Page 33 of Trapped

Evidently, Hawkins knew Eli from a former life, and there appeared to be unresolved scores to be settled between the two of them.Shivering in the sheets, I realized too late that I’d become a pawn in whatever twisted game they were playing.

“Aww, there you are!”Hawkins’ conceited tone had never sounded so insidious before.“And you’re a woman, too.How interesting!”

“Leave her out of this!”Eli stepped in front of the flashlight’s beam, blocking the illumination and offering my eyes a reprieve.“Whatever you think you’re doing here has nothing to do with her.”

“Nonsense.”Hawkins clicked his fingers and motioned for the men in the doorway to move.All at once, four of them snaked in from the shadows, headed in my direction.

Paralyzed with fear, a tiny mewl escaped my lips as they advanced.From the little I could see, each was dressed in black with ski-masks covering their faces, so only their eyes were visible.It was like watching my every nightmare play out in front of me in real time, and the worst of it was, with only one exit in the cabin and the knowledge that the door was already guarded by another brute, there was nowhere for me to go.

Hawkins snorted.“If she’s here with you, then that makes her my business.”

“What are you doing?”Eli’s panicked voice rose above the wall of men surrounding me as I huddled in the center of the bed.“Stay the hell away from her.”

“You’re coming with me.”Hawkins sighed as though Eli should have known better.“You already know there’s no choice, so do your little lady a favor and tell her not to struggle.”

“Eli?”Eyeing the barrier of men in black blocking my escape, I called for him as nausea whirled in my stomach.

How had we gone from a couple on the verge of trekking to a potential future together, to two people about to be kidnapped?Time seemed to be shifting in strange pockets, sometimes protracting, and at other times speeding up, as if it didn’t want me to keep up.

“It’s okay.”The strain in Eli’s voice told me it was far from ‘okay’, but I sensed how hard he was trying to make me believe it.“I’m right here.”

“How reassuring.”Hawkins’ snide tone reverberated past the line of his men.“Let’s get this show on the road, shall we?Start with him.You know what to do.”

I never saw what happened in that moment, but the gut-wrenching thuds of flesh colliding with flesh and the cry from Eli left little to my imagination.He was obviously in pain, and as the grunts that followed found my ears, I envisioned him being punched and manhandled to the ground.

“Don’t hurt him!”Rising on my knees, I tried to make out what was happening beyond the heads of my oppressors, but the wall of paid muscle only seemed to move in tighter around me.

“Deal with her.”

Hawkins’ order sounded more like a cursory sigh, but it was all the men surrounding me needed.They moved in unison, flicking on their flashlights while the sickening sounds of punches continued from behind them.Temporarily blinded by the lights, I flinched while the two in front of me leapt onto the bed and the two at either side leaned in to prevent me from fleeing.In a moment, I was encased, my heart hammering so fast I wondered if it was about to make an unscheduled exodus via my throat.

“No!”I screamed when two separate pairs of hands clamped around my wrists and yanked me forward.Lurching, I scrambled to maintain my balance as I kneeled on the edge of the bed, pinioned by huge, unforgiving hands.

Fear fogged my head and made it damn near impossible to think, but I knew instinctively that the act of aggression playing out in front of me was different to anything Eli had ever put me through.Even when he’d used force to hold me down and spank me, his approach had remained largely playful.There was nothing spirited or teasing about the men pulling me to the end of the bed.Their grips were ferocious, and I didn’t have to double-check their intent.No one who’d entered the cabin had benevolence on their minds.

“Get off me!”I stared past the lights to their blackened faces wildly.“You can’t do this!”

“Get the cuffs on her.”One of the assholes holding my wrists out in front of me barked at the others, and I watched in slow motion as the one to my left dropped his flashlight onto the bed and shifted into place to oblige.

“No!”

Fresh panic surged as the cold metal slipped around one wrist and then the next, forcing my hands into bondage that was as unwelcome as it was unyielding.

“Don’t fucking hurt her!”Anguish resonated from Eli, the sound of his pain contracting the knots twisting inside of me.He was afraid—maybe for him or perhaps for me—but either way, it spelled extremely bad news.

“Shut it, Rosen,” another growling male voice replied, followed soon after by the appalling noises of more punches; knuckles pounding softer skin over and over until my knees buckled.The black masculine wall of muscle enclosing me moved to catch me, but there was no tenderness in the act, only a performative function—keeping the prisoner upright until they’d been given the order for more.

“Oh, God.”I think I murmured the words out loud, although I couldn’t be sure.“This can’t be happening.”

“Shut it, bitch.”The vicious snarled reaction was the biggest clue yet that I had spoken, but I felt nothing but fear and loathing as he yanked at my cuffs to draw me closer.

Who were the men taking orders from Hawkins and what did they want from me?My head hung at the unknown verdict, and staring at their matching black boots, I considered throwing up over them.

“Fuck!”

Eli’s gargled protest snapped me back to attention, my head rising in response to the sound of his pain.I might not have known him that well, but I cared enough to never want to hear his strangled sob again.

Before I could muster the courage to call out for Eli and check if he was all right, the monster holding my cuffs shifted and hiked me up from the bed.I cried as he hoisted my feet to the ground, my gaze scanning the space for Eli, but before I could set eyes on him, a new challenge descended.A black hood I hadn’t seen coming was foisted over my head, muffling my cries and thrusting the whole world into terrifying, choking darkness.

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