Total pages in book: 61
Estimated words: 56208 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 281(@200wpm)___ 225(@250wpm)___ 187(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 56208 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 281(@200wpm)___ 225(@250wpm)___ 187(@300wpm)
I looked up to find Pia standing in front of me, her smile warm and welcoming. She didn’t acknowledge the other girl.
“How long did I sleep?” I asked, my voice coming out raspy. I wondered how long it had been since I’d last spoken out loud.
“A day and a half, sweetheart,” Pia smiled easily. “That pill must have really knocked you out.”
I hated the thought of that. I’d lost another day and a half, then. Time I could have spent planning my escape. I hated Pia for forcing the pill on me, though I wasn’t about to tell her that.
“Come on,” she motioned for me to join her. “Let’s pick out a nicer outfit for you.”
Rage bubbled in the pit of my stomach, but I still stood up and joined her, my eyes lingering on the beautiful raven-haired girl.
“Is she okay?” I whispered to Pia, but she ignored me completely and led me back up the stairs, her palm firmly on the small of my back.
Once again, no answer to my question.
Once again, I was shown exactly who had the last word in this awful fucking place.
9
Harlow
I followed Pia back up the stairs, hating how meek she made me feel. I had a will of my own, and I didn’t like her taking my choices away from me. Yet I knew it wasn’t my time to argue, so I just shut my mouth and followed her down the hallway, past my room, and to large double doors.
“Someone’s waiting for you in there,” she told me with a sweet smile. “I bet he’ll be pleased to see you’re feeling better.”
I knew who she meant, and while he may have been excited to see me, I most definitely didn’t return the feeling. When I thought of him on the other side of that door, I wanted to make a run for it. Instead, I forced a fake smile to appear on my lips as I nodded at Pia. She opened the door wide and I walked inside, hearing it shut behind me.
It was cold and dark in the room. Before I could gather my bearings, I felt a hand wrap around my arm.
“Harlow,” he said in a whisper, and I was thrust against him. He reeked of alcohol and smoke, and I resisted his grip, but he wasn’t letting go. “Shh, it’s okay.”
It wasn’t.
The fact that it was so dark in there worried me. Maybe he wanted to get me alone, away from the cameras. Which meant someone else could be watching… Or maybe, he was just a sick bastard who wanted to fuck me, and there was no third person in the game, just him and myself. I hated how my body responded when he kissed my neck. He hadn’t once kissed my lips, and I hoped he never would. But there was no denying the way my body molded to his, trying desperately to fit him like a puzzle piece.
“Sir,” I whispered back, still trying to act like the good girl and play by his rules.
But he didn’t like it. He groaned against my neck and pulled me closer to him, making me feel uncomfortable.
He was handsome. I’d noticed it the first time I met him. He was tall, dark and scruffy, with a rugged look that would make my knees weak in any other situation. But because he was treating me this way, like a worthless piece of meat, I couldn’t bring myself to see him as a man.
“I want you to know my name,” he groaned against my ear, his breaths ragged. “I want you to call me only by my name, baby.”
“I don’t k-know what it is,” I managed to whisper back, trying to dodge his mouth.
Somehow, this was more disturbing than the way he’d treated me previously. I hated the intimacy he touched me with, like he now owned my body and like it belonged to him. I hated him for the familiarity he had with my curves because he’d forced himself on me and explored every part of my body even though I hadn’t wanted it.
He was a rapist. A horrible, cruel man I’d never be able to forgive for what he’d done to me. And somehow, this small stolen moment felt worse than everything else he’d done.
“Please,” I begged desperately, even though I knew it would fall on deaf ears like it had so many times before. “Please, don’t hurt me…”
“You want me to,” he growled, laughing in my ear. “You’re saying you don’t, but I know you’re secretly desperate for this, you little slut…”
I cried out when he spun me around in his arms. My ass was against his cock, and he was hard and throbbing for me, making me hate him even more. I didn’t want him to fuck me, or even touch me. Yet I had already realized my consent didn’t matter in this godforsaken place. And damn Pia, who had brought me here to his waiting arms without giving me so much as a warning.