AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“What’s that?”
He grips my chin. His touch is enough to make my skin crawl, but I don’t show it.
“I said I’m not going back,” I answer through my squeezed lips.
Jim takes a few strands of my hair in his fingers.
“I thought your hair was the only thing that changed, but you have a new look in your eyes as well. I don’t like it.”
He throws my chin away.
“I’m not going to take you back until you get rid of that look.”
“Good. You never will.”
Jim ignores me as he scratches his chin. “Is it because of that baby, I wonder?”
My eyes grow wide. Lara! Did he get her, too?
“Where is she? What did you do to her?”
Jim laughs. “Don’t worry. I’m not a monster. I don’t hurt babies.”
Thank God for that at least.
“But I do have someone else who I don’t mind hurting to bend you to my will.”
He gives a whistle. After a few seconds, the door from the house opens again and a man enters with Antonio. He throws him on the floor.
“No!” The cry escapes from my throat.
I thought that because he wasn’t with Lara and me, Jim wouldn’t get him, but I should have remembered how ruthless Jim can be. And jealous. He’d never let a man who laid a finger on me walk away without getting hurt.
No. Not Antonio.
“I see you care for this man.”
Jim kicks Antonio so that he’s lying on his back. His wrists and ankles are bound as well.
Antonio glares. “If you…”
Jim punches him in the face to stop him from talking.
“Stop!” I shout.
Jim looks at me. “If you don’t want him to get hurt, badly, you know what to do.”
“Don’t listen to him, Triss,” Antonio says.
Jim punches him again.
“Stop!” I shout louder. “If you hurt him any more than this, I really am not going back with you. The first chance I get, I’ll try to escape. And if I can’t? I’ll kill myself.”
I’d rather die than go back to Jim’s hell.
For a moment, Jim doesn’t move. Then he laughs.
“A feisty Christine. I love it.” He claps his hands, then stops and glances behind him at Antonio. “Wait a second. He called you Triss, didn’t he? Is that your new name?”
I don’t answer.
“No matter.” He steps forward. “Because you’ve shown me something new and interesting, I think I’ll show you a bit of mercy. I’m not going to hit this man. You have my word. But I do think he deserves to suffer. And I have an idea just how to do that.”
Jim pulls me to my knees by the hair. I whimper. Next, he kneels behind me and wraps his arm around my neck. His hand slips beneath the hem of my blouse. As I feel his fingers crawl across my bare skin, I freeze. My stomach churns.
“No!” Antonio shouts.
Rage burns in his eyes.
“Cover his mouth!” Jim orders.
The man standing near the door clamps his hand over Antonio’s mouth. His words turn into groans but the daggers in his eyes remain. They’re pointed right at Jim.
Jim ignores them and touches my breast through my bra. He pinches my nipple through the cotton.
I bite down on my lower lip, not to stop myself from moaning, but to keep myself from throwing up. I squeeze my eyes shut as I try to escape into my thoughts so I don’t feel his touch.
What is he doing? He never cared about giving me any kind of pleasure before. Is this his new tactic to make me surrender? Well, I won’t. Not while Antonio’s watching.
Jim lifts my shirt and my bra to expose my breasts. Then his fingers rub both my nipples as he licks the back of my ear.
Heat swirls in my breast but I try to ignore it.
Fight it, Triss!
“She’s got nice breasts, doesn’t she?” Jim speaks. “They weren’t always this big, though. They were…”
Suddenly, I hear a yelp. I open my eyes and see the man who was trying to cover Antonio’s mouth with a bleeding hand. I see blood on Antonio’s chin as well. He lifts his head.
“Get your filthy hands off my wife!”
Jim takes his hands off me but doesn’t put my shirt or my bra down. He laughs.
“Your wife?” He looks behind me and grabs my left hand. “Oh, so that’s why you have that ring.”
“Damn right,” Antonio answers.
“Well, I’m sorry to tell you, but you’re wrong,” Jim says. “This woman can’t be your wife. She’s not even the woman you think she is. Her name isn’t Triss. It’s Christine. Christine Mathers.”
Antonio shifts his gaze to me. I see the question in his eyes.
“I can explain,” I tell him.
“Shh.” Jim puts my gag back on. “Now, tell me, sir, what name was on your marriage certificate?”
I know the answer as well as Antonio. I shake my head and plead with him to give me a chance to explain.
