If I had been more important than talking to a producer, then I wouldn’t be here.
Not having enough room for the weight of those doubts and resentment, I shoved them aside.
“But then, there you were, walking all by yourself, like you were looking for me. Were you looking for me?
Realizing I wouldn’t answer, he shook his head and laughed. He took his time to look me over, not missing an inch. He looked at me like I was sprawled out for his perusal rather than huddled into a ball. His eyes finished raking me over and flashed back to meet my hard gaze. The first crack in my strong act fissured under the glimpse of the real monster beneath the mask.
His lip curled up slowly, and he shifted, reaching toward me. With my fight or flight in full effect and flight not an option, I snapped my teeth, forcing him to back up.
He jerked back, just barely escaping my bite. He looked to his hand and back to me. I braced myself for the force of his wrath—my muscles coiling, ready to fight. Instead, he laughed.
“So, feisty,” he hissed, his eyes sparking with something I didn’t want to dwell on. “I knew you would be with all that red hair. Don’t worry. We’ll become real close soon enough.”
His eyes drooped with a look I knew all too well. I saw it from Parker all the time—desire, heat, want, need. Except with this man, bile churned up my throat, and I almost hoped I had a chance to spew it all over him.
The thought of Parker only added to the nausea.
My heart cracked deep and wide. Why hadn’t he waited for me? Why had he left?
The man sighed and slapped his thighs, making me jump. “Later,” he promised. “Right now, I need to get my pet some food. I had everything else planned, but in my excitement, I forgot to get nutrients to help us keep our energy up for all the work we’ll be doing later.”
The way he said work hammered another blow against my strength, and all I wanted to do was crumble and beg to be set free—beg for this not to be real. With all my effort to not fall apart, I forgot to stay silent.
“I’d rather die,” I gritted out.
He frowned. “Don’t say that, pet. I promise I’ll make you like it.”
“Fuck. You.”
“When I get back. I promise.” He winked like he was being funny, and I imagined clawing my nails down his face.
He edged his way back out to the foot of the bed, and I could almost breathe again with him on his way out, but he stopped and turned back, studying me. “Show me your tits.”
My eyes bulged, and I coughed, choking on my own breath. “No,” I growled.
One hand moved to the wall, and the other rested on the mattress, leaning in closer. He was still too far away, but the intention of intimidation was not lost on me. “Show. Me. Your. Tits,” he ordered, his calm veneer slipping even more. Simple brown eyes vanished, and a wild darkness took their place as he stared at the part of my chest my knees couldn’t cover. “I just want a little teaser. You don’t always wear a bra, and I’ve done nothing but stroke my cock all day, imagining what they look like. They’re so small, and I just…I need to see what color your little nipples are.”
His voice edged on a hysterical desperation that scared me more than anything up to that moment. When he started closing the gap, taking small steps to come back to me, I broke my silence and screamed. I lashed out with my feet, hoping to scare him from getting too close, and screamed as loud and wild as I could.
“All right. Fine. Shut the fuck up. Jesus,” he shouted, backing out again. “Just stop fucking screaming.”
I did once he passed the bed and was two steps closer to the door. I could only imagine how I looked—a feral animal with my hair wild and teeth bared.
“I’ll make sure to get some duct tape while I’m out,” he grumbled just before he slammed the door.
It wasn’t until the creaking of the steps stopped and the front door slammed that I even considered relaxing a single muscle—too scared that if I did, I’d fall apart while he could still come back and find me weak. A car door slammed, and the engine faded. Only then did I allow myself to fully sink back against the wall, and it was as if I’d been holding a tsunami back. As soon as I stopped giving it everything I had, it crushed my weak defenses, and I crumbled.
Sobs wracked my body, and as mad as I was that Parker left me, all I wanted was to be with him—to have him come storming through the door to my rescue. Anything. I just…I needed him.