CHAPTER 30: RAGE-BAIT

Chapter 30: Rage-Bait

Warning!!! Explicit Content! It Can Be sensitive to some people!

"Slut, you think you can talk to me like that?" Ethan dragged her by the hair across the mud. The rain made the ground slick, so her shoes kept slipping.

He shoved her into a small room, and Ethan slammed the door and turned the lock.

He stood back and looked at her as if he were looking at a broken thing. His lips moved but his voice was very silent. "This will be fun," he smirked. "The whole show."

Danielle pressed her hands against the ropes at her wrists. They cut into her skin. Her lip was split. Blood had crusted at the corner of her mouth.

Ethan walked toward her with a belt in his hand...He ran his thumb over it and laughed. He wanted to see fear. He wanted to make other men listen from afar.

This demon wanted them to know he controlled the room.

Danielle glared at him. Inside, her head was a knot of memory. She saw Theo standing in a doorway once. She saw his arms so strong and sure.

Remembering the way Theo had taught her to breathe. She thought of his face when he smiled, rare and full of something that was not pity. That memory became a shield.

When Ethan walked closer, Danielle let something loose that surprised even herself. She spat at his shoe.

The spit hit leather and left a small dark spot on his boot.

"You are disgusting," she gritted her teeth. "You make people small. You make them ugly for your fun. Who taught you to be like this? What rotten thing fed this mouth of yours?"

Ethan’s nostrils flared. For a beat he looked like a boy who had not been given enough love. Then his face set again.

He wanted to punish the world. He wanted to erase the part of him that felt so tiny.

"You insolent child," He raised the belt and swung.

The leather hit her shoulder with a hard, ringing crack. Heat rushed across her skin. The slap burned and left red where it touched.

Her body bowed, but she did not make a single sound.

Ethan hit her again. The belt struck down across her arm and back. The pain worked like cold fire through her. Blood rose on the skin where it cut.

"You think this will stop me?" she spat, even though her throat hurt. "You think hitting me will make me listen to you? You are the weak one. You are empty."

Another blow. This one stung on her thigh. The sound of the belt was like a whip.

She tasted copper and grit. She could feel the ropes chafing her wrists raw. Her hands shook. For a moment Danielle thought she might faint.

Ethan moved like a man drunk on power. Each swing was a command to the men. "Make her scream," he said. "Make her beg."

She did not beg. She let the pain move through her and settled on a new thing. The anger was a clean blade. She pressed it against the rope in her mind and it cut little by little.

She remembered small things she had learned in strange lessons. Theo had shown her how to loosen a knot when danger came in the night. He had taught her how to hold breath and move a wrist by shifting a shoulder.

Her fingers were bound but not ruined. The ropes were tight but there was skin to work with.

When Ethan stepped toward her to strike again, Danielle used the move to shift her weight.

She leaned forward so her hair fell over her face. The rope that had chafed her wrist rubbed twice over the rough wood of the chair.

Making a move she had practiced in nightmares. Her fingers twisted under the rope and dug.

She felt the knot give by a fraction. The rope ground and left a red stripe on her skin but the knot eased. She worked on it again.

The next time Ethan raised the belt she jerked back and slipped her hand up under the loose part. Her fingers found the frayed loop. Danielel tugged!

It came free with a small pop that sounded like a heartbeat. Pain from the belt burned across her back but she smiled because the ropes were looser.

Danielle could move her wrist an inch. She could move two inches.

Ethan saw her move. His smile cracked. Rage became bright and hot on his face. He did not like it when things shifted away from him.

"Stop," one of the men came inside. His voice was not sure. There was something in his face that looked wrong. He moved back a step.

Ethan cursed and swung the belt harder. The leather struck and left a dark strip across her back. The men did not want to hurt her more but they had listened to Ethan too long to move now.

When the knot finally gave, she did not move to run.

But Ethan’s face was a mask of broken toys now. He didn’t know what to do with the girl in front of him who wasn’t listening or showing pain. He had built himself on other people’s fear. He had not planned this...

"Cry!" Ethan whipped her harder! One more time! And another one!

However, Danielle only flinched and pretended she could no longer move her body.

"You wanna see how big is my dick, bitch? Huh?" Ethan started unbutonning his pants, and Danielle was ready to kick him in the balls the moment she got that chance.

"Boss, plea-"

"Shut up! And leave! Go take your break! All of you!!!

This man obeyed, and Ethan was done removing his pants.

"So you’re embarrassed that they will see how little you are..." Danielle hushed, not looking at that small thing.

"What did you say?" Ethan clenched his teeth and grabbed Danielle by her hair.

But this was the perfect opportunity for Danielle to strike.

When this monster was breathing heavily, and Danielle heard how all his men left the building, she smiled.

"You know, my bodyguard taught me a trick on how to hurt a man..."

"Oh really? What did he-ooooowwwww!"

"You dirty pig!" Danielle quickly got up after hitting his balls with her head, and moved near the window. Climbing on the box, she heard Ethan talk.

"If you leave now, you will never find out what Theo’s real identity is."