A leather collar was visible from the bag, and I grabbed it without hesitation. I wrapped it around his big neck and buckled it.
The veins bulged under his tattoos, his back arching, as he struggled to breathe. I waited and counted thirty seconds in my head before I unbuckled the collar. Then I took off the gag and asked him one more time about Annie.
When his answer was nothing but a red face and a wild cough, I choked him again, increasing the duration ten seconds at a time until I reached one whole minute.
Still, he wouldn’t break.
I knew what would break him. Not the electroshock or the whip or the collar. Not even the CBT devices. The strap-on. And it was right there, staring at me.
The only problem was I couldn’t bring myself to do it. I’d hoped beyond hope the other tools would do the job so I wouldn’t have to do this god awful shit. Violating him would leave a mark on his soul that would never go away. A scar for life. How could I do that to him? To anybody?
Annie’s face flashed in my head. I pictured her asking me why the fuck I cared. Did he or any of his gang care about her? Did they think twice when they hurt her? When they violated her?
I was betraying my sister with my reluctance. My humanity. My care for that man. Yes, I cared about him, not just aroused by him, and it infuriated and terrified the hell out of me.
Exhaustion and trepidation overcame me. I had to stop to catch my breath. I took my phone out of my pocket and took a picture of him. Gagged, bound and choked.
Wild desire roiled in me as I looked at him like that. It was funny how things worked. I had to commit a crime, kidnap a man and torture him to know I had a kinky, sadist side and affinity for bad boys.
He said something, but it was hard to make it out clearly with the gag. It sounded like he was asking why I took his picture.
“Looks like I’m not going to get much out of you.” I nodded, organizing my thoughts, weighing my options. “And something tells me it’s going to take longer than I thought for your gang to come look for you. It’s been two days, and they haven’t showed up yet. Maybe I should expedite things on my own.”
A flicker of dread darkened his eyes. He mumbled some incoherent words, shaking his head. I slid the phone back into my pocket and went to ungag him.
“Don’t send them that photo. They’re going to torture you to death. Please. If Roar sees what you’ve done, he’ll make you beg him to end your life,” he pleaded.
“Why the fuck do you care what they do to me? Don’tyouwanna do worse to me anyway?”
It was a moment or two before he spoke. “You don’t know anything. I don’t want you to get hurt, Cammie.”
Something in his voice went through me. For the first time since I’d taken Dusty, I believed him. What a fucking idiot. “Stop playing me.”
“I’m not. Don’t believe anything I say, but believe this. I don’t want you to get hurt.”
I blinked, swallowing. “They’re going to hurt me anyway when they find out it was me who took you.”
“Not like that. You don’t know what he’s capable of.”
“I do.” Tears burned the corners of my eyes, so I twisted, heading for the exit. “That’s why I have to get Annie out of there as fast as I can.”
CHAPTER 19
Dusty
“Cameron, wait.” My voice trailed behind her, but she kept going.
The idea of Cameron in Roar’s hands sent me spiraling, ripping my heart to shreds. The terrors she would see. I couldn’t let that happen.
Not to her. She was mine even if she didn’t know it yet, even if she’d never forgive me. I wouldn’t let anything happen to her. I had to stop her. I had to protect her any way I could. Even if it meant telling her the truth.
“Please, listen to me. The night I saw Annie she was still a virgin,” I confessed.
She paused for a few seconds, and then she wheeled back to me. “How do you know that?”
“Because…” I couldn’t bring myself to say it. How could I explain without telling her I was the reason behind her misery and her sister’s?
Tears spilled down her face. “I can’t take this anymore. If you really care about me not getting hurt, you have to tell me everything right now.”
