I pinched my teeth shut, then slowly relaxed my fingers. This was supposed to be fun. Not to me, but to Wil. A sexual fantasy explored, another game played. But a weight settled inside of me, filling me with dread. I hated him. He might have been good-looking. Might have been merciful in a messed-up way. Might have had a nice moment or two. But he was using my fears against me and using my sister as bait to keep me pliant.
And still, I had no choice but to do what he said.
He pushed the tank top over my shoulders, letting it fall to the ground, then unhooked my bra, leaving me topless and naked. Then he placed something on my shoulders, a heavy weight. Not a chain, but something abrasive and coarse. A necklace, or something like it, loose around my throat. Then my pants and underwear were pulled down, and it was clear that he wanted me to step out of them. Once I did, he held my wrists behind my back in a firm grip.
“Keep your wrists together like this,” he said. “Or I’ll get the restraints.” I rolled my eyes, grateful that the blindfold covered them, but I did as I was told. That was a command that I could follow if it meant keeping my hands free. I thought about what Maddie had said,Is it really that bad? It was almost as if she was here too, arguing with the voice inside of me, going to war with me. Of course he wasn’t all bad, but did that excuse him from what he did?All you have to do is be his toy, she had said.
A man with his toy.
He cupped my breasts, squeezing my flesh. I bit my tongue, focusing on the sharp bite of pain, ignoring the tenderness of his hands. I was his toy, all right. But I didn’t have to like it. His fingertips skimmed my collarbones, skipped over the harness on my shoulders, or whatever the hell it was, and he tickled my neck, and I couldn’t stop myself from enjoying it. Electricity surged to those points as if he was lighting my whole body on fire. He was supposed to hurt me. Not please me. What was I supposed to do with this? Then I realized that he was using my own desire against me. He was playing with me, molding me to his grip. He moved his leg between my thighs, using it to move them apart.
“Spread your legs,” he said. I moved then, the bare minimum I could without being an obedient, sick little pet. Then with one hand on my nipple, pinching it tightly, and the other hand between my legs, Wil explored me. His finger skimmed my slit. A shiver ran through my body, but I only shook once, trying to suppress it. He wasn’t supposed to tease me. Wasn’t supposed to make me feel good. What the hell was he doing?
I lifted my head, as if I could look down on him, not giving in to the way he made my body clench.
“Too good for everyone,” he said, a chuckle in his voice. “But your body doesn’t lie, Ellie.” He pressed a finger between my folds, and the ease at which he dipped inside of me made me shudder. His finger was thick, pushing against my walls, breaking me down, one touch at a time. “You want this more than you’ll admit.”
And I knew it was the truth. Butwhydid I want this? Sex was an invasion, the destruction of my private body, and I had thought I had no desire for it—and yet, I couldn’t help but like it. My chest tingled and my cheeks flushed with heat as he rubbed his thumb over my clit. Wil was a smug bastard, and yet the voice had gone silent, letting Wil take me away, almost as if my body couldn’t fight it anymore. As if my mind knew what it wanted. Whoever controlled that part of my brain, the one with the man’s voice, that never trusted anyone, couldn’t resist Wil’s touch. I wanted to kick Wil’s face so hard that it left a permanent dent, but I also wanted him to possess every inch of me. Because it was easier to give in to what he wanted, easier to give in, than it was to resist.
Because it was what I wanted too.
After shuffling around, his presence lowered, and a piece of furniture creaked. He must have been sitting on a chair. He guided my hips on top of him, his cock sliding into me, long and full, threatening to break me in two. I bared my teeth at the pain, threatening to bite him, but he laughed and pulled off the blindfold.
The darkness surrounded us as I blinked, getting used to the room. It was darker than I had expected. Had the blinds been shut? Or was it night already?
Then I realized it wasn’t a necklace or a harness resting on my shoulders, but a noose. A hangman’s knot tied with the rope around my neck.
My eyes widened. “What the hell, Wil?”
“Let’s play a game, shall we?” he asked. Without missing a beat, he lifted my hips up and down, making me fuck him. My pussy tingled as if there was nothing wrong. “Your hands and your legs are free. But if you move in any direction,” he pointed up, “You know what will happen.”
My stomach dropped as I looked up; the rope was tied to a bar on the ceiling.
“I-I can take it off,” I tried, “I can remove it.”
“No, you can’t,” he said, that smile evident on his lips. “It’s a special knot, one that will get tighter the more you mess with it.” His jaw was harsh, pointed at me, daring me to try it out for myself. “Or you can fuck me how I like.” He let go of my hips. “And I’ll untie it for you.”
He scooted the chair backward, and the rope pulled tighter around my throat.
“You’re moving!” I yelled.
“Fuck me, Ellie, and I won’t move,” he said. I was stunned, stuck in place, but as he flinched to move backward again, I moved my knees, bouncing up and down, trying to appease him. “You have to trust me. You have to believe that I’m here to help you. That I’m only doing what’s best for you.” He smacked my ass, the sound ricocheting across the room, then he palmed my cheeks, cupping my curves. Heat ran all the way up to my forehead, from knowing that he wanted me. More than I understood. That he was willing to show me how my life laid in his hands, to force me to accept the fact that I did like this, this way he consumed me. “You want your sister and I want your body. It’s a fair exchange. But you have to trust that I’ll give you what you want, if only you give me what I want.”
His cocky attitude was a mix of contradictions; he knew that I had no choice but to obey, but he also knew that I would enjoy this. That fucking him while my life and death were literally in his hands, put my body’s defenses on alert, making it easier for me to accept.
But it wasn’t just that. It was that he wanted me. He reached up, teasing my nipples, rolling them between his fingers, his mouth open as he watched for my reactions. I pressed my lips together, kept fucking him, trying so hard not to like it. But I did, because in Wil’s eyes, this was about me. Making me feel fear and pleasure. He wanted me so badly that he hurt another man for talking to me. That simply entering the building with him meant that I was his, and his alone. That I had to bow down to his demands, even if I didn’t want to.
“Let’s go over the rules again, shall we?” he said. I bounced up and down, my thighs burning, slick with sweat, my mouth open in need. A smirk danced across his lips. “If you leave the house, I’ll kill you.” His fingers dug into the flesh of my hips, and I was almost sure that he was making me bleed, his fingernails were so damn sharp. “If you talk to another man, I’ll kill you both.” He snapped his teeth tight, and his cock pulsed inside of me. He grabbed my hair, tightening his grip, pulling my head back. “You want your sister? You’ll do as I say, Ellie. It’ll only be as hard as you make it. Make this the lesson that you learn today.” He threw back his head. “You’re mine, Ellie. Your words. Your touch. Your body. All fucking mine.”
And though I knew it was wrong, I nodded my head. Thrust myself against him, squeezed my muscles, tried harder to make him come. The voice was silent now. It was me. Just me as I fucked the man who held my life in his hands, his rope around my neck. I could give him what he wanted. And he would help me find my sister.
But I knew that I might lose myself in the process.
I couldn’t let that happen.
CHAPTER 7
Wil
