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I ignore the flicker of doubt and the rising panic. All the thoughts that steamroll through, catastrophising every way this could go wrong, get flicked aside.
I surge to my feet and leap forward.
My elbow shoves into his side as I pass. I tense my throat at the anticipated resistance, and his hand tugs at the leash connecting us.
I’m hoping with all hope that I’ve taken him by surprise enough that he hasn’t got as tight a hold on it.
Is this plan completely and utterly stupid? Yes. But it’s all I’ve got right now, and I’m so desperate to get out that I don’t know what else to do. With the vehicle he’s waiting on getting closer to being here, I’m all out of options.
Even with my fingers crammed under the small gap the collar affords me, my eyes still haze at the pressure around my neck as I throw all my weight forward.
It works.
The leather pulls free and flaps loosely around my legs. I bolt toward the bathroom. If I can just get in there and lock the door, then I can figure out a way to break the window.
I just need to get there.
Legs pumping, I make it out of the living room and into the hallway. Seeing the bathroom door, my pulse picks up.
The ground races towards me, and I throw my arms out to stop the impact. Only one responds, and it thuds hard into the wooden floor, just before my cheek does. Weight crushes my back, knocking the oxygen out of me, and a lightning flash of pain shoots through my shoulder.
A thick roll of dizziness blankets me. I let out a choked scream when the pressure on my back moves, leaning more into my upper back. The pain turns blinding, flickering my vision.
“Now, kitten. You know you can’t break the rules like that. You belong to me,” he snaps, then leans in to brush my hair back, stroking my cheek.
At least, I think he is. It’s hard to tell when there’s so much agony racing across my upper body.
Where are my fingers? I don’t think they’re moving. Are they moving?
I groan, fighting to see through the hazy vision, and dots flash before me.
“I’m…not…yours,” I pant through the agony.
Peter puts his hand on my back and pushes himself up.
Ice shoots through my veins, and my mouth falls open as I try to suck in air, but the pain quickly wipes me out.
Blackness pulls me under.
A sharp noise pierces through the darkness, and my body cries out in agony as I resurface. It takes a long moment for my mind to catch up, slowly filtering in the sounds around me.
Someone else’s panted, pained breaths.
“Please.”
Another pained inhale.
“Please.”
Another pained exhale.
“Please.”
My body’s still sprawled across the hard floor, my cheek pressed to the cool surface so I can’t see anything when my eyes pop open. The hallway leading to the bathroom in front of me is empty.
Strengthening my resolve, I prepare myself for the onslaught of pain I’m about to inflict on my body. Slowly, I roll myself over onto my back.
My eyes squeeze tightly shut as I remain as quiet as I can, petrified to draw any attention to myself. I shuffle my arm, but white-hot pain takes my breath away. I bite down harshly on my lip to muffle the scream that wants to crawl free.
