pushing it back to nearly horizontal. She saw her own death in his cold eyes as his face came closer to hers too. He was really angry, talked crazy words she didn’t understand, but she was innocent, damn it. She’d never slept with Brent. He was a jackass, a conceited jerk, and as for her perfume…
“I got it at the Christmas gift exchange at work last month,” she told him quickly. “Maybe he’s the one who bought it. I don’t know! I swear I don’t. This perfume was the gift I was given. We were all told to bring something to the Christmas party and names were drawn. If this is Brent’s favorite one, if it’s hard to come by, then he must have brought it. I have never slept with that man.”
He shook his bald head slowly, snarled low, and leaned in so close his breath fanned her face. He’d drunk coffee recently. “Wrong answer. You will tell me where he is and help me find him. You don’t know what kind of monster you’ve been trying to protect, little female.” He snarled the words. “He killed a female who was loved and I know the same loss. I haven’t found the animal who murdered mine yet but I will have vengeance for others.”
Wide eyed, Lauren stared up at the very angry man. He was livid beyond reason and it frightened her even more.
“I am not sleeping with Bill!” she yelled in his face. “No matter how much you try to scare me, I still haven’t slept with Bill. I am not protecting anyone. I don’t know where he is or I’d tell you!”
The man’s mouth tightened into a firm line. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
A whimper escaped that she didn’t even try to stifle. Was he going to torture her? Strike her? If she knew where Brent was she’d tell him in a heartbeat. Why wouldn’t they believe her?
The man’s hands suddenly fisted in the material of her skirt and yanked hard. Alarm tore through Lauren as it was ripped from her lower half and the destroyed thing was thrown to the floor. Cold air from the room hit her thighs, hips, and bared lower stomach. Her mouth opened to scream.
His icy gaze locked with hers. He shook his head, warning her not to scream. She was so petrified that nothing came out and she couldn’t even draw breath. He gripped her shirt next, tore it wide open and spread it apart. The man had bared her to her panties and bra. He backed up enough to run his gaze down her body to take in every exposed inch of her.
He was just trying to scare her, Lauren hoped. She stared in horror as the man reached up, ripped the vest off his chest and dropped it. The sweater-type shirt was torn over his head next to reveal bare skin, lots of it, and enough muscles to assure her the guy probably had spent years in a prison yard pumping iron while he’d served his time.
“Oh God,” she finally got out, able to breathe again, since fear made her pant. “Don’t do this.”
His head lifted, enraged blue eyes glared at her, and his fingers began to unbuckle his belt. “Where is Bill?”
“I don’t know!”
He growled. “Your loyalty to him is over. You will tell me what I want to know. He is no longer your male. I am. My name is Vengeance and you are mine.”
He tore the belt off. She wondered if he’d hit her with the black leather but he dropped it on the floor. She screamed when he unfastened the front of his pants, no doubt left that he’d rape her. She tried to roll away. Sheer panic helped her find the strength to ignore the pain in her wrists caused by the frantic motion that made the handcuffs dig into her skin.
A hand gripped her hip, shoved her down flat, and her head turned. His pants were undone, they’d lowered when he’d lunged forward and he wasn’t wearing underwear. She saw his cock, something she couldn’t miss since it was hard and large. Another scream tore from her throat and she lifted her knees, tried to kick at him.
His free arm forced her thighs flat as he used his weight to pin her down. Those icy-blue eyes drew closer as he bent over her until only inches separated their faces.
“Don’t fight me. You no longer belong to Bill. I won’t cause you pain but you will learn to enjoy my touch.”
She closed her eyes and screamed.
The door was thrown open hard enough to hit the wall. “What is going on?” The words came from a harsh, deep voice, and Lauren’s eyes flew open as she twisted her head. The dark-haired guy had barged into her worst nightmare.
He moved fast, grabbed Vengeance, and tore her attacker away. Lauren lay there unable to do anything but watch as the two faced off. The taller one, still wearing the sunglasses, put his big body between her and the other man.
“Get out, Wrath. She is no longer a concern to you.” The bald man tried to step around him to return to her.
“You aren’t going to do this.” The dark-haired man had a name—Wrath. His fingers curled into fists at his sides as he moved to stay between them. The gloves were gone and she could see tan skin. “I won’t allow you to harm her. We aren’t like them. We were only willing to frighten her into talking but you have gone too far.”
“She isn’t going to protect him any longer,” the bald one snarled. “She won’t talk but she will change her mind about helping us find that monster. Leave. She’s his female and he owes us a life. Vengeance is mine, Wrath. I claim her. She will take the place of my murdered female.”
Wrath didn’t budge. “She isn’t our enemy. You can’t take her to replace the female you lost. You aren’t thinking right in your head. I hate them as well. I can’t look at her without reliving what was done to me. She has pale skin, a soft body, and I remember the hours of being drugged while they forced me to give them samples. The images of ones who look similar to her were used to obtain them. I know she isn’t responsible and I won’t harm her for what others have done to me. Calm down, Vengeance.”
He snarled in response.
“I know the rage inside. I suffer it too. She knows nothing of who Bill really is or she wouldn’t be protecting him. He is pretending to sell property and she believes we are hired males who beat on people who owe money. He sent her in his place, believing we’d kill her. That is not something he would do if he cared for her in any way.”
“I want her. She is mine,” Vengeance demanded harshly.
Wrath inched closer. “You do this and she will hate you. I won’t allow it. I already suffer guilt from watching her
