“Why?” I finally worked up the courage to ask him, though I did it in a near whisper.

His head whipped around to face me, his lips curled in disgust. “I’m the one who’s going to ask the questions here.”

He took long strides across the room towards me. When he made it to the side of the bed, I held my breath and tried to make myself small, my body leaning away from him as best I could.

When his hand came from around his back, I saw a glint of silver right before the tip of a knife was pressed against the front of my throat. The point pricked my skin sharply, making my eyes widen and my whole body freeze.

With the blade still to my neck, he pushed my head viciously to the side, and I felt the shallow cut that resulted from my neck moving against the blade. The blood was warm and wet as it trickled down my skin.

“Didn’t want to do it,” he muttered more to himself than to me. I answered him anyway.

“Why are you, then?”

“Heard word you were letting him in that pussy. Didn’t want to believe it, but this shit—” he moved the knife to press the tip of it to my XO tattoo “—says it all.”

“You’re reading way too much into a drunken night out with the girls.” I tried to casually laugh at his assertion, but it fell flat. How I was even talking to him right then was beyond me.

“Am I? So that piece of shit’s cock hasn’t been inside you?” His face twisted into a snarl.

Lie to save myself? You better believe it. Even fighting hysterics, I knew it was best to tell him what he wanted to hear.

“It isn’t like that. He doesn’t touch the merchandise.”

“Don’t lie to me.” His arm swung back and with a great force he backhanded me again. I felt an explosion radiating out from my cheek and my eyes instantly filled with a fresh set of tears. A sob tore from my throat and I fought the urge to pass out.

“Spence,” I whimpered. My head was throbbing and tears were flowing down my cheeks in earnest.

“Don’t fucking Spence me!” he roared, completely out of control. “Cherry told me. She told me all about you and Xavier. She warned me you couldn’t be trusted. Later, I’ll see to it that Xavier knows the boss isn’t playing. Now you’ll have to pay for lying to me.”

The mention of Cherry made me frown, but I had no time to focus on that when he dropped the knife on the floor and his hands started working at his belt while his eyes devoured me with a sickening amount of hunger. I knew what was coming, and even though I tried to turn off my emotions like it was just another John, the very real fact that someone who used to protect me from this kind of behavior was now about to violate me, didn’t allow that to happen.

Why would he do this to me when he knew what it was like himself? It made no sense to my frantic mind.

Once he freed himself, his fingers unknotted the ropes around my ankles and then wrapped around my legs, yanking my body down the bed and stretching my arms until the metal of the handcuffs bit into my wrists. Legs spread wide, he wasted no time climbing over me on the bed.

The thought of kicking at him with my legs crossed my mind, but I didn’t even bother to fight the inevitable. Nothing I did was going to make him stop. If anything he’d just hurt me worse if I fought.

All I could do was hang on as long as I could and pray Xavier would find me. The thought that I might never see Sophie again was the only thing that kept me going. Even if I was broken inside, I needed to walk out of this room alive. The alternative was not an option.

When Spencer’s fingers dipped inside me, I turned my head and stared at the wall, desperately looking for that headspace that I needed to make it through this.

He’s just a John…a John that wanted his fill, but that I didn’t want.

The words filled my brain on repeat and my body relaxed a miniscule amount. It wasn’t much, but it was all I had.

The tip of his cock prodded my entrance right before his hips reared forward, thrusting into me. I tried not to, but I still cried out in pain. I was nowhere near ready for him and it hurt.

The mantra on repeat in my mind picked back up. Breathing deep, I conjured up images of Xavier. His beautifully masculine face. The blue of his eyes when he moved inside me. The grip of his fingers on my hips that let me know how much he wanted me without words. The soft voice he used when he called me his féileacán.

And just like that my body relaxed and I felt myself blossoming. My channel became slick and Spencer was able to move inside me easier. As long as I could pretend, I was going to be okay. Then I’d worry about the little fact that Spencer was most likely sent to either destroy me or kill me. Either one would make Xavier suffer.

Time seemed to move at a glacial pace as Spencer fucked me. Even if it wasn’t hurting like a son of a bitch anymore, I just wanted him to come already. I wasn’t sure how much more I was going to be able to take.

“Fuck. You have a tight fucking cunt,” he grunted in my ear while his hips pulled back and then forward as he slammed inside me again.

To my horror, after thinking of Xavier and then hearing Spencer’s dirty words, I felt my muscles clench around his length. I squeezed my eyes shut in despair and felt tears leak down the side of my face as my body tried to betray me.

I had read an article at the doctor’s office recently that discussed how a woman could still climax when being raped—and regardless of what I told myself, this was in fact rape. I remembered thinking that was whacked. As my body trembled under the heaviness of his, I feared it wasn’t.

I prayed my body wouldn’t prove the author’s theory right.

“I feel you coming. You wanted my cock, didn’t you? Such a pretty little whore. I bet Xavier likes fucking this cunt. Doesn’t he?” Each verbal taunt was backed up by a hard thrust.

Then again, maybe I was just the whore he accused me of being.

His hand wrapped around my throat and he put immense pressure there, cutting off my airflow, and a few minutes later, black started creeping around the edge of my vision. Much to Spencer’s dismay, I didn’t end up coming. Instead, I gasped for air and fought passing out while he pumped his seed inside me.

His dick was still impaling me when the door flew open, crashing loudly into the wall behind it. Standing on the threshold was a panting and furious looking Ghost. In his hand was a gun to rival all guns and it was pointed straight at Spencer.

“Get the fuck off her,” he demanded with a menace that crawled over my skin, making me shiver, and it wasn’t even aimed at me.

Spencer pulled out and off me, leaving me fully exposed. I curled my legs up and to the side, all the while watching him struggle to get his pants up his hips.

Ghost advanced quickly, smacking Spencer on the side of the head with the butt of his gun. He went down like a sack of potatoes, hitting the ground with a thud, his pants still not completely on. If the seriousness of the situation weren’t weighing on me, I might have laughed at how ridiculous he looked.

Just then Xavier burst into the room. His eyes held murder, and blood was splattered across his white dress shirt. Even covered in blood, he was beautiful. And here. So very here.

“Jesus Christ,” he cursed when his eyes took me in, from my handcuffed hands right down to my legs curled into the fetal position. The minute his eyes locked on mine and I saw the torture in his, I burst into tears.

“Get him the fuck out of here. I’ll meet you at the warehouse,” he told Ghost before moving swiftly to me on the bed. “Do you know where the key to these are, baby?”

“Table,” I whispered in between hiccups.

He moved to the rickety table in the corner and back to me in no time. With the handcuffs unlocked, my arms fell limply to the bed. Pinpricks moved up them as the circulation returned.