Skin Deep (Skin Deep #1)

I closed my eyes and laid still, trying to regulate my breathing, but I was breathing so hard I had little hope of it working. I flinched without meaning to when a bright light streamed out of the darkness against my eyelids and the footsteps moved toward me.

“I know you’re awake, sweetheart.”

His raspy voice sent shivers through me and I knew for certain that Creepy had taken his game to a whole new level. I could feel myself tensing, my anger rising. I was pissed off at myself for letting my guard down, for feeling safe again when I should have known better. And I was pissed to the fucking tits that this crazy asshole had gotten his hands on me.

My skin crawled as thoughts bombarded me from every direction, my stomach turned queasy. I hadn’t thought to check the state of my clothes. I knew I had them on, but were they torn? Opened? Was I missing anything? Did he touch me? Oh, God, had he gone further than that?

I gave up the pretense of sleeping, both of us knowing full and well that I was awake. I opened my eyes, squinting and blinking in the brightness of the flashlight aimed directly in my face. I tried to see beyond the beam of light, but he was just a shadow in the darkness behind it. I sat up and scooted back against the wall again, pressing my back to it and bringing my knees up protectively in front of me.

“I cant believe I finally have you here. Jesus, do you know how long I’ve waited for this?” He chuckled, the sound sending chills down my spine. “And here you are, so beautiful, so silent.” He stepped closer to me and I tensed before he continued speaking. “What did you do to yourself there, sweetheart? Trying to take the tape off? I’ll help you with that but you have to close your eyes.”

I shook my head slightly, cringing when it made me dizzy.

The man’s voice hardened. “Yes, you will close your eyes or I’ll fuckin’ knock you out again, Emma. Do it. NOW.”

Not seeing any other choice, I squeezed my eyes shut, whimpering when his rough fingers touched my face, gripping the edge of the tape and ripping it viciously off of my mouth. I screamed at the instant intense pain that seared across my face, bringing my hands up to cover my burning lips. I felt wetness there, and opened my eyes, only to shut them tightly again as he backhanded me across the face.

Holding my face gingerly between my palms, I stammered, “What..what do you want wi-with me?”

“You’ll find out. Keep your fucking eyes closed,” he bit out.

I cried out again as he thrust some kind of material against my face, pushing it so hard against my face that my head jerked back and cracked against the concrete of the wall behind me. Without caring, he tied the fabric tightly over my eyes, my hair tangled up in the knot and making my eyes water even more than they already had been from earlier.

After he blindfolded me he jerked me to my feet. I stumbled and he caught me, his hands roughly grabbing at my shoulders, so hard I knew that I would be bruised. Inside my head I laughed at myself, knowing that bruised shoulders were the least of my worries right now.

He shoved me back against the wall, his hand sliding to encircle my throat, pressing up and squeezing until I was gasping for air. I felt him slide his other hand down my shoulder onto my breast, pinching the tender globe so fiercely that I screamed.

His breath bathed hotly over my ear, the fetid stench of it curling into my nose and making me gag as he whispered, “See what happens to bad little girls who fuck around with trash? You’re mine, Emma. I told you that and you chose to keep flaunting your indiscretions in my face. Did you think I’d just go away? Leave you alone?” He squeezed my throat even tighter, and I gasped as everything went grey and fuzzy as I started to slip under.

Apparently sensing that I was to the point of passing out, he released me and I slid down the wall, gulping air in between dry heaves. My stomach was rebelling but nothing was coming up, and I almost counted it as a blessing.

“Please…” I gasped. “Let me go. I don’t even know who you are and I wont say anything. I promise, just let me go!”

“You know, you sure beg pretty. What are you gonna do for me, sweetheart, to make me want to do that? Any suggestions?”

I knew what he was hinting at and there was no way in hell I was going there, but then it hit me. If I could get him close enough I could possibly take him by surprise. He’d left my hands untied, and my feet weren’t bound either.

Taking a deep breath, I whispered, “Whatever you want.”

I heard his breath quicken, could imagine the thoughts rolling through his nasty mind, and swallowed back the bile that started to rise in my throat.

“For starters, I think that I’ll fuck that traitorous little mouth of yours. How about that, little one?” He stepped toward me again, the scrape of his boots giving him away, allowing me to brace myself. I heard the rasp of a zipper being released and a small whimper escaped through my lips. “Now, I gotta tell you, sweetheart, you try anything funny and you’ll regret it. I’ve got a knife with your name on it right here, and while I’d hate to mark up that gorgeous face of yours, I won’t hesitate to do it. Bring your hand up here and hold my dick, bitch.” He laughed as he reached for my arm, jerking it up until my fingers brushed hot, turgid skin.

Fighting against the nausea, I allowed him to wrap my fingers around that insignificant part of him, holding my fingers tightly in his grasp as he thrust himself against my hand. He finally dropped his hand after a minute, his hips moving in a stuttering see-saw motion. As soon as he dropped his hand, I closed my fingers around him in a punishing grip, digging my nails into his most tender flesh and bringing my other hand up to grab, twist, and yank down violently on his balls.

I heard an inhuman scream and my ears rang as his hands flailed wildly, landing a solid hit against the side of my head, thankfully on the opposite side from where he’d hit me earlier. I jumped to my feet, shoving against him with all my might and trying to do as much damage as possible before he fell backwards, and I let go, turning to run as I ripped the blindfold off.

He’d dropped the flashlight when he’d caught me and I’d ended up kicking it when I jumped up, so now it was spinning wildly on the floor and I tried desperately to catch a glimpse of the stairs in the rotating flashes of light. Knowing I had only seconds, I took off across the room, hoping that I could find the stairs and make it up them before he got up again.

By some miracle I found them and pounded up them at breakneck speed, throwing myself through the door at the top. I lost my balance and fell, scrambling to my feet as I heard him bellow down below, his heavy footsteps sounding like thunderclaps as he hit the bottom of the stairs. Whirling, I took off again and found myself in a kitchen, but I couldn’t see a way out. My heart was pounding and I was gasping for air, but I tamped down the panic threatening to overtake me and reached for the butcher block of knives sitting in plain view on the counter.

As soon as the blade I chose cleared the wooden block it was sitting in, I heard him step into the room. He stopped in the doorway, his face a mask of fury. He’d neglected to shove himself back into his pants…either that or he was in too much pain to do it…and I could see with sickening clarity the damage I’d wrought. It hung there, already bruising, a bloody and limp mess.

I raised the knife, holding it tightly in my hand. “You. Little. Bitch,” he growled at me. “You will pay for that. And oh, oopsie! You’ve seen my face now, so do you think you’re getting away from me now? Uh-uh…I don’t think so, sweetheart. Drop the knife and get over here.”