Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 95350 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 477(@200wpm)___ 381(@250wpm)___ 318(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95350 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 477(@200wpm)___ 381(@250wpm)___ 318(@300wpm)
“You don’t need to bring anything but yourself,” I muttered as I unlocked my door.
But I wanted to. Just something to show I made an extra step. It was Bachelor night, and I couldn’t think of a better time to show up like everything was normal. Maybe I could confuse him enough to give myself some time to talk quickly. And if he ended up slamming the door in my face, he’d at least have to think of me while he ate whatever I left for him. I’d take any win I could get.
I was so consumed with my plan that I didn’t notice anything off when I opened my door. I didn’t notice the man standing just inside, waiting for me. Before I could react, he gripped my wrist and jerked me inside, slamming me back against the door to close it. I looked up and met cold, blue eyes.
“Bodie.” I tried to spit his name, but it lacked any power from my breathless lungs.
His lips curled into a sneer that washed over me like a bucket of ice water dripping from my head to my toes. I watched in horror as he yanked the keys from my weak grip and shoved them in the special top lock by my head, locking us both inside before tossing them across the room. Bile churned in my stomach, watching them disappear under the couch.
He chuckled. “Don’t worry, Raelynn. You won’t need those. It’s just you and me for however long I say.”
The stench of putrid alcohol burned my nostrils, and I jerked back, hitting my head against the door. I refused to flinch, instead lifting my chin in challenge. His eyes always reminded me of a barren blizzard, but they looked even more haunting with the dark circles and bloodshot corneas.
I tried to twist my way out from the door but didn’t make it far before he slammed me back, pressing his weight into me and slipping his hand around my throat. “You won’t pick up my calls, so here I am, and you’re going to fucking listen to everything I have to say.”
“Fuck you, Bodie.”
He squeezed painfully tight, baring his teeth like an animal. I watched him, unable to remember why I ever found him attractive in the first place. Although the patchy stubble shading his hollowed cheeks wasn’t there when I first met him.
“Maybe I’ll let you fuck me later. Maybe. I know you’ve been with that low-class fuck, Austin, and who knows who else you’ve whored yourself out to.”
“I’d rather stitch my vagina closed than ever have sex with you again.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll just fuck your filthy mouth.”
I was like Pavlov’s dog, automatically reacting in fear from months of training. But I needed to remember my time with Austin and how he built me up. I needed to remember the woman I’d created before Bodie—the one who didn’t take shit from anyone. I copied him and bared my teeth, letting him know he wasn’t the only animal in the room. Even if mine was a false bravado in a desperate attempt to cover up the tremors shaking me from the inside out.
“You, my fucking slut, have cost me a job.”
“You cost yourself a job by making promises you couldn’t keep.” I almost added that he did the same thing to me when he promised me I’d scream his name, and I never did, but while I wanted to be strong, I also wanted to make it out of this intact.
“Well, if you would have supported your boyfriend and put in a good word with Daddy, none of this would have happened. So, here’s what we’re going to do. You’re going to take me back, and we’re going to get married. Daddy will have to help his son-in-law out.”
“Ha,” I shouted. “I don’t fucking think so.”
“Goddammit,” he screamed, finally making me flinch when he raised his fist to slam it down against the door inches from my head.
I turned my cheek, trying to avoid the bad breath from his angry pants. As if on a wild pendulum, his demeanor softened along with his voice, but this alternative only infused me with more fear.
My muscles contracted, trying to pull in on themselves to avoid the hand dragging down my neck, over my breast, curving around my hip to grip my ass. “Or maybe, I’ll fuck a baby inside you. Then you’ll really be stuck.”
The mere mention of sex with him—of having his baby—left me lightheaded. Panic compressed in on my chest, creeping up my throat. I needed to get out of here. I needed to…Fuck. I could barely focus.
Out of the corner of my eye, my purse lay on the floor a few feet away. If I could break free just long enough to grab it and run, it would buy me time to call for help. With a few deep breaths, I recalled enough self-defense training from college and acted.