Chapter Thirteen
Romy
I can’t believe I’m going back.
Everything inside of me screams for me to turn around and drive as far in the opposite direction as I can.
But that only brings me away from my goal.
Kaitlyn.
I can’t leave her here.
“Are you sure about this?” Eva asks, frowning at me from the driver’s seat. “We can keep going. We don’t have to turn down that road. There are other ways we can get her back.”
Maybe.
But we can’t be certain.
I don’t want to leave it to chance.
“I have to,” I say softly. “I’m sick with worry over her. She’s not my daughter but…”
“It feels like she is,” Eva finishes.
We share a moment of understanding. You can have a deep, motherly connection with someone who isn’t your blood, and it’s still important to you.
“Three days,” Eva says finally. “It’ll all be over then. Stay safe, baby.”
She leans over to give me a hug. I fight back tears.
“One day my life will feel normal,” I choke out. “I look forward to that moment. Do you think Caius will still want me after all I’ve been through?”
“He’d be an idiot not to.”
We both laugh and then the car is moving again. With each second that passes, we grow nearer and nearer to my newest prison.
“I’d rather catch them by surprise,” I utter as I open the door. “Get out of here before they see you.”
I shut the car door and then begin walking toward the building. Tires crunch over loose gravel behind me. Then the engine fades into the distance.
I’m all alone.
Clutching my belly, I bravely make my way toward the back of the building to the same door we always enter through when I’m with Seth. Since I don’t have access and Seth’s car isn’t here, I decide to try my luck with our house.
Not our house.
His house.
My prison.
Though I’m now wearing a new pair of tennis shoes and comfy clothes Eva bought me, my feet still hurt from running barefoot a couple of days ago. I needed the past few nights to recover, flesh out my plan with Eva and Vivienne, and come to terms with the fact I had to go back.
And now I’m here.
I reach my fingers up and slide them beneath my hair to a small, shaved spot at the base of my skull where my scar is. The coolness of the foil taped there offers me a modicum of relief. Vivienne might be crazy, but what she said made sense. If there’s a way to disrupt the signals of the Stem Lock technology, I need to try it. The foil was the safest option while being pregnant.
Let’s hope Seth doesn’t find out what I’ve done.
Compliance is the key to our freedom. I have to make him believe me, no matter what it takes.
The stormy weather has moved on and the summer heat has settled upon us. Sweat forms under my boobs that rest on my swollen stomach. I could probably use the exercise after having been holed away in that house for the past six months. My aching body, though, wants to be inside already in the air conditioning.
I round the bend and see Seth’s car parked out front. Then, to my utter relief, I see Kaitlyn on the tire swing. Sunshine lies in the grass nearby. They don’t see me.
Woof.
Sunshine notices me first and takes off running for me. I laugh when I’m attacked by sloppy dog kisses. When I look up again, I see Seth with Kaitlyn’s small hand captured in his.
Sell it, girl.
“Oh God,” I cry out and take off toward them. “I missed you both so much.”
My reaction surprises Seth, who is stiff when I hug him. Kaitlyn clings to my side in a tight embrace. When my lips meet Seth’s, he relaxes slightly.
“I’m sorry,” I say, genuine tears streaking down my cheeks. “Please forgive me. The storm made my brain confused, but as soon as it passed, I could see clearly again. I just wanted my family back.”
There’s some truth to those words, so it’s easy for him to believe them.
“We missed you, Mommy,” Kaitlyn says through her tiny tears. “Don’t ever go away again.”
“Never,” I vow to her. “I swear to you.”
Seth cups my cheek and pulls back slightly to look into my eyes. I know he’s searching for deception. With Kaitlyn’s and my freedom at stake, I’m able to fake a lovesick smile for him.
“You have no idea the mental hell you put me through, love.”
It’s on instinct to want to flinch at the nickname I now remember Caius used for me, but again, I am prepared to put on a show for this man.
“You didn’t deserve it,” I lie, tears flooding my eyes. “I hope I didn’t break apart our marriage. This baby needs both of us. Together.”
He purses his lips and nods. “I can agree to that statement. But I don’t know if I can trust you.”
I lean forward and nip at his bottom lip. “Let me prove it to you.”
Am I willing to have sex with this man to convince him?
Yes.
Anything to protect Kaitlyn long enough to get both of us out of here.
“We’ll start with something home-cooked,” I say to him and then wink. “Later, I’ll show you when we’re alone.”
Kaitlyn, happy that her mom is home, pulls away to skip back over to the swing. I’m left alone with the man who’s been mindfucking me.
He’s hard between us, the inadequate bulge a reminder of everything I don’t want and everything I do.
Compared to a man like Caius Crowne, who is filet mignon, Seth is freezer burnt ground beef. One tastes like perfection and the other one is peculiar.
If I want my man back, though, I have to make it through the next few days. Once Kaitlyn is safe, then I can seek him out.
“Whose car did you get into?” Seth asks. “You could have been kidnapped.”
“Some woman driving by. She took me to a hotel, fed me, and gave me some clothes. I was afraid she’d take me to a mental hospital because…” I frown as I stare at this man.
“Because?”
“I don’t make sense when I’m not with you, apparently. I’m grateful she looked after me, even when I babbled nonsense. Then when my mind cleared, I begged her to take me back to where she found me.”
“And this happened after the storms?”
“Yes. Now I see clearly. All I see is you, us, Kaitlyn.”
His lips curl into a tentative smile. “This is good, Romy. I think everything is going to be okay.”
“Are you hungry?” I ask, smiling back at him. “I’m nothing if I’m not making the two people I love most yummy food.”
“There’s my girl.”
“Always your girl.”
I think I can actually sell this lie.
As bedtime nears, jitters quake through me from head to toe. I’m not happy with the thought of having sex with him. I know it’s necessary to keep up the ruse, but I certainly won’t like it.
“She’s asleep,” Seth says as he strides into the room. “Did you shower?” Before I can answer, he walks up to me and sniffs my neck. “Good. Whatever cheap motel crap you had didn’t smell like you. This is better.”
I’d thought if I put on clothes maybe he’d be less apt to want to have sex, but he immediately starts tugging at my shirt. Rather than stand here like a disgusted statue, I reach for the buckle of his belt, not making eye contact, instead focusing on helping him undress.
His hands are rough as he gropes my full breasts, a predatory grin on his freckled face. He rips away his own shirt, revealing his bushy red chest hair among even more freckles. I can smell a light scent of putrid odor. For someone so worried about me showering, he should have taken one himself, especially after being outside in the heat of the day with Kaitlyn.
Our clothes disappear too quickly. Then his mouth is on mine, stabbing his tongue into the depths of my mouth. He tastes like onions from dinner.
I’m going to throw up.
No.
You have to do this, Romy.
He starts to reach for my neck like he wants to pull me closer to him. However, I don’t want him to find my makeshift foil shield. I grab his wrist, tugging it toward my nipple instead. He takes the hint and twists it.
The baby jumps in my belly because I jump at the sharp pain of his abuse.
“Ow,” I grunt out. “Too hard.”
“Hush. You deserve to be punished for leaving us.”
He pulls away and I stare at him, trying like hell to keep from shuddering in repulsion. His cock seems to have shrunk since I had sex with him last. I’ve been thinking about Caius too much, comparing each of them down to the veins on their dicks.
Caius’s is full of throbbing, lickable veins.
I miss him.
Seth, mediocre cock bouncing with his movement, reaches into the bedside table drawer. When he produces a pair of handcuffs, dread fills me to the brim. I want to take off running, put as much distance as possible between us, but I stare at him like a mouse stuck in a trap.
Terrified, immobile.
Snap.
He latches one handcuff to my left wrist and then jerks it across my body toward the headboard where he snaps it in place. Then he physically moves me to face the bed where my arm is no longer stretched painfully across me.
“Bend over and put your free hand on the bed,” he instructs, voice low and cruel. “And don’t move.”
I do as I’m told and clutch the bedding in my hand. My other arm is twisted at an uncomfortable angle. I’m not loving any of this at all.He’ll have sex with me and then it’ll be over. I can think about Caius the whole time. As long as I don’t make the mistake of saying his name, I’ll be fine. I can make it through this. It’s not like Seth lasts forever anyway. Ten minutes tops and I can go to sleep.
Except he’s not pushing his cock inside of me.
What is he doing?
A jangling sound makes my nerves come alive.
He’s not—
Smack!
Fiery pain lashes across my ass cheeks. It takes half a second for my brain to catch up and realize I’ve been hit with his belt. Before I can even find words to stop him, he hits me again, this one hitting my bruised tailbone. I cry out in agony, falling onto my elbow and making my other shoulder scream in pain. The belt swings through the air again, making contact with my upper thighs below my ass cheeks. The intense pain is dizzying. Bile creeps up my throat and I’m afraid I might throw up all over the bedspread.
Tears and snot run rivers down my face as I beg Seth to stop. It’s like he can’t even hear me. Over and over and over again, he whips me until I’m on the verge of passing out. The baby is bouncing in my belly as if she might be able to escape and run far, far away from this horror show.
What was I thinking coming back?
Stupid!
In my head, I beg for Caius to find me—to save us. I’m overwhelmed by my helplessness in this situation. It’s too much.
And then it stops.
I’ve never felt so relieved to have this man’s cock inside of me. It means the whippings have ended and this will all soon be over. I guess the abuse turned him on because he comes within thirty seconds.
He’s a vile, sick piece of shit. I hate him.
Once he finishes, he abruptly pulls out of me. Then I hear the shower running before the door closes. I’m left sobbing, trembling, and with his cum running down my thighs all while being bound to his bed.
You’re here for Kaitlyn.
Two more days.
I can make it.