Total pages in book: 29
Estimated words: 27683 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 138(@200wpm)___ 111(@250wpm)___ 92(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 27683 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 138(@200wpm)___ 111(@250wpm)___ 92(@300wpm)
I haul her to me, pulling her away from the tree. “Now, how about you pick that safe word?”
“So when I use that word, you’ll stop?”
“Immediately.”
She lowers her gaze to the ground. I tilt her chin so she has to meet my eyes and brush her dark hair away from her face. “I’m not them. I may like to fuck like an animal, but you will always take priority over my needs.”
Her eyes cut into my soul like razors. I don’t know what I’ll do if she says no. Can I let her go? Can I change to be what she needs? My gut twists at the idea of not having her. I’m not sure I could let this girl go. I don’t understand why she’s different from other women, why I’d give up everything for just a moment with her. But here I stand, in the middle of the woods, with blood-covered hands, praying to a god I don’t believe in that she’ll say yes.
“Spaghetti.”
I stare at her blankly. “You’re hungry?”
Her mouth twitches. “No. That’s my safe word.”
Joy bursts into my dark soul as I step away and observe my prey. “Okay, then. Time to run, little rabbit. Run.”
Chapter Sixteen
ISLA
Like an idiot, I don’t stop to question Bryce. But I suppose that makes sense with my history. When told to run, I always run. It’s a habit born of self-preservation, a way to ensure I’m not harmed by the monsters that have driven the story of my life.
The bright sun warms my skin, but I still feel the draft of the cold since Bryce is no longer touching me. My feet kick up the dirt as I maneuver through the trees.
Bryce’s voice calls to me from a distance. “Ready or not, here I come.”
A childhood phrase to begin a childish game, but I suspect that what Bryce has in mind when he catches me won’t be child-friendly.
My lips turn up, and my heart carries a foreign sensation—joy. I’m having fun running away from him. I guess this is what it’s like to be chased by a man who doesn’t want to end your life.
I laugh as I sprint through the trees until I’m halted mid-jump by strong arms. I’m whipped around and come face to face with Bryce. He looks frightening with his flared nostrils and dilated pupils. He smirks and shoves me roughly against the nearest tree. The blood-stained knife he used to kill Paul slices through my t-shirt before he wraps my wrists in one large hand.
“Looks like the wolf caught you, Rabbit.”
He pulls my arms above my head, binds my wrists with the tattered t-shirt, and ties it around the tree trunk. He kicks my bare feet apart with his steel-toe boots. I find his footwear oddly sexy, particularly on him, since he’s an upper west-side man who wears Italian loafers and expensive tailored designer suits. Bryce in the forest, wild and primitive, does things to my lady bits I can’t rationalize.
He trails his nose up my neck before he nips at my earlobe. “You smell good enough to eat, and I’m a starved man, Rabbit.”
A moan escapes my lips before I can stop it, revealing my need for his touch.
His hand moves to my throat, and his fingers tighten. Fear takes over, but I keep silently whispering that it’s Bryce and I’m okay. “I won’t give up, Rabbit. If you want me to stop, you’re going to have to fight.”
I tug my arms, and the t-shirt tears, which seems odd. I’m confident that if Bryce wanted me to stay put, I’d never be able to free myself. I push off the tree, and he stumbles back. Bravery takes hold, and I launch myself at him, gripping his salt-and-pepper hair and yanking his head back. I’m not sure what’s come over me as I dip my head and bite his shoulder.
“Fuck,” he groans. My scalp stings as he pulls my head’s pulled back. “That’s it, baby. Show Daddy what you’ve got.”
I dig my fingernails into the flesh of his neck, and the bark of the tree trunk rips into my back as he shoves me against it again.
Bryce presses the knife in his hand against my throat and smiles. “Remember your safe word?”
I nod, and before I can say anything, Bryce takes my bottom lip between his teeth and bites, filling my mouth with the metallic taste of blood. The pain doesn’t register because I can only focus on his hard penis pushing against me and my desire to feel him inside me. I score my nails down his back, breaking the skin.
He squeezes my breasts roughly before focusing on my nipples. Gripping them between his fingers, he pinches and then pulls them away from my body. I scream as the pain is unbearable. The more I yell into the night, the rougher he is with them. Panic rises in me, and I wonder if he’ll pull them off. It’s a game of chicken. Will he stop before I say my safe word?