I didn’t even recognize my own voice—how high, shrill, and animalistic it sounded.
“Shut the fuck up,” the man snarled, his hand shifting and pushing me harder against the floor, making it hard to draw in a breath, let alone scream again.
But just when I was losing hope, I heard them.
Footsteps.
Thundering down the hallway.
Coming closer.
A little whimper escaped me just before the door burst open.
The light from the hallway spilled inward, casting him mostly in shadow. I could only see his legs from my position, but this… this wasn’t Raff.
His legs were too thick around the ankle.
Oh, God.
Had I screamed and brought reinforcements running? Was this guy here to help the other one kill me? Or, maybe worse yet, kidnap me and do who-knew-what with me?
But as the door cracked off the wall, the man on top of me jerked in surprise.
Then his weight was off me as he got to his feet.
I didn’t pause.
I got on all fours and crawled toward the bathroom door as I heard bodies crashing together.
Grunts and heavy breathing filled the room as my hands and knees met the cool tile floor in the bathroom.
Only then did I turn, did I look.
I was right.
It wasn’t Raff.
This was that tall, wide, lumberjack guy.
York.
Wearing nothing but a pair of boxer briefs.
Why had York come to my rescue? Where was Raff?
A pathetic little whimper escaped me as I grabbed the trash can and spat my tooth into it. The blood spraying all around the white liner made a whimper escape me.
There was a thunderous crash then, making my heart drop as my head whipped over.
And there I saw York, face twisted in determination, moving behind my attacker, who was down on his knees.
I watched in a horrific kind of fascination as York wrapped his arm around the man’s throat, his muscles bulging, his face sweating as the other man struggled for five seconds, ten, butby the time I counted to fifteen, the masked attacker was limp, leaning back against York’s wide frame.
But York didn’t move, didn’t shift his arm, just kept press, press, pressing.
My own heartbeat hammered, then little by little, started to slow. Like, I imagined, the other man’s did as well.
It was slow and horrific.
