Chapter 66

Sara

My face was pounding, and my head felt completely out of whack. Slowly, I lifted my head and tried to open my eyes. I tugged my arms up but they were bound to the hard, wooden chair I was sitting on, along with my ankles. It was incredibly uncomfortable, and my muscles were stiff from God knows how many hours of sitting there. I blinked my eyes over and over, wincing at the burning above my eyes. Janson had hit me. I remembered that, and there must have been a cut above my eye. When my eyes cleared, I could see Janson sitting across from me, drinking out of a bottle of whiskey.

“It’s about time you woke up,” he said, slurring his words and bobbing his head back and forth.

“You’re drunk,” I whispered with a disgusted face.

He shook his head back and forth, opening his eyes wide and taking in a deep breath. He put the bottle on the table and almost knocked it over as he stood up. The chair he was sitting in toppled to the floor behind him.

“I thought you would just sleep all day,” he said. “I mean, it wouldn’t surprise me. You always were a lazy bitch. But now that you’re awake, we can start the fun.”

He stumbled across the room and grabbed his gun off the table by the couch. He turned back to me and waved it through the air. I didn’t say a word, only wondering to myself how I could possibly deserve this waking nightmare I was in. I had never seen it coming, and he had gotten me before I had a chance to comprehend what happened. Janson walked back over to the bottle of whiskey and took another swig from the bottle, smacking his lips and letting out a loud breath. I shuddered at the smell, vowing never to touch whiskey again if I even got out of this whole thing alive. He looked down at me and squinted his eyes, putting the bottle on the table and walking around toward me.

I sat up straight in the chair and turned my face to the side as he leaned down close to me. I could smell the alcohol and sweat radiating from his body. The smell was terrible, and it made me want to throw up all over his damn cowboy boots. He smiled and chuckled, bringing his hand to my face and running his finger across my brow. He pushed on the cut, but I didn’t wince, just stared straight ahead, feeling his finger run down my neck and across my chest. He reached forward and ripped open my shirt, the first four buttons bouncing off onto the floor.

“Leave me alone,” I yelled out, following a loud scream for help.

“Shut up, you uppity bitch,” he yelled out.

I closed my eyes and shrugged my shoulders seeing his hand rear back. He slapped me hard and fast, the sting radiating through my face, down my neck and up into my brain. I couldn’t even catch my breath, it hurt so bad. My head fell backward and rolled from side to side. Everything was fuzzy, and I was literally seeing stars as I sat helplessly tied to the chair. I was so angry that if I could get loose, I would surely kill him where he stood, not that it would be hard with as absolutely wasted as he was.

When I came back to my senses, I could feel his hands on me again. I looked up at him as he tugged at my shirt, his gun in his holster and his feet swaying from side to side. I hated the feeling of his hands on me. It made me want to scream, but I knew all that would lead to another slap, and I wasn’t sure I could take any more.

“Goddammit,” he cursed, as my shirt got caught on the ropes.

“You know, it might be easier to get me naked if you untied the damn ropes,” I said.

“If you untied the ropes,” he said in a mocking tone. “Shut up, smart-ass. I’m in charge here.”

Just like I thought he would do, taking the idea for his own when he realized I was making a good point. He hated to be made to look like an idiot, and his response was to work whatever was said to his advantage. He was so predictable. He stumbled behind me and bent down, drunkenly struggling to untie me.

“I know you don’t think so,” he slurred. “But I’m a fucking catch. I was king of that town, could have had anything I wanted, do whatever I wanted. You had the chance to be part of that, to be by my side and be the queen of that town. I just don’t understand why you wouldn’t want to be with me. Hell, it’s not like there are any better guys in that godforsaken place. There’s old Roy, but he’s, well, old, and then there are a couple of other guys, but they’re all married. You didn’t have any other choices, and I was a damn good catch. You really fucked that up, you know? Did I ever tell you I’d watched you ever since we were in high school?”

“Stalking since you were a teen,” I said. “How romantic.”

“I wanted you,” he said, ignoring me. “Then, when we finally got together, I knew it was only a matter of time before we got hitched. Shit, someone needed to turn you into an honest woman, give you some children so you would have a proper job to do.”

“I have a job,” I growled.

“Yeah, right.” He laughed. “That pathetic excuse for a vet clinic you got? Or do you mean being that rich boy’s whore? You really need to get your head on straight, Sara. You’re thinking like a man when your place is as a woman. And if you think for five seconds that the little rich boy will come save you, you’re kidding yourself, especially when I’m done with you. No man for miles is going to want anything to do with your beaten-up whore ass. You’ll be lucky if I let you crawl back to me.”

“Never,” I growled.

“Sweetie,” he said drunkenly. “You might as well accept your fate now. You know you were made to be my property, and I’m going to give you a little taste of what you’ve been missing out on. I do what I want with my women, and you get the special show, the one where you don’t get up and walk away afterward.”

My heart started beating faster and faster in my chest. I looked around the room, trying to find anything I could use as a weapon. This was the hunting cabin he had talked about, but it was pretty much empty, just some furniture and a couple of floor lamps. His words were scaring the hell out of me, and that hadn’t happened for a while. He sounded like he was going to have his way with me and then either leave me there for dead or kill me himself. There was no way I could let that happen. I had a life ahead of me with my practice, and I had Ryan, and I wasn’t going to let Janson take that away from me. Finally, though, he got the ropes off me, and I was free from the restraints.

I sat there calmly for a moment, letting him wander back around in front of me. He looked down at me with a disgusting grin and reached forward, ripping my shirt open. I used the distraction to stand up and grab the gun he had shoved into his waistband. He stumbled back and started to growl at me. I pulled the gun up and pointed it straight at his chest.

“Don’t move,” I screamed. “I’ll fucking shoot you.”

He looked at me, confused for a moment, patting the place on his jeans where I had pulled the gun from. Then, he stood up tall and straight, laughing loudly at me. His face went blank, and he lunged at me.

“I mean it,” I screamed. “I will kill you where you stand.”

He just smiled and continued to walk forward, rubbing his grubby hands together. I knew right then that no matter how much I didn’t want to hurt anyone, I no longer had a choice. It was either him or me. I took in a deep breath and pulled the trigger, but nothing happened. I panicked and looked down at the gun, trying over and over again.

“Safety’s on, dummy.” He laughed, reaching forward and slapping the gun right out of my hand. “Now you’re really gonna get it, honey.”

He grabbed his belt buckle and undid it, starting to pull his belt from around his waist. I backed up slowly until I hit the table. Suddenly, the door behind him burst open, and a figure shadowed by the lights came rushing in, tackling Janson to the ground. I gasped and moved away from them, unsure of where to go. I looked down at the floor and saw the gun sitting there. Immediately, I dove for it. I grabbed it and stood up, flipping it over, switching off the safety, and pointing it toward the struggle. I moved it back and forth, but there was no clean shot for me to take.

Something looked familiar about the man on the floor, and I drew my eyebrows together, stepping forward and squinting at them. My heart leaped back into my chest as Ryan rolled over on top of Janson and glanced over at me. Holy shit, it was Ryan. He had come to rescue me, just like I hoped he would, even though the situation had seemed bleak. Ryan straddled Janson and started pounding his fists into him. Janson was wasted, and all he could do was pretty much flop around. The man should have thought twice before finishing off a bottle of whiskey before attempting to do God knows what to me. He should have known he was never good enough, not to even force himself into my life.

I stood there and watched as Ryan punched Janson over and over again. Blood covered his knuckles, but Janson continued to fight for control. He was a tough son of a bitch, but Ryan had something even better, a reason to want to hurt him. I could only imagine the rage that was going through him. As Ryan began to tire, Janson reached up and punched Ryan right in the cheek. Ryan lost a bit of balance, and Janson took that momentum and pushed him off onto the floor. I gripped the gun tighter in my hands, feeling a shock run through me as Janson began to pick himself up off the floor. When he got all the way up and headed toward Ryan, I knew I had to do something.

“Stop,” I screamed.

This time, though, when he kept moving toward Ryan, I pointed the gun at the back of his feet and fired off a warning shot. The bullet bounced off the floor and ricocheted into the wall. Janson jumped, turning toward me and looking mad enough to kill. Still, he didn’t move a muscle.

“Safety’s off, motherfucker,” I said angrily.

Ryan jumped up and walked over to me, nodding at me and carefully taking the gun from my hands. I held on tightly for a moment, just staring at Janson, but I finally relinquished. Ryan pointed the gun at him and handed me his cell phone.

“Call the cops,” he said. “You did well.”