I’m frozen in fear, but on the inside, I’m screaming. I need to slow my breathing before my anxiety gets the best of me.
