And I willingly surrendered.
When we were both breathless, he ripped his mouth from mine and turned me around, forcing me facedown onto a bed covered in blue silk, my feet still on the floor. He thrust inside me hard. So very fucking hard. So very fucking good. Then, a slap to my ass. Another. And another. The sharp pain morphed to heat and then to pleasure. “Such a firm, red ass,” he said through a groan. “And it’s mine. It’s all fucking mine.” I grabbed the bedcovers, each thrust of his pushing me farther into the mattress. Drowning. I was drowning in Ryan Steel. He slapped me again. Again. Again. So quickly I hardly knew what was happening, he turned me around and pushed back inside me. His handsome face glistened with sweat, his dark hair sticking to his forehead and cheeks. “Mine,” he said again. “Mine to do with what I want.” “Yours,” I repeated. “Yours to do with what you want.” I closed my eyes. He pushed harder, harder…until— I sucked in a breath. The sweet plunging of his cock…had turned to… Sharpness. Stabbing. A knife. Then the smell…coppery and metallic. Blood. Pain. God, the pain! I shuddered as my body rebelled. A dark voice. “Mine. Mine. Mine. Mine to hurt. Mine to punish.” I opened my eyes. A scream tore from my throat. It was no longer Ryan forcing himself into me… * * * My eyes shot open. I jerked my head to one side and then the other. Where was I? My father. Yes, he was driving. Juliet lay in the back seat. I rubbed my eyes. How had I fallen asleep? I’d been so determined not to. The dream pervaded my mind. Ryan had been there…and then not there. Everything had changed. The feelings, the desire…had morphed into pain and fear. My skin prickled, and I rubbed my arms. My father turned the car onto a desolate road. “We’re here.” Dawn was breaking, and before us stood a concrete wall with a wrought iron gate in the middle. The thing had to be twenty feet high at least. I looked back at Juliet, who was still sleeping soundly. I hated to wake her, so I didn’t. “I need to call and get the gate opened,” Theo said. I yawned. “Who lives here?” “Several people.” “We are on the same island, aren’t we? How long were we driving?” I wished I’d stayed awake. I had no phone and no watch, so no way to know what time it was. This time, Theo yawned. “We’re on an adjacent island. We took a small ferry. You slept through it all.” The gate opened, and we drove in to what appeared to be a country estate. On an island in the Caribbean. I had to blink a few times to be sure I wasn’t seeing things. “What the hell?” “You’ll see soon enough,” he said. “It’s just a few more miles from here.” “Lower your voice. She’s still asleep.” I turned to see Juliet moving a little. “Never mind. You woke her up.” I tumbled over into the back seat once more. Screw what my father wanted. I touched her arm gently. “How are you?” “I don’t know,” she said. “I think I slept.” “You did.” “That’s the best sleep I’ve had in a while.” In the back of an SUV. I didn’t like it, but I felt a sliver of gratitude toward my father for letting her have this rest. I’d heard that babies found the movement of a car soothing. Apparently, so did abused women. “Are you hungry?” I asked. She shook her head. “I stopped being hungry a while ago. Do you know where we’re going?” “I don’t have a clue, but you’re safe with me, okay? I’m going to protect you.” They were empty words, I knew. I hadn’t been able to protect her from being raped in front of my eyes. But I’d do my damndest to make sure that never happened again. I’d take the punishment for her if I had to. Just the thought made me want to retch. But I would. I owed her that much. Melanie would say I didn’t owe Juliet anything, that it wasn’t my fault she was here. Melanie would be right, but that couldn’t negate the guilt that permeated my soul. Melanie. Just thinking of one member of the Steel family brought Ryan crashing to the forefront of my mind. Not that he was ever out of my mind. According to my father, he was here. Near. My father wasn’t known for his truthfulness, but for some reason, I didn’t think he was lying to me. I didn’t think he’d lied to me at all since he’d made contact with me recently. I had no reason for this—just a gut feeling. Something in him had changed. Whether it was good or bad, I didn’t know. For a split second, I almost wished my father hadn’t brought Juliet along. I had to keep her safe, and she would take my focus off Ryan. I hated myself for even having the thought. Besides, Ryan and his brothers could take care of themselves, right? I kept repeating that to myself. Over and over, until— I inhaled a sharp breath. We arrived at a sprawling ranch house. My father stopped the car and looked into the back seat I was sharing with Juliet. “Look familiar?”