“Did I say you could press your nasty ass arm against mine during the car ride?”I shot back, before tugging my arm free from his grip. I struggled between wanting to keep my eyes on him and checking out our surroundings.
“She’s a feisty one!” another man said with a breathless laugh as he dragged Godfrey’s limp body towards us. “This one thought he could kick me in the balls when we tried to put the blindfold on him. Had to knock the fucker out.”
I could have choked on my heart right then and there. “Godfrey?” I called out. I saw him start to stir and wake, but Logan kept hold of me so that I couldn’t go to him. It felt more like a forced hug than a man trying to keep me in place, and I revolted against his touch.
Luis was guided out of the car next. He wore a deep-set frown and kept dragging his feet, but otherwise didn’t put up much of a fight. I wasn’t sure if he was injured during the original scuffle, or if he was just conserving his energy.
I started moving again, jerking my body in a weak attempt at breaking away from Logan. “I’d tell you to keep still,” he said in my ear, letting one hand rise to cup my breast, kneading it painfully. “But I like having you struggle.” His puffy cheeks morphed into a wide smile full of missing teeth and bad breath. I froze in place, and he chuckled again.
“Logan, you know the boss don’t put up with that shit,” someone at my back said. Logan grumbled something under his breath, but he let his hand drop away from my chest.
I was pissed at myself. I should have been strong enough to escape him. I was a fucking gymnast. I could throw my body across a mat and lift twice my weight in the air. But here, in this strange place and with this terrifying man holding me close, it felt like I was suffocating on my own bile, shaking in my shoes while my guys were manhandled, and I was aggressively groped.
“Ah, I’m just having a bit of fun. She’s a pretty young thing,” he joked before sniffing my hair.
“Stop!” I screamed, feeling full-blown panic. I was wrong before. These guys didn’t have a single ounce of decency. This wasn’t like when Rogue pushed my buttons. I felt violated, and I was scared out of my goddamned mind.
“Fuck off!” Bonham yelled, drawing my attention towards him as two men pulled him out of the car and tackled him to the ground.
“Hey!” I screamed, trying to draw their attention away from Bonham so they wouldn’t hurt him. It didn’t work.
Logan’s steel grip around my middle tightened, and then he moved to grab my hips instead, drawing me against his erection. Bile rose in my throat.
Behind me, I heard Rogue’s guttural yell that shook me to my core. “Get your fucking hands off her!”
I whirled my head around to look at him over my shoulder, and saw that he’d somehow gotten his blindfold off, but three men were trying to hold him back. He was young, but Rogue was fucking strong. All of the Heirs had their own workout regimens that they were dedicated to, and it showed.
Rogue managed to shove his shoulder into one man’s chin and knee another man in the gut, before stomping on the third man’s foot, all while having his hands bound behind his back. Logan’s hand drifted higher, touching my breast again, and I screamed out an expletive just as another man surged forward and gut punched Rogue so hard that it even took my breath away.
Wild with fear and panic, I threw my elbow into Logan’s stomach, stomped on his foot, and slammed my head back, cracking my skull against his nose as hard as I could. I saw stars, but the asshole finally let go of me from the triple hit, and I stumbled forward, nearly falling. “You little bitch,” he hissed, his hand squeezing his injured nose. I didn’t hit him hard enough to break it, dammit, but at least he had tears in his eyes, letting me know it hurt.
Logan lunged for me.
I tried to scream for Luis and Bonham, but I knew it was no use. Maybe these men took us all the way out here in the middle of nowhere to kill us and hide our bodies. I tried to kick him before he could snatch me, but he dodged my assault before my foot could connect with his shin. He grabbed hold of me once more, this time shaking me before crushing my body to his.
“You’re gonna pay for that,” he threatened, his pudgy, smelly cheek rubbing up against mine. A shiver of disgust traveled down my spine. When his erection dug into me again, and I heard Rogue getting the shit beat out of him, I squeezed my eyes shut tight. I couldn’t believe I was here. I couldn’t believe this was how I was going to die and watch my best friends die. Fear trapped me, and then all of a sudden, a gun went off.
I jumped, and my eyes flew open as I looked around wildly. Did one of my guys get shot? I pictured the Heirs all bloodied and blue at my feet, drowning in a pool of blood while Logan continued to hold me against my will.
“Enough!”
The voice cut through the air like a whip. It was gravelly and powerful. Logan immediately let go of me. “What the fuck is going on here?” the voice growled once more.
As soon as Logan wasn’t holding me anymore, I scrambled away, needing to put as much distance between us as possible. My shoe caught on a rock, and I fell to the ground in my desperation to get away. Clawing at the sand, I tried to pull myself back up, but my sneakers slipped once more. Each movement kicked up more dust, coating my teeth and tongue with gritty bitterness while sticking to the trails of tears on my cheeks. I needed to get to Rogue.
“Give the girl some space,” the same voice said, and the shadows circling me backed off, including Logan.
I looked around wildly, squinting when I saw a dull lantern hanging from a hook by a wooden building. Standing in the glow of the light was a tall man holding a gun. He had a round stomach and deep frown lines along his face. His skin was tan, with old tattoos blurred from age that covered his arms. “Stand up, girl,” he ordered, once I was done assessing his appearance. “Did one of my men give you trouble?”
I didn’t answer him, but my eyes darted to Logan. The older man turned to where I was staring and frowned. “You know the rules, Logan,” he said. Without warning, he raised the gun once more and pointed it at Logan’s head. Logan threw up his hands in surrender and looked around at the others for help, but no one looked back at him. “We don’t hurt women.” With that simple statement, the man pulled the trigger, and the gun fired.
Another scream escaped my lips as I watched Logan drop to the ground, clutching his cheek and screaming out in pain. “You clipped me!”
When he drew his hand back, I saw the line across his cheek and the blood flowing from it. His ear was clipped, too. I swiveled to look at the older man, my mouth gaping open in shock and my ears ringing from the sound of the gun firing.
“Get him out of here,” the man said, jutting his chin up.
Immediately, two guys rushed forward, grabbed a kicking and cursing Logan, and hauled him off to the car.
“Idiots. All of you. Do I have to do everything around here?” the man said with a sigh as he stuffed the gun into waistband. “Get those fucking blindfolds off of the rest of them. Unbind their hands, too. Bring them to the warehouse. I want them there in six minutes,” he then ordered before limping away.
The cigarette smoking man from before stepped forward, holding a hand out to help me up. I gingerly grabbed it before fixing my eyes back on the retreating man that saved me. “He almost k-killed that guy,” I said while standing.