“Take her to the room. I don’t care what the fuck you do with her as long as you make it hurt. Rough her up, fuck her, do whatever you want with her.” I can barely hear Mack’s voice over the pounding in my ears. Squinting my eyes, I stare off into the distance and watch him walk away. His footsteps echo off the walls and in every part of my mind.
Eli starts to undo my restraints, and when I’m free, my body sags to the cold concrete floor. My mind tells me to fight Eli, to try to get away, but my body is telling me to close my eyes and go to sleep.
“You’re a real pain in the ass, you know that?” I only grunt in response, but in my mind, I’m telling him to fuck off. “I told you to keep your mouth shut. I told you to stay quiet, Amara. You didn’t.”
He slides his arm underneath my body and lifts me up. He throws me over his shoulder roughly, knocking out the air from my lungs. Jerk.
He carries me through the building, which I think is some kind of abandoned factory from what I can make out. Eli walks down a staircase, bouncing me on his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.
“Can’t you slow down,” I groan. “I’m gonna throw up.”
I’m rewarded with a sharp slap on my ass. “Throw up on me, and I’ll spank you.”
“You know Enzo would kill you, right?”
“I don’t know, he didn’t kill me after I watched you fucking, and you seem to enjoy an audience very much. Maybe you can give me a private show now?”
“Fuck you,” I spit, making him chuckle.
We enter a room, and Eli locks the door behind us before dropping me unceremoniously onto a mattress.
“Ow!” I yelp, bouncing across the old mattress. I groan, rubbing my sore limbs, and sucking in a deep breath. The room smells like dust and mold. When I look around to take the space in, I realize it looks like it too.
“You know he is going to expect me to do way worse to you, right?”
I look up at him. His body is three times the size of mine, and with him looming over me, that fact becomes more apparent.
“Are you going to?” I ask, still unsure where to stand with Eli.
“Depends.” He raises an eyebrow. “I don’t particularly want to hurt you, but I’ll do whatever is necessary to get us out of here alive, and if that means roughing you up a bit, then I’ll take it.”
I swallow hard. “My cheek hurts like a bitch already, my wrists ache, and I have a killer headache. I don’t know how much more roughing up I can handle.” At least he said, getting us out of here alive.
“You’ll be fine. You just have to listen to me better. Now take your shirt off and undo your pants.”
“What?” My eyes go wide, and I instinctively scoot away from him.
“If Mack comes to check on us, it needs to look like I’m doing something to you,” he explains, easing my fear a little. “Actually, it might be better if I rip your shirt off.”
Before I can respond, he lunges for me. I shriek as he pushes me into the mattress and starts tearing my shirt away. I hit him, pounding my fist against his chest as hard as I can.
“Stop!” I yell.
“That’s right. Scream for me,” Eli urges as he grabs my already sore wrists and squeezes. I cry out in pain, and my high-pitched scream echoes through the room.
As soon as I get one of my arms free, I sink my nails into his face, scratching his cheek as deep as I can.
One second his body presses mine into the thin mattress, the next, his weight is lifted off me. My chest heaves, and my heart races as I scurry to sit up.
Eli scoots away, smirking at me. I want nothing more than to wipe that smirk off his face, but my body is petrified and utterly confused.
“What the fuck was that?” I stare at the deep scratches I left on his face. One is bleeding. Eli wipes the blood off with the back of his hand and chuckles.
“A little show, kitten. Something to convince Mack I’m doing what I’m supposed to do.”
“You asshole! Why didn’t you warn me?”
“I didn’t know how good of an actress you would be. I didn’t want to take any chances. Don’t worry, this was very believable. It bought us some time. Plus, I wouldn’t have to do any of this if you had listened to me and kept your mouth shut.”
He is frustrated with me, and looking back at it, I guess I couldn’t blame him. I was dumb to think this situation was similar to the one I’d gone through with Enzo. My defiance will win me nothing with Mack.