Page 18 of Jaded Red

“I know you’re in here, Nadia. Come out, come out, wherever you are.” I hold in a gasp when he says my name and he keeps walking away from me. I uncurl my body from underneath the desk as quietly as I can. Sweat drips from my skin at the same time fear crawls through my body, making me shiver. I peek over the desk and I don’t see him anywhere. I listen for a beat before moving. It’s now or never. I slowly and quietly move away from the desk, keeping low to the ground and my breathing even. It’s a long and slow process, but I keep going. My legs are burning, my lungs are screaming at me for air and my body is trembling from fear.

“Nadia, I’m going to find you.” The male voice sing-songs further down the changing room.

I quietly and carefully reach the door, he’s still not in sight. My fingers shake as I reach for the doorknob and it takes me a couple of tries to turn it. When I do, I push it open quietly and breathe a sigh of relief. Only that moment is short-lived.

“There you are.” A new voice growls in my ear at the same time one hand clamps around my mouth and the other around my waist. I scream into the palm but it’s muffled andhe squeezes me hard. My breathing becomes ragged as I’m dragged back into the changing room. “Boss, I’ve got her.” The man squeezes me harder, making me gasp for breath.

The male voice that was taunting me, comes around a corner and my heart sinks into my toes. Shit, this is bad, this is really, really bad. Lattimer, my boss, approaches me with fury written all over his cold, black eyes. He squeezes my jaw, pulling my face toward his.

He inhales and I shudder. “You smell nice, Nadia. You’re going to make a great one.” He shoves my head back and I try to wiggle out of the other person’s hold. It’s no use, he has a cobra-like grip around my waist, squeezing the life out of me. I stop struggling long enough for his grip to loosen and I use that to my advantage. I bring my head back as hard as I can, trying to connect it to his nose, but he shifts his head at the last second and I hit his cheek instead.

“I like you feisty, bitch. Keep fighting me, Nadia. It makes me hard.” The man holding me presses his crotch against my ass and I freeze when I feel his hardness.

“Josiah, we can’t do that to this one.” Lattimer pinches the bridge of his nose. “If she’s damaged more than bruising, I’ll shoot you myself.”

Josiah, the bouncer from the strip club? What is happening here? Why are they doing this? “Why?” I ask through bated breath.

“Why not?” Lattimer shrugs his shoulders. “Money, power, does it really matter? All that matters is someone paid a hefty fee for you and I intend to take you to them.” Lattimer steps so close, that I can smell the whiskey on his breath as he grabs my face again and squeezes painfully. “Don’t even think about trying to escape. Josiah might not be able to fuck your tight holes, but he will fuck with your mind.”

“You will never fuck with my head.” I try fighting Josiah’s hold on me again. He’s so much stronger than me and he slams my head into a set of lockers. Blood drips down my face but I keep fighting. I kick, punch, elbow, scratch and stomp every body part I can reach.

“You bitch.” Josiah drops me onto the ground and I crawl backward away from him as fast as I can. His big hand reaches for my foot, but I kick it away. I don’t know where Lattimer is, but he is the last of my concerns. I’m still crab-crawling backward when I hit something hard with my back. I look up and into the deadly eyes of Lattimer. He leans forward with a syringe in his hand and jabs it into my neck. I scream as loud as I can as my world goes dark.

I wake up screaming with sweat pouring down my face and tears rolling down my cheeks. My breathing is rapid and my heart feels like it’s going to pound right out of my chest when a warm set of arms and a soft male voice soothes me. My skin is clammy and the blankets are tangled around my legs. I turn my head to see who is trying to help me when my gaze lands on a pair of soft blue eyes, staring back at me with concern.

“Matt?” I ask, trying to clear my sore throat.

“It’s me, Pulchra. It’s ok. I’ve got you.” He brushes the sweaty hair away from my face and gently cups my cheek. “They can’t hurt you anymore.”

He leans closer to me like he wants to wrap me in his arms and I instinctively pull away. Matt’s face falls but then he masks the hurt just as quickly. “I’ll get you a glass of water. Do you want anything else?”

I shake my head no, not trusting myself to speak right now. I know I need to tell him about the baby, but I don’t want him to want me around because of it or because I was traumatized. I’ve fought through the worst things in my life but if he rejects me, I don’t know how to come back from that. He hands me a glass of water and I gulp it down, letting the coolness soothe my sore throat.

“Thank you. What are you doing here?” I ask, leaning against the headboard. Matt stares at the door like it’ll give him all the answers.

“I haven’t left that hallway since I got back. I’ve been waiting and going out of my mind, wondering if you were ok or if I needed to give you more time.” The pain in his eyes when he lifts his head is unbearable. “When I heard you scream, I couldn’t wait any longer.”

I can’t stand to see the hurt in his eyes or his heart. So, I pat the bed next to me and hope I don’t unintentionally pull away from his touch. The only way to get past the traumatic things I experienced is to move forward and try. “Come sit with me, please.”

Matt hesitates before sitting. I lean forward, my heart beating rapidly in my chest. He wraps his strong arms around my shoulders, pulling me into his chest. My heart slows and I’m at peace for the first time in a long time. The last time I felt this way was when Matt and I were together in the hotel.

“Thank you,” I whisper into the silence filling the room.

“For what?” Matt asks.

“For everything.” I lean my head up to look into his eyes. “If it wasn’t for you, and the Club, I would have been sold and who knows what would have happened to me.”

Matt swallows hard, “Did they? You know, did they?” He can’t even say it and his body is tight with tension and he holdsme a little tighter, like he can do something about the pain if they did.

I shake my head, “No. they didn’t.” I don’t tell him what they did to me was far worse than being raped.

Matt relaxes his grip and the tension leaves his body. “Good. I’m still going to kill the motherfuckers for laying a finger on you though.”

I hold onto him tighter. “Do you really mean that?”

“With everything I stand for. They will not get away with this.” Matt cups my face in his strong hand. “I failed to protect you once and don’t deserve your forgiveness. But if you will let me, I won’t fail you again.”

I smile up at him, pulling my face closer to his, “It’s not your fault, Matt, so there is nothing to forgive. And yes, I will let you protect me, but I do come with stipulations.”

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