“Langston’s going to kill you!” I yell.
Joel slaps me hard across the cheek, the sting making me stop squirming long enough for his words to land.
“Langston was the one who told me to do my worst that night. He doesn’t care what I do to you. He’s just using you, and as soon as you are no longer useful to him, he’ll dispose of you.”
Joel’s words impact me more forcefully than the bullet in my shoulder. I thought I was safe with Langston. I thought he would protect me. I thought…
Everything I thought was wrong.
I’m on my own.
Langston won’t protect me.
The epiphany makes me fight like hell.
Joel leans in to kiss me again, and this time, I open my mouth, enticing his tongue deep into my orifice. Then, I enjoy biting down as wickedly as I can on his tongue.
I feel the iron taste of blood in my mouth and hear the high pitched squeal of pain leaving Joel’s throat. In response, I bite down harder.
Joel is smarter than I give him credit for, though. He punches me hard in the stomach, making me gasp for air, releasing his tongue.
I’m rewarded with the sight of blood covering the bastard’s mouth. I got him good.
His face turns sinister, his eyes swirl in evil circles, a vein bulges in his forehead, and his mouth growls like a bear.
I injured him, and that pissed him off. He’s going to try and take his fury out on me, but it still won’t stop me from fighting.
“You fucking cunt! You bit me!” he roars.
He grabs my shoulders, one hand digging into the back of my shoulder on my gunshot wound.
The pain bolts down my arm excruciatingly, races down my back, and crashes in my head. My body is firing off a million nerve endings all at once, telling me to run, to get away from this man. He will destroy me if I don’t stop him.
I refuse to scream, to cry out.
He smirks. “You think you’re a tough woman? Don’t worry, I can do this all day. Eventually, I will get your screams.”
He grabs for my jeans shorts and starts shoving them down my body.
I know what comes next.
And I can’t take it.
I try to headbutt him, but I miss.
I frantically try to untangle my wrists, but he notices and holds onto my hands with one of his large, dirty mitts while the other shoves unwanted into my panties.
I cringe and turn my face away, so he can’t see the suffering he’s causing me. I won’t let him have my pain, my fear, my agony. That I will keep to myself. If I can’t beat him, I at least won’t give him what he wants. That’s how I survived Enzo’s father. That’s how I’ll survive this scumbag too.
A throat clears, and my head snaps in the direction of the door.
Joel hears it too. His fingers stop fumbling in my bikini bottoms. Slowly and carefully, he removes his hand, trying to hide his actions from the voice at the door.
“You’re back early, sir. I was just teaching Miss Dunn a lesson in what happens to thieves on this island,” Joel says, his head looking over his shoulder at Langston, while continuing to straddle my body.
Liar. I didn’t steal anything.
“I can see that,” Langston answers, his voice low and orderly. He doesn’t seem upset at all to find Joel groping me.