Page 5 of The Predator

"Ely," a voice calls, and I know that voice.

His terrible fucking voice.

Tendrils of fear slither around me, tightening their grip. I blink at the hazy image before me, trying to make the nightmare of my reality disappear. But no matter how many times I open and close my eyes, the image never changes.

Yanov is still there, his lips ghosting against my cheek, his other hand cradling the opposite side of my face.No. No. No.Dread slides along my skin, soaking into my lungs with every breath I take.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. How did I get here?

The memories come rushing back into my mind.

The security guard, my damn trusting nature.How could I have been so stupid?

A hot tear slides down the apple of my cheek, and I twist, trying to tug myself from his grasp.

"Ely," he whispers my name again. "It's so good to have you back, right where you belong."

My throat throbs as I swallow, while trying to shake my head. "No, please. Don't do this."

"Don’t do what? Bring you home? Marry you? Make babies with you? This is how it was always supposed to be, right?"

I flinch at his tone, the edge in it a warning I know well.

I understand the warning.We can be happy together…if you survive.Of course, he doesn't say that. Not in so many words, anyway. The warning is clear, though, in the way he hovers over me, watching me. Waiting.

Habits are hard to break, though, and as usual, I find myself slipping back into that familiar role where I try to convince him I don’t want him, and then my efforts implode around me. It didn’t work in the past, and it’s not going to work now.

But that's all I know. How else will I survive?

My voice is squeaky, fear leaching into each word. “What do you want from me?"

His grip shifts, his fingers pinch my chin hard. "Don’t play dumb, Ely. You know what I’ve always wanted, what was bound to happen.”

My entire body trembles, the blood in my veins freezing to ice.

“You baby. It’s you. I want you. I want inside you. I want you on top of me. I want everything I was promised all those years ago, before it was ripped away when your asshole of a father decided to betray me." His hold on my face tightens with each word he speaks, and I fight against the pain.

"Why do this when you know it's not what I want?" I keep my voice small, trying my best not to provoke him.

"It might not be what you want right now, but someday you’ll see things my way. You belong to me. You always have.”

The terrible darkness blankets my skin when his hands slide down my neck then to my shoulders. His hands continue down the length of my body, and thankfully he stops once he reaches my bicep. "I see the marks he put on you. Scratches, cuts, bruises. How could you let him fuck you in the woods like some cheap whore? You are better than that, Ely. More than that.”

I fight against the desire to roll my eyes.

Yeah, treat me better by breaking my bones and apologizing afterward.

"How can I believe that? You have me tied up like I’m some escape artist. It’s not like I can outrun you, and even if I did, where would I go? I have no idea where we are." I peer around the room, making note of each detail.

We’re in some type of a hotel, a cheap one from the look of the outdated manufactured wood furniture, the thin comforter on the bed, and the dull, worn carpet covering the floor. The room is probably ground level—in the event he needs to make a quick escape, I imagine.

He only shrugs his shoulders, his gaze roving over my breasts, and then lower. "Escape artist, no. But you do have a habit of losing your shit, so I figured this would be easier once you were awake. You have a hard time accepting the inevitable."

A phone chimes somewhere on the other side of the room. He pushes away from me and stands, shoving his dirty hair from his face while giving me his back. I sag into the bonds, my hands and my feet burning from the rope as I hunch into myself in an attempt not to fall apart.

I already know what’s going to happen. He's going to rape me. He's going to rape me, and then he's going to beat me when he realizes I don't enjoy his touch. It's how I always saw my end, but after Sebastian entered the scene I thought maybe I'd be okay. For once in my life I felt safe. Protected. I thought maybe it was possible.

There's a murmur, and then Yanov stalks back over to me with his phone on speaker. "No, I have her right here. She's safe enough."