Colters' Gift (Colters' Legacy #5)(80)

“Thanks. We’ll keep in touch,” Noah said.

“See that you do.”

Noah hung up as the plane lifted into the air, and grimly surveyed the group of men who’d listened in on the call.

“We’ve got some time to make up. Knight got a head start, and Lauren’s life depends on us getting to that lake house as quickly as possible.”

* * *

LAUREN huddled on the sofa of the plane and moaned softly when she was jostled by the aircraft touching down. Fear was immediate, because she had no idea where they were or how Noah and Liam would ever be able to find her.

It was time to be real and not solely rely on someone else to rescue her. She’d escaped Joel once. She’d just have to do it again.

Only, the first time he hadn’t been expecting it. Now he’d watch her constantly, keep her more firmly under his thumb than he had ever before.

Despair settled heavy and bleak. Then she grew angry at the defeat that nagged at her. She’d survived Joel once and she was stronger now. She’d survive again.

“Lift her and be careful with her,” Joel ordered. “If you hurt her, it’ll be your ass.”

Rough hands slid underneath her, lifting her in one motion as Ron settled her roughly against his chest. It made her furious that Joel was such a nauseating hypocrite. That he acted like he gave a flying f**k about whether she was hurt or not. She thought it more likely that he was so insanely controlling that in his mind she was his to torment, much like a favorite toy a child jealously guards from use by other children.

She was still numb from the violent episode of earlier. He’d used her. Not for sexual release, but to humiliate and degrade her. He was proving a point and chipping away at her rebellion.

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 f**k 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 f**k 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.