Instinct took over. Before she even realized what she was doing, she lunged forward, her hand reaching for his dick and twisting with all her strength.
Joel’s howl of pain was instantaneous, and he struck out at her face to ward her off. Pain exploded in her jaw, but she hung on tenaciously, determined to do as much damage as she could. She doubled her other fist and struck him repeatedly in the jaw.
She released him and then drove her knee right into his balls, ignoring the pain in her ribs.
Joel dropped like a stone onto the floor and she wasted no time turning and running toward the back patio door. She couldn’t go out the front because Ron was suddenly there. She had no access to a vehicle now, but she’d take her chances in the woods, because anything was better than the fate Joel had planned for her.
She heard Joel’s roar of anger and his instant call for Ron. She flung open the door and bolted into the night, running as fast as her legs would carry her toward the tree line in the distance.
It was a chant in her mind, a never-ending litany that made her push on even though agony ran like a river through her body.
Oh God, she was going to make it. She was almost there.
She was hit from behind with the force of a train. She went sprawling, screaming in agony when she hit the ground, a heavy body atop her.
Ron.
He’d caught her.
Tears of frustration coursed down her cheeks. She’d nearly made it into the cover of the woods. She could have hidden.
“Stupid bitch. You really do have a death wish,” Ron snarled in her ear.
His groin was pushed into her behind and she could feel his enormous erection. The sick bastard was getting off on her helplessness and the chase.
He pumped his hips forward, mimicking the motion of fucking her from behind.
“Now I get you,” he said with savage satisfaction. “You should have let Joel fuck you. He’s much easier to take than I am, but now you’ve pissed him off and he’s going to let me punish you, and I assure you, I’m going to enjoy every minute of making you cry.”
He pushed himself off her and then dragged her upward. One hand curled tightly into her hair and the other gripped her arm with bruising force as he propelled her forward.
Moments later, he pushed her back into the house where Joel was waiting in the living room, his face nearly purple with rage. His eyes were so black that she shivered.
As soon as they appeared, he stalked over and backhanded her across the face. If Ron hadn’t been holding her so tightly, she would have instantly gone down.
Then Joel looked up at Ron. “She’s yours. Bend her over the couch and tie her there. Use her for as long as you want. I don’t care what you do with the bitch, but make sure she suffers.”
Ron’s eyes gleamed in satisfaction. “She might be a little loose by the time you get to her.”
Joel shrugged. “I don’t plan to keep her long anyway.”
A chill blew over her body at the finality in his tone. He meant to kill her. He wanted to punish her and then he’d kill her for her rebellion.
Ron tore at her clothes while she stood there, numb, so scared that she couldn’t even think. And then she was naked and he was shoving her toward the couch, his hands mauling her and making her cry out in pain.
She couldn’t do this. She couldn’t face what was about to happen. She just wanted to die.
Her mind went blank and she blocked out her reality, retreating to a place where no one could hurt her. She didn’t feel the pain when Ron shoved her over the end of the couch and wrenched her arms back to tie them in place. She closed her eyes and withdrew, blanking everything until she was floating in a soothing sea of nothingness.
CHAPTER 38
LIAM was about to come out of his skin as they raced down the winding drive of Joel Knight’s lake home. Every beat of his heart was magnified ten times until it felt like his chest would explode with the pressure.
He was terrified. Lauren had been in Knight’s hands for hours. If Knight hadn’t already killed her, Liam could only
The tension inside the SUV was tangible. Noah’s hands gripped the steering wheel while Seth and Dillon were in the second row, stiff and ready to bolt into action. In the back, Adam and Ryan looked worried, their brows creased with anxiety as they imagined Lauren’s fate.
Max was on the floor in between Seth and Dillon, his hands knotted together, his knuckles white. Liam wasn’t sure if he was praying or plotting vengeance. Probably a little of both.
Noah turned off the headlights as they made the last turn and the house came into view. He slammed on the brakes and turned off the engine a good distance from the house and then motioned everyone out.
There was a car parked in the front. A sleek black Mercedes. Only one light burned from within the house, a beacon for Noah and Liam.
Seth drew his weapon while Noah and Liam both pulled their guns as well. Then Seth turned to his brother, his dads and Max.
“You stay behind us. This isn’t time to play hero and get yourself killed. Let us go in first and take care of any threat. We don’t want this to get bloody unless it’s necessary.”
They nodded their agreement, but Noah and Liam were already starting across the gravel drive to the house. Liam broke into a run, not willing to wait a second longer to get to Lauren. Noah caught up to him and they charged toward the front door.
It was the view from the picture window that stopped them in their tracks. There were no curtains or blinds on the large window looking into the living room, and what they saw made Liam’s blood run cold and then instantly molten with rage.
Lauren was bent over a couch—naked—and the welts on her back were visible even from a distance. The son of a bitch had beaten her! It looked as if someone had taken a belt to her back. Joel Knight stood to one side, his face set with satisfaction as another man roughly parted Lauren’s legs as he prepared to rape her.
Liam hurtled to the front door, throwing it open. He barreled into the living room, gun raised.
“Get away from her!” he roared. “Hands up, asshole!”
“Liam, look out!”
He heard Noah’s shout and then several things happened at once. One gunshot. Then two. Pain bloomed in his left shoulder. The man who’d been abusing Lauren dropped and rolled, and Liam could see he was going for the gun lying beside his discarded pants.
Liam tried to move to cut off the man’s access, but his reaction time was ridiculously slow and part of his body felt encased with lead.
Seth stopped in between Liam and the man on the floor and all Liam could get out was, “No!” He didn’t want Seth Colter to go down for him.
Seth dove low, tackling the man while Max surged forward and kicked the pistol away from the man’s grasp.
Knowing that threat had been eliminated, Liam turned his attention to Lauren. Noah was also rushing toward Lauren, and they reached her at the same time.
Noah worked furiously at the ropes around her wrists, while Liam knelt by the couch and gently turned her head in his direction. Her eyes were closed and his heart nearly stopped in his chest.
“Lauren?” he asked softly. “Lauren, baby, it’s okay now. Noah and I are here.”
Even as he spoke, he put his trembling fingers to her neck, feeling for a pulse. His left arm hung uselessly at his side, but he shut out everything but the woman in front of him.
As Noah got the ropes free, Max pushed in with a blanket to cover Lauren’s naked body. Noah pulled her
