Page 156 of Captivated

Her gasp of pain was followed by another cry. Tears welled, and fell down her cheeks. She reached for her foot, but maybe that was her biggest mistake of all.

She should have been watching him.

The fucking bastard.

She heard the clink of metal a second before she heard leather hiss as it was pulled. Rich’s belt coming out of the loops.

The belt hit her hard.

Once, and then again.

Again, and again, and again.

Stop, stop, stop.

She heard her own cries.

Heard her screaming.

And yet, she couldn’t be sure it was her.

“You. Will. Listen.”

Another smack.

Another cry.

“You. Will. Learn.”

The next crack of the belt came down across Liliana’s face—splitting skin, and blinding her for a second.

The panic welled.

The fear took over.

She was frozen for those seconds.

“What is that smell?”

It was Rich’s distraction that allowed Liliana a few seconds of reprieve. A moment to gather her bearings, and look for something—anything—to use. To get her out of this, to help her fucking survive.

She realized she had been thrown into a bedroom, and while her one eye was impossible to see out of, the other one was just fine. There on the bedside table, she found a lamp that looked heavy as hell, and … well, it was something.

And that was all she needed.

It took all of her strength, and every effort in her body to ignore the protesting pain in her foot and shooting up her leg, to push up from the floor, and grab that goddamn lamp. She didn’t even think about it once she had it in her hands.

No, she simply turned with it and swung for all she was worth. She didn’t even think she had aimed it properly, but the lamp still crashed over the back of Rich’s head.

He swayed for a second.

His head swung back to her.

His gaze glazed.

Move, her mind screamed, do something!

In his confusion, Rich had dropped the belt, and his knees hit the floor. She didn’t know if he was going to move again, or how long it might take for him to snap back to reality. She didn’t know anything at all, and she couldn’t think beyond her mind still screaming for her to do something.