Slowly, he turns his furious face back to mine.
“Bitch,” he seethes, releasing my ankle and reeling back, his palm hitting my cheek so hard that the inside splits against my teeth and coppery blood pools beneath my tongue. Crying, I cup my face, and when he grabs at me again, I kick and claw blindly, losing hope as the flashlight beam bounces around chaotically.
My heart thrashes so hard against my ribs that it physically aches, and pathetic sobs of surrender burst from my throat. He yanks me to him, forcing me to fall onto my back, my skull cracking on the hard ground. Dizzy, it takes me a moment tocome to my senses, and by then, he’s climbed atop me, those sinewy muscles alarmingly strong.
I get a few good scratches and slaps in, but the bastard grips my throat and lifts before slamming my head into the concrete again. Blackness pulses at the edges of my vision as my head throbs. The hot flesh of his length bounces against my thigh as he readies himself, the sick fuck trembling in excitement.
From the looming darkness in my brain, I can hear a deep, warning growl from somewhere behind us, and the man becomes distracted for long enough that his hold on my throat relents. Poppy hisses and spits at him as he throws the flashlight at her; all the while, my fingers reach for the wrench, just barely brushing against the metal.
“Fucking cat, go!” he booms. All I want to do is sleep, a warmth seeping from the back of my skull. But I buck my hips in an attempt to unseat him, and it works for a moment, just long enough for me to gain purchase on the ground and grip the wrench.
I just have no hope of lifting the damn thing from this angle and with one hand.
“Stupid cunt,” he grits out, backhanding me so hard I see nothing but stars, my hand falling limp by my only weapon. “All you bitches are good for is breeding and fucking and dying. Kage’s mommy lasted the longest. EvenIgot a turn with her. And now I’ll have my fun with you.”
He pries my legs apart, and I sob to the darkness, my limbs not obeying direction from my mind any longer, the pool of blood behind my head growing too fast. The heat of his rigid penis against my thigh makes me choke on vomit and tears, and he rams himself into my entrance, stuck because I’m not wet. He tries again, pumping and thrusting while I burn from the inside out and my vision fades.
The last thing I do before blackness consumes me is scream to the void and prayhewill hear me.
“Kage!”
CHAPTER NINETEEN
SUMMER
Lightfrom overhead banishes the darkness, and the man trying to rape me pauses, whirling around and allowing me to view a sight I will cherish close to my heart until long after I’m dead.
Kage.
Withouta mask.
My concussed brain wants to marvel at the avenging angel standing before us, donned in jeans and a black sweatshirt, the hood pulled up and framing his devastatingly beautiful face. The image is far better than I ever could’ve imagined, and with a small, timid whimper, I reach for him.
His lips are full and carved, his cheekbones high and cheeks hollow, chin and jaw cut and strong, and eyes as damning as Lucifer’s, glowing gold in his rage.Why would he hide such a devastatingly beautiful face from me?My mind pouts, unable to keep hold of my fear now that my savior stands before us.
The man chuckles and stands, leaving me cold and limp on the floor as I waver in between planes of consciousness. Kage stands a whole head taller than him, a vicious sneer on his perfect lips. “You didn’t think you could hide pussy like that forever, did you? Still so tight I can’t cram it in.”
Kage’s nostrils are flared, the right side ticking in fury. It’s then, as my eyes drop, that I notice something horrific marring his perfect, bronze skin.
Scars. All across his throat. Puckered, shiny flesh that healed with haphazard, visible stitch marks, as though he patched himself up. Tears flow from my eyes, but this time, it’s because I am seeing why he can’t speak…and why he always hid from me. Maybe it’s the blood pounding in my brain and leaking from my ripped flesh, but all I want to do is hold him, a broken man with a mysterious past and a kind heart despite his wrongdoings.
Kage takes a lethal step forward, and it’s then I notice the long, deadly, rusted crowbar hanging from his hand. A fresh wave of nausea causes me to gag as I press my fingers over my pursed lips, a horrifying reality hitting me harder than the attacker; they’re going to fight, and I don’t think they intend to let the other live. Whatever I’m about to witness…it will haunt me for the rest of my life.
My attacker shoves his pathetic little dick back into his pants and pulls a long, serrated knife from a sheath attached to his belt, the metal glinting in my direction. “I’ll do what your father should’ve done the day you cried like a bitch over your whore mother, boy. If you were mine, I woulda slit your throat to the bone. No son of mine would show such weakness.”
Kage’s face morphs into something utterly demonic, and it makes me ponder the existence of another realm not so far from ours; if angels and demons and gods exist, he is all of those wrapped into one, and I never want to be on the receiving end of his wrath.
With a shake of his head, the corner of Kage’s mouth lifts in a mordacious smile, my heart clenching at the sight. He’s not afraid, which is great, because I think I’m terrified enough for the both of us. He raises the crowbar slightly—and my attacker lunges for his midsection, the tip of the knife just barely grazingKage’s hoodie as he jumps to the side. My eyes ache, trying to keep pace with their quick movements, the pounding in my head reaching new heights.
Lurching to the side, I retch up yellow, sticky bile, unable to fully focus on the blood-smeared floor as I groan and the noises of a death-match rage behind me. Instinct drives me to pull away from the melee, and I plant my palms on the floor, arms shaking like twigs in a tornado. There’s a workbench I can shelter under, but I can’t pull my body weight forward, the world tilting and spinning around me.
A bony hand wraps around my ankle and yanks, forcing me to fall with a loud exhalation and subsequent whimper. The stench of the man makes me vomit again as he climbs over me, nudging my thighs apart with his knee—the cool kiss of his dangerous knife pressing against my clit.
The room stills, only Kage’s labored panting and the pounding of my heart sounding in the basement. My eyes find his, and blood drips from his nose, running down his chin and splattering on the floor. He’s…scared. And when I look down and see the threat between my legs, I understand why. Lip wobbling, my tear-filled eyes bounce back up to his, and I silently plead with the man who kidnapped me to now become my savior.
“You won’t be needing this, kitty. Women don’t need pleasure to be bred. Think we’ll get two or three outta ya before?—”
But his words are cut off. Hot, sticky blood splatters across my face. The knife falls with a clang between my legs. The man, shocked, turns his face to me.
