Page 17 of Obey

I spent hours staring through the glass of the window at the stretch of desert outside, wondering where the hell I was—no house I’d ever seen before—and how far I was from Knight. I pressed my face to the glass and looked as far to the left and right as I could manage, but I didn’t see anything that clued me in to anything. I also didn’t see anything that looked like a friendly forest or freeway.

If I ran, I wouldn’t have any place to hide out there, and without a road nearby—and a well-traveled one at that—the chances of me finding someone to pick me up were minimal.

None of that changed my plans, though. I wanted to get the hell out of this place and find Knight, and as far as I was concerned, finding a place to hide or a way to get out of the area was a secondary problem. If I was out from under Devil’s roof, I’d have jumped the first hurdle.

I’d figure out how to get further away from him once I was out of the house.

I didn’t have any brilliant ideas, though, and before long I went back to bed just to pass the time, praying that I’d dream up some sort of escape plan.

I WOKE UP BECAUSE THE door opened, and when my eyes flashed to the window outside, I saw that it was dark out. The lights were all off and the room was fucking cold.

Who the hell was coming to visit me in the middle of the night?

Sioux, I thought immediately. It was the only thing that made sense. I hadn’t seen her all day, but she’d come to me in the night before, when she wanted to talk without any of the other guards seeing her.

I sat up, thinking she’d have a light with her, and searched the darkness for her willowy form.

Then something hit me and knocked me back to the bed.

I started struggling immediately, my instincts kicking in, and when I heard the grunt above me in a voice I recognized, I struggled even harder. I kicked and slapped, hitting something only occasionally, and fought with all I was worth, the adrenaline rushing through my body. But I couldn’t see what I was doing and I’d been dead asleep when the door opened. I wasn’t exactly at my best.

And when I couldn’t struggle anymore, Devil got his hands around my wrists and pinned me to the bed, his foul breath in my face. I rolled my head to the side, seeking to get away from him, and heard him chuckle gently.

“Take it easy, girl. Forgot how feisty you can be when you’re not properly disciplined,” he muttered.

The words brought my fury back up and I bucked off the bed, furious. I knew I wouldn’t be able to dislodge him—the man had to have at least one hundred pounds on me. But I’d gone for a full week without feeling him up against me, and I wasn’t keen on having him here again. I hadn’t missed his stink or his assumption that he was allowed to do whatever he wanted with me.

Within seconds, though, he reared back and backhanded me, his knuckles sharp and bruising against my cheekbone.

I gasped, shocked at the pain, and jerked again, but he still had my wrists pinned and my legs wrapped up with his, and there was nothing I could do to protect myself.

Which was why I finally stilled and stared up at him. My mind might be screaming with the need to get out of here, but I didn’t have the ability to escape right now. Better to hear him out and keep him from hitting me again, if I could.

“Devil,” I muttered. “What the fuck do you want?”

He rocked his hips against me and I registered for the first time his hard length pressed against my belly.

I nearly gagged in response, but managed to keep my mouth shut to keep him from hearing it.

“What do you think I want?” he asked, malice and lust heavy in his voice.

He was drunk, I realized. Not that it was any surprise. He’d probably been drinking since before the sun had set.

But he was also hard and ready, and I knew what that meant. He’d had enough to drink that he’d decided it was a good idea—or even acceptable—to come rape me while I was his prisoner. The thought brought my gag reflex up again and I felt my hands clenching into fists with desperation and horror.

The man was disgusting. He always had been, but I’d seen better, now, and the thought of letting him have me...

But that was exactly what I had to make him think I was going to do, I realized a beat later. I was supposed to be playing nice until I could figure out a way out of this mess.

Even if playing nice was the last thing I wanted to do.

“You didn’t think you should give me a heads up?” I asked, rocking my hips up into his.

I saw the flash of his teeth and knew he thought he had me. “Heads up?” he asked. “You’re home, woman. Isn’t that heads up enough?”

I shrugged. “It might be, but unfortunately for you, it’s that time of the month. Afraid I’m not exactly available right now.”

The teeth disappeared and I felt him shift quickly off me.