He lifted his coffee cup and took a large sip.
Not scary.
She finished off her pancakes and then drank her tea. The food settled heavy in her stomach and she didn’t want to think about what his words meant.
“Damn, you should have seen the way she was riding my cock. She was a pro. I wanted to keep her but let’s face it, bitches like that, they don’t exactly stick around for long,” one of the men said.
She hadn’t learned any of their names. Other than Reaper, she wasn’t allowed to stay near any of the men. They were always there, guarding, watching, but never getting too close.
“Enough,” Reaper said.
The men looked toward Reaper and she saw the tensions rising. No one spoke.
“Can I use the bathroom?” she asked.
“Yes.”
She pushed her chair away and went toward one of the bathrooms. She didn’t need to use it but there was no way she could sit around the table. Running the water, she splashed some on her face, trying to cool herself down.
“I’m not jealous.” She looked at her reflection and came to a stop when she saw the window over one of the toilets.
It couldn’t be that easy.
None of the men had gone to see the bathrooms. It was also a busy little diner. So many faces had come and gone in the short space of time she’d been eating. Would it be so hard to … escape?
Jealous.
No, she wasn’t jealous of Reaper. He had gotten it all wrong. The only reason she hadn’t tried to escape before was because of how pointless it was. There was nothing keeping her with Reaper.
She wanted to get home to Preacher. She loved him, missed him. She had a great many dreams about him, and he was the only person she cared about. The only person she wanted to be with.
After opening the stall, she put the lid down on the toilet and lifted herself up. She shimmied out of the window. The drop to the ground wasn’t too steep and before she could question herself, she dropped right out, wincing as her body hit the ground.
“Ouch! Bad move, Robin. Really bad move.” She would totally be feeling that all day long.
Getting to her feet, she didn’t know what the hell to do now. If she ran, it wouldn’t take Reaper long to realize she was gone. Without even thinking, she took off, heading in the direction they’d come. Reaper wouldn’t think to go back, would he?
She had no way of contacting Preacher. If she could find a phone and remember his number, or even the station’s number, it would all work, right?
What if O’Klaren was still there?
She didn’t stop to think. She kept on going. Running.
In the distance, she heard the bikes and freaked out, heading into the thick forest, knowing she couldn’t stay there.
Bears or coyotes could be lurking.
She heard a bike pass and she leaned up against a tree, closing her eyes as the bike came to a stop.
“Robin, I know you’re out there,” Reaper said. “I gave you just enough time to make a run for it, but you and I both know spending the night in the woods isn’t on your to-do list.”
She cringed as she heard a twig snap.
This was the first time she had run in so long. The last time, he’d hurt her badly.
Suddenly, running didn’t seem like such a good idea.
Tears filled her eyes, and she wanted the ground to open up and swallow her whole. This couldn’t be happening.
“I won’t hurt you,” Reaper said.
“You’re lying.” She slapped a hand over her mouth. Why did she have to talk? She had just given away her fucking position. She didn’t hear Reaper stepping forward though. “It’s what you do. You hurt me.”
“Is that what you want me to do? Hurt you?”
“I don’t like pain. I want to go home.”
“You’re not going home. It’s the one thing I won’t be giving you and you know that. You’ve got to learn to accept it.”
Silence.
She didn’t trust him.
“You will have to hurt me because of your men.”
“I’ve told them to carry on to our next stop. They don’t know you ran.”
“I went to the bathroom and didn’t come out.”
“You think I don’t know what you were going to try to do? I’d already spotted the open window in the bathroom.”
This made her frown. “How?”
“I check every stop we make. I always look for an escape route for you. After the other night, you don’t think I knew you were going to try to run?” Reaper asked. “You’re quite predictable.”
She didn’t respond, resting her head against the tree. His voice gave away the fact he was getting closer and because of that, there was no point in running.
Opening her eyes, she watched as he rounded the tree. She didn’t know what she was expecting, maybe his anger or rage, but instead, she got a nice smile.