Pure Vengeance

Chapter 6

CHAPTER SIX

Escalation

Hannah

Panic spiraled in circles in Hannah’s mind, shifting from the muted dread that merged with her incessant headache to the outright alarm that made her next breath seem impossible. All the while, his words danced in her mind, teasing her with vile jeopardy.

‘You were made to be mine, made to me mine, mine…’

She’d dealt with Lawes’ menace before and somehow crawled to freedom, but this version of him seemed darker and even scarier.

The idea that he’d hunted her down, had been tracking her, then planned to take her was suddenly too much for her to comprehend. She tugged at the straps holding her wrists in place against the dirty-looking dentist’s chair. She’d hated being his prisoner at the dental practice, but at least the equipment there had been clean. Hell, she couldn’t recall seeing a shinier-looking setup before. It was a shame it had all been a ruse for Lawes’ and Fuller’s sadism. If they’d truly intended to help her, perhaps she wouldn’t be so petrified of dentists.

Her throat dried, her vulnerability inspiring a new and equally disturbing thought that hadn’t occurred until that moment.

Had Lawes been Saul all along?

Struggling to recall all the things she’d told the anonymous man online, her stomach contracted at the repulsive thought. He hadn’t said so, but the timing of his sudden reappearance made sense and begged an even graver question—if the monster looming over her was the sexy and kind man she’d been flirting with, then what must he think?

Hannah—the woman who’d played the victim and sobbed in court—was the same one who’d talked about ties and floggers in the online dating app.

I was the victim! She stiffened at her own defiant internal voice. Nothing I told him changed that. Nothing justifies what he did…

Looking around, she still couldn’t believe she was caught in his trap again. How on Earth had she let this happen? Why hadn’t she been smarter? She could have taken Shannon’s offer of a ride after Saul had stood her up. Why hadn’t she?—

“First things first.” Clapping his hands together, Lawes strode out of view behind her chair.

Her breaths were labored as soon as she could no longer see him. Like all predators, Lawes was often easier to manage when she knew where he was and what he was doing.

“Mr. Lawes?” She despised the tremble in her voice as she searched the area she could see for evidence of him. “Sir?”

“No need to worry, little girl.” His voice carried from the rear of where she was bound. “I’ll be back with you in no time.”

She bit down on her lips at what she assumed was supposed to be a reassurance. The strange thing was that, however much she loathed him, she realized his words were consoling. She would rather know what the son of a bitch was up to. His absence surely only meant trouble for her.

“There.” He returned with what she recognized as a well-practiced smile, draping one arm over her bound body. “There’s no need for panic.”

Panic? Was he joking?

Yet reluctantly, she was forced to accept that she did feel calmer in his presence. Even though it was insane, and she would never admit it. She and Lawes had been through so much turmoil already. Could it be that, on some crude and ridiculous level, they understood each other?

Her gaze followed his hand, trailing along his skin to the bottom of his short-sleeved shirt. She was loathed to confess it, but his arm looked more muscular than she remembered it being, and on anyone who wasn’t intent on capturing her, she might even have said it was sexy.

Stop this! She squeezed her gaze closed for a moment, silently admonishing herself. He’s not sexy. Nothing a bout this ordeal is sexy!

“Can I ask a question, Mr. Lawes, sir?” Compelling her concentration on the question seemed to help focus her mind. If she knew the bastard as well as she feared, he’d have something terrible planned for her. Best she speak while she could, and if that meant using his self-imposed honorific, then so be it.

“Well…” His brow rose as though she’d caught him off guard. “Okay, little girl, but don’t delay me for too long.”

Apprehension knotted in her belly, but she resolved herself to be brave. She might not get another chance to voice her queries.

“Were you Saul?” The pain in her head escalated, threatening to elevate the bile in her belly to her mouth. “Was I talking to you the entire time I thought I was getting to know someone new?”

A part of her didn’t want his answer because, on a subconscious level, she’d already acknowledged the probable truth. He was Saul. But she needed to hear him say so, needed to know that the whole empire of romance she’d created in her head had been built on nothing but ash and dust.

“That was me.” Lawes’ tone was disturbingly matter-of-fact. “I wanted to thank you for that, actually. Becoming ‘Saul’ made this whole thing much easier.”

It was him! She bit down on the swelling sickness as she grimly accepted his explanation. She had made it easier for him by throwing herself into the flirtations with Saul. Hannah had been so desperate to believe in the possibility of a new love in her life, she’d been ready to overlook just about anything, including how well Saul had blended to her needs, liking what she liked, and pressing all of her buttons.

He’d seemed too good to be true because he was.

“I hadn’t expected you to be looking for a partner.” His smirk was unbearable, goading her with the unspoken recrimination—how badly could she have been affected by captivity if only a few years later she was ready to look for a kinky lover?

The accusation ripped at her soul, tearing at her values because she, too, had never been able to reconcile the query.

“But hey, it turns out, I was looking for one, too.”

“I didn’t mean it.” Hot tears slid down her face as she whispered the reply, shame mingling with her dread until her emotions were smothering. “I didn’t mean any of it.”

“The things you said to Saul?” He laughed dryly. “Oh, I think we both know that’s not true, little girl. I know you remember what we talked about….” His voice trailed away. “What you asked for.”

His hand fell to her left breast and traced the outline of her nipple. Beneath her blouse, her bud came to life at his touch, betraying her the way her body always did. Hannah ground her teeth together, fighting the urge to respond in any other meaningful way. It was awful enough that she couldn’t hide her attraction to the way he treated her, but she didn’t need an unsolicited mewl to escape as well.

Why did I put on such fancy lingerie for the date?

She turned her head toward the daylight spilling in through the net curtains at the bay window to her left. Even if Saul had been real, he wouldn’t have deserved the effort of such expensive underwear. It seemed that no man did.

“Look at me.” His voice commanded just enough gravity to order her compliance.

Slowly, she glanced his way, although the longing to look back at the light gnawed at her, along with the underlying question of her underwear.

“Do you deny the things you told Saul?” One of his dark eyebrows arched, daring her to defy him as his fingertip continued its feathery circuit of excruciating agony.

Of course, she’d said those things. They both knew she had. She’d told Saul some of the dirty things she wanted him to do to her. Some of the same things Lawes had coerced her into when he’d held her. As ever, his game—this anguish—was only designed to torment her further.

“Those words weren’t for you.” She hissed the insult, meeting his knowing gaze.

Even she was surprised by the venom in her voice, her thundering heart assuring her that maybe this wasn’t the ideal time for her rudeness, but it was too late. He deserved it. He might as well know how she felt.

“Watch. Your. Tone.” He leaned closer, pinching her nipple as he sent the warning.

Fuck. She processed the pain, refusing to allow her lips to convey the hurt, although she was sure her eyes expressed it.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Lawes, sir.” She wasn’t sorry in the slightest and was certain her tone revealed as much, but she responded in the so-called appropriate way.

“Hmmm.” Unimpressed, he straightened and withdrew his hand. “You’ve had your question.”

“You didn’t say if you w-were going to harm me.”

“I said you’ve had your question.” His gaze flitted from her face to his left fist, which had previously been hidden behind the chair. “But then, I remember you never could keep that mouth quiet, could you?”

The blood drained from her face as he lifted his hand to reveal what he was holding. His fingers gripped the end of a black strap, and swinging in the middle was the all too familiar sphere of a ball gag.

Shit . She couldn’t do much to hide her despair at the sight, a dozen memories of that and the other, even crueler, dental gags he used on her flooding to fill her senses. Lawes had wielded the things freely before, silencing his captives whenever it pleased him, and it had seemed to please him.

“I thought you’d remember.” His dark laughter swirled around her. “I also recall how much you enjoyed being gagged, little girl.”

“That’s not true,” she started, but even before he flashed her a glare, she knew it was a lie. How she wished it was true, though. How every fiber of her being desired that she loathed the gag, but both she and Lawes knew better.

Hannah still didn’t understand why, but being gagged was a fast-tracked and guaranteed way to liquify her sex. Once she could no longer speak or protest, she’d be all too willing to play his victim—yielding because she had no choice but also brazenly reveling in his authority—and she hated herself for it.

“Save your lies.” He spat the words at her. “You only told Saul about your fetish for them last week.”

Her cheeks burned with embarrassed heat. She had told him that, hadn’t she? For the hundredth time since she’d come around in the strange room, she wondered why she’d felt the need to reach out to any men at all, let alone tell Saul her deepest, darkest desires. Her friends had tried to warn her, hadn’t they? They’d told her it was too soon for intimacy, and she’d repaid their loyalty by ignoring them.

But none of us had guessed who was really behind Saul’s profile.

Her attention slid to his face again, trying to decide what she saw burning in his eyes. Was there anger there—rage that she dared to answer back—or only that same old irrefutable passion? Was he going to take her to the edge of sexual ecstasy before making her beg for forgiveness, or was there a far more forbidding fate awaiting her?

“I did say that.” Her voice was quiet.

“Because you like gags, don’t you?” He caught the end of the strap with his free hand and pulled the leather taut.

“Yes.” Her eyes closed as though not being able to see him would eradicate the indignity of the admission.

“What was that?” A sharp pain at her clit instructed her eyes to fly open. Searching her body, she realized he’d reached between her legs and given her defenseless nub a cruel pinch. Worse still, with her legs secured into the peculiar dental chair he had her in, she wasn’t able to close her legs at all.

“Yes, Mr. Lawes, sir.” She gasped at the attack.

“Don’t forget again.” His digits relaxed, tapping her aching clit through her underwear. “I can make this good for you, Hannah. You know I can.”

The tap, tap, tapping at her sex insisted he was right, and even though she wanted to object, wanted to spit in his face with disdain, she couldn’t. He was right. He could take her to the edge of heaven. He’d done it multiple times before, yet he never saw the need for her consent.

“But I need you to be the good girl we both know you can be.”

Fuck.

Staring into his hard gaze, she didn’t know if it was fear or arousal guiding her as she replied. “I’ll try Mr. Lawes, sir.”

“I know you will.” The pleasant tapping ceased, leaving only the warm thrum of need his touch had inspired between her legs. “I’m going to gag you, then start work on these clothes.” His gaze fell appreciatively over her body. “You’ll notice I already removed your skirt and stockings.” He winked at her. “Lovely touches, by the way. I approve.”

Fresh trepidation twisted at his insidious inference. He’d removed them while she’d been sleeping. What the hell else had he done while she’d been unconscious? Squeezing the muscles at the apex of her thighs, she tried to calm her breathing. There was no obvious pain or tenderness. As far as she could tell, he hadn’t done anything.

She could only guess he wanted her awake for whatever he had in mind.

“I bet I can take your mind off whatever pain you’re experiencing.” He stroked the inside of her thigh.

That one tiny gesture tipped the scales in her mind. Lawes had a way of morphing what might seem loving into menace. If he stripped her, it would be just like it was before. She’d be powerless to prevent him from taking what he wanted. Her nightmare would be back in IMAX, and this time, no one would know where she was.

“Sir, I’m scared.” There was little to lose by being honest. Throwing herself on whatever remained of his mercy seemed her only route forward.

“I know.” His voice was eerily even, cementing her unease. “And we both know that’s just how you like it, little girl.”