As if I could forget the painful jolt of the cattle prod. The way my muscles had seized and my skin burned.
Damien bent and unlocked my shackle. “Get up.”
I didn’t move. My heart pounded against my ribs as I stared up at him. The routine had always been the same. Get me out of the room and march me down to his torture chamber. But what if I refused to go? What would he do then?
Damien’s eyes went hard. They were finally recognizable. Even though they weren’t the brown I remembered, the hatred and rage were there. “I said,get up.”
I stayed. I didn’t open my mouth to speak or give him anything. But I stayed.
He shoved the cattle prod into my side.
My mouth opened on a silent scream, and my muscles seized in a vicious cramp. When he pulled back, I collapsed to the floor. My breaths came in quick pants as tears leaked from my eyes.
“Why do you make me hurt you, Halston? You’ve already proven yourself to me. All you have to do is say yes. Say you’ll marry me. Then it’ll be endless pleasure instead of pain.”
Bile surged in my throat. “Never,” I wheezed.
The cattle prod jammed into my shoulder, harder this time. Longer.
I couldn’t help the whimper of pain that escaped my lips. I didn’t want to give him the satisfaction, but I could do nothing to stop it.
The acute pain vanished, but echoes of it still coursed through me.
A hand fisted in my hair, hauling me up. “You will submit. You will learn.”
The world was fuzzy around me. I knew I should fight to escape Damien’s hold, but it was all I could do to stay upright.
“Move!” Damien shoved me forward and out into the cavernous hallway.
Battery-operated lanterns were scattered every ten to twenty feet. He’d prepared. That scared me most of all.
I tried to turn, to run. Damien grabbed my hair again, pulling in a vicious yank. “Don’t even think about it. If you try to run, I will cut my losses and slit your pretty little throat.”
His finger trailed over my neck. “And what a waste that would be.”
Tears burned the backs of my eyes, but I refused to let them fall. Wouldn’t give him the satisfaction.
With a few more hard shoves, Damien maneuvered me into the room that haunted my nightmares. “On the table,” he commanded as he pushed me forward.
I turned to face him—the man who had stolen so much from me. Even though I’d never told him I’dmarry him, how many times had I simply obeyed? Too tired to fight. How many times had I simply given in, so sure it would be the time everything ended?
But not now. Not when I had everything to fight for.
I moved before I had a chance to second-guess myself. I charged forward, and my hand came up in a palm strike. There was a satisfying crunch.
Damien howled in pain and dropped the cattle prod.
I didn’t wait, I ran. The rough rock tore into my bare feet, but I didn’t care. I just kept running.
It felt as if I were moving through molasses. I had the cattle prod to thank for that.
Curses and pounding footsteps sounded behind me.
I pushed harder, trying to create distance, attempting to get out. “Just keep moving.”
A hand caught my nightgown, yanking me back hard. “You are going to pay for that.”
Damien’s voice vibrated with fury, and then I felt a cool blade pressed to my throat. “I’m going to carve a work of art into your skin so you remember how sorry you are.”
