He was trying to break her.

He had no way of knowing that unlike before, she was infused with purpose. Resolve. She knew her worth. Knew she was loved for who she was. She knew the difference between love and control.

If he thought he was getting back the same naïvely stupid Lauren Wilder, he was wrong. Dead wrong.

She was placed in the back of a waiting car and then Joel slid onto the seat next to her, his hand going immediately to her head. It wasn’t a tender gesture. It was a warning. An expression of his dominance and control.

She curled herself into a tighter ball and closed her eyes, shutting out his presence. The car pulled away, the seat vibrating against her cheek. She didn’t try to rise. She didn’t move a single muscle.

Her face was bruised and throbbing from when he’d struck her and then from his rough handling of her later. And her entire midsection ached fiercely. Though she’d played up her injuries to try to get Joel to lay off her, more and more she thought that she may well have broken her ribs in the wreck. It scared her, this faux concern from Joel. He was like a bubbling cauldron just waiting to explode, and she waited for it at any moment.

The drive took forever, and she was desperately tired but afraid to let herself fall asleep even for a minute. She didn’t want to be put in a position where she was vulnerable and not on her guard.

When the car finally ground to a halt, she automatically tensed. Joel’s hand tightened on her head.

“You should be wary,” he murmured.

His voice was calm, but the threat was there. She’d have to be an idiot not to sense the thinly veiled violence that radiated from him.

“Do as you’re told, Lauren. Don’t make me angry. I’ll have a doctor look at your injuries and determine whether you’re able to accommodate me. If you defy me, I’ll hold you down and fuck you whether you have broken ribs or not.”

Her stomach lurched and her pulse accelerated. Her hands grew clammy and her forehead was dotted with cold sweat.

She had no doubt that he’d carry out his threat. When she lifted her head to glance warily at him, she saw that the idea of raping her, knowing she had injuries, excited him.

As much as she wanted to defy him, to tell him to fuck off and go to hell, she knew she had to be smart and wait for her opportunity.

He cupped her jaw, holding it painfully tight, his fingers pressing into the bruise he’d put on her earlier.

“You’re mine, Lauren. You belong to me. You don’t walk away. You don’t make the decision that it’s over. Only I make that decision, and I’m not finished with you yet.”

When she didn’t respond, he squeezed harder until a whimper escaped her lips.

“Do you understand?” he demanded. “Say it. Say the words. You belong to me.”

“I’m yours,” she croaked.

His hold lessened and tears stung her eyelids. She inhaled sharply, determined not to give him the satisfaction of seeing how much he’d hurt her.

“Take her into the house,” he ordered Ron.

Then Joel got out of the car and strode toward the walkway to the front door, leaving Ron to deal with Lauren.

As Ron pulled her from the backseat, she quickly surveyed the terrain and considered whether now was the time to try to make her escape. It would take her being able to get free of Ron, but where would she go? They were in a heavily wooded area, and she couldn’t see any highway or lights from other residences.

Panic scurried up her spine, and she had to work hard to keep herself calm and focused. Ron obviously didn’t like being saddled with the responsibility of packing Lauren around. His brows were drawn together in a disgruntled expression as he carried her up the walkway.

“Told him he should have just gotten rid of you a long time ago,” Ron muttered.

At first she thought she hadn’t heard him correctly.

“Told him you were a silly bitch. Too easy and too dumb. And now you’re just a pain in the ass. He has a business to run and shouldn’t be wasting time chasing you all over the damn place.”

“I’ll be sure to let him know you think so,” she said through her teeth.

“You’ll keep your mouth shut or I’ll come at you,” he said coldly. “Joel likes to watch when I fuck a woman. He says it inspires him. Because I don’t give a shit if I break them. I’ll shove my dick up that tight ass of yours and I’ll enjoy making you scream. If you think Joel will protect you, then you’re wrong. He’ll get off watching me work you over and then he’ll fuck you while you lay there and cry.”

He strode through the open door while she lay rigid in his arms, his words echoing over and over in her horrified mind. It was a threat, yes, but he sounded so certain. There was knowledge in his tone, as if he’d done just as he’d described to other women Joel had been with.

They were both twisted, fucked-up psychopaths whose hatred for women ran soul deep.

He entered the living room and dumped her onto the couch, earning him a frown from Joel, but Joel didn’t reprimand him.

When Lauren straightened herself, she saw another man about Joel’s age standing beside Joel, arms crossed over his chest.

This must be the physician Joel had summoned to meet them.

“See to her,” Joel said. “She was in an accident. She may have broken her ribs.”

“I can’t be sure without X-rays,” the doctor began.

“I only want to know if she’s okay to fuck,” Joel said coldly.

Lauren was utterly appalled, humiliation sucking her into its dark embrace. The doctor hesitated but then made his way over to Lauren.

He went to one knee on the couch in front of her.

“Lie down, please,” he said in a stiff voice that told her he was uncomfortable with the situation.

Slowly she lowered herself until her head met the cushions. She went tense when his hands lifted the hem of her shirt and started to pull it up over her breasts.

“I won’t hurt you,” he said in a low voice. “I’ll do my best to be gentle.”

He splayed his hands over her rib cage and then began to press in a series of areas with his fingertips.

“Tell me if at any point you feel more pain when I apply pressure,” he said.

When he reached the lower part, she winced and let out a gasp. He paused there and then worked his fingers into the area around the tender spot.

“I’m sorry,” he said when she let out another cry.

He probed another few moments and then lifted his gaze to meet hers. “Can you tell me what happened? Did anything hit you in this area? Have you had any difficulty breathing?”

She recounted the events of the accident in a halting voice.

“But I don’t remember hitting anything,” she said. “It was all a blur. We rolled several times and it was just so fast. And afterward, it didn’t hurt because . . .”

She broke off, refusing to say she hadn’t felt pain because of the adrenaline of running for her life away from the men pursuing her. Joel’s men. It would only piss him off more.

But Joel had stepped to the side and was having a rather animated conversation with Ron. She used that moment of distraction to whisper her plea to the doctor.

“Please, help me,” she begged. “He did this to me. And you heard what he wants to do. He wants to rape me. I’m not here willingly. Can you at least call the police when you leave?”

His face remained expressionless, but his eyes were heavy with regret and he could no longer hold her gaze. He dropped his eyes and continued his examination.

Finally he rose and turned in Joel’s direction.

“She most assuredly has broken ribs. It’s important you take care with her. I can bind them until you can take her to the hospital. They’ll need to do X-rays, give her proper pain medication and supervise her medical treatment.”

“That’s what I pay you to do,” Joel snapped. “I thought you said there was no way to tell if her ribs were broken without an X-ray. And now you’re so sure they are?”

“There is bruising in the lower rib cage. Tenderness to touch and at least one feels displaced. If there are breaks higher, she risks puncturing a lung if she isn’t careful.”

Joel scowled. “You write her the script for painkillers. I’ll see how things are in the morning before I worry over X-rays.”

The doctor sighed and turned, casting an apologetic look in Lauren’s direction. He’d tried and she knew he was afraid to do more. She didn’t know what hold Joel had on him, but it was obvious the doctor was captive to Joel’s demands.

The doctor spent a few seconds scribbling out a prescription from his pad, and then he pulled the top page off and held it out to Joel, who shoved it at Ron.

“Go have this filled.”

Then he focused his attention on the doctor and told him to get out. The doctor was only too eager to disappear. He nearly stumbled in his haste to get to the front door.

When both Ron and the doctor were gone, Joel walked to the couch where Lauren still lay, and he stared down at her, a malicious gleam in his eyes.

“Here’s how this will go, Lauren. Cooperate and please me and I won’t touch your ribs. Piss me off and be difficult and I’ll make you wish you were never born.”

Chapter 37

LAUREN lay there frozen, so terrified that she couldn’t think of what she should do. She had no doubt that he would indeed make her very sorry if she fought him, but how could she not? How could she lie there and allow him to use her body as he’d already used her mouth?

What if she became pregnant? Joel hadn’t ever used condoms with her. He refused. And after she’d left him, she’d gone off birth control because she couldn’t imagine wanting to become involved in a sexual relationship with anyone. She hadn’t counted on Noah and Liam.

How could she force herself to have sex with him for the sake of survival? It was rape. Even if she didn’t fight him, because her mind and heart was screaming no. She didn’t want this!

And how could she ever face Noah and Liam if Joel raped her and she’d done nothing to prevent it? Would they even want her anymore? Could they look at her without disgust in their eyes, and could she ever look at them without shame in hers?

Joel stopped next to the couch, unzipped his fly and shoved his pants just to his hips so that his erect cock came free. It disgusted her that he was so turned on after hearing how injured she was, that he’d actually get off on the idea of forcing her to endure the humiliation of his possession in addition to the pain forced on her because she wasn’t ready or willing. And he knew she wasn’t willing and that she had no desire for him.

He stroked his erection, the action menacing. He reached with his free hand to knock her thighs apart but then he backed away, his gaze hard.

“Get up and take your pants off,” he ordered. “I want you completely nude. Be quick about it.”

Oh dear God. She was out of time. What could she do except obey?

She pushed herself up before he could find fault and take her hesitancy for disobedience. When her feet hit the floor, she rose shakily, her hands going clumsily to the button of her pants. All the while, she kept her gaze glued to Joel, hoping desperately for an opportunity.

And then it presented itself.

Apparently impatient over the time it was taking her, he advanced, releasing his grip on his cock, his hands outstretched as if he’d tear her clothing from her himself.

Instinct took over. Before she even realized what she was doing, she lunged forward, her hand reaching for his dick and twisting with all her strength.

Joel’s howl of pain was instantaneous, and he struck out at her face to ward her off. Pain exploded in her jaw, but she hung on tenaciously, determined to do as much damage as she could. She doubled her other fist and struck him repeatedly in the jaw.

She released him and then drove her knee right into his balls, ignoring the pain in her ribs.

Joel dropped like a stone onto the floor and she wasted no time turning and running toward the back patio door. She couldn’t go out the front because Ron was suddenly there. She had no access to a vehicle now, but she’d take her chances in the woods, because anything was better than the fate Joel had planned for her.

She heard Joel’s roar of anger and his instant call for Ron. She flung open the door and bolted into the night, running as fast as her legs would carry her toward the tree line in the distance.

Almost there. Almost there.

It was a chant in her mind, a never-ending litany that made her push on even though agony ran like a river through her body.

Oh God, she was going to make it. She was almost there.

She was hit from behind with the force of a train. She went sprawling, screaming in agony when she hit the ground, a heavy body atop her.

Ron.

He’d caught her.

Tears of frustration coursed down her cheeks. She’d nearly made it into the cover of the woods. She could have hidden.

“Stupid bitch. You really do have a death wish,” Ron snarled in her ear.