Break Me

I want to know her fucking name. Any other time, I wouldn’t give a shit. Those eyes, though . . . There is something in her eyes.

Patience has never been a character trait ascribed to me. Now is no different.

When I feel like a fool for standing outside the women’s restroom like a fucking puppy dog, I grab a submissive by the arm. She looks up at me and licks her lips in desire.

“The dark-haired girl in all black and thigh-high boots—she okay in there?” I bark out.

The bottle redhead in front of me pouts, and my stomach churns. “She freaked and climbed out the damn window.” She traces her manicured nails over my neck. “Whatever she can’t handle, I’ll willingly do, master.”

Master, ugh. I don’t aim to be a master. I aim to be a leader. I’m a dominant man, but I don’t need a pet under my control.

Thinking of my woman tonight, I like the challenge.

“If I wanted a pet, I’d get a dog.” I release the redhead then take off out of The Lion’s Den and head down the block to where everyone parks.

I catch a glimpse of her as she gets into a black car. Hurrying, I climb in mine and take off behind her. It’s not long before she turns into a paid parking garage. I try to follow her, yet once she gets out of the vehicle, I lose her while trying to find my own spot. Therefore, I move back to her location.

When I can’t get a feel on her, I go back to my car. As I pull out of the garage, I realize I’m not far from Lorraine’s house.

Her eyes come back to mind, and I hit the steering wheel, thinking of the mess I have made.

Tonight, I fucked a stranger raw while, in my mind, I gave her Lorraine’s eyes and face. Sure, the hair was wrong, but the eyes, those blue eyes, were my angel’s.

How hard did I get hit in the head? I should take my ass back to the hotel and call it a night.

I don’t.

Instead, I make the turn onto her road and find myself silently sitting across the street from her house. This can’t be healthy, but I can’t seem to pull away.

I watch from outside as the lights seem to come on in a sequence. I make out the form of a dark-haired woman carrying a bat.

I get out of my car and make my way closer to the house. When I see the blond ponytail of Lorraine fall to the floor, panic fills me, thinking she is hurt.

Someone is in the house and has hurt her.

I rush in through the front door after easily picking the lock. Then I disarm the alarm by slicing a few wires with my pocket knife, without even thinking about how I have no explanation for why I am here. Instincts take over. I have a drive I have never felt before to get my ass inside to save her.

Chapter Nine

When his hand covers my mouth, I immediately scream. My body trembles, my muscles tighten, and I know I’m going to die. I am going to die just like they did, inside what was once a sanctuary to my family. A house, a haven, a home to a middle-class working family with two daughters, two cats, two cars, and too much love and happiness, just to be silenced with a blade.

It became a tomb, a hell, a house haunted by the gruesome and savage slaughter of a family. A house I couldn’t bear to sell or leave because of the good memories still here.

Now, I am going to die just like they did.

The fight response comes on immediately. I claw, kick, and try with every ounce of strength I have to get free. I don’t know how strong I am or that I even have it in me to fight, but I do.

I fight for three, and I fight for me.

My attacker’s hand is covering my mouth, so I know the screams aren’t alerting anyone, but I refuse to die like this.

He is saying something, but I can’t hear anything except my screams and the sound of my own heartbeat thrashing in my ears.

I see them. I see them in my sister’s room. The blood, the mess, the death. I see Daddy tied to a chair with his throat slit, his white, button-down shirt covered in blood. I see Mom lying on the bed, her clothes sliced apart. She has cuts on her thighs, across her exposed pelvic area, and on her breasts. I see how her eyes are wide open, and she isn’t breathing. I see my sister’s dead, half-naked body bent over the end of the bed, blood staining down her inner thighs, her body and her throat sliced, too.