His tongue stabbed deep into her mouth, and the desperation she felt to submit to him was mind boggling. Her nipples peaked into tight buds, and wetness seeped between her thighs. A low growl came from his throat, and he cupped one of her breasts and toyed with the excited tip.
She reached up and slid her fingers through his short hair, tangling them in the longer strands at the top. She felt tiny next to him, and she wasn’t petite by any means. Just as his hand began a downward journey toward the place she really wanted him to touch her, he growled again and broke the kiss.
Both of their breaths came in ragged pants, and he stared at her with his, once again, eerily glowing gray eyes.
“Why do they do that?” she panted.
“Why do what do what?”
“You’re eyes. They look like they are glowing.”
He closed them for a moment and, when he opened his lids, the glow was gone. “It’s just another one of those things I tend to do.”
No one she knew tended to do that, and she was sure he was holding something back from her.
“Tell me how we are going to get out of here?”
He sighed. “Lay down.” She did as he said, and he blanketed her with his body. “Sorry. We can’t give the impression that you and I are getting along.
They will know something is up. Now struggle a bit.”
When she wiggled under him, he pinned her arms above her head as he had earlier. She bucked her hips, and he trapped her thighs between his powerful legs. She was effectively subdued under him, but he was gentle, only applying enough pressure for show to the prying eyes outside of the cave.
“Now tell me,” she said through gritted teeth.
“For the next couple days, I’m going to request that I be allowed to escort you to the lake for a bath. You will make a show of defiance, and I will make a show of disciplining you as will be expected of me.”
“Wait. Disciplining me? What the hell do you me by that?”
“Shh. Don’t worry. I promise I will not harm you. I might get a bit rough to make it look real, but you have to trust me. Whatever I say and do, do not be afraid of me, but at least act like you are. Within a couple of days, Damon will think me trustworthy, and the pack will get lax in watching my every movement. Hopefully, I will be unchained soon.” Raze brushed her hair out of her face and tucked it behind her ear.
“I have to stay here for a couple more days? I want to leave.” She sniffed.
“I know. So do I. That’s why I was punished in the first place, as you probably figured out by Damon’s speech. I was trying to escape.”
“Wait. Why did you call them a pack? Aren’t packs like dogs or something?”
“Just how we refer to ourselves. Anyway, back to the plan. Once they get more trustworthy of me, I will wait until right before dinner time one evening to request to take you to the lake for your bath. Believe me when I say, when dinner is served, most of the men around here get extremely distracted. We will be able to make a run for it then. Hopefully, by the time anyone notices we are gone, we’ll have made it to your car and be on our way.”
She shook her head. “It won’t work. I can’t run.”
“What?” He scowled at her.
“I have a bad leg. I can’t run.”
“Shit. At all?”
“A bit, but no, not really.”
He furrowed his brows. “Okay. Plan B. I’ll carry you out.”
She couldn’t help it, but she laughed. “I’m sorry. You are big and strong, but I’m not a petite woman by any means. You can’t run through the woods carrying me and expect to escape. I’m too heavy.”
He smiled at her. “Don’t underestimate what I can and cannot do. This is just something else you will have to trust me on.”
“Well, let’s say that by some small miracle you do get us out of here.
Where are we going afterwards because I will not go home and risk leading any of these animals back to my sister. She’s all I have. I won’t let anything happen to her.”
“I know of somewhere we can go in Michigan. There is a pack—um, there are some friends of mine there that can put us up and keep us safe. I won’t lie to you, though. It will be rough outrunning these men, and Damon will be hell bent on getting his claws in me. He won’t stop until one of us is dead.”
Janine shivered. “Why? If you want to leave, what is the big deal?”
“I’ll explain it some other time. Right now, I need you to concentrate on acting like you can’t stand the sight or touch of me in front of the others, and react appropriately to what I do to you.”
“I’ll do my best.”
He nuzzled her neck. “You’re doing great so far.”
“Why are you being so nice to me? Wouldn’t it have been much easier for you to have really done what they told you to do? You’d be free within a matter of days and wouldn’t have to worry about me being an obstacle to your escape. I mean, why are you concerned with helping me at all?”
“Because we are both prisoners, and I think I can also safely say that we both hate those sons of bitches out there. If I get you out of here, too, it’ll make it all the more sweeter for me knowing that I pissed Damon off that much more.”
She wasn’t one hundred percent certain she could trust Raze, but he’d kept to his word thus far. She prayed that he wouldn’t double cross her and leave her when it came time to run because she’d never get away on her own.
She was dependant on him, and she’d never felt more helpless in her life.
Chapter Five
Two days later . . .
Raze watched Janine as she waded into the lake in her underwear. Her limp was pronounced in her right leg, and she’d been correct in confiding in him that she’d never be able to run. He was pretty sure if she was scared enough, she’d get along at a decent pace, but she wouldn’t be able to flat out run with that leg.
He was aware of the two other pack members close by watching her as well. His blood boiled, and he wanted to rip their balls off for daring to look at her. The first night he’d been escorted to the lake with her, she’d argued with him when he’d told her to strip and bathe. She had been, and still was embarrassed, but he’d let her maintain some modesty by keeping her undergarments on, which did nothing but arouse the hell out of him. He hadn’t had the heart to tell her once the fabric was wet, the dark hairs of her mound, and her tantalizing nipples were all but bare to his gaze.
Her skin was creamy and soft, and he longed to make love to her, but he’d never take her like an animal in front of the pack. They’d put on a good show, but he refused to defile her for real like that. He’d rather die than inflict such humiliation upon his mate. The guilt that burrowed deep in his gut was bad enough over the way he had treated her, no matter how necessary it had been for their survival.
The only good thing about Damon was that he was so full of himself, the huge ego of his could never fathom that Raze was playing him. It had only been two nights, and the lack of interest the pack was showing in keeping an eye on him told him that Damon had thought his punishment had broken him, had forced him into submission and compliance. Raze gritted his teeth and bit back a smile. He couldn’t wait to knock Damon’s holier-than-though attitude down a couple notches right along with knocking his teeth from his filthy mouth.
Tomorrow night would be the night he and Janine would make their escape. He’d stall on taking her for her bath at the normal afternoon time by saying she was sick. Right before dinner, he’d tell them she was feeling better and request to take her to the lake. He hoped the fact that Damon and the pack thought Janine was sick would relax the surveillance on them that much more.