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Stepping into the hall, I breathe softly, slowly, while listening carefully. I hear a rustle toward the kitchen and smile to myself. “Little wildcat, why don’t you come out and talk to me? If I have to hunt you down, you will not like the consequences.”
Of course, she says nothing.
I adjust my hard-on in my boxer briefs and start down the stairs.
She has no idea what she’s unleashed.
10
ROSE
I shouldn’t have run. I tuck my knees into my chest and drag the collar of my T-shirt up over my nose to stifle my heavy breathing. Even through the thin material, it sounds so loud. Too loud. He’ll find me any second.
I shouldn’t have run. There’s nowhere to go, nowhere he won’t find me.
Hell, while I’m reconsidering the last few minutes, I shouldn’t have fought him. Yet as I huddle against a pantry shelf, a bag of flour digging into my back, I can’t bring myself to regret it.
I never fight. It had always been easier to just give in and let Sal do what he wanted with me so I could get away sooner. Even on that last night, I didn’t fight.
I almost bled out, knowing I didn’t do a damn thing to prevent it. That bastard almost killed me, and I almost let him.
Stifling a quiet sob with my hands doubled over my mouth, on the outside of my T-shirt, I watch the pantry door handle waiting for it to rattle.
Any second now.
He might find me, but I won’t make it easy for him. Not this time.
I close my eyes, and I can still feel Kai on top of me. The memory of it doesn’t give me the same panic haze as the actual act did.
Calmer now, I feel a hot wash of shame crawl up my neck. He hadn’t hurt me. He was trying to keep me from hurting myself.
I smother another wash of shame, combined with a slow roll of nausea.
He hadn’t hurt me, but I’d hurt him, lashing out at anything, everything.
Hell, if I were him, I’d toss my ungrateful ass out into the snow.
Relaxing my hands, I let them fall away from my face, my T-shirt slipping back down under my chin. There’s a moment of silence, nothing like the sounds of the city where there’s always noise coming from somewhere.
Maybe I’m an idiot. Another long moment passes, and I start to feel foolish, silly for sitting in my underwear in the dark pantry, freezing my ass off on the floor.
Then I catch the soft shuffle of bare feet on the hardwood and tense. What will he do to me when he finds me, and I have no doubt he will?
I snatch the tall peppermill from the nearest shelf, eyeing the large cans of tomatoes as well, and clutch it to my chest.
We haven’t learned a lot about each other. Well, he knows everything about me, and I know hardly anything about him. But something in the back of my mind, a primal voice, tells me that when he catches me, he’ll make me pay for running.
The truly scary part is, there’s a tiny—oh so tiny—part of me waiting for the moment, wondering what he’ll do, and not in an I have to claw my way to safety kind of way.
The shuffle comes closer.
I swallow hard and hug the peppermill to my chest. It won’t do much but having some kind of weapon feels better than having nothing.
A slight shadow breaks up the very faint light coming from under the door. Shit. I don’t know if I should close my eyes or run or scream. All of it. None of it.
The handle turns once, and the door jerks open, revealing Kai, still in nothing but his boxer briefs, towering over me, wearing a stern look of disapproval on his face.
I don’t give him time to react before I throw the peppermill at him and scramble around his legs to try to get out of the doorway.
