Whispering low enough only Olivia to hear, he leaned over and said, “Tell them you need to go to the bathroom.”
She opened her tired eyes slowly and looked over at him. Confused, she whispered back, “What?”
“I need a way to separate those two,” Jake explained. “Now that we’re sitting, I can get free from these ropes and take one of them out. I need the other one away while that happens. I’ll take care of the second one, once the first one is down.”
Olivia thought for a minute. “What if they won’t let me go?”
“Make it believable, and they will.”
Olivia glanced over at the two men who still had their backs to them. Her worried eyes found Jake’s again. “Maybe we should wait, Jake. I don’t want you getting hurt.”
“We can’t wait. It has to be now.” She still didn’t look convinced, so he asked, “Sweetheart, do you trust me?”
“Yes.” Her answer was quick and unwavering.
“Then I need you to do this.”
Olivia bit her lip before nodding. “Okay.”
Jake took precious seconds to assure her, “I promise you, I will end this. We’re going to be okay.”
“Enough! No more talking!” This came from Asshole Two.
Jake quickly whispered, “Now.”
****
“I-I need to go to the bathroom.” Olivia stuttered out, praying these men would believe her.
“Hold it,” Shorty responded callously.
When her eyes slid to Jake, he gave her an almost indiscernible nod. Make it believable. She pushed past her nerves and tried again.
Pressing her knees together, she wiggled her hips for added effect. “Please. I really need to go. It’s been hours.”
Shorty mumbled something to the other guy, then threw his cigarette down. Smashing it beneath his boot, he grumbled, “Fine. I’ll take you.”
He walked the few steps over to her and reached for her arm. Pulling her up roughly, Olivia didn’t even bother trying to hide the fact that it hurt.
With one more quick glance at Jake, she sent up a silent prayer as they walked by. Please don’t let anything happen to him.
Olivia was escorted past a cluster of large bushes. Shorty stepped behind her and began untying the ropes. When her wrists were freed, she slowly let her arms hang down at her sides.
She wanted to cry from the pain. It felt like a hundred tiny needles were poking her hands as the circulation started to come back. Using it to buy Jake as much time as she possibly could, Olivia made a show of rubbing them together.
“You said you had to go bad,” Shorty said accusingly.
“I do, but my hands were numb. I wanted to get the blood flowing again so I could...take care of business more easily.”
He gave her a sick grin. “I’d be more than happy to take care of business for you.”
Feeling more like herself, Olivia popped off with, “You want to help me pee? Is that some sort of fetish you have?”
Shorty’s grin vanished. “Either take a piss, or we are going back.”
“Everything okay?” Tall Guy asked loudly both from behind the bush.
“We’re fine,” Shorty hollered back.
“Then hurry the hell up,” Tall Guy ordered. “I need to take a shit.”
Ew, Olivia thought. Did the guy really have to announce it?
Shorty turned his head and yelled back, “Just go. I have the woman. Make sure her man knows I will kill her if he tries anything.”
Olivia heard Tall Guy saying something to Jake, and then, it was quiet again. Shorty turned and looked at her expectantly, waiting for her to do her business.
Poking the bear was never a good idea, but if she could keep this guy talking, it would give Jake that much more time to do whatever crazy thing he had planned. You’d better know what you’re doing, McQueen.
“I can’t go with you watching. I have a shy bladder.”
That twisted grin came back even wider than before. “I’m not going anywhere, puta.”
Damn. Pushing away her momentary panic, Olivia chose to give him a figurative fuck-you by acting as though his presence had zero effect on her. With her face held high, she pushed the white boxers off her hips and squatted down. When she was finished, she gave him her best sarcastic smile.
“That good for you, too?” It was immature, but the instant glare that crossed over his face felt like a huge victory.
Stomping over to her, Shorty roughly yanked her arms behind her. After re-tying her wrists together, he came back around to her front. His hand flew up, and he grabbed her chin with a bruising grip.
“Someone needs to teach you what that smart mouth of yours is really for.”
“Let go of me.”
Olivia was proud of how strong her voice sounded, even though she was shaking apart on the inside. She tried to free herself, but he was too strong.
With his other hand, Shorty grabbed hold of her left breast like he had in the cave. Only this time, he squeezed harder.
His fingers bit into her tender flesh, and she knew he was going to leave bruises. It was the least of her worries.
As she waited for the assault to end, Olivia had to make a conscious effort not to throw up on him, though picturing that nearly made her smile. But when he brought his disgusting mouth toward hers, smiling was the absolute last thing she felt like doing.
Shorty’s hot, rancid breath hit her nostrils, and her resolve to remain quiet wavered. She was trying to be strong. For Jake. For herself. However, if this man did what she thought he was going to do...Olivia feared she’d never recover from something like that.
Whatever crazy plan Jake had concocted needed to happen now. Hurry, Jake. Please hurry.
Shorty leaned in closer, his nasty, cracked lips a millimeter from hers. Oh, God. She couldn’t do this. She couldn’t not fight back.
Praying Jake would understand, Olivia had just opened her mouth to scream, when a rustling sound cut through the air.
Pulling back,
