Chapter 20
20
JO
A few minutes earlier
I wake with the slamming of the car door. For a minute, I panic. My heart races, and I peel my face off the leather upholstery.
It’s dark outside. Cole stalks into the woods, and Jayden gets out of the car. “Stay,” he orders, his voice mean.
For once, I listen. What else am I going to do? Run?
My body sags in fatigue. I’m so damn tired. I know I’m going to pay for trying to get away, and Jayden is going to enjoy every second of it. He might even kill me.
Somehow, I’m sure they’ll make it hot.
I laugh to myself. Fucking hell, Jo. What the hell is wrong with you? I’m tired. I’m so tired I can’t think straight.
I hear Jayden rummaging in the trunk. I glance back, and he slams the trunk down, then stares at me through the glass. His eyes are wild and unhinged—animalistic.
I freeze.
Jayden continues to stare with an odd look on his face. It’s like he’s looking through me.
My heart starts racing again. I shift.
Jayden’s eyes don’t follow me.
Is he…? I watch him. Is he looking at himself in the window?
Jayden stands there frozen. Finally, he shakes himself out of it and moves to my side of the car.
I scoot as far back as I can.
Jayden opens the door, taking in my pitiful attempt to get away. Instead of victory, I see an odd mix of conflicted emotions in his eyes. “Come here, Jo.”
I shake my head.
A flare of heat fills his eyes before he squashes it again. “Now is not the time. Let me see your arm.”
I hesitate.
“Kitten. Now.”
I swallow. Where am I going to go? I sag in defeat and scoot over to him. Jayden grabs my arm in his warm hands, gently turning it over so he can see the bandage.
“It’s fine,” I say, trying to pull my arm out of his hand.
Jayden doesn’t even acknowledge me; he just tightens his hold and carefully peels the bandage off.
The skin is all red and scabbed and irritated under it. Some of the scabs opened during my fight with Jayden. I cringe. It hurts like a bitch.
Jayden shakes his head and grabs a first aid kit from his backpack. He grabs the antiseptic and catches my gaze. “Gonna hurt.”
I clench my jaw. Jayden sprays it on, and it does hurt. The pain bites through me, waking me up. Jayden continues to clean it up more gently than I expected, then layers on a clean bandage. He tapes it to my arm, then reaches for my knees. He checks the minor cuts there, then smooths his thumbs over my clammy palms.
I try to pull them away, but Jayden doesn’t let me. My palms have no open cuts, just scratches and sore parts.
Jayden presses his thumb into one of the red spots on my palm, looking up at me while I wince. He presses harder, watching me without blinking, his pupils widening. Then he brings my hand to his mouth and kisses it lightly. He bites once, then lets me go and reaches to the front seat, grabbing the collar.
“No,” I stiffen.
Jayden ignores me, slipping it around my neck. The cool metal settles on my skin, and immediately, I hate it. I feel trapped. Suffocated. Like I can’t breathe.
Jayden digs in his bags and brings out ropes. Thin, blue, red, and purple ropes that look soft.
“What is that?”
“We need to sleep. I don’t trust you not to run.” Jayden pulls out the red rope.
“What?”
Jayden reaches for my hand.
I pull away.
“Jo,” Jayden looks into my eyes. “If you fight me, I won’t be able to do it right, and you’ll be uncomfortable for the rest of the night.”
I freeze.
Jayden cocks his head like he’s trying to figure me out. I see the darkness lurking behind his eyes, battling to get out. But for some reason, he’s holding back.
I can’t tell if that’s good or bad.
Finally, I relax. Jayden’s eyes lighten with interest, and he traces the rope around my wrist, looping it gently but securely. He wraps the rope around my hips, doing the same to my other wrist, being careful not to run them over my bandage. He ties my wrists to the sides of my waist, working with flow and familiarity—like he’s done it a hundred times before.
“Too tight on your waist?”
I shake my head. It’s pretty loose.
Jayden puts his fingers in between the rope and my body. “It’s going to get tighter, so tell me now if it’s bothering you.”
“It’s not.” I narrow my eyes. Doesn’t he want me to be uncomfortable? Isn’t that his whole life’s purpose?
Jayden just goes back to wrapping until my wrists are securely pinned on each side of my hips. Jayden then traces the rope down my front and between my legs.
“What–”
“Tell me if this is too tight.” Jayden secures it on the other end. The rope presses against the seam of my shorts, sending a thrill through my clit. I shift to try to alleviate it. “It’s tight.”
“It’s supposed to rub. That’s the point. But if it’s pinching, that’s a problem.” Jayden runs his fingers between the rope and my body.
It doesn’t pinch. Just puts a constant pressure on my clit.
The door behind me yanks open, and I jump and whirl as best as I can.
“What we doing?” Cole slides in, looking me up and down, hunger flaring in his eyes. “Oh. Damn.”
Despite the dim light from the pilot light, I can see the manic glint in Cole’s eyes. Cole runs his finger along the ropes. “All trussed up so you can’t run from us.”
Before I can react, he grabs my hips and swings me toward him. “I’m borrowing her, Jay. I need her.”
Cole doesn’t look like he normally does. He looks wild and desperate. It sparks fear in me and also makes my clit pulsate. Despite my exhaustion, I start to feel alive again.
Jayden groans, “Don’t get my rope dirty.”
Cole grins up at me, a wild look in his eyes. “No promises.” He leans in, smelling of sweat and him . He grabs the rope above my crotch and gently yanks. Pleasure shoots through my clit immediately.
Cole grins, his white teeth flashing, making me want to press my lips to his and bite him. To stain those lips red for what he dared to do to me.
“Fuck, Jo.” Cole shoves me down, my head hitting Jayden’s lap. He’s on top of me in a second, taking my bottom lip in his teeth and pulling.
I try to reach for him, but my hands are securely trapped to my hips.
I moan as Cole pulls my lip hard enough it hurts.
He chuckles.
“Fuck you,” I moan.
Cole winks at me, sitting back and flashing his knife. “These shorts are gonna get in my way.”
“My rope,” Jayden warns.
“I won’t touch your fucking rope.” Cole shimmies the rope off my pussy and puts his knife there instead.
I freeze, the blade so damn close to my clit. Cole hovers there, watching my reaction.
“You like this,” he states.
“No.” Energy buzzes through me.
Cole presses the blunt edge into my clit. “Yes, you do, I remember.” He snaps his gaze up to mine, and suddenly, he’s angry. “I remember everything, Jo.”
He grips my shorts, and in a flash, he rips his knife through them.
“Cole!” I gasp, struggling to get away. But I’m trapped. My arms are tied, and he’s got my hips between his thighs.
He rips my shorts and panties away from my crotch, exposing my pussy to him.
“I remember your chicken and sage dinners, your favorite cereal, and I remember the tank tops you wore every day.”
Cole buries his head in my pussy, taking a long lick. “I remember your onion powder, your wooden ice cream bowl, and your fucking midol.”
Cole bites my clit, making me jump. “I spent months trying to remake the meals you made for us. Also spent months stalking you online. Learning about you. Your family.”
He looks at me with an angry glare, yanking his dick out and rubbing it on my clit. I’m already wet, and he knows it. He gives me a devilish smirk.
“I don’t think you forgot about us, either.” Cole lines up with my pussy and slams inside.
I cry out as he fills me all the way up. Cole yanks back and slams in again, throwing his head back.
“Yeah,” I grit, pinned under him. “I remember you guys. What you did. What you put me through.”
“Yeah?” Cole reaches down, pinching my nipple hard. “Do you remember all the times you came? Because I fucking do.”
I feel Jayden shift under me and stroking himself.
Cole hisses, “Now, you’re going to be a good girl and get me off. I’m going to use this pretty little body to come—whether you want me to or not. Got that, lemon drop?”
A rush of heat runs through me.
“Yeah, I think you got that.” Cole gives me a sinister smile. “And I’m going to do it over and over until you learn you can’t run from us. Ever. I’ll fuck you senseless until you get that through your pretty, stubborn little head.” Cole’s eyes flash in anger, and he leans in. “You don’t get to say no. You don’t get to call the shots. We do. We’ll take care of you. We’ll fight your battles. We’ll feed you, clothe you, bathe you, fucking hell, breathe for you. Stop fighting us.”
I stare into Cole’s eyes. He looks mean. Angry. Oppressive. It makes me want to fight him. To push back against the pleasure he’s giving me. I give him a sweet smile. “I’ll never stop fighting you.”
Cole yanks almost all the way out and slams into me hard. “Fuck, Jo. I’ll reverse this vasectomy and pump you so full of my cum that I’ll put another baby in this belly. Then you can never leave me.”
I suck in a gasp, pain filling my chest. Our baby.
Everyone in the car stills.
Cole leans over me, his voice cracked, eyes still wild. “I wanted that baby, Jo. I didn’t care if it was Jayden’s or mine; it was ours, and I wanted it. I’ve spent the last six months missing someone I never knew.”
It feels like my chest cracks open. I spent the past six months trying to forget. I wasn’t ready. But damn, if I didn’t try to hide from myself every time I thought about it.
Cole clears his throat and presses into me again. He reaches his hand down to play with my clit. “Now you’re going to come like the dirty slut that you are, and I’m going to fill you so full that my DNA drips out of you every time you move,” Cole growls in a possessive tone, and the words send a thrill through me. “I might not be able to get you pregnant now, but I will. Soon. And then you can never leave.”
Despite everything, my body loves what he does to me. The way he plays with me numbs every other thought. He builds me higher and higher until I come all over his fingers and dick.
Cole groans, pumping into me steadily. “You’re not done yet.”
He continues to play with me as I come down, building me back up immediately.
“Cole,” I moan, the stimulation heavy and overwhelming.
“Too bad, Jo.” He continues playing. “If I have to suffer, you do too. We’re in this together.”
I jerk away from the restraints, but my hands are securely pinned to my hips. Sensation and pleasure mount until I’m on the edge of coming again.
Cole forces me to come over and over until it begins to hurt. He’s angry, and it hurts something deep in my soul.
“Cole, please,” I moan.
“Are you begging, Jo?” Cole leans over me, dropping his forehead to mine and tilting his head. I immediately stiffen.
“What are you begging for?”
I clench my jaw.
“Tell me,” Cole whispers.
“I’ll never beg.”
But for the first time, part of me wants to. I want to say that I didn’t mean to hurt him. That I’m just exhausted. That I’m tired of fighting to not get hurt.
Cole watches my face. Something like pain flashes across his eyes. “Still hiding from me, I see.”
Cole yanks out of me, still hard, and tucks himself back into his pants.
“Don’t hide, Jo. Cause I’m going to force every little secret out of that pretty little head, no matter how much I have to hurt you to get them.”
Cole slides back on the seat and then opens the door. “Take the collar off, Jay. She can’t sleep with it on.”
Then Cole steps out of the car and slams the door.