Maya Banks - Colters’ Gift

He stroked his erection, the action menacing. He reached with his free hand to knock her thighs apart but then he backed away, his gaze hard.

“Get up and take your pants off,” he ordered. “I want you completely nude. Be quick about it.”

Oh dear God. She was out of time. What could she do except obey?

She pushed herself up before he could find fault and take her hesitancy for disobedience. When her feet hit the floor, she rose shakily, her hands going clumsily to the button of her pants. All the while, she kept her gaze glued to Joel, hoping desperately for an opportunity.

And then it presented itself.

Apparently impatient over the time it was taking her, he advanced, releasing his grip on his cock, his hands outstretched as if he’d tear her clothing from her himself.

Instinct took over. Before she even realized what she was doing, she lunged forward, her hand reaching for his dick and twisting with all her strength.

Joel’s howl of pain was instantaneous, and he struck out at her face to ward her off. Pain exploded in her jaw, but she hung on tenaciously, determined to do as much damage as she could. She doubled her other fist and struck him repeatedly in the jaw.

She released him and then drove her knee right into his balls, ignoring the pain in her ribs.

Joel dropped like a stone onto the floor and she wasted no time turning and running toward the back patio door. She couldn’t go out the front because Ron was suddenly there. She had no access to a vehicle now, but she’d take her chances in the woods, because anything was better than the fate Joel had planned for her.

She heard Joel’s roar of anger and his instant call for Ron. She flung open the door and bolted into the night, running as fast as her legs would carry her toward the tree line in the distance.

Almost there. Almost there.

It was a chant in her mind, a never-ending litany that made her push on even though agony ran like a river through her body.

Oh God, she was going to make it. She was almost there.

She was hit from behind with the force of a train. She went sprawling, screaming in agony when she hit the ground, a heavy body atop her.

Ron.

He’d caught her.

Tears of frustration coursed down her cheeks. She’d nearly made it into the cover of the woods. She could have hidden.

“Stupid bitch. You really do have a death wish,” Ron snarled in her ear.

His groin was pushed into her behind and she could feel his enormous erection. The sick bastard was getting off on her helplessness and the chase.

He pumped his hips forward, mimicking the motion of fucking her from behind.

“Now I get you,” he said with savage satisfaction. “You should have let Joel fuck you. He’s much easier to take than I am, but now you’ve pissed him off and he’s going to let me punish you, and I assure you, I’m going to enjoy every minute of making you cry.”

He pushed himself off her and then dragged her upward. One hand curled tightly into her hair and the other gripped her arm with bruising force as he propelled her forward.

Moments later, he pushed her back into the house where Joel was waiting in the living room, his face nearly purple with rage. His eyes were so black that she shivered.

As soon as they appeared, he stalked over and backhanded her across the face. If Ron hadn’t been holding her so tightly, she would have instantly gone down.

Then Joel looked up at Ron. “She’s yours. Bend her over the couch and tie her there. Use her for as long as you want. I don’t care what you do with the bitch, but make sure she suffers.”

Ron’s eyes gleamed in satisfaction. “She might be a little loose by the time you get to her.”

Joel shrugged. “I don’t plan to keep her long anyway.”

A chill blew over her body at the finality in his tone. He meant to kill her. He wanted to punish her and then he’d kill her for her rebellion.

Ron tore at her clothes while she stood there, numb, so scared that she couldn’t even think. And then she was naked and he was shoving her toward the couch, his hands mauling her and making her cry out in pain.

She couldn’t do this. She couldn’t face what was about to happen. She just wanted to die.

Her mind went blank and she blocked out her reality, retreating to a place where no one could hurt her. She didn’t feel the pain when Ron shoved her over the end of the couch and wrenched her arms back to tie them in place. She closed her eyes and withdrew, blanking everything until she was floating in a soothing sea of nothingness.

LIAM was about to come out of his skin as they raced down the winding drive of Joel Knight’s lake home. Every beat of his heart was magnified ten times until it felt like his chest would explode with the pressure.

He was terrified. Lauren had been in Knight’s hands for hours. If Knight hadn’t already killed her, Liam could only imagine what he’d done to her.

The tension inside the SUV was tangible. Noah’s hands gripped the steering wheel while Seth and Dillon were in the second row, stiff and ready to bolt into action. In the back, Adam and Ryan looked worried, their brows creased with anxiety as they imagined Lauren’s fate.

Max was on the floor in between Seth and Dillon, his hands knotted together, his knuckles white. Liam wasn’t sure if he was praying or plotting vengeance. Probably a little of both.

Noah turned off the headlights as they made the last turn and the house came into view. He slammed on the brakes and turned off the engine a good distance from the house and then motioned everyone out.

There was a car parked in the front. A sleek black Mercedes. Only one light burned from within the house, a beacon for Noah and Liam.