Page 13 of Hunted to the Altar
She darted her gaze toward the door, her body tensing as if she were calculating the odds of making it past me. It was a foolish gamble, but I admired her determination.
When she bolted again, I let her run just long enough to think she had a chance. She darted toward the hallway, but Iwas faster. My steps were silent, deliberate, and I let her hear the faintest whisper of my approach before I grabbed her from behind, and pinned her against the wall. The knife clattered to the floor, forgotten, as she twisted and writhed in my grip.
“Let me go!” she howled, her voice broke under the weight of her desperation.
I tightened my hold, my hands encircled her wrists like steel shackles. “Enough,” I said, my voice cold and unyielding. “You can fight me all you want, but you’ll lose. Every. Time.”
Her struggles slowed, her breaths coming in short, shallow bursts. The sheer fragility of her form pressed against mine made something in me twist painfully. I could feel the tremor in her limbs, the exhaustion radiating off her in waves. The marks of the past year were etched into her—the faint hollowness in her cheeks, the subtle tightness in her posture, the haunted look in her eyes when she thought I wasn’t watching.
And yet, she still burned. She was fire and ash, broken but blazing, and I couldn’t let her go.
“Calm down, Nina,” I said, my voice softening. “If you don’t, I’ll have to drug you. Is that what you want?”
Her body went still, her breaths hitching as my words sank in. The tension in her muscles didn’t ease, but she stopped struggling, her silence a mix of fear and reluctant compliance.
“That’s better,” I said, loosening my grip just enough to let her breathe. “See? Things are so much easier when you listen.”
Her silence was louder than any words she could have said, her trembling body pressed against mine as I held her in place. I hated the fear I saw in her eyes, hated that she thought I would hurt her. But I couldn’t let her go. Not now. Never.
By the time I carried her to the car, she had stopped resisting, her body limp in my arms. She refused to look at me, her gaze fixed on the ground as I placed her in the trunk quietly. I could’ve shoved her in the front seat, but I didn’t want to deal with the police right now. I wanted time alone with my new toy.
“What are you doing?” She broke the silence as I wrapped the rope around her ankle.
I ignored her and reached for her hands.
“Don’t,” she warned, but I could hear the tremor in her voice.
I didn’t reply. Instead, I tied her wrists together and leaned down close enough to hook them to the base of the trunk so she couldn’t try to escape from me.
Her breath caught in her throat from my proximity, and I couldn’t help but grin. I watched as her stormy eyes filled with fury after testing how strong the bonds were. There was still fire underneath her skin. I was afraid her trauma would keep her terrified, but it seemed she wanted to fight.
I wanted to kiss her trembling lips, but I pulled away, one hand on the lid.
“Wait,” she gasped out. “Don’t do this!”
I slammed the lid shut on her shocked face. I guess she thought I wasn’t taking her with me. That was a naive way of thinking for sure. I heard her thumping around back there, screaming her head off.
“You are literally insane.¡Hijo de puta!”she screamed while thumping harder.
I had to give it to her. Nina had a set of lungs on her and when she spoke Spanish to me, I couldn’t help getting hard. I wanted her to yell more and more.
“Nina,” I yelled back to her. “You’ve proven that you can’t be trusted to stay put on your own.”
“Fuck you!” she screamed.
I chuckled. “Believe it or not, I’m doing this for your safety.”
“You can’t do this to me. Not again!”
Sliding into the driver’s seat, I started the engine and pulled out of the garage. Her banging intensified as the car jolted slightly over the threshold, her muffled screams accompanying the rhythmic thud of her legs.
I didn’t like the sound of that, so I pressed harder on the gas.I didn’t want her to hurt herself trying to get out of this situation between us. That wouldn’t do at all. I turned the radio on to drown out her sounds.
Earned itby The Weeknd played and I couldn’t help whistling along. I did get my prize and glimpsing in the rear view mirror, I earned it.
Nina’s screams grew louder and I just raised the volume. A necessary evil. I wouldn’t mind listening to her cry and beg me to let her go, but it wasn’t the time for my dick to play with her. I was breaking as many traffic laws as I could to get her safe. She would thank me one day.
I turned down the music. “You know,” I began, my voice casual as though I were addressing a passenger sitting beside me, “this reminds me of a mission I went on back in the military.” I glanced at the rearview mirror, as if expecting her to peer out through the trunk somehow. Her screams didn’t falter, but I continued anyway. “We were transporting a high-value asset, just like this. Except, instead of a stubborn woman, it was an arms dealer with a penchant for explosives.”
