As she waited for the assault to end, Olivia had to make a conscious effort not to throw up on him, though picturing that nearly made her smile. But when he brought his disgusting mouth toward hers, smiling was the absolute last thing she felt like doing.
Shorty’s hot, rancid breath hit her nostrils, and her resolve to remain quiet wavered. She was trying to be strong. For Jake. For herself. However, if this man did what she thought he was going to do...Olivia feared she’d never recover from something like that.
Whatever crazy plan Jake had concocted needed to happen now.Hurry, Jake. Please hurry.
Shorty leaned in closer, his nasty, cracked lips a millimeter from hers.Oh, God.She couldn’t do this. She couldn’tnotfight back.
Praying Jake would understand, Olivia had just opened her mouth to scream, when a rustling sound cut through the air.
Pulling back, Shorty turned his head. Her heart pounded as they both stood still. Waiting.
A few seconds later, she heard another sound like before, followed by a deep grunt and then, silence.
“Mateo?” Shorty said the other man’s name loudly.
Well, there’s one mystery solved.
Tall Guy—Mateo—didn’t answer.
“Mateo!” Shorty yelled his partner’s name even louder, but there was still no response. He grabbed Olivia’s upper arm and pushed her forward. “Move!”
****
Jake watched and waited, knowing Olivia would only be able to stall for so long. He needed make his move soon, but Asshole One was still facing him.
“Everything okay?” The guy hollered toward the area where Asshole Two had taken Olivia.
“We’re fine,” Asshole Two called back.
“Then, hurry the hell up. I need to take a shit.”
Yes!It was what Jake had been waiting for.
“Just go. I have the woman. Make sure her man knows I will kill her if he tries anything,” Asshole Two said confidently.
“Fine,” Asshole One answered back. To Jake, he said, “If you want your woman to live, you’ll still be there when I return.”
“Oh, I'll be here,” Jake promised.
He watched as the other man turned around and started walking into the trees. The stupid bastard had no idea he’d just given Jake the perfect opportunity to get free.
Not wasting time, Jake rose to the balls of his feet. Staying in a crouched position, he pushed his hands down over his butt. His shoulders burned from the strain, but when he felt his hands slide below his ass, Jake sat back down and pulled his legs through his bound arms.
Moving quickly, his fingers began to work on the knots in the rope. The first two came loose with ease, but naturally, the last one was tight as fuck.
Abandoning the rope for a second, Jake reached down to his right boot. He untied its lace, pulling it free in record time.
He took half a second to check his surroundings. Seeing no sign of either Asshole yet, Jake pushed the plastic end of the lace through the center of the remaining knot. He then put one end in his mouth, and held onto the other with his hands.
Working it like a saw, Jake began shaking his head back and forth while pulling the other end of the lace with his hands. He was never more thankful for his SERE training than in that very moment.
The smell of burning rope filled his nostrils, and Jake knew the friction was working. The question was, would it cut through the thick strands before either man came back?
Come on! Come on!Every cell in Jake’s body burned with desperation and fear as he continued working to free his hands. The ropes felt looser, but it wasn’t enough.Not fucking enough!
He worked the lace faster, pulling so hard his fingers started to bleed, and his teeth felt like they were being ripped from his gums. Just as he heard footfalls in the leaves to his right, the lace popped free, having finally made its way through the rope. His head jerked back from the force of the release, and he spit the end of the lace from his mouth.
With lightning speed, he freed his hands, then hid the pieces of rope and the shoelace between his back and the tree. Jake repositioned his arms so they appeared to still be tied behind his back, just as Asshole One came back out from the thick batch of trees.
