The Reluctant Mate
48 Wrong

Amanda

The door pushed open and I saw the face of my harasser.

And I recognized it.

And for one crazy moment I was actually glad to see him, because he wasn’t a vampire or a zombie or a demon or whatever sort of insane overpowered creature. Just a regular mundane manipulative abuser. I could cope with that.

Then his dark brown eyes bore into me, and a chill went down my spine. If he was willing to go this far, I was still fucked either way.

“Amanda. I missed you, baby girl.”

My survival instincts urged me to fall back into the compliant submissive behaviour I had been trained to the sound of his voice. “I missed you too,” I said, almost automatically.

He smiled and it made me want to vomit.

No, I wasn’t going to let him control me like that again. I gathered my courage and said, “Like I miss the flu.”

His smile dissolved as I was pushed forward into the house past him.

“I see you’ve learned to be reckless.”

“I see you haven’t learned to be original. You’re an obvious psychopath. If this were a movie I was watching I would have called this in the first act. Like, why not move on and—”

He slapped me hard across the face.

Blood welled in my split lip, but I forced myself not cower. I was afraid. I would be stupid not to be, but I was even more afraid that it would go back to the way it used to be. “Could you be more stereotypical, Steven? Abusive spouse comes back to harass his victim again? Well, I’m done with the victim role, so—”

“Gag her,” he said, sounding weary already. Good. I hoped he was so tired of me he’d leave me alone.

Less good, the driver shoved the mangy cloth back in my mouth and then tied it in place with an equally gross cloth. Did these assholes not do laundry?

“Fuk ew, icro ick.”

The other bastard kept my arms locked behind my back. I tried to break out of his hold. There were tons of throwable objects in sight and I wanted to break them on Steven’s fucking face for this and for everything he had done to me in the past. I didn’t care if he hurt me for it, I wanted revenge. I wished that I’d given Porter his name and address and pretended ignorance to what would happen next. If I’d for one minute believed he was still after me, years later, I would have.

“You can let her go, I want to speak with her. Stand guard outside.”

My arms were released and I instantly grabbed for the gag.

“I wouldn’t do that,” he said, pulling a shiny piece of metal out of a kitchen drawer. I paused. Steven hadn’t had a firearm before. He could have killed me before, but a much more efficient means of doing so didn’t make me feel better about my situation.

“You understand, sweetheart?”

“Yesh.”

“Then hands down and be a good girl.” I complied. The door shut behind the two thugs.

“Go that way,” he said, indicating the hallway with a wave of the gun. I decided it was strategic to behave and I let my shoulders slump down as I walked forward. It wasn’t too hard because a huge part of me knew that the least painful way to endure this would be to just go along with whatever he wanted.

But it wasn’t as easy as it had been. Ever since I escaped him, even before I had escaped him, a rebellious spark had been growing in me, and I didn’t want to let it go. I didn’t want to return to that sad shadow I had been. I wanted to stay who I had become without him. I had lived my own way, I had bitten a werewolf and thrown beer cans at their faces, and I didn’t want to let this petty human piece of shit beat me down again.

Of course, I hoped that Porter and the pack were coming for me, but I couldn’t count on that. Even once they knew, I didn’t see how they would replace me quickly. I was my own best bet. If I could somehow get into the forest, I could probably lose them. Even if I got lost, I’d rather be eaten by a bear than stay with Steven.

I needed to be smart and manipulate the manipulator. I knew what he wanted. He wanted me to fear him, and to bend over backwards to keep him happy, to massage his ego as much as his cock.

I hoped it wouldn’t come to that, but realistically it might. I didn’t think I could go along with him willingly, but he had that gun, and...

I’d just have to be smart. I’d deal with what came when—if—it came.

Steven directed me to a room that was a bedroom. “Here’s your room, baby girl.”

I nodded. It was a simple bedroom with clean lines, but most noticeably was the bouquet of roses next to the bed with a bottle of champagne next to it. And rose petals on the bed. Ew. Was he trying to be romantic, or trying to freak me out? Maybe both.

“Sit down.”

I sat down on the bed. He strutted around like he thought he was powerful when he was just a cowardly bully.

“Are you surprised that I came for you?” he asked.

I nodded since he clearly wanted an answer.

“You shouldn’t be. You know that I’m a man of my word. I said I’d always love and take care of you, and here I am.”

I remembered when I believed in his love. But it had never been love. It had been possessiveness and power and control. I didn’t think he was capable of selfless affection. But I tried to look suitably impressed. It was hard when I was scared and angry.

“Are you going to watch your mouth now, sweetheart?”

I nodded.

“You can take that off then.”

What was the point in having me gagged in the first place? Probably just a big show of how he had all the power here. I pulled the gross cloth off and resisted the urge to throw it at his pompous face.

I’d forgotten how attractive he really was on the surface. No wonder I’d fallen for him at the beginning. It had been so superficial.

“I’d almost forgotten how handsome you were,” I admitted, thinking fluffing his ego might work in my favour.

He chuckled darkly. That was not the reaction I had been hoping for. I waited warily.

“You always were a shallow little bitch, baby girl.”

Back then, if I claimed to be sorry, it was a gamble. Sometimes he would forgive me, other times it was a confession that prompted more abuse. I decided not to respond.

“Is that how you chose all the men you whored yourself out to after you left me? You used to be so innocent, and now you’re used trash.”

I was clearly not getting out of this one without some pain. Maybe I could avoid serious damage. “I’m sorry. I was lonely and no one could fill the void after I left you,” I lied and hated it.

He cocked his head and inspected me. “You missed this?” he asked, gesturing to his groin.

I wanted to vomit. “Yes.”

He smirked. For all his faults, he wasn’t stupid enough to believe me, but he didn’t need to. He liked knowing he had the power to make me pretend. I think he liked it better than back when I had actually cared about him.

Instead of pressing me to touch him, or touching me, he backed up a couple of steps. “So how’s that guy you’re with now? He seems a bit rough. Have you developed a taste for the savage? Fallen in love with it?”

“No, he doesn’t mean anything.” That lie hurt, more than the others. It felt like I was being unfaithful.

“No? But you’re living with him. I thought it was getting serious. It’s one thing if a random man uses you like the worthless whore you are, but I can’t have another man trying to keep what I claimed. I told you I’d always love and take care of you, didn’t I?”

“You did.” I was sick of this back and forth. It wouldn’t last forever, he was just dragging out the suspense right now.

He waggled the gun in my direction again. “Did you miss me?”

“I missed you.” I missed Porter.

“I have something for you.”

“Oh? Really?” I said, trying to sound excited. It was probably his dick, and I definitely didn’t want that.

“Really.” He pulled out a box. A ring box. Oh no fucking way. He really was insane. I think I’d prefer his gross member to that.

He opened it, with a flourish and revealed a ring with a big diamond. “Since we’ve been apart I’ve come to understand how much I love you. Will you marry me?”

I just gaped at him. My gut recoiled and I forced my vomit back down. That would set him off.

“Amanda?” He frowned.

I gritted my teeth. If he was stupid enough to take me somewhere to actually try to marry me legally, I could try to get help. If not and this was some psychotic act, agreeing would maybe pacify him. “I will.”

He smiled, apparently very satisfied with himself. He walked around the bed, keeping his eyes on me and lay down on the other side of the bed, holding the gun off the right side of the bed where it was well out of my reach, and looked at me expectantly. “Come over here and show me how much you missed me, baby girl.”

This was just like him. He wanted to get off on the pretense. At one time I tried hard to act like I wanted him, but he didn’t care. Maybe he even liked that I didn’t really want him. My stomach knotted, I crawled across the bed.

“Let’s see what you’ve learned while we’ve been apart. You could get pretty boring back then, but maybe you’ve learned a thing or two.”

“I hope you won’t be disappointed,” I said, biting my lower lip as if I really cared about his opinion. I undid the first couple buttons of my shirt slowly, while frantically trying to think of what to do. He was so confident in that gun he was holding...but could I do something even with that threat hanging over my head?

Too bad I wasn’t a werewolf like the others. If I could shift, I would have the weapon of a strong jaw and sharp teeth. I could bite him like this, but I was pretty sure I couldn’t bite deep enough to kill him. I pulled off my shirt and his slimy gaze wandered over my bra.

What if I gave him a blowjob and just tried to chomp it off? Was that physically possible? And if so, would he be too shocked to use the gun on me, or would I end up dead? I didn’t want to die.

It wasn’t worth the risk. My best chance was probably to go along with what he wanted until I got a chance to escape again.

I leaned forward, my body shaking, and brought my lips to his. He tasted disgusting, he smelt wrong, he felt wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong.

Porter, where are you?