“It won’t always be chains and pissing on the floor. You just need to prove you can be trusted. You be good to me, and I’ll be good to you.”
“You can’t seriously believe that I’ll just roll over and accept this as my new life,” I say, turning my face so I can see him. “You can’t possibly be that stupid.”
His finger stills but only for a second. Soon he’s dipping lower, caressing the curve of my breast while I wiggle and try to get him off me. In response, he cups me in his hand, and every part of my body recoils at his touch. Disgust washes over me when he runs his thumb over my nipple.
“Don’t touch me!” I yell at him, but all he does is laugh.
“You have no idea how many times I’ve thought about your tits. It used to drive me crazy, watching you in the classroom and knowing I had to wait to have you.” He tightens his fingers, pinching me hard enough to make me cry out in pain. “I can wait a little longer. Unless of course you’re ready to try being submissive now. What do you say? You want to be my A student again?”
I meet his eyes, and even though I know it’s really stupid and it’s only going to piss him off and cause me more pain, I still hiss out a “Fuck you” before trying to kick him again.
When he grabs me, I add, “I only want Niki. I will never willingly spread my legs for you, so go fuck yourself, Professor.”
I thought I’d seen him angry before, but it’s nothing compared to how he’s looking at me now. All humanity, or the tiny bit he had left, disappears, and when he lets me go and stands, I quickly curl in on myself as much as possible. When he pulls another set of cuffs from his back pocket, a whimper escapes my lips before I can stop it.
“Regretting your outburst yet?” he asks.
When I stay quiet, he laughs and wraps a hand around my ankle, roughly yanking my leg out and cuffing it to the bed post. Terror consumes me, and I start to flail, wildly kicking out with my free leg while I scream and cry and curse him to hell and back. None of it does a damn bit of good. He steps back, letting me tire myself out, and as soon as I start to lose steam, he grabs my other ankle and cuffs it to the railing.
Leaning over the bed, he runs his eyes slowly over my restrained body. “Just remember that I did try to do this the easy way. If you’d only tried, Savanna, I would’ve been so gentle with you.”
My shirt rose while I was struggling, and when he drags his fingers along my bare skin, I start to cry harder because this is it. There’s no stopping what’s about to happen, and the thought of anyone else being inside me makes me sick. I don’t want this. I don’t want any part of this bastard touching me, and yet there’s nothing I can do to stop it. Sobs rack my body. I hate how powerless and alone I feel, and I really hate that all I can do about it is cry. I have no way to protect myself, and when he starts to unbutton my jeans, I scream as loudly as I can, putting everything I have into it. The rawness of it and the primal anger that comes rushing out of me is enough to make him widen his eyes and pause, but then he grins and laughs off all the rage I feel, like it’s nothing more than a minor nuisance and not him killing a deep part of myself that will never fully heal.
“I knew you’d be a bit wild, Savanna. God, I bet you’re a good fuck.”
I taste bile in the back of my throat at his obvious arousal. I’m so disgusted and horrified that it takes me a second to notice the slight movement behind him. Cupid hadn’t shut the door when he’d come in, and when it opens wider and I see Niki step in,gun drawn and aimed right at the back of Cupid’s head, I know I must be hallucinating.
“Niki,” I whisper right before his grey eyes meet mine.
“Don’t fucking say his name!” Cupid yells at me while tugging my zipper down.
I laugh out of pure relief and say, “He’s going to kill you.”
“Let him fucking try,” he growls as he starts to roughly yank my pants down.
He’s barely touched me before Niki says, “Get your fucking hands off her.”
Cupid freezes, eyes widening in shock before Niki lunges. Instead of using the gun, he uses his fists, punching him so fast and so hard that Cupid doesn’t have a chance in hell of winning this. The room is filled with grunts of pain and the sickening sound of flesh hitting flesh. Soon, ragged screams replace the grunts, and then those disappear and turn into mumbled whimpers that make me wish I could plug my ears because as much as I hated him and wanted him dead, the noises coming from his body are making me queasy.
“Niki,” I yell, trying to reach him, knowing he’s lost in a rage. We’ve all hit our breaking point, but I need him, and whatever is left of Cupid can’t be much. There’s no surviving the beating he’s getting.
The overwhelming urge to be free of these restraints has me yelling his name again. With my voice hoarse and pleading, I add, “Please help me.”
Those three words cut through the anger he’s lost in. His body stills, chest heaving from the exertion of beating a man to death, sweat on his brow and hands that are covered in blood, but when his eyes meet mine, I see how haunted he is by everything that’s happened. He’s not just in a rage. He’s a man who’s barely hanging on to who he is.
I whisper his name and then start to cry right as Danil comes running into the room, followed by Damien. Several other members of his family step in, and when I look back over at Niki, he rushes to my side, pushing my shirt down and fixing my pants before he cups my face and very gently kisses me.
“I’m so sorry.” He breathes the words against my lips, so soft I can barely hear them, but the sorrow in them is unmistakable. Pulling back, he runs his eyes over me, visibly wincing when he sees the raw skin around my wrists, the bruises that I’m sure are forming on my skin, and the dried blood that still covers my mouth.
His jaw tightens before he turns around to search for the handcuff key. Danil’s already pulling it from Cupid’s back pocket and handing it to his son. He looks over at me and softly pats my foot.
“It’s good to have you back, Sav,” he says. “We got here as soon as we could.”
“I know you did,” I tell him. “Thanks for coming.”
“Of course we came,” Damien says. “Niki’s been looking for you nonstop.”
I look over at Niki, watching the gentle way he’s handling my hands as he uncuffs them. The movements so at odds with how Cupid had just been touching me.
