Total pages in book: 158
Estimated words: 145729 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 729(@200wpm)___ 583(@250wpm)___ 486(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 145729 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 729(@200wpm)___ 583(@250wpm)___ 486(@300wpm)
Sonia made herself as small as possible. She wasn’t certain how best to act, but she didn’t want to chance rousing Nikita’s ugly temper. There were brains and blood just feet from her. Twice, Nikita had stepped over the body of the dead man. She couldn’t look at it without feeling sick. She kept her hands pressed to her eyes, desperate for a plan.
He’d sent his men to kill Sasha. There was nothing she could do to warn him. She had no idea where Joshua was, but she hoped he was far away. Secretly, she wanted him to come rescue her, but now that the blinders were off, Nikita felt too powerful. Too invincible. Too evil. How did one defeat someone like him? Was there anything sacred to him?
How much time had passed since he’d sent out the crew to go after Sasha? Every minute was an eternity. She had to stall. He’d made up his mind to take her to Miami. She’d heard him telling his crew to get everything ready to leave within the hour.
“Why do you hate me so much, Nikita?” she asked softly. “I loved you. I looked up to you. I thought you were to be admired and respected. I had no idea you hated me so much you wanted me dead. Or tortured. I know I was very young when my parents started working for you. Did I annoy you that much?”
She wanted him to think about those days. She’d followed him around sometimes, singing him songs, dancing for him. Sitting in his lap and holding him when she thought he was sad. Wasn’t he capable of loving someone? What of his own son? She remembered times Sasha had gone to her mother, the stain of tears on his face, and they’d disappeared into a bathroom. He’d been holding his side, or there were bloodstains on his shirt. Now she knew Nikita had done that to him.
“Little girls grow up and become sluts for men to use. That’s their purpose.” He waved his hands in the air. “All that women’s rights crap is foolish. Women need to know their place. You serve a man. That’s what you’re made for.” His voice rang with sincerity. He believed the garbage he was spouting.
“Why do you want to hurt me?”
He turned fully to face her, a half smile on his face. “I enjoy it. I like hurting women. Or men. It… arouses me. Not the way Tregre put those marks on you; they’re all superficial. They couldn’t have hurt much. What I will do to you, you won’t find pleasure in, but I will.”
She couldn’t go to Miami with him. Whatever happened had to happen here. If she was to escape, her only chance was the swamp.
“I’ll enjoy watching other men use you, but later, after I get what I want from you.”
She tried not to look the way she felt – terrified. He knew about Gatita. His leopard would tear her apart if she attacked him.
“Are you pregnant now?”
Her heart stuttered and then began to drum wildly. She shook her head. “I don’t know. He…” She didn’t know if he thought Joshua had forced her. If he thought that, Joshua might be safe from him. “I don’t know. My leopard was in heat.”
He smirked. Leered a little. Looked at her with contempt. “So were you. In heat. You probably seduced him. It got a little rough and you probably sniveled and begged him to stop. But he didn’t, did he?”
She shook her head, looking at his face. Just the thought of Joshua raping her aroused him. She could see it in his flushed face, his darkened eyes and the bulge in his trousers. She forced herself to look away and push down fear. He would get off on her fear. That was part of his enjoyment of hurting others. How did men get like that? Were they born? Were they made? What difference did it make? He was there, a monster standing in front of her.
Joshua thought himself a monster because he went after men like this and sometimes, his rage blinded his ability to end their lives fast. He didn’t truly understand what a monster was. She couldn’t imagine Sasha’s life, a young boy exposed to the cruelty of a vile, depraved man who enjoyed hurting others.
“What does your leopard do when you hurt others? When you hurt women?” she asked curiously. What would a leopard exposed to such violence do?
Nikita walked right up to her, caught her hair in his hand and jerked her head back. “He craves blood. The kill. Sometimes I let him come out and play. It’s exhilarating to see that look on their faces, so much fear when they’re hunted by a predator. He hates every woman I touch. He wants his mate. He wants sex. I don’t let him have either and he’s savage. Every time I come close to you, he rages for your blood.” He laughed and let her hair go, stepping back as one of his men hurried into the room.