Drop Dead Queen (Corium University Trilogy 2)

“Yeah, fight me, bitch. Fight me. It makes me so fucking hard when you struggle. I can’t wait to sink deep inside you and fuck the thought of Quinton right out of you. By the time I’m done with you, he won’t want you anymore. No one will. I can promise you that.”

I slap at his hands as he grabs me by the throat, squeezing it like he’s trying to bend steel.

“Get the rope, Rico,” he growls at someone over his shoulder. Black dots fill my vision, and I grit my teeth, struggling to breathe.

Matteo’s grip on my throat lessens a bit, and I suck a ragged breath of air into my lungs. He smirks and leans down, licking the lingering tears that have escaped my eyes from my skin.

“You will pay for this!” I scream, my voice hoarse.

“Maybe or maybe not.” He shrugs. “Either way, this will be so much fun.”

Before I can respond, I’m tossed onto my stomach. My hands tugged painfully behind my back. The rope, some Rico guy got for him, is wrapped and knotted around my wrists. Next are my ankles, and I can feel the tears building in my eyes. I should’ve gone with Lucas. I shouldn’t have been so stubborn.

As fast as I was tossed onto my stomach, I’m picked up. Matteo’s meaty hands dig into my skin hard enough to leave bruises as he throws me over his shoulder.

“You don’t want to do this, Matteo, please…” I beg, but my plea falls on deaf ears.

Every step down the stairs and out of the house is another crack to my fragile being. Another man is standing outside the house, and I only see him for a moment as I’m tossed into the open trunk of the vehicle.

“You’re right, Aspen. I don’t want to do this. I need to do it. I’ll have my way with you, even if you don’t want me. Even if Quinton will kill me. I don’t care.”

He doesn’t give me a chance to respond and slams the trunk closed, and I’m left in nothing but darkness. A moment later, the car moves, and my thoughts race. How am I going to get out of this alive? How am I going to survive him? There is no reasoning with him, and yet, there is no escaping either. Fear slices through me with every passing second. I roll to my side as we turn and slam my head against the wall of the trunk when the driver makes another sharp turn.

Pain lances across my scalp, and I barely hold back a cry of pain. I’m not sure how long they drive, but it’s long enough for the throbbing in my head to subside and for my hands and shoulder blades to go numb.

The vehicle turns once more before coming to a complete stop. Fuck. Time is running out. I have to escape, to get away. I’d be stupid not to. My entire body trembles when I hear the slamming of car doors. I force myself to take a calming breath, and when the trunk opens, it’s completely dark outside now.

Matteo stands above me, and his sickening grin makes me want to barf. “Did you miss me?”

I snarl my lip like a feral animal when he reaches for me. With the closeness of his body to mine and the fact that I’m sitting up, I use it to my advantage. Tipping my head back as far as I can, I headbutt him right in the nose. Pain explodes across my forehead, and I’m knocked off-kilter for a moment.

“You fucking bitch!” Matteo shouts, a hand pressed against his face.

I try to roll out of the trunk, but he stops me before I can get far. His fingers thread into my hair, and he grabs a fistful of the locks, tugging me out of the vehicle by my hair.

A scream rips from my throat, the burning pain lances across my scalp, and I can feel him ripping the strands from my scalp. Tears slip from my eyes, and my skin burns as he drags me across the concrete.

“Get the door, Rico. We’re going to teach this bitch a fucking lesson. I was gonna fuck you alone, Aspen, but since you are being a cunt, I’m going to let my brother and uncle fuck you too.”

“Please, don’t do this!” I scream, struggling in his grasp.

When he finally stops, he releases my hair, and I sag to the ground. The ground is cold, and I realize we’re in a warehouse. It’s musty, and my lungs burn as I suck air into them.

Matteo tugs me forward, a low-hanging pipe just above my head. My eyes catch on the glint of a knife, and even in the dim lighting, there would be no denying that it’s a sharp blade. He rolls me over and cuts the rope holding my hands in place.