The Ritual

“Oh, by the way. All the doors have added padlocks. And only I have the key.”

I spin around, my hair slapping me in the face. Looking up, I see him bent over the balcony, a knife in his hand, and he slowly runs the blade down the side of his face pretending to shave. “And all windows are bulletproof.” He gives me a chilling smile. “I’ve had time to prepare your homecoming, baby.”

I shove off the door and run farther into the house. The sound of his wicked laughter bounces off the walls, carrying throughout the house. I see another set of stairs and decide maybe I should go up since he thinks I’m down here. I grip the wooden banister, to stop my momentum and fling myself around to run up when I run right into him.

The blow knocks me down. I cry out when my side hits the unforgiving floor and roll onto my stomach to crawl away from him.

“Isn’t this fun?” He laughs. His hands wrap around my ankles, and he starts dragging me backward across the tile.

I scream, trying to grab onto anything I can find, but all I do is pull a rug with me, and a table down that was up against the wall.

He drops my legs, and I scramble to get up, but his hands grip my hair, and he yanks me to my feet before slamming me face-first into a wall. His large body pins me to it from behind.

“Matt,” I sob, “Please …”

“Shh, Blakely,” he says soothingly in my ear. “It’s okay, babe. It’s just a game. We’re both going to win here.”

I try to shake my head, but he yanks it back even farther, forcing me to look up at the high ceiling. My fists hit the wall, trying to push away from it and give me some space.

“Your mother plans on doing whatever it takes to get that baby out of you.” He presses the tip of the knife to the side of my stomach, and I stiffen, my breathing stopping. “So, while she’s away, we’re going to play. That way, I still get what I want. And she gets what she wants.”

“Valerie is not my mom. You killed my mother,” I growl, hating how fucking helpless I am. Hating Ryat for doing this to me. To us! He promised to protect me.

Matt laughs in my ear, making that taste of vomit rise once again, and I swallow it down. “I just wanted a taste of her. I was going to be fucking her daughter for the rest of her life. She was lying there, naked and waiting. Begging to be fucked. What man would pass up the opportunity to have both?”

“My husband would.” I growl.

His laughter grows. “He had no clue who she was. But if he had, I bet he would have changed his mind.”

“You’re sick!” I scream. “You fucking bastard!” He yanks me from the wall and shoves me forward so hard that I trip and fall to my knees.

Then I feel his hands on me. He tosses me onto my back and straddles me. He shoves my shirt up to expose my bra to him, and I slap at his face. He grips my wrists, pinning them down by my sides. “You do know that your parents had to sign you up to be a chosen, right?”

“No,” I choke out.

“Not just any woman can give herself to a Lord. We can only pick from who is on the list.” His hands tighten their grip, and I whimper. “Even they recognized the whore that you are.”

I arch my back and scream for help, but it turns into a sob.

“Don’t cry, baby. This is your fantasy. This is what you want.”

“No,” I sob, my hair sticking to my wet face.

“Yes. I saw Ryat. I watched him carrying you tied and gagged and him put you in the back of his SUV where he then hogtied you. He even lifted your shirt and played with your tit. Then the woods—now that was interesting. I wanted you to come find me, but it was him you found instead. So I watched him get what was supposed to be mine. I watched him fuck you in the woods,” he whispers. “And you know what I did? I jacked off watching you get off while he fucked and choked you. You loved every second of being treated like the whore you are. I underestimated you, baby. But it’s okay. I can admit my mistakes.”

I whimper.

“I’m going to line them up for you.” He licks across my face, and I try to turn my head but can’t how he has me pinned down. “Put my Lady to work for the Lords. You’ll be the talk of the …”

“You’re not a fucking Lord!” I shout over him. I heard someone saying that he was stripped of his title. On the run after Ryat killed Cindy and Ashley.