Surely it’s only pride that kept me from using the safe word, and yet, I can’t deny the way my body is reacting as he continues to slam his hand down on my bottom. I can’t deny the cause of the wetness. I can’t deny the way I want him to stop, not because I’m in pain, but because I need his hands somewhere else. His hands, or better yet, his mouth, his cock.
Seriously, what the fuck?
When at last he lets up, I’m far too exhausted and in pain to try to make sense of anything. I can only lie still, panting hard, as he lays a gentle hand on one of my burning cheeks.
He doesn’t speak for a while, his palm stroking my bottom and thighs, the way his fingers did before. Only now, his touch doesn’t send alarm bells ringing through my body. I’ve been reduced to a helpless pile of pure need, and I arch my bottom into his hand, willing him to keep soothing me. And then to bring his fingers to my core, to ease my frustration.
But no matter how I arch toward him, he seems intent on avoiding that part of me.
“Are you going to be my good girl now, Lia?” he says in a strained voice.
“Yes, Logan,” I sob. “Yes.”
As I emerge little by little from my haze, I feel his stiffness against my thigh.
“Please,” I add, “touch me there.Please.”
At once, his hand leaves my ass, and the softness in his voice gives way to coldness. “I’m not going to pleasure you, Lia,” he says quietly. “This is a punishment. Now, get up. I have to take you to your husband.”
I let out a strangled whimper, but he ignores it.
He stands up, and I hear his footsteps as he turns and walks toward the door. “Get dressed, Lia. We have a long trip ahead of us.”
He shuts the door behind him, leaving me in far greater pain than during his punishment.
20
Lia
The car ride today feels a whole lot harder to bear than yesterday.
And it’s not because my ass hurts so much that I spend the entirety of it shifting around uncomfortably.
Well, not only.
It’s pure dread, knowing that tomorrow, we’ll be reaching Idaho.
It’s a cold, sinking sort of sensation, now that Logan’s harshness feels like it’s here to stay.
It’s the strange, growing awareness that the only way I can escape my fate is by taking it into my own hands.
The thing is, I’ve never been one to take things into my own hands. I grew up a sheltered daddy’s girl, and the moment I was soiled in his eye, he threw me to the wolf.
Next thing I knew, I was spending my days locked inside four walls, all my thoughts fixated on just surviving.
It only occurred to me to run when I overheard Carmelo’s plan to leave Oakley for Idaho.
I may not have any friends in Oakley, but I know this town. What would happen to me—to Aurora—in a strange place?
I don’t know why I never ran before, though. I’d alwaysfigured I was brave, but the truth is, I only ever picked on weaker kids. When I found myself surrounded by stronger men, I froze.
I’m not going to freeze anymore, though. I amnotletting Logan bring us to Carmelo.
_
By the time we reach our hotel for the night, I’ve got a plan. Well, some semblance of one.
“Everest,” I say sweetly, as he picks up my sleeping daughter and brings her inside. “Do you by any chance have a sleeping pill? I barely closed my eyes last night. I’m exhausted.”