He thought back over the previous night, about each moment he’d spent with Brynn—making love to her, touching her, kissing every inch of bare skin. The conversation they’d had in the tub. Thought about how he’d bathed her, soaped her back, ran his fingers along her spine and over the faint circular birthmark that graced the line of her shoulder blade.
An icy stillness moved over him as he pictured that last moment, the mark on her skin. It hadn’t quite been a circle, more like two crescents not fully joined together. And had that been there when they’d dated before? No, not that he remembered.
When he’d touched it during the bath, Brynn had tensed ever so slightly—like she’d momentarily held her breath. He’d thought maybe she was reacting because she was self-conscious about the birthmark, but…
A nauseating realization gripped his gut.
No.
Not a birthmark.
A bite mark.
Reid gripped the door handle as murderous rage ripped through him, his whole body shaking with the need to maim and dismember. “Turn the car around.”
Jace gave him a quick glance. “You sure?”
“Turn the goddamned car around, Jace,” Reid said through clenched teeth. “I know who has her. Jesus Christ. That sick fuck is the one who raped her.”
The car slowed a bit as Jace turned to him with knitted brows. “What? Who? The drug dealer?”
“No. Ackerman. Brynn has a bite scar on her back. She was working for him when she was attacked.”
“Holy fuck.” Jace’s expression hardened, and he eased off the gas pedal so that their U-turn didn’t send the vehicle into a roll.
Anger flared up so fierce inside him, Reid was sure he’d breathe fire if given the chance. That monster had his girl. She was alone in her worst nightmare. God, please let me get to her in time. And Davis had better start praying, ’cause Reid was ready to send him straight to his fucking maker once he got Brynn away from him.
That psychopath had traumatized and ripped Brynn apart. Had destroyed the relationship he and Brynn had been building. How different would both of their lives be if Reid had gotten the chance to give her the ring that day? That fucker had stolen everything. Reid cracked his knuckles. “If he hurt a hair on her head…”
Jace shot him a look of warning. “Take a breath. You can’t kill him, dude. You don’t even know if it was him for sure or if he even has Brynn right now. You of all people should know circumstantial evidence can be dead wrong.”
Reid knew that, but something deep in his bones told him he was on the mark with this one. “I won’t kill him. But if he is the one who has Brynn, I’m going to see if the asshole likes receiving pain as much as he likes dishing it out.”
TWENTY-ONE
now
Sweat soaked through Brynn’s toga as Davis Ackerman continued down whatever road they were on. He’d wrapped bungee cords beneath her breasts and around her legs, securing her to the seat, then had cuffed her wrists and blindfolded her.
Brynn breathed through the panic. She was with her rapist. She’d known the minute he’d whispered to her in the voice from her nightmares. But why did he have her sister? Was he associated with the drug dealer who wanted Kelsey? It didn’t make sense. Davis was a respected councilman for God’s sake. She cleared her throat and tried to force calm into her voice. “Where are you taking me?”
He snorted. “Oh, so now you’re going to make conversation? Last night you didn’t even bother to say hi.”
She wet her lips. “I wasn’t allowed to speak. I was with a dom.”
“Yeah, I saw your little performance with your two old friends last night,” he said, disgust dripping from his tone. “I guess some things never change. You’re still going after the smarmy pretty boys and still willing to spread your legs at the drop of a hat.”
She recoiled as if she’d been slapped, and her response tumbled out before she could stop herself. “You don’t know shit about me.”
He laughed, the sound chilling her blood. “I know how easy it was to tie you up and fuck you before you even realized I wasn’t one of your lovers. Maybe I’ll make you say my name this time so you don’t forget who’s inside you.”
The world tilted beneath her feet. Nausea shuddered through her and fingers of panic squeezed around her windpipe as she sucked in sharp, quick breaths. She wouldn’t survive his touch again.
He chuckled. “Maybe we can do a three-way. I’ve always fantasized about sisters.”
Kelsey. Her sister’s name broke through the haze of spiraling fear in her brain. Kels needed her. Brynn couldn’t let herself slip into the anxiety attack or pass out from hyperventilation. Her sister would be left alone with the monster in the front seat.
She sucked in a deep breath through her nose and held it for a moment before breathing out through her mouth. In… one, two, three… Out… one, two, three. She focused on centering herself, clearing her head. The only chance she had of protecting her sister and herself was if she could wrangle in her emotions.