“I was going to drive off into the forest and leave you here to fend for yourself,” I say flippantly. He’s got me right where he wants me, but he’ll have to gag me to get me to stop talking shit. I cock my head to the side and try not to wince when his fingers jerk my hair, dragging me to the bed of his pickup truck. “What are you going to do? Tie me to the bumper and drag me until I forget what you did?”
Before I can go on, he grabs a coiled length of rope and quickly binds my hands together in front of me. Despite the fact that I’m fighting him, pushing, shoving, kicking, and screaming, he works effortlessly as though I’m not putting up a fight at all. Panic surges through me as he hoists me into the driver’s side of the truck, positioning me on my hands and knees across the bench seat facing the passenger side window. His voice drips with menacing intensity as he ties my ankles together. "You'll never get away from me."
The icy steel of the truck's interior presses against my skin, but it's nothing compared to the chill of dread that seeps into my bones. I'm trapped, helpless, and at his mercy. The desire to fight back, to resist his grip, surges within me, but I know it's no use in fighting him right now. As he starts the engine, I can only wonder where he'll take me and how he plans on punishing me. I won't give in to him, not again.
I can't let him break me again.
12
OLIVIA
Ican feel his anger radiating like a furnace against my bare backside. He hasn’t lifted my skirt to see that I’m not wearing any panties, but I still feel exposed. My attempts to wriggle free have only frustrated me. I’m struggling to keep myself up on my hands and knees because if I collapse, my legs will be on his lap, and I don’t want to be touching any part of him right now. My body is shaking, drained of energy. The dark, empty road stretches out before us, and I've lost count of the hours we've been driving.
"Have you finally given up?" His voice, edged with fury, breaks the silence. "Do you understand what you are to me?" The fucking nerve of him to be angry at me.
I can't bring myself to answer seriously, not when the threat of tears looms just beneath the surface. I will not fucking cry. Instead, I respond flippantly, trying to mask my fear. “I understand that you’re mad that I’m not falling in line to believe that you want me all of a sudden. It’s been three months,” I hiss out the words, my anger getting the better of me. He grunts but keeps driving, not reaching over to touch me. I know this is a game for him. He’s waiting for me to give in and touch him first or, at the very least, fall onto him. I’m going about this all wrong. I’m playing checkers when I need to be knocking his king down to where he belongs.
"I really have to pee," I say, my voice almost pleading. I need to make this believable if it’s going to work, and truth be told, I really do have to pee.
He sighs with annoyance, and my stomach lurches because I’m not sure if he sees through what I’m saying or if he’s just irritated that he has to pull over. "You can hold it."
I squirm uncomfortably. I soften my voice, speaking to him the way I used to because I think that’s going to be the only thing that will break down his resolve toward me right now. "I have to go so bad it hurts, Dad. You don't want me to ruin your precious truck seat, do you?"
The groan that escapes him tells me he's conceding. We've been far away from a road not made of dirt for what seems like an hour, so I’m hoping he thinks it’s safe enough to stop. Dad pulls over into a small clearing, the engine rumbling as he kills it. The woods surround us, shrouded in darkness, and suddenly I’m scared because I have no idea how I’ll make it back to town on foot if I can lose him.
Quickly, he gets out of the truck and makes his way around to the passenger side and opens the door. He's rougher than necessary when he maneuvers me so he can loosen and pull away the rope around my ankles. With an impatient tug, he unties the rope binding my wrists, allowing me some freedom. "Don't even think about trying anything," he warns, tipping my chin up so I’m looking at him dead in the eye.
I stumble out of the truck, nearly falling as my feet hit the ground. I quickly move away from the truck and head into the woods, and I really wish right now I’d grabbed jeans from Sophia’s room because the tall brush and grasses scratch my skin. He’s right behind me when he says, “That’s far enough. No one will see you. Hurry up.” I roll my eyes at his tone. He shines the flashlight of his phone toward me, and I squint my eyes from the sharpness.
“Do you mind? Where would I even go?” I snap, and he obliges, turning off the flashlight, but staying put. As I crouch down to pee, my pulse quickens. This is my only chance, isn't it? To escape, to get away from him. I can't let him take me to that cabin. What if he tires of me and then I’m just stuck there being ignored for the rest of my life?
I don’t have any panties to pull up, so as soon as I’m finished, I take off. I don't look back as I run through the trees. My heart pounds in my chest, and my footsteps feel like they echo through the quiet night. I zigzag through the woods, hoping to throw him off my trail. Branches scratch at my face, and thorns bite into my legs, but I can't afford to stop. I think maybe he’ll have a harder time navigating because he’s so much bigger, but it's not long before I hear him closing in, his footfalls steady and unwavering. Panic sets in as I glance over my shoulder, glimpsing his determined form hot on my heels. I trip over what I realize is a tombstone. When I look around, I see several more and realize that I've trespassed into a private cemetery in the woods. I have no idea whose property we're on, but we're definitely a good bit away from the truck now. He’s faster, stronger, and despite my best efforts, he catches up to me. With a speed that surprises me, he tackles me to the ground, his body pressing me into the earth. I squirm and struggle, but his grip is unrelenting, his hold like a vise that refuses to yield. The woods are silent except for our ragged breaths, and the moon casts eerie shadows around us. It's just me, him, and the suffocating darkness of what we’ve become. The fallen leaves rustle under our entwined bodies. I can feel the cool ground beneath me, the earthy scent of the forest filling my senses. Dad’s grip on my wrists is strong, and he holds me down with a force that sends shivers through me.
"You can't just run away from me, Olivia," he says, his voice low and intense, and I’m probably imagining it, but if I had to guess, there’s a twinge of hurt and sadness lacing his tone, too. “I need to keep you safe,” he whispers the words, and I hate how comforting the sound is. I wish he could talk to me like this always.
No. He doesn’t care about how safe you weren’t without him.
I stare up at him, my breaths coming fast and shallow. "Safe?" I retort, my tone dripping with sass. "You didn't seem too concerned about my safety when you sent me off to school and then went to hide in the wilderness like a coward." I know I’m provoking him, but it doesn’t stop me. He’s either going to let me go or break me completely because I won’t settle for anything else.
His jaw tightens, and anger flashes in his eyes. But I can see in those stormy depths that my words have struck a nerve. He knows they hold a painful truth. He gets it. He knows he broke my heart, and it’s still broken because he never came back to fix it.
"I didn't want to hurt you," he admits, his voice softer now. "That's why I sent you away."
My gaze narrows, my frustration bubbling to the surface. "That’s a load."
He shifts his weight on top of me, his grip loosening slightly. He flips me over but doesn’t lessen the hold he has on me. “On your hands and knees, doll.” His voice is harder, more stern, and the tone sends jolts of pleasure from my nipples, down my belly, and directly to my clit.
“What are you doing?” I don’t have a choice because he pulls me up, so I’m on all fours. The broken twigs, pieces of rock, and rough leaves scrape my bare knees. I can feel the anger radiating off of him again. I know it can’t be the fact that I’m blaming him for sending me away because he’s acknowledged as much.
“I’m doing what you wanted me to do with every bratty voicemail you left on my phone,” he says tersely, and it all happens so fast. He flips up the skirt I’m wearing, and the cool night air feels like it burns against my skin. I try to jerk away from him, but his warm palm comes down heavy, slapping my left ass cheek. “No panties? This certainly wasn’t for my benefit. Who did you think you were going to see after you stole my truck?” I cry out, unable to answer him through the pain because of the sting that sizzles into an aching burn. I anticipate that he’s going to do the same on the right, but instead, he slaps the same exact spot three more times. Pain mingles with pleasure, and I hate the fact that I’m so wet. My face burns with embarrassment when I hear him let out a low, guttural curse and I realize that he notices, too.
“You’ve been waiting for this spanking for a long time, haven’t you, doll?” He murmurs so low that if I didn’t hear the pet name, I’d think he was talking to himself. He lifts his free hand from my back and uses it to pull my ass cheeks apart to look at my wet pussy. I don’t try to get away from him because I’m too stunned, too winded, or maybe I’m hoping he’ll continue the punishment that right now feels like anything but that.
"I saw you talking to Frank," he says, and his tone becomes accusatory as he sinks two fingers roughly inside my pussy. “You didn't look like you missed me very much, then. Fuck, you’re tight, doll.” He pulls his fingers all the way out, only to shove them back in, his other hand coming down hard on my ass cheek. I arch up from the pain, but I can’t believe what I’m hearing. Rage only a Hillcrest could understand runs through my entire body as I wrench my head to the side to glare at him. Is he serious? After the nights of flirting, the almost kisses, and then the best and only kiss of my life, he dumped me off at school and didn’t even hang around to watch over me. He left me like trash he didn’t have a use for anymore, and he has the nerve to punish me over a guy who wouldn’t have had a chance to get close to me if my dad had been there to stop him.
I can't help but scoff at the absurdity of his jealousy. "Frank? You're jealous of FRANK? I still can’t believe you killed him for following me around." My laugh is bitter, devoid of humor. "I had to deal with Frank pawing at me all semester, practically stalking me until I felt scared. And where were you, Daddy? Nowhere to be found. Landon is so obsessed with Sophia that he never noticed, and Ethan had already taken Isabella back to the cabin. I was on my own, fending for myself." I smirk as an idea pops into my head. “For all you know, he was fucking me from the moment you dropped me off.”
My sassy tone is diminished, but I will myself not to cry. Dad’s anger simmers, and for a moment, I fear his reaction. But then, without a word, he’s wrenching my legs apart. I hear his zipper slide down and before I can move, he’s pushing the head of his dick against my wet opening. He leans down, gripping my hair in one hand while he grunts out against my ear, “I’m going to fuck your little pussy so good that another man will never enter that pretty little mind of yours.”