I cast a glance over my shoulder and run slap bang into something solid. Hands grab my shoulders, holding me steady.
“Hello, pet.”
Maxim looks down at me with triumph in his eyes. A twig snaps behind him, and I see Angel step out of the shadows and rest his chin on Maxim’s shoulder.
Well,fuck.
“Hello, Echo,” Angel says with a salacious grin, and I suddenly miss the warm one he’d been using before. The guy looks a little unhinged, and I’m reminded that this blonde-haired angel is a lot more sinister than his outward appearance suggests.
Footsteps halt behind me, and I know without even turning around that I’m surrounded.
“Hello, boys,” I say with a slow smile. “Fancy meeting you all the way out here.”
“You’ve lasted longer than I thought you would,” Maxim says as he takes a step closer.
I tighten my grip on my knife and slide one foot backwards, adjusting my balance so I’m ready. “I’m not finished yet.”
Maxim laughs as he comes to a stop inches from me. He stills and just stares at me, and my heart beats frantically in my chest. Just knowing he can feel it, that he’senjoyingmy fear, has my desire burning through my veins as if my blood had been replaced with lava.
His hand shoots out and wraps around my throat.
I react instantly, slicing the edge of the blade across his forearm.
He hisses as he pulls his hand back, and I can’t help the grin that spreads across my face.
“Careful,” I sing while readjusting my stance, expecting him to attack again.
“Oh, pet. You’ll pay for that.” His dark eyes narrow, and I know I need to move. Staying here will definitely end with me screaming. I’m just not sure if it will be in pain or pleasure.
I hear Niki step closer, and I move. I dart to the left, picking up the pace as I sprint through the trees.
I hear swear words and grumbles behind me, and I smile as I run towards the sound of the river. I’m so close I can almost taste the freedom.
I burst through the woods into a wide open clearing, and the river is right there in front of me. The early morning light paints soft hues of red and orange across the sky.
“Echo!”
The sound of my name is closer than I want it to be, and it spurs me to move again. The grass is soft under my feet, and I’m almost there. My lungs burn with every breath, my feet stinging from all the cuts, and Ifinallymake it to the edge of the riverbank when a fist grabs my hair and yanks me backwards.
I fall to the ground on my ass and find Maxim staring down at me, his dark eyes wild and his chest heaving.
“Got you, pet.” His voice is rough and husky, and I know this is it. This is the end. The final showdown, and everything in my body comesalive.I’m torn between running and surrendering. I want to submit, but I also want to tear them all down. Electricity pulses through my body, and I feel everything. Every scrape of grass against my skin, every caress of the gentle breeze, the warmth of the sun trying to break through. I’ve never felt this good. Never felt so full of life. This yearning to justbeand I know it’s all because of them. Because they told me to run and brought that quiet darkness out of me, and now she’s basking in their attention. I want to feel like this always.
These men have given me a taste of something, and it’s like poison in my veins now. I’m addicted, and there’s no way I’m going back.
I scramble backwards, turning over and trying to get to my feet, but Maxim grabs my ankle and drags me back to him.
I swing the knife blindly, snagging on something and hearing his sharp hiss. He growls as he captures my wrist, slamming my hand into the ground.
“Fuck,” I yell, the knife falling from my fingers. I reach for it, but Maxim is quicker. He throws it out of reach and then flips me onto my back.
There’s another slice in his expensive silk shirt on his right pec, and I inwardly congratulate myself. It’s short-lived because he slams his hand over my mouth and nose. I can’t breathe. My screams are muffled when he kicks my legs apart and settles between my thighs.
I hear the sound of his belt unbuckling, followed by his zipper, and I know it’s coming. I slap at his hands, drag my nails down his skin, but it does nothing to stop him.
He sinks deep into me on a single thrust, and a painful, delicious moan rises up my throat.
Maxim removes his hand from my face, and I swallow a lungful of air. It turns into a cry as he hammers into me, hard enough that stars burst to life at the edges of my vision.
