Page 33 of Defending Van

He’d told her that he had cameras set up here, some of which were purely for him to use to watch and gather intel. That footage was shared with his boss, but once she was out of here there was no one to watch out for her, even if they couldn’t immediately intervene.

Would he know who bought her?

Would he know where she was sent?

Would he be able to send in people to rescue her?

There were so many unknowns, and her heart thudded painfully inside her chest as she tried to keep control of her emotions. This would be the worst possible time to lose that control. She had to harness her fear, use it to make her stronger and smarter. If she let it take the reins, she’d be nothing more than a sobbing mess curled up on the floor.

“You're selling me,” she said as he punched in a code. A code she happened to see and remember, but it wasn't going to do her any good, because she doubted she was going to be brought back into this room.

This was it.

Her entire future hinged on whether Van was going to make sure he knew who had bought her so that information could be passed along to the company he worked for. If he did that, she could possibly be rescued by the end of the day. If he didn't, she’d be trapped with a monster until either she saved herself and escaped, or the man who bought her tired of her and killed her, or resold her on to another monster, maybe trapping her in a never-ending cycle.

“Bingo, smart as well as a smart mouth,” Marvin said with a chuckle as he pulled her through the door with him and then slammed it closed behind him.

Practically running to keep up with his much longer strides, she hated how the toy shifted inside her with each step she took. It was one of those that was shaped to vibrate against you outside and inside, and the power of it hitting both at once would have been amazing under different circumstances where she was consenting. Now the friction on her already oversensitive body made her wince.

Taking her into a small room down the far end of the corridor, Marvin stood over her, smirking as he reached down to unlock the chastity belt that had held the toy buried inside her.

“Think I'd like to hear you beg me to let you come one last time, smart mouth,” he told her as the leather straps fell away. He grabbed the end of the toy, pulling it from her body and making her wince again. She was so painfully swollen and oversensitive down there.

“I may say the words you want to hear, but I won't mean them,” she reminded him.

“Love it when they fight me.” Arousal flared in his light brown eyes, and he looked over his shoulder to where a rope was hanging from the ceiling by the opposite wall.

Even before he started pulling her toward it, she knew what he had planned. There were leather cuffs dangling from it, and when he got her to it, he yanked one arm above her head and locked it into place.

Makayla fought, of course, but her attempts were embarrassingly feeble, and Marvin didn't even have to work for it to get her bound. Once both her wrists were bound above her head, he moved to the side, pushed a button, and she was lifted off the ground.

Pain screamed through her shoulders as her entire weight hung from her wrists, feet dangling. She tried to kick at him, but without anything to push off from, all she did was swinging wildly, completely out of control.

Chuckling, Marvin leaned in, grasped her face between his fingers, then crushed his mouth to hers. His tongue forced its way between her lips, and he tasted of a disgusting mix of coffee and cigarettes.

“Think your smart mouth is going to save you, girl?” Marvin sneered as he pulled back a little. “It won't. It will be the very thing that draws in whoever buys you. Someone not even your worst nightmares are able to conjure up.”

No, she didn't think her mouth was going to save her. Nor did she think Van was going to come riding in on a white horse to play her knight in shining armor, even if that’s what he seemed to think she believed. He wouldn't save her. He was too focused on the big picture, shutting down Azure for good, and she was just one teeny-tiny blip along the way. It wasn't that he didn't care about what happened to her. He had feelings, even if he didn't believe it. He was just able to set aside the small things to focus on the big things.

The way it should be.

After all, it would be pretty selfish of her if she prioritized her own rescue over bringing the entire ring down.

The only thing that might save her was herself. It was too risky to rely on Van getting people to her, so if she wanted to live, she had to find a way to make it happen.

“Make sure you scream real loud for me, girl,” Marvin whispered in her ear, his breath hot and putrid against her skin, as he shoved the toy, now vibrating at full speed, roughly inside her.

August 29th

8:23 A.M.

“Did you hear?” Henry asked as Van pushed open the doors at the bottom of the stairs to the basement complex.

“Hear what?”

“Little Miss Smart Mouth just bought herself a date with an auction,” Henry answered.

Even though he shouldn’t have been surprised to hear that, it was exactly what he’d been expecting, given their inability to make her break even a little bit, Van couldn’t stop the cold ball of fear that sat heavily in his stomach.