Dots begin to blanket my vision, and just as my eyes involuntarily roll upward, the pressure ceases.
The gasp for air gets caught, and I begin choking on blood, or saliva, I’m not even sure. My mouth was so dry, but thanks to slicing the tip of my tongue off, I now at least have a means to wet my throat to say, “Release me, Lars.”
He begins chuckling.
Needles prick down my throat, straight to my chest, but I don’t care, I keep commanding, “Let me go!”
His mirth intensifies, causing my eyes to widen.
He’s… laughing at me…
“So, it does work. How lovely. Your Amoro, my love, is a bit chained up at the moment and can’t cleanse you. So, you can’t use that little blood trick of yours.”
I could swear the world cracks open and I simply fall through it.
“I was worried your mother lied about her venom’s effect on you. But now that that’s settled, we’ve got a few more hours before I unfortunately have to let you go.” I feel a soft bump, and as he leans over, the sensation of his fingers against my bare stomach makes me whimper.No…“I have a Hause to run, and as much as I want to be yourdaddy, becoming that, well… the outcome of it just won’t do for me.”
Squeezing my thighs as tight as possible does nothing, because I’m sure they’re as weak as the rest of my body feels.
“You enjoyed everything I did to you before in that shipping container.” His moan makes my stomach churn and I swear I taste acid. “Then it was all business, trying to bring out your Amoro. Now, though, I’ll have my way with you for just our pleasure.”
His hand moves between my legs, and he pushes his fingers betweenmy slit.
“Stop,” I grit through my teeth. “No, no… don’t!”
I ignore him exploring, grateful that only after a moment he does as I begged, and stops. The loud breath I release is accompanied by my entire body shuddering. My teeth actually chatter as I shake my head back and forth.
“Cinnamon…”
Anyone but him…
No… no… no one but Kairhyse, please…
“You aren’t wet.”
The sudden drop of my head startles me enough to make me gasp, and jolts me into reopening my eyes. He had taken all of my vision before, but now that I can look around, I realize we’re in the back of a car—no, a van. There are no windows, only a single sliding door, and no one else in view.
“You know.” He speaks, and I roll my head to try to find him. He comes into my view just as he begins crawling down toward my feet.
As if I thought saying stop would do anything.
Fuck!
“Lars…” I bite down on my bottom lip, my sharp canine digging into the flesh. “You will die.”
He ignores me and continues, “There was a time I nearly took you from the container and became your ‘savior’.”
The moment my leg is lifted, I kick it out, driving it straight into his chest. He grabs my ankle to keep from falling back.
A half frustrated, half amused sigh escapes him.
“The day your Amoro surfaced was the same day I was planning on taking you. I knew it was fate, so I let it be.” He tosses my leg aside and quickly grabs my thighs with both hands.
I don’t look at him, just close my eyes and think ofanythingbut what he is about to do.
“I sacrificed so much to have you, Xeraphine. I’m a man obsessed, and I deserve what I’ve killed for.”
“You will die,” I repeat, my hands finding their way down as if to shield me. “Stop.”
