Tobias was finally asleep. His breaths were deep and steady, and it seemed that pain no longer had control. I waited for a heartbeat, then gently eased his arm from across my body and rose. The mattress dipped as I slipped off. But he didn’t stir as I quietly made my way to the stack of clothes piled in the corner of the room. Clothes that Caleb had pulled from the getaway sedan that morning. Clothes my father had brought for me.
Pinks and purples littered the floor at my feet, but at least he’d had the good sense to make sure the jeans were black.
I tugged off my shirt and boxers, still damp from Tobias’s shower, and dropped them on the floor before pulling on a soft cup bra, panties, shorts, and a t-shirt that looked like it was about two sizes too small. I thought about wearing Nick’s oversized black shirt but then realized they had even less clothes than I did.
So I tugged on the shirt, hating how it rode high, and gathered our dirty clothes. I wanted to make good use of the time we had in this place. Washing our clothes, learning how to keep us alive, those tasks would give me purpose…that’s what I needed now. Purpose. Momentum. Peace.
Peace would come, when we were safe.
When we were all safe.
My thoughts turned to dad as I moved quietly to the door. I tried to keep the image of his beaten face and gentle eyes from my mind. But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t. He was right there, smiling with that sad smile right before he strode toward the men who wanted him dead.
I twisted the handle and eased the door open before slipping out.
“Is he asleep?”
My heart leaped, driving into the back of my throat. I bit down on a cry and spun around, finding Kit standing in the hallway behind me. “Jesus, you scared the crap out of me!”
But her gaze shifted to the door and stayed there. “You sleep with your stepbrother, don’t you?”
Heat rushed to my cheeks. I swallowed the flare of heat and answered. “Yes.”
“Just him?” She met my stare, those wide brown eyes demanding the truth.
I swallowed. “No.”
Her brows pinched, like she wrestled with her own demons about that. Then she leashed the inquisitiveness and turned away. “Lucas wanted me to show you where the antibiotics and painkillers were, just in case you need to know for next time.”
Next time? I hoped there’d never be a next time. I hoped for a lot of things, but hoping and planning were two very different things. I knew that. So I followed her as she opened the door to the treatment room and went to the drug cabinet.
I dumped the damp and dirty clothes on the floor beside the door and shifted my attention to her. But she was quiet, not yet reaching for the drawer.
“Do your parents know?”
I jerked my eyes to her. She hadn’t moved, just stared at the counter.
“Yes.”
Kit lifted her gaze my way, her eyes widening. “Really? And they just…let it happen?”
Let it happen? I thought of Tobias and the way he’d narrowed in on me, his hate, his anger…and his love. “They didn’t really have a choice,” I answered carefully. “It wasn’t something we planned.”
She gave a slow nod. “It never really is, though, is it?”
“No.” I moved closer, narrowing in on all the things she wasn’t saying. “Is everything okay, Kit?”
She forced a smile and nodded. “Sure. I just wanted to know. I wasn’t sure how you…”
“Love all three of them?” I tried to fill in the gaps. “Or love them because they’re my stepbrothers?”
“Yes.”
Yes…
She didn’t distinguish and I was too lost in the past to stop the flood of emotions. “They didn’t like me, not at first.”
“They didn’t?”
I shook my head, meeting her stare. “No. Especially Tobias. He was…angry and hurt.”
“And then they did.”
I forced a smile. “I guess so.”
“Lucas said you might need these.” She reached out, grasped a stack of long white pill boxes, and pushed them my way.
I didn’t need to look at the labels to know what they were. I picked up the top one and opened it, sliding out the sheave inside. “Kit, are you on the pill?”
She blushed and slowly shook her head.
“Do you want to be?”
The answer burned in her eyes. My pulse stuttered and raced at the sight. There was so much emotion, so much turmoil…so much need. I didn’t want to overstep my place, but she looked like someone who could use a friend right now. Someone to talk to about what she was feeling. Someone who wasn’t her stepbrother…
“I’ve seen the way he looks at you,” I murmured. “And the way you look at him.”
She swallowed hard. “You have?”
I gave a nod. “Yes.”
“And does he…look at me the same way your brothers look at you?”
A smile tugged at the corners of my mouth. “Yeah, Kit, he does.”
She blushed again, then turned away for a second before pointing to the overhead cupboard. “The antibiotics are on the top shelf. I can’t quite reach.”
I opened the cupboard, then reached high. My mind was captured by the past, on the way Tobias had hated me, before that hate had become an inferno, as a touch came across my stomach. The sting burned across the tattoo they’d carved into my skin.
“That’s pretty.” Kit stepped closer, her eyes fixed on my stomach. “H inside the O. What does it mean?”
Terror descended, dragging me back there, to that place and that room.
Hold her down!
HOLD THE BITCH DOWN!
I cried out and stumbled backwards, slapping a hand against my stomach, the other shoved out in front of me.
In the blur of my panic, Kit stepped toward me. “Ryth?” She reached toward me. “Are you okay?”
Hold her down…hold her…THE FUCK DOWN!
I couldn’t speak, couldn’t scream. My heartbeat exploded, punching against my ribs.
I saw everything, the way she reached for me…the way she moved. She became them. Their hate, their cruelty. Their need. I had to get out of there. Had to…
Run…
I spun around…and lunged. The doorway was a blur, so were the living room and the front door of the cabin, and even when I hit the sunlight, I still didn’t stop. Because I couldn’t.
“Ryth! RYTH! I’m sorry!”
Hard rocks stung the bottoms of my feet as I lunged from the veranda and hit the ground. By the time I hit the treeline, I was in full sprint. Branches lashed my face, stinging my cheek, blurring the forest through my tears.
“Ryth!” Caleb’s roar came far behind me.
I caught the faint sound of Kit’s panic. But I was too far gone to care, ripped away from the sunshine and slammed back into the dark.
And the cold.
And the empty room…
And their empty stares.
She’s ruined…you like to be beaten? You like to be fucked…
A hand across my mouth, a hand around my throat, pressed against the wall. I bet I could make you fucking scream…I had to run. I had to escape. I had to—
“Ryth!”
Hands grabbed me and pulled me backwards as I scurried over a fallen tree.
“Ryth, it’s me!”
A hard chest was at my back. A deep growl was in my ear and the rage, so much fucking rage. It bubbled up inside me, too, ripping free until the burning screams were all I could feel. I lashed out and kicked, bucking against the arms wrapped around me.
“It’s me!” The roar boomed. “Ryth! Ryth, it’s me. It’s Caleb!”
I clawed, fighting against the hold. “No! NO!”
But he didn’t let go…he…didn’t let go.
“It’s me. Baby, it’s me.” Strong fingers bruised my arms as he turned me around. Through the tears I saw…him. His dark hazel eyes gripped me. “It’s me, princess. It’s me.”
“Caleb?”
He gripped me hard, pulling me against his chest. “It’s me, baby. It’s me.”
Still the tears flowed, sliding salty down my cheeks and into my mouth. “I c-can’t stop it. I c-can’t.”
“Then don’t.”
I squeezed my eyes closed and wrapped my arms around his neck.
“Don’t fight it.” The bass of his voice sounded beside my ear. “Just let it roll through you. It’s just me…in that place with you.”
I buried my face against his neck, drawing in his scent.
“Me touching you.” Those words of comfort turned into something darker, something…else.
Heavy breaths claimed me.
His hand slid between my legs.
“Say my name, princess.”
“Caleb,” I whispered, my voice husky. “Caleb.”
“That’s it. Again,” he demanded. I closed my eyes. “Caleb.”
“That’s the way, princess.” He slid his finger along the crease of my jeans. “I’m there, right? You can see me in that room you can’t escape. You can see me.”
I could only nod, my arms wrapped tight around his neck. His hand moved upwards, his fingers working the button of my jeans. “Gonna take you away from here, princess.” He pushed in, sliding under the elastic of my panties. “Gonna take you far away.”
He dipped low, burrowing inside my panties to drive his fingers inside me.
“Fuck, baby.” His voice was a growl. “I’ve been waiting for you to come to me all day.”
My body responded to him. To his darkness…to his savage need.
“Breathe against my neck while I finger you, Ryth.”
Oh God, my body trembled…and my pussy quaked, pulsing against the invasion.
“Jesus, that’s it,” he murmured, sliding two fingers inside me.
His other arm held me steady, drawing me down to the ground with him, until he pulled away, just enough to stare into my eyes. “Gonna need to be quiet out here, princess. You think you can do that?”
My ass hit the ground. He loomed over me as I was pushed back on the sticks and the leaves. But his fingers never stopped those slow strokes inside me as he placed a hand over my mouth. “Gonna need you to be really quiet now,” he repeated, but there was an edge to his voice.
A coldness…
Sinking into depravity.
And it seethed in his stare.
I flinched at the pressure over my mouth. My body bucked as that fight rose inside me…until he looked down. My jeans were shoved open, his fingers using me the only way he knew how. I stared at him, captured by that infernal gleam in his eyes as he whispered. “That’s it, baby. That’s so fucking it, look how fucking wet you are. Christ, you love this…you need this.”
I moaned with his praise, starved for his wickedness. My panting breaths warmed his palm, which only made him clench tighter and shift that savage glare my way.
He needed me.
Needed to use me.
Needed to keep the beast at bay.
And I needed him, too.
“I’m going to use this cunt.” His fingers came away wet when he withdrew them. Stars glittered in the hazel abyss of his stare. “Over and over and over again, I’m going to use you. My perfect fucktoy.” He leaned down to growl against my ear. “My needy little stepsister.”
He reached for the button of his pants, yanked the belt, and shoved the zipper down. His hard cock sprang free as he pulled backwards, grabbed my waist with both hands, and lifted me. I was spun, my knees dragging against the ground as I was dropped back down.
His hand moved to my throat. His fingers were a cage as he surged against me, driving me against the trunk I’d so desperately tried to climb. I shoved out my hands, bracing myself against the hard surface as he wound his other hand around my hips and thrust.
“My cunt.”
Thrust.
My spine bowed with the invasion as he filled me.
“My fucking sister.”
My legs trembled. My nails clawed, peeling bark. But his grip around my throat steadied me, holding me in place as he rammed his thick cock home.
“I’m gonna use you, princess,” he growled again, driving me against the tree. “I’m gonna use your body…gonna take your soul. Gonna steal that heart right out of your chest…the way you’ve stolen mine.”
I slammed my eyes closed as my body clenched. The end swallowed me, taking me down into that room. To the darkness…to his need.
“You see me, princess?”
His voice was a growl. I nodded, driving myself backwards to meet his body. My knees lifted, my pussy quaked. I couldn’t stop this feeling, couldn’t fight this hunger…
Not anymore.
A savage sound ripped along my throat. My elbows buckled, suspending me by his hold around my throat as I gave into him. His brutality. His cock.
He used me.
Fucking me like I needed to be fucked.
I climaxed…hard.
He grunted, his fingers pressed against the vein in my throat. Darkness swam, sending me soaring…
Until he released and I crashed back down.
“I got you.” His chest punched against mine with heavy breaths. He pulled me on top as we fell to the ground. “I’m right here, princess. Right here.”
I closed my eyes, my body spent, empty…and yet full, all at the same time. His touch was real, drawing me back from that place. I shivered, turned to curl into him, and wrapped my arm around his waist.
“I’ll always be there in that place with you, princess. Whenever you need me…I’ll always be right there.”
That was the truth. He would be.
Just him…
Only him.
My Caleb.
