Chapter 17
KELSEY
Tears stream down my face when I hear Ryder’s voice. They came for me. That’s all I can think about. Screaming around the gag, I try to warn him about Rocky. It’s no use, though, as my words come out as an incoherent mess. I don’t notice Hayden’s presence until he shouts that he found the light.
With the light on, an overwhelming sense of humiliation washes over me. I’m completely naked and have no ability to cover myself. I slam my eyes shut, like a child who believes if you can’t see them, they can’t see you.
Something light and warm is draped over my naked body. “Here,” Hayden says. I pop my eyes open to find his perfectly chiseled chest on display mere inches from me. He’s covered me with his shirt.
“I need to get these cuffs off without hurting her more,” Ryder says to Hayden. “Fuck, baby, your wrists!!” He examines them with eyes full of worry and… Guilt?
While Ryder works on the restraints, Hayden unbuckles the gag. My tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth as I work to swallow. The drool had long since dried.
“You…Need to… Hurry.” I say panting heavily. I only have enough breath to force out one word. “Rocky.”
The boys share a look before peering back down at me with wicked smirks. “No worries there, sweetheart,” Hayden says. My brows pinch in confusion.
“W-what did you do?”
“He and that doctor are coming with us. For science.” Ryder answers sardonically.
“What about Lilith?”
The boys share another look of uncertainty, which sends goosebumps over my skin. “She ran. Somehow she knew we were coming.” Ryder abuses his bottom lip in frustration. So badly I want to be the one doing that. But he doesn’t want me anyway.
“Ryder?”
“Yeah?”
“When you get the cuffs off, I’d feel more comfortable with only Hayden in here.” I request sheepishly.
Ryder flinches as if I punched him, and the pain that envelopes his face almost makes me regret asking.
He purses his lips and nods once, before looking at Hayden with a look that could kill.
I nibble my lower lip anxiously and pull Hayden’s shirt up over my chest, tucking it tightly under my arms while Ryder works to free my ankles more aggressively now.
I remain silent, afraid that if I speak, he will lash out.
I don’t know why I get that feeling. I shouldn’t feel ashamed for asking for privacy.
Ryder stands, his spine rigid as he walks towards Hayden, fists pumping at his sides. Hayden takes a step back, holding a hand up to Ryder’s chest to keep some distance.
“Whoa, man. Don’t come at me for her choice.” Hayden says defensively.
Ryder snarls, looking down at Hayden, although Ryder is only slightly taller.
“It should be me.” He spits through clenched teeth, jabbing his finger into his chest. Hayden takes a daring step closer to him, pushing his nose into Ryder’s.
“Ever stop to wonder why she isn’t choosing you?
” Ryder winces as if the words physically pained him, and a tiny fissure splits through my heart at the thought of me causing him pain.
But he hurt me, right? So, why do I feel bad?
Hayden isn’t done. Adding more insult to injury, he adds, “And maybe it’s because she’s already given herself to me.”
Ryder’s head snaps back, his eyebrows shoot up, and I gasp—horrified. I can not believe he just said that. Shame eats through my soul savagely. Ryder slowly meets my abashed eyes. My mouth moves, but nothing comes out. I’m utterly speechless.
“Is that so?” Ryder asks, his voice deep and low, almost like a growl.
His question was for me, but I couldn’t answer.
Instead, I palm my face and shrink away from his cold, hard glare.
Without another word, Ryder walks out, slamming the door shut behind him.
The force from it shook the walls and sent a shudder through my body.
Hayden crouches down beside the bed, extending his arm, gently coaxing my back in comfort. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean…”
Red-hot anger ignites in my chest. “Mean what? To spill something so intimate to Ryder out of anger?” I seethe.
“I…”
“No! You’re done talking.” I sneer bitterly. “Get my gown and get me out of here!” I scream. My emotions are a fucking whirlwind, and these two dipshits are so selfish and arrogant they can’t get along long enough to get me out of here before we’re all trapped and miserable.
Hayden scrambles to find my gown that Rocky tossed off somewhere. These alarms went off just in the nick of time. I only wish the boys had gotten here a little sooner to prevent the first bit. I shiver thinking about it.
“You okay?” Hayden asks. I look up to find him staring at me, concerned. How long had I been lost in thought? It didn’t feel like that long.
“You sure?” He asks again, this time raising a single brow.
“Positive.”
He found the gown and helped me into it.
He tied me up in the back really well to prevent anyone from being mooned.
I’d prefer if nobody else got to see my ass in this place.
I hate to even think of what was done to me while unconscious and put in this scratchy gown.
I steady myself as I stand up, holding onto Hayden’s forearm.
He’s all muscle, making his flesh feel like stone.
Peering down at his arm, heat pools between my thighs as I think about them being wrapped around my waist and his massive hands gripping my hips.
A hot flush creeps up my neck to my cheeks.
Clearing my throat, I gesture towards the door. “Ready when you are.”
We step out into the humid hall. The air is stale and reeks of defecation and bodily fluids.
I don’t remember the smell earlier, but I was also too focused on where Graves was leading me.
I drag in a deep breath as I take in my surroundings once more, except I’m more thorough this time.
My heart lurches as I gaze upon cell after cell of severely gaunt women, their eyes are hollow and void of emotion.
Their bodies are so frail, and their gowns threadbare.
Some have welts along every inch of their body, presumably from a whip or a belt.
“I don’t understand their purpose behind this,” Ryder says in disbelief. I begin to wonder the same, but then something Rocky said flashes back to me.
“Lilith uses them to make money,” I admit.
Ryder and Hayden look at me like I’ve grown ten heads. I know what they’re thinking. How could women in this condition make her any money?
I roll my eyes at them and walk ahead, leaving them trailing behind me.
“Some people are disgusting and will pay insane amounts of money to sexually abuse these women.” I lower my voice a notch, “Rocky basically rented me.” I drop my gaze to my feet, ashamed of admitting that.
A gentle hand wraps around my arm, and I instinctively flinch away with a small gasp.
Their hand retreats, and I turn to find Ryder directly behind me, his hand dropped to his side.
“I didn’t mean to startle you,” He says quietly. “I’m sorry you were ever put in this position. I tried to protect you from it.”
My nostrils flare, “Yeah, well, you did a great job at that.” I say sarcastically.
“It’s not like anyone made it easy for me to do that.”
“Strange, because I vividly recall asking all of y’all what the fuck was going on multiple times. Care to explain yet?” I say, raising an eyebrow with my hip popped out and crossing my arms over my chest. I tap my foot for extra dramatics.
“I promise I—we—will explain once we get you out of here. It’s gonna take a while.” Ryder says, taking a long, deep breath. “Let’s keep moving, my guys are upstairs waiting for you.”
Ryder gently pushes me forward with his hand pressed to my lower back. It’s almost as if he’s afraid that if he isn’t watching me or touching me, I’ll vanish again. I guess he does care a little about me, and that makes my heart beat a little faster.
“We got the two bozos loaded up and restrained, Boss man.” One of the heavily armed guys in full tac gear says to Ryder once we enter the main floor.
“Have a little fun with ‘em?” Ryder asks as one side of his lips tilts up into a knowing smirk.
“Hell yeah. The doctor’s missing a finger… Accidentally shut it in the door and ripped it off.”
Both men and Hayden all bust out laughing, and I fight my vomit back down. That is so gruesome, but the old man deserves it.
“What about Stub?” I ask.
All three sets of eyes land on me. “Who?” they ask in unison.
“The man working with Lilith. Did you not see him on security footage?”
They all look at each other, then Ryder’s talking into his earpiece. “Yo T, got any footage on a Mr. Stub?”
Ryder shakes his head, and now I wonder if I hallucinated him. He felt too real to be a figment of my imagination, though. That can’t be right.
“Hayden, you and Liam escort Kelsey to the Escalade,” Ryder commands.
“B-but where are you going?” Why does it give me anxiety for Ryder to be in here and not with me?
A slow smile graces Ryder’s lush lips, flashing all his perfectly beautiful teeth, melting me to my core. “Is somebody worried about me?”
Ugh, arrogant asshole. I roll my eyes before replying with all the sass in my body, “No.”
“Uh-huh, right.” His tongue prods the inside of his cheek. “Anyway, I have to go back down to deal with something. I’ll be back.”
Turning to Hayden, he holds his elbow out, and I loop my arm through his. I like his warmth. It’s comforting. I’m not entirely sure how to explain the emotions I feel as I escape this place. For starters, I never imagined I’d be rescued. My hope had diminished as the minutes ticked by.
“What time is it?” I wonder.
“It’s… twelve thirty-three AM.” He answers.
I exhale a shaky breath. It felt like days, not hours, being trapped and tortured here.
“The medic van is stationed at the motel, that’s where we’re taking you.”