Chapter 46
Selena
A shock of cold water on my face woke me from a deep sleep.
God, Brody and his running routine. I groaned, dreading it even as anticipation built inside me.
But then I opened my eyes, and the sweet sense of excitement faded. I wasn’t at home, and it wasn’t Brody looming over me.
Nick’s expression was dark and contemptuous. He was still holding the glass he’d used to pour water on me.
“Finally, you wake up. Lazy bitch.”
I blinked. My head ached terribly. My neck, too, for that matter. When I tried to turn it, sharp pain lanced up from my shoulder to the top of my head.
I took a long, deep breath. I had to breathe. I had to stay calm. Panic lingered at the edges of my mind, and I couldn’t let it get a grip.
“You’ve been out for hours. I didn’t even hit you that hard. Women are so weak.”
I swallowed. My mouth was so dry I could barely get words out.
“Where are we?” I managed after another pained swallow.
“Home. Well, kind of. It was my dad’s hunting cabin.” Nick looked around. “Do you like it?”
The gloom from the edges of my vision had lifted enough for me to be able to make out the rough stone walls and the many, many taxidermied heads displayed on them.
“It’s—something,” I muttered.
Nick leaned forward and grabbed my chin.
“Don’t be a bitch, or else I’ll stop being a good host,” he warned.
I attempted to push him away, only to find my arms were trapped. I was tied to the chair with rope. Of course. Why could I never be kidnapped by inept men? Why were they always annoyingly thorough?
“Why am I here?”
“Why not? My brother, the fucking simp, had all kinds of ideas that maybe you two would end up together, after he blackmailed you into fucking him a few times. He was obsessed with that video, watched it night after night.”
“What a romantic,” I sighed, trying to sound sarcastic but failing miserably. I had the taste of blood in my mouth, and it was doing absolutely nothing for my state of mind. It was a visceral reminder of last year. A time machine of sorts that threatened to plunge me into darkness.
“Right. You see, I’m more of a realist.”
Of course, Drew Preston was Nick’s older brother. I’d worked that much out already, and fucking forgotten it when it mattered. Great. Well done, Selena. Smart.
“You can’t be implying that your brother is any better than you, surely?” I couldn’t keep the contempt from my voice.
Nick snorted. “He’s a fucking pussy is what he is. I went after you to prove to him how women are. Whores, all of them. You were supposed to fall over yourself for the chance to date a Hellion.”
He crouched before me. “But you, dumb bitch, couldn’t even get that right. Of course, I didn’t know you were fucking your stepbrother at that point.”
I held my tongue. What was the point of talking to him? He was insane.
“Tell me the truth… is it for the money, or because he actually knows what to do with that horse’s cock?”
I blinked at Nick. I could just picture Brody’s face at hearing that Nick had been peeping at him in the locker room.
I laughed. I couldn’t help myself. I was too scared, and tired, and too done with everything. No matter how hard I tried, I always ended up here, one way or another.
Nick sneered at me. “You’re laughing at me, whore?”
Then his hand was flying across my face.
I let my head hang in the wake of his sharp slap. My cheek burned, but the pain made my thoughts clearer. Weirdly, goading him made me feel more in control.
Ha. Brody would hate that line of thinking, but I couldn’t deny it.
“Let’s see you laugh now,” Nick snarled.
I lifted my head and pinned him with my burning eyes, shrugging as well as I could with my arms tied to the chair.
“I’ve been slapped harder by cheerleaders on their periods. If you’re going to slap me, stop being a little bitch and put your back into it,” I muttered.
Nick reared back. I took fleeting pleasure in his shocked face.
Then he stood, hands curling into fists. He hurled one at my face, and I had no way to dodge it.
Pain exploded across my cheek as he made contact, and darkness rushed back in.
Oh, well. At least I don’t have to listen to him talk anymore.
When I woke again, Nick was gone. I allowed myself a long groan and blinked to clear my eyes. Cool air brushed my chest, and I glanced down in a panic to see that my top had been cut open.
The wire Brody had taped between my breasts was gone. I could feel that the earpiece wasn’t in my ear either. It had probably fallen out when Nick had smashed my head against the diner wall.
I was alone.
I slumped in my seat, fighting dizziness. I couldn’t allow it to take over. I had to think. I had to make a plan, find a weapon. I had to fight back.
The door opened abruptly, and I jumped. Nick walked in and dropped an armful of logs onto the dirty floor in front of the fireplace and kicked the door shut. He placed a security bar across the middle of the door, fitting into specially carved notches on either side of the frame.
“So no one can disturb us,” he said and tossed me a smile he probably thought was charming, but just came off as psychotic.
“We never finished our conversation from before,” he continued, and pulled a rickety wooden chair up in front of me. He sat and took his gloves off.
“You wanted to know why you’re here. You’re here because instead of just dating me and letting me fuck you, like the men in the video, you decided to be a bitch, and sic Sinclair on me. You got me kicked off the team.”
“I didn’t drug my drink. You did that all by yourself.”
“Because you were being difficult.”
“Difficult,” I repeated and shook my head. “A woman turning you down is being difficult?”
“What else? It’s the curse of modern men. You fucking feminazi bitches won’t just listen and do what you’re told.”
I thought of Brody and his complaints about me not following his rules, and the games we’d played since then.
Two men. Two different approaches. One had made me fall in love with him. His rules, his morals, his strict code of conduct and self-discipline. Then, there was Nick, sloppy and selfish and dangerous. He’d never understand why he was so loathsome.
“You got me kicked off the team. That’s my future, gone, because of you.”
I shook my head again, knowing nothing I said would make a difference.
Nick leaned forward and jerked my head up, forcing me to look at him.
“So, what are you going to do to make it up to me?” He stared down at my ripped shirt where my bra was visible.
Part of my brain screamed to make nice. Kiss his hand and tell him that I’d be good. I’d spread my legs and make this a conscious choice. Not a violation. No, not this time, because I wanted it.
Maybe I could have managed it, before Brody. Before I fell in love for the first time. Now, I just couldn’t do it. A tear escaped from my eye and ran down my face, dripping off my chin onto my hand.
Nick turned away from me, biting his lip and smirking, his thoughts clearly having moved to my impending assault.
Resignation hit me, so thick and suffocating I could barely breathe.
Then his phone rang, and I felt a momentary reprieve when he got up to answer.
He stood in the corner, his voice getting louder and louder.
After a moment, he hung up and launched one of the rickety chairs at the wall.
It splintered into pieces on the floor, the thunderous sound nearly giving me a heart attack.
He glowered at me as he stalked over.
“Do you have any idea what that Sinclair asshole has done?”
I just waited to see what he’d say. Nick glanced over at the wires on the floor. The listening device that he’d found on me.
“Yeah, I guess you already know. You trapped Drew, set him up to get in trouble, right? And now he’s in the hospital pending fucking arrest?!” Nick roared and punched me again.
I rocked in the chair but didn’t fall. My thoughts reeled. In the hospital? What had happened after I’d left?
Nick was suddenly there again, ripping my head back, gripping my hair mercilessly. He got in my face.
“You really fucking owe me! And you’d better hope it’s good enough to calm me down, or I don’t know what I’ll do.”
Then he kissed me. I kept my face neutral, keeping my lips as closed as I could manage. He pressed his fingers into my jaw to force it open. When that wasn’t working, he moved along to my neck, roughly grabbing my tits. God, he was inept. His touch was the ultimate anti-aphrodisiac.
“Welcome me, or I’ll really hurt you,” he snarled in my ear, licking my neck.
The panic attack still hovered, and right beside it, the urge to just roll over and try to convince myself that this was my choice.
But those thoughts weren’t at the forefront of my mind. No. At the forefront of my mind was Brody’s voice.
“You are so fucking strong, you have no idea.”
Before I could question the wisdom of the action, I closed my teeth over Nick’s ear and bit down hard.
Blood filled my mouth, and he was shouting and trying to push me away. I hung on doggedly and jerked my head to the side.
He screamed and punched my side hard three times. I let go with a piece of ear still in my mouth. I spat it onto the floor, my face covered in a spray of his blood. I turned to see what my efforts had wrought. Nick’s ear hung awkwardly, torn deeply down the side and missing an entire chunk.
I barely had time to congratulate myself before he hit me.
I tuned out as much as I could during the beating, the victory at having hurt him still pulsing through my veins. I’d done it. I didn’t care what he did. I’d made my mark. I’d made him bleed.
He stumbled away, and I sagged forward, catching my breath. Adrenaline pumped through my blood, making me jumpy and ready to fight. I wanted to kick and scream and tear him to shreds.
Then he was back again, stopping right in front of me.
“You think you can hurt me, bitch? I’ll show you hurt,” he grunted.
I looked up to see what he’d found to torment me with next.
Oh. A hammer.
I didn’t even have time to be afraid before he swung it toward my foot.