Page 55 of Ryder
Again, our stealth team made their way in first, and I thanked Reacher in my head for having the smarts to patch these guysinto our club. There were four of them, and they’d met us here, rather than travelling with us, since they had an off-compound base of their own. It added to our numbers, and gave us a sneak attack bonus, that I hoped would get us as far in as possible, before we had to rely on our own, less stealthy methods.
Finding the bastard, and where he held Tori, would be a challenge, since the place looked huge, but there were twelve of us, with two prospects waiting in the van. Other brothers were nearby to join us if it turned into a battle. I hoped it wouldn’t come to that.
The place was expensively decorated inside. All dark wood, and masculine colours. I ached to destroy it on my way through, to mar its beauty with destruction, but drawing attention would be a mistake right now.
Once inside, with the first few guards silently disposed of, we had a dilemma; follow the wide hallway throughout the first floor, or choose another floor. The second one of us made a sound, or was discovered, it’d be a bloodbath. I really hoped we’d be the ones spilling the blood, but there was no way to know for sure.
The most important thing, at least in my mind, was to find Tori, and stop him before he could hurt her any further. He’d clearly almost destroyed her before, and I wouldn’t let him get that chance again.
We decided to follow that hallway first, because our suspicion was that there would be a basement, like ours, where things like that might take place. We’d almost reached the end when a woman screamed,like she was in agony. Our heads all turned, looking back the way we’d come, and hands grabbed me, as I tried to run in the direction of the screams.
“Patience, brother. We do this smart, or nobody gets rescued today. We’ll all be dead,” Reacher growled in my ear, immediately directing the team to go back the way we’d come.We discovered two new bastards on our way back, and I took great pleasure in taking one of them down myself. It was clumsy, compared to the way our stealth team operated, but effective. A throat punch, followed by my gun slamming into the guy’s head, put him out cold.
The screams were coming from upstairs, and as we moved closer, we picked up various words in her pained cries.Begging. Stop. Don’t. Please. No. Every one of them crushed a little more of my soul, and with it, my sanity. By the time we’d made it to the hallway the screams were coming from, I was raging like a bull, ready to try tearing people apart with my bare hands.
Two guys saw us coming, and charged at us. My gun touched the forehead of one a second before I squeezed the trigger, and blasted his brains out through the back of his skull. Even with a suppressor, it had been painfully louder than I’d remembered. The other guy was dead too, taken down by a brother. The screaming was louder now so, we were close. Finally.
We reached the final door in the long wooden hallway, and I kicked it open with a crash.
Twenty-One
It was worse thanbefore, so much worse. I could feel everything he was doing to me, and I couldn’t escape. I couldn’t hide from it. Every cut of his knife, every brutal touch, and the way he plunged deep into my body, and fucked me savagely and relentlessly.
I couldn’t do anything but scream, and beg him to stop. It was the look of triumph and enjoyment on his face that told me my screams were adding to his pleasure, but I couldn’t stop. I couldn’t shut up. Without the bliss of unconsciousness, something I’d never considered to be a good thing at all, I couldn’t escape his attack.
The door suddenly crashed open, and men poured into the room. Dom was torn away from me, and then there was a guy viciously beating him with his fists, while two others held him in place.
Others approached me, and my screams started again. No more. Please.No more touching me.
“Ry! You wanna see to your lady?” I heard a gruff voice yell, over the sounds of fists and pain. I couldn’t turn my head to see what was happening around me, but it was so overwhelming and terrifying.
There was the slightly muffled sound of a gunshot. And another. Another three. And then he was there. Beside me. In the flesh.Ryder.
“Jesus Christ, darlin’. Let me get you out of this.” His face was blood-splattered and grim, as he pulled at the ropes, and eventually hauled a knife out of his belt to cut at them. It didn’t matter, because I couldn’t move anyway.
He frowned when each rope was released, and I didn’t move away. Someone handed him the sheet that had covered me, and he held it in his hands as he looked at me, something dawning in his eyes.
“You can’t move?”
I blinked rapidly; words suddenly impossible. Tears were pouring from my eyes, and my skin burned from the many small cuts he’d inflicted on me. Ryder’s eyes travelled over me, curses pouring out of his mouth, as he took in the damage.
He was here. He was right here with me,and he cared. He cared that I was hurt. He turned and muttered something to a big guy beside him. The guy looked vaguely familiar, with long blonde dreadlocks, and a large build that I instantly found intimidating. The guy looked shocked, worried, and sad, as he joined Ryder by my side.
“I’m Has-Been, love,” he whispered, staying far enough back that I didn’t have to fear his touch.
“Get the fuck out of here, you lot,” Ryder yelled at the swarm of men in the room, who were beating on some other guys, who’d run in to protect their bastard boss. The room emptied out, the noise level dropping with it, and I felt safer instantly.
“I really want to cover her up, but she’s bleeding from all this shit. It could hurt her even more,” Ryder muttered to the other guy, Has-Been? Was that his name? What a strange name.
“She’ll feel safer covered up, brother.” He was right. I wanted to nod, but couldn’t move. Suddenly I could speak again though.
“Please,” I whispered, and both of them focused on my face again.
“You want me to cover you?” Ryder asked quietly, and I breathed the word ‘yes’.
He nodded, draping the sheet over me, finally covering my naked body, and hiding it from their eyes, even though they were both trying really hard to keep looking only at my face.
“Listen, I know you’ve just been through something horrific, and the last thing you want is to be touched, but we need to get you out of here. Fast.”
