Page 43 of Lost In The Dark

Another beep alerted me to the fact he had unlocked the door to his ‘sex room’ as I had coined it. He dragged me inside and locked the door behind us, then he landed a hard kick to my side.

“Get into position!” He barked, and my body started to move before my brain registered what I was doing. By the time my thoughts caught up I was in the position he had demanded of me, on my knees, my head lowered and my hands open on my thighs.

“Oh, we have so much work to do, pet,” he smirked as he strode up to me. “And I’m going to enjoy every second of it. Breaking you will be my greatest pleasure.”

I almost laughed deliriously at his comment. He had no chance of breaking me. I was already broken. I had been smashed into so many pieces so many times, since that night I had been grabbed from the side of the road, that all I had left to hope for was death.

“Stand up!” he roared and I moved as quickly as I could to stand, stumbling several times as my legs refused to hold me up. He grabbed my arm and dragged me over to the item that stood in the middle of the room. It was a huge wooden ‘X’ with restraints attached to the end of each section. I didn’t even fight as he pulled my limbs to the restraints and attached each one until I was spread wide on the huge cross. I didn’t have any fight left in me, and I knew to try would only mean more pain. So instead I lay my face against the cold wood beneath my naked body and closed my eyes. I didn’t have any wonderful memories or special places to get lost in, even if I could do that, so instead I just tried to breathe and push back the heart breaking hope – the last shred that remained within me - that he might just go too far and kill me this time.

The first blow landed and a scream ripped from me. The pain on my already marked back was more than I could handle, and as he went on and on, hitting me with a whip, which he had taken pleasure in showing me before he began, I screamed overand over, my whole body shaking violently beneath me as tears spilled down my cheeks.

CHAPTER 14

JORDAN

I was so relieved as I slammed my truck engine off and just lay my head against the wheel. It had been a shitty day and I was so relieved to be home.

I wasn’t even sure how I had allowed my life to become what it was. Just a year ago I had been going through proposals with teams I never even imagined I would one day play for, after a hugely successful start to my career in football. I was all set for the big leagues and I was living my every dream.

One game, one tackle and my whole future had been ripped out from under me. My knee was fucked and playing professional football was over for me. In a matter of twenty-four hours my dreams had been ripped from me and I found myself completely adrift.

Sure I had a degree in business, which Asher had persuaded me to get as a backup, and I was grateful for that, but I just wasn’t the kind of guy who could spend his days cooped up in a suffocating office. Coaching football had been an option, but I just couldn’t see myself sitting on the sidelines, watching guys live the dream I had lost.

So I chose to become a personal trainer. And I fucking hated it. I hated the people who I worked with, all of them rich, entitledassholes who thought I was going to work some miracle and help them achieve their dream body without them having to put any work in. I hated being cooped up in that stuffy gym all day and I absolutely loathed the crazy amount of paperwork that came with working for a place as fancy as the company I had joined. I needed to get out, but first I needed another job, and considering I had no idea what I wanted to do, that was going to prove tricky.

After a few minutes I sat up, grabbed my bag, and got out of the car. The answers I needed weren’t in there and I was eager to check on Addy. She’d been with us a couple of days now and she seemed to be starting to settle in. She was still wary around Adam and I, but she talked with us, and didn’t jump when we handed her things. It was all progress.

I liked her a lot. She was sweet, and adorably shy. I wasn’t sure I had ever met anyone as kind and thoughtful as her, and I had barely even gotten to know her yet. Most of all she was brave. So fucking brave. She tried so hard to push herself even when she was afraid, and even after one of the flashbacks she suffered with, she worked hard to get through it and gather herself. That took guts, especially in a house full of people she barely knew.

I hadn’t gotten to spend much time with her because of my crazy hours, but I wanted to. I wanted to get to know her. I hoped she would warm up to me and eventually feel comfortable enough to spend time with me.

I opened and closed the front door to the house quietly, knowing loud noises scared Addy. The place seemed quiet and when I walked into the living room I found Adam alone, watching some cooking show he was obsessed with. He looked up at me and nodded.

“Hey,” I greeted. “Where is everyone?”

“Ash and Eli had that fundraiser thing. Addy headed up to bed about an hour ago,” he replied as he muted the TV and turned to me. “You okay?”

“Tired. I hate my job,” I grumbled as I dumped my bag on the sofa and sank into the armchair opposite.

“That’s not anything new.”

“I know, but honestly bro, I just don’t know how much longer I can handle those dicks I work with. I hate that place. I’m seriously thinking about taking Ash up on that offer to work at the office with him,” I sighed.

“You’d hate it, Jord. Office work isn’t for you,” he pointed out. “I already told you; you don’t have to get a job right away. We have enough money to cover us for decades from the inheritance. Just take some time out and work out what you really want to do.”

“You know I can’t just sit idle. I need something to do or I’ll get bored.”

“Then volunteer some place. There’s that outreach center we donated the sports equipment to in the city. Go and check that out. Do something valuable.”

“Yeah,” I nodded. “Maybe you’re right. Is there dinner?”

“I left you a plate in the microwave,” Adam chuckled. “I guessed you’d be hungry.”

“How was Addy?” I asked before I got to my feet in search of food.

“Good. She had a good day today. No panic attacks. Zara turned up and got all bitchy, but Addy handled it great. She seemed okay with me after the guys left. I think she’s less scared of me now,” he told me and I couldn’t miss the hope in his eyes. Iknew he hated the fact that Addy had seemed almost scared of him when she first arrived. I got why, of course. Adam was a huge fucker and add to that how hard he worked out and how muscular he was – he could definitely be intimidating, but he wasn’t like that. He was a big marshmallow really. All he wanted to do was take care of us all, and he hated that he had needed to step back with Addy these last couple of days.

“She’ll get there, Ad. Just give her some time. You’re doing better than me. I’ve barely even had chance to speak with her,” I told him.

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