Total pages in book: 194
Estimated words: 187754 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 939(@200wpm)___ 751(@250wpm)___ 626(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 187754 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 939(@200wpm)___ 751(@250wpm)___ 626(@300wpm)
“No one comes up here, Aurelia. Stop thinking you’re going to be rescued and start focusing on how to be happy here.”
I snort at his lunacy. “Pass.”
“You’re a bitch. You know that?”
My hands ball into fists at my side. “I don’t care what you think of me.”
“No?”
I shake my head, but my next breath stutters out of me when his hands leave the railing and skim the outside of my thighs. They stop right below the shirt I’m wearing.
Whose shirt I’m wearing shouldn’t even matter, but it does. The flannel still smells like them—warm, spicy, and woodsy, with only a touch of sweetness that you have to really dig deep to reach. It smells like cardamom.
My visceral reaction to the scent pokes at my confused brain and mocks my insistence that I hate the bearer of this flannel. Whoever he is.
“You ever think that if you would just stop running your mouth, we’ll be nicer?”
“I don’t give a shit about you being nice to me, asshole. I want you to hand me a radio and then disappear forever.”
Without warning, Khalil presses his lips against mine, and I let out a surprised sound as his hands travel up the cursed flannel. My hands rise to his strong chest to push him away, but I end up gripping his muscle shirt instead. Simultaneously, he takes my naked ass in his callused palms. The rough pads of his fingers scraping against my soft skin feel like heaven.
I’m not thinking about the fact that my naked ass is exposed to the clearing for anyone to see when he pulls back long enough to say, “Just so we’re clear, I don’t give a shit what you want.” He resumes the kiss before I can respond.
We’re still kissing when I murmur, “Said every abusive asshole ever.”
Khalil’s grip on my ass tightens, his fingers wandering dangerously close to the arousal building between my thighs. “You think we’re abusing you, Goldilocks?
“You sure as hell aren’t romancing me, asshole.”
I’m rising onto the tips of my toes to reach his lips better when he utters between kisses, “Well, I think you like the way we treat you.”
“Excuse me?”
“You heard me.”
Khalil slaps my ass hard, and I yelp from the sting while he backs away from me to open the front door, holding it for me to step through. I glare at him for a long time, but he doesn’t say a word. The bastard knows his silence will taunt me much more effectively than his words ever will.
Grumbling to myself, I storm past him and into the cabin with the knowledge that he’s watching me with no shortage of smug male satisfaction. It’s not until the front door slams shut behind him, closing off the biting cold on the other side, that it hits me.
I didn’t try to run.
Freedom was right there, and I just…climbed back into my cage like an idiot.
I don’t even flinch when Khalil places a hand on my lower back. He takes me back down into the basement and into the room right off the stairs. It’s next to the destroyed bedroom that Khalil tells me belongs to Seth. That tracks.
There are several jumbo metal bins stacked underneath the white plastic farmhouse sink with a spigot. What looks like a metal toilet plunger is leaning against the wall next to it, along with a large wooden paddle with grooves down the length and a short handle. Tossed over the wire hanging in the middle of the room like a clothesline is my dress—clean now but still torn.
Khalil grabs a clean towel and washcloth from the floating shelves after pointing out the pile of dirty laundry waiting to be washed.
“Why are you showing me all of this?” I finally ask him. This whole morning has been one long, confusing mess of don’t-give-a-fuck.
“Starting today, this is the shit you’ll need to know in order to earn your keep. Make us happy, and we’ll reward you. Piss us off, and we’ll punish you. It’s simple.”
“Simple?” I echo calmly despite the shiver working its way down my spine. “Right. How?”
Khalil steps closer until I’m forced to tip my head back to keep eye contact. Leaning down until the tips of our noses touch, he rumbles, “Fuck around and find out, Aurelia.”
Khalil’s warning feels like a promise. It chills my bones and warms my belly at the same time. All the more reason to get out of here before I lose myself completely.
My skin pebbles with goose bumps, and I don’t realize I’ve lowered my gaze until Khalil hooks a finger under my chin and gently forces my eyes back on him. He doesn’t bother issuing more threats once he sees the submission in my eyes. He just pushes me out of the closet and into the bathroom on the other side of the stairs.