AVA
The air shifts around me. The sudden feeling of flying hits before I land on a soft pad that creaks beneath my dead weight. My head aches something fierce. Nausea roils in my gut, twisting and pulling, threatening a mess. I roll toward the edge of the mattress, in my half-aware state, just in case.
My eyes peek open, landing on the familiar paintings decorating my dresser. We’re back at the cabin, but the frigid air cuts across my cheeks. No better than being outside.
Why did he bring me back here? Doesn’t he realize Scott will find me? Or did I just imagine his voice in the woods?
Rough hands tug at my boots, quickly removing my socks. Tingling needle pricks dance across my skin, causing a full-body shiver.
“Shh, I’ll get you warm, little thorn.”
My whimper of unease fills the small room, but it doesn’t deter his fast-working hands. He reaches up to unzip my jacket, and I jerk out of his grasp, back hitting the metal bars of the headboard.
“Don’t fucking touch me,” I hiss.
“Now, don’t be like that, beautiful. You’re shivering, frozen to the bone. I need to warm you up before you turn hypothermic.”
His tone is coaxing, so caring and soft. Yet, his eyes are dead, blackholes of nothing gliding across my frame.
He reaches forward again, fingers drifting closer to the zipper on my jacket. The second he’s close enough, my arm swings out, clocking him against the cheek. It’s not hard enough to incapacitate him. He doesn’t so much as flinch at the strike, but his nostrils flare and his piercing gaze cuts to mine.
There’s no time, no space to back away before his closed fist impacts against my jaw. Pain ricochets everywhere, worse than the hit to my head earlier. Blackness dots the edges of my vision. But I fight against it. Refusing to let this man have me in such a state.
“Look what you made me do, Ava.” He paces next to the bed, fingers tangling in his long auburn locks. “I don’t want to hurt you. But you will listen to me.”
How did this happen? I was supposed to be rescuing Scott, getting him out of harm’s way. Now here I am, his next victim, with no plan of escape.
He’s caught up in his internal musing, boots leaving a muddy path against the wooden floors. Before my brain can catch up with my body, I shove forward, feet finding purchase on the ground.
Maybe if I can gain some distance, get to the bathroom, and lock myself in. Or rush to the front door and hide in the shed—anything to get away from this man, who’s obviously lost his last shred of sanity.
A spark of hope lights in my chest when I make it throughthe door and out into the hall. My fingers wrap around the front door handle and turn, seconds to earning my escape.
Until my vision swims, pain laces through my scalp, and I’m yanked viciously into a hard surface.
“Everything I’ve done to give us this time together.”
His free arm ropes around my midsection, removing any distance between our bodies. The unwanted intimate closeness pulls tears from my eyes. My gut sinks with uncertainty.
His lips are pressed flush against my ear, spittle flies through the air, landing against my cheek, as he says, “Stop being such an ungrateful little bitch, Ava. I just want to show you how much I love you. But you keep trying to run from me, and that’s not going to work, little thorn.”
“Please, let me go. I won’t tell anyone. I swear.”
And I won’t. If he’ll just let me go and leave, no one needs to know that this ever happened. Though I can’t guarantee Scott will feel the same if he ever finds us.
“I didn’t spend the last few days in the woods, freezing my balls off to stop this now.”
He doesn’t let me go. Simply lifts my feet from the ground and turns, moving back to my bedroom. Only this time, when we step back into the space, there’s a coil of rope on the bed.
Flailing my limbs doesn’t get me far. “No. No, please. Don’t do this. God, Braxton, you can’t think this is the way to do this.”
His entire frame goes instantly still with my words, and I do too. The energy shift is immediate. Alarm bells sound in my head.
Fuck, did I mess up?
My feet connect with the floor, and though he doesn’t let me go, his hold loosens. Rough fingers grip around my waist, spinning me to face the monster behind me.
“I knew you remembered.”
