Total pages in book: 136
Estimated words: 137326 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 687(@200wpm)___ 549(@250wpm)___ 458(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 137326 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 687(@200wpm)___ 549(@250wpm)___ 458(@300wpm)
“Please…” I tug on my jersey, squeezing my legs together until my knees knock.
I hate that I have to resort to begging, but I’ll do anything to leave this place in one piece.
Then I’ll poison these two in their sleep.
The taller one grabs my thigh, his cooler hand a shock against my burning skin. A rush of pleasure rushes down my belly and I throw my head back with a groan.
Oh God. No.
Please no.
“See?” one of them sneers. “You can’t wait to be fucked like a whore.”
My mind is jumbled, and my body is desperate to alleviate the ache, but I still mumble, “No…”
“You wanted to be a Vencor member, didn’t you? This is what members do, bitch. They open their legs whenever those higher than them ask.”
“S-stop… R-red…” I whisper.
My safe word lands on deaf ears.
Right. That’s only between me and Kane.
I don’t think Kane is behind one of these masks.
At least, I hope he’s not.
I’d never forgive him if he did this to me.
I’d kill him with my bare hands.
Part of the reason why I allowed the sex at the initiation and the party was because I trusted he’d stop if I said the safe word.
It’s different if I’m being drugged and taken advantage of without the option to stop it.
Anguish rips through me, raw and consuming. I want to fight, to scream, to tear their hands from my skin, but the drug they injected me with wraps around me like a vise, pulling me deeper into suffocating heat.
“Outsiders like you should recognize their limit,” one of them says as each pulls a leg to part them. “Consider this your warning. If you don’t leave town within a week, you’ll be fucked raw next time without the drug. Don’t even think about asking Kane for help. We’ll show him a video of you moaning for our dicks, and he’ll lose interest. We’ll also share it online so that you’ll be known as the campus whore.”
My racing heart slows down a notch.
It’s not Kane.
Am I supposed to feel this relieved?
Happy, even?
“Ready for the night of your life?” the one on my right asks.
“Fuck…you,” I mumble, but it ends in a muffled voice when he seizes my hair and yanks me up.
When Kane did this, I was turned on, even if slightly apprehensive. Now, I’m terrified to the core despite the artificial aphrodisiac.
The air thickens further, the scent of sweat and something sickly sweet clinging to my skin, smothering me. Everything is slipping away—my grip on reality, my control, my strength.
Vicious hands start to hook into my jersey, and I push with all of my might, but it barely touches them.
Get up. Fight.
You’ve always stood up for yourself. Fight.
Don’t scream. Fight.
Don’t cry. Fight.
Fight, Dahlia. Fight!
With painstaking effort, I pull my leg loose, aiming a desperate kick at the tallest guy’s crotch.
I don’t think it’s that strong, but he wails in pain and lifts his hand.
Raising my arm, I place it in front of my face to protect myself.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”
The whole room goes quiet at that voice.
The slap or punch doesn’t come.
Letting my arm drop, I shift sideways with painstaking effort.
Jude.
He’s standing by the door, his large frame blocking the exit. Leaning against the wall, he casually slides both hands in his pockets and crosses his feet at the ankles.
My heartbeat doesn’t slow down, and no sense of safety overwhelms me upon seeing him.
What if he’s in on it, too?
My blurry eyes sweep over the space behind him, looking, searching, scanning the door for someone else.
And I’ve never searched for someone to save me before.
I’ve done the saving.
For me and Vi.
“How…” The taller of the guys faces Jude as the other keeps me down. “No one knows about this place.”
“That’s what you think.” Jude’s voice is an effortlessly scary rumble without his having to do anything. “Since when do pawns like you think you have agency?”
“We’re just acting on orders.”
“Whose orders?”
Both guys remain silent.
“No matter who they are, they won’t protect you from what will happen in exactly…” Jude checks his watch. “One minute.”
The guys stare at each other, but the one who’s grabbing my thigh, half leaning on the bed, doesn’t release me.
I try to wiggle free, but I’m too weak. My heartbeat is so loud, I think I’ll have an attack.
Through my blurry vision, I see the door slamming against the wall with so much force, I’m surprised it doesn’t come off its hinges.
At first, I can’t see correctly—my vision is slipping in and out of focus.
But I know it’s him.
A sense of peace befalls me, and my heart slows down.
Kane.
He’s here.
The quiet click of his footsteps echoes through the haze, steady and calm, but there’s something dangerous lurking underneath.
There’s a shift in the air, and the room contracts around him, bending to his presence. He doesn’t rush, doesn’t shout. He’s too composed, too controlled, like the stillness before a storm.