Page 68 of Stolen Dreams

“No,” I hiss, “I’m not fucking okay.I want to go home.”I move my hand, and the clanking of the metal fills the room.“Let me go.”

“I can’t do that,” he replies, coming over and touching my head.“God, you are so beautiful.”

“Sammy,” I say his name softly, “please.”

“It’s almost over, baby.In all due time, we are going to leave here.”I blink.“It’s a bit hectic right now, so I’m going to be in and out.”He looks over his shoulder.“But the next time I come back, I’ll have more time.”He bends to kiss my lips, and I turn my head.His hand comes up to grip my chin so hard I yelp as he turns my head toward him.“Stop fighting this, Lilah.”He then kisses my lips.“You are going to be mine forever now.I’m going to make you fall in love with me.We’ll be in love with each other and then everything is going to be right.”

“Sammy,” I say, “please don’t do this.If you let me go?—”

“Let you go?”He laughs, leaning with a hand around the top of the bed and the hand that was squeezing my jaw he now uses his finger to rub my cheek.“I’m never going to let you go.I’m going to stay in town as long as I have to before we leave, and then it’ll be me and you forever.”He smirks and then it goes into a full-blown smile.“Until we have kids, that is.”He leans in again to kiss me, and I close my eyes so tight not to see it.“I have to go.I’ll be back soon.”

“But—” I start to say when he walks behind the bed and comes back to the side of it, holding a syringe in his hand.My eyes go big as I watch him walk back to me.

“I’m just going to give you something to help you relax.”He moves my sleeve up, and I move my arm to stop him from injecting me.But with my arm tied to the bed, I don’t get far.He grips the top of my arm, his fingertips gripping my upper arm so tight I can’t move.I feel the prick of the needle for a split second before he lets me go.

“Please,” I plead, trying not to fall apart but failing.“Please, Sammy, I just want to go home.”

“Oh, my love,” he murmurs softly, “you are home.”I fight the way my eyes feel.“I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

“Please,” I beg, and when my eyes close, I feel his lips on mine.

“I love you, Lilah,” he says, and the blackness takes me.

I feel coldness on my face when my eyes fly open, and I stare into Sammy’s eyes.“Hey,” he says softly, “good morning.”I close my eyes again to fight back the way my stomach flips.“I brought you something to eat.”He turns and puts the wet rag on the table, picking up the small Styrofoam bowl.“You haven’t eaten since yesterday, so we are going to stick to liquids for the day.”

“I have to go to the bathroom,” I tell him, and he shakes his head.“Sammy, please.”He looks at me and then looks to the side.“I promise I won’t try anything.”

“Okay,” he agrees, unlocking one of the handcuffs, and before I can do anything, he secures it to the other one.

“I’ll carry you,” he says, pulling me into his arms.We walk through the room and then into a bedroom.I see a bookshelf pushed to the side, hiding where we just walked out of.I spot his bed in the middle of the room, and if I didn’t walk in from the secret door, you would never know.

We go to the bathroom as he places me on my feet.“I need my hands.”I hold up my hands and he smiles.His hand goes to the button on my jeans, pulling them down with my panties.“You are so beautiful,” he says, looking at me, and I start to shake.“Don’t worry, it won’t be long now.It’ll be soon, though.”He runs his fingers up my bare legs.“So fucking soon.”

“Can you turn around?”I ask, my teeth feeling like they are clanking together.

“You don’t have to hide from me, my love.”He gets up and kisses my lips.“In no time, I’ll be a part of you.”I sit on the toilet bowl, not caring, trying to think of how the fuck I can escape from him.Once I’m finished, I grab the toilet paper and clean myself as best I can, as fast as I can, so he doesn’t have to touch me.He pulls my pants up and kisses the top of my stomach before he buttons my pants.“I can’t wait to see you pregnant with our baby.”He rubs my stomach.“I’ve been waiting for months.”He picks me up in his arms again, carrying me back into the room.

He places me on the bed.He works so fast, and my body is so slow to move as he ties me to the bed again.“I have an hour, and then I have to go.”

“Why?”I ask, and he holds the bowl in his hand as he spoon-feeds me soup.“Why are you doing this?”

“You’re mine,” he declares.“I knew you were mine the first time I saw you.”

“But”—I shake my head—“we’re friends.”

“I know.I tried to get you to look at me the way you look at him,” he hisses, “but all you did was see him.He’s not good for you.He had you and threw you aside.I would sneak into your house,” he says as my head spins, “and watch you sleep, wishing I could climb into bed with you.”

“That was you?”

“It was always me,” he states, proud of himself.“You almost caught me that one day.”He holds the spoon of soup, and I turn my head.“That was close, thank fuck Derek was back in town.I didn’t even have to plan that.It was like God was giving you to me.”

The tears run down my face.“When you finish eating, we are going to cut your hair a bit,” he says, “and I’m going to pick up some hair dye.Do you want brown hair or black hair?”

“I want to go home.”I can’t help the sob that roars through me.“I swear, I won’t tell anyone.”

“I can’t let you do that, my beautiful angel.”He bends again to kiss my lips, putting the bowl of soup to the side.“I’ll be right back.”He turns to the side and walks out of the room, and I try to pry my hands out of the handcuffs.I try to put my thumb in the middle of my hand and pull it out, only to be stopped.

He comes back in, and I stop what I’m doing, so as not to upset him.“Sammy,” I snap, “this is crazy.You aren’t going to get away with this.”

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