Total pages in book: 260
Estimated words: 245483 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1227(@200wpm)___ 982(@250wpm)___ 818(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 245483 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1227(@200wpm)___ 982(@250wpm)___ 818(@300wpm)
My heart thuds in my chest. I glance into the bathroom and see her in the tub. She’s fucking gorgeous, and I picture her crawling from the cage, begging me to come into the room and teach her a lesson.
I grin to myself. It’s the perfect little game. I need to earn her trust if I’m going to make her mine, and the cage is going to be the key to that trust.
You can’t just force a person to break. It doesn’t really work that way. You can beat and starve them all you want, but if you never gain their trust, then it’s all over. This cage will be her safety net, and I’ll be the man who gives her that safety.
I can feel the darkness inside of me celebrating as excitement courses through my veins. I’m at war with myself, hating these sick little thoughts that I’ve been trained to embrace, and yet aroused at the prospect of playing with her.
It doesn’t hurt that she’s so fucking beautiful, and with a fight in her that I admire.
I walk into the bathroom and kneel down at her side. Her wounds are cleaned and bandaged, and soon the drugs will wear off. She’ll wake up and she won’t know where she is, but she’ll be safe. I’ll explain the rules of the game to her.
And then we’ll play.
I reach into the tub and scoop her up, carrying her back into the main room and gently place her inside of the cage. I leave the door open, but I make sure she’s completely in there. It isn’t comfortable, but at least it’s safe.
I give her one last look before I leave her room, shutting the door behind me.
Chapter 8
Grace
* * *
My body’s so sore. It hurts from where he hit me. Daddy never hit me before. I don’t understand...
* * *
I was so little, so scared. Right after my birthday party. Only six. Mommy said we should leave. She took me from bed late at night and carried me into the hallway. Mommy, no. “We can’t leave Daddy!” She covered my mouth and stared at the door. It was their bedroom door. Mommy and Daddy’s room. We can’t leave Daddy!
I didn’t understand. I was scared. My heart raced in my chest. The fear in my mother’s eyes is something I’ll never forget. We almost made it down the stairs. Her hand over my mouth as she carried me in her arms.
But he grabbed her hair. Daddy was so quiet until he yanked her backward, the pain on her face evident as I fell from her arms, crashing onto the stairs and tumbling down. She screamed as he hit her over and over.
It hurt so much. My hands covered the gash on my head.
No, Daddy! Why is he hitting her? No, stop! I yelled with tears streaming down my face. I ran up to help her.
Daddy’s hurting her! Stop, daddy! Why is he hurting Mommy? Doesn’t he know he’s hurting her?
He kicked me. His hard foot landing in my gut, I fell harder. Smacking my head and shoulder on the wooden stairs as I fell down another step.
It hurt, but Mommy wasn’t screaming anymore.
His hands were around her throat. I didn’t know it then, but he was choking her. Her fingers clawed at his hands. Her eyes turning red.
I screamed. I ignored the pain and ran faster up the stairs, hitting him as hard as I could.
Stop hurting Mommy! Daddy, stop! Please stop! My throat hurts from screaming. Someone help! Please help!
He let her go and she fell on the stairs. She wasn’t moving and laid there. So still. Mommy? I just wanted to touch her. I wanted to make sure she was okay.
Her eyes were so red. “Mommy!” I cried.
His hand came down hard across my face. Mommy wasn’t okay. Daddy wasn’t either.
My hands covered my face where the sting from his hand pulsed. But my chest hurts too. Everything hurts. Nothing’s okay.
* * *
My body’s stiff as I groan, slowly opening my eyes. My head hurts. He hit me again. I feel so dizzy. The memories of my nightmare are slowly fading. Fuck, how many times am I going to let them hit me? Over and over, that’s all they ever do.
It takes a moment for my sight to come into focus. And when it does, I stay as still as possible, my limbs frozen with fear.
Where the fuck am I? My heart jolts in my chest as I realize the thin silver bars I'm seeing and the grated floor beneath me form a cage.
I’m in a cage. My skin pricks with fear.
Yesterday comes back to me in a flood. My hands instinctively fly to my stomach, remembering the kicks, and then my neck, the pinch. They drugged me and put me in a cage.