That night, we stopped again.

The first thing I thought about was sex—because I still ached between the legs something shocking—but it didn’t add up. My body wanted one thing, and my head was warring over everything else.

I watched Chaser as he roamed around the room, checking the locks on the windows and looking in all the cupboards. He opened the bathroom door, turned on the light and scanned that, too.

“Are you hungry?” he asked.

I made a face.

“Sloane.”

“Why don’t we keep driving?” I asked, sitting on the end of the bed. “If we’re in that much trouble, wouldn’t it be easier to, you know… Go all the way.”

Chaser grunted, doing his best tall, dark, and silent treatment impersonation.

“Tell me the truth, Chaser,” I demanded, my heart raw from our deep and un-meaningful conversation in the car.

“We’ve had enough truth talking already.”

I scowled, watching as he stood before me and glared back just as hard. Talking to this man was like flicking a light switch on and off. One second he was calm and caring, the next he was a raging asshole. What war was he fighting inside?

Either way, I’d had enough of the emotional whiplash that was our relationship.

“For once in your miserable fucking life, say what you feel,” I declared. “You’re such an asshole!”

Chaser snarled, and his hand shot out so fast I wasn’t able to dodge him. His fingers dug into my skin as he yanked me up off the bed and against his hard body.

“You want to know what I feel?” he asked as I trembled. “I’ll tell you what fucks with me every time I see your Goddamned fucking face. I see your tits, your ass, and your pussy. I see your smart mouth begging for my cock. I want to fuck you so hard… I want to bury my cock in you so deep…” His fingers twisted in my hair and held my face closer to his. “What do I feel? I feel this uncontrollable rage when I look at you, Sloane. You drive me fucking insane.”

My heart pounded in my chest as his words washed over me. I should be afraid of him, I knew it was logical to want to run right now, but all I could feel was my throbbing pussy. It was begging for him. Pleading… He wouldn’t hurt me, but his desire would.

“I’ve started something…” he murmured, his breath hot against my lips. “Something I don’t think I can stop.”

“I asked for it.”

“I shouldn’t have given it to you.” His gaze lowered, and his head tilted to the side as his body took over. Which angle would he take me from?

“Too fucking bad,” I whispered.

“You’re the worst kind of drug.”

“You’re the worst kind of kidnapper.”

He stared at me, his iridescent eyes sparkling.

I doubted everything about him. I was looking for flaws in his perfect exterior that would come out and break my heart when I wasn’t looking. I wanted to believe this was going to end well, but it wasn’t. That was the problem.

At the end of this road was nothing. Nothing at all. Unless… No, there was no unless. There was only our fucked up sexual power play.

Call it stubborn pride, call it a death wish, call it whatever you wanted, but I wanted to win.

“You want to know what I feel when I look at you?” I asked, my lips brushing against his.

“I don’t need to know.”

His mouth crashed into mine, his tongue diving right in and twisting with mine. His grasp tightened, his fingers twisting my hair and dragging against my scalp as he swallowed my moans.

My T-shirt was practically ripped off me, and then my bra was gone, exposing my breasts to his touch. Fingers pinched my nipples as we stumbled back against the bed. Hissing, I pulled his shirt over his head and tossed it, returning the favor.

Chaser snarled and tossed me down onto the bed, tearing off my boots, then ridding me of my jeans in one swift motion. He stripped me bare with such expert precision I wondered if the big secret of his past was he was a porn star with a whole reel of depraved videos of him fucking other women. An intense pang of jealousy surged through me, and I reached for his fly. After this was over, he would never want another pussy again.

He pushed my hands away, denying me my bid for dominance, and freed his own cock. It sprang forth, primed and ready, the crown tipped with pre-cum. Hard in T-Minus two seconds. If that was an indicator as to how much he wanted me, then I would take it…anywhere he would put it.

Sitting up, I reached for him again, but he grasped me under my arms and threw me further up the bed. Forcing my legs apart, he stared at my trembling pussy with unmasked hunger. Tensing, he stood at the end of the bed with his hands wrapped around my knees.

As he breathed deeply, my gaze went to his cock, and then…he struck.

Chaser pulled me down the bed and onto his cock, impaling me as far as he could go. I cried out, throwing my head back into the blankets, my fingers digging into the material and holding on for dear life. He thrust so hard and so fast I almost came on the spot.

I squirmed, desperate to touch him, but he leaned over and caught my wrists, his eyes pinning me with their hollow longing, and I did the only thing I was able. I reared up to meet him and caused a chain reaction to explode between us.

Chaser let go of whatever shred of control he’d been clutching and pounded his cock into me. He would slide back to the tip, then drive forward with taut muscles. He thrust into me so hard it was borderline painful. Slap, slap, slap, slap…

I came, unable to hold on. Blood whooshed through my ears as I screamed and exploded into a billion tiny pieces.

He never slowed, not for one second. He let me go, and I writhed as his thumbs circled my clit, pressing hard over the sensitive nub.

As the shuddering subsided, he climbed onto the bed, knelt on the mattress, and he pounded erratically, then… He grasped my hips and held me in place as his cock throbbed inside me. He moaned, the sound echoing through my ravaged body as he let go of everything he had.

Pushing up off the bed, I climbed up his body. Straddling his lap, my arms snaked around his neck, and I held him tightly as I ground against him. Our bodies shuddered as the movement sparked another wave of euphoria, the remains of what he’d already emptied into me, spreading between us.

Chaser’s lips met mine, and he kissed me hard and slow, his tongue commanding mine in a dance that saw his cock harden up and my pussy clench around it in anticipation.

When he couldn’t bear it anymore, he lowered me back onto the bed, this time covering my body with his. Pulling back, he thrust, sliding into me almost tenderly.

This time, we came together, our fucking climaxing in an animalistic symphony of clawing fingers, desperate moans, and rippling orgasms that seemed to last forever.

We lay side by side after that.

We didn’t touch. We didn’t speak.

I’d lost the battle, but at least I’d gotten some great sex out of it. My body throbbed with the rhythm of his merciless fucking, and I would be tender for days. A stark reminder of all the things that would be taken away from me once I was shoved over the threshold at the Fortitude compound.

Staring up at the popcorn ceiling, I studied the shadows with a sense of exhausted melancholy.

“I really think this is Stockholm syndrome.”

Chaser grunted, though I wasn’t expecting an answer at all.

“It’s more like fucking the pain away,” he replied.

I rolled away from him, curling up on my side. He wanted to control me, but I was uncontrollable. I was a whirlwind of fury. I’d show them all.

Moaning softly, I slipped my hand between my legs and fingered myself, feeling the remnants of Chaser’s cum. When his body instinctively curled up behind me, I allowed him to raise my leg back over his. As I felt his cock rub through my wetness, I was powerless to stop him entering me from behind.

Who was Chaser? I didn’t really know shit about him, especially when he said things like that. How could I feel anything for a shadow?

Definitely Stockholm syndrome, I thought. For sure.