Chapter 38: Helena

Helena couldn’t believe it when she found herself back in front of the apartment building, staring up at the streaked and dirty windows, the fading paint corroded from being so close to the ocean. She had told Ryan to stay away while she was handing herself over. If she was there, she wasn’t sure she could have done it.

Inside the building, she knocked gently on the door of the apartment where she had first been held. Her skin was tight, her breathing shallow. She found herself staving off panic as well as possible under the circumstances but it was crawling through her, over her. All she wanted to do was scream and scream until someone came along and took care of this for her. When the door opened and she saw Troy standing in front of her, any scream she might have mustered died in her throat.

“I’ll be damned,” he said lowly. “The princess has returned.”

“I don’t want there to be any trouble for Ryan. If you promise to leave him alone then I’ll do whatever you want.”

The smile Troy gave her froze the panic so it coated her thickly, and she wore it now instead of skin. His fingers bit into her forearm; he lured her into the apartment and shut the door behind her.

“You don’t want to make that offer, princess,” he growled. “You wouldn’t like me very much if I made you do what I want.”

Helena’s legs turned to lead; her stomach burned with acid. She wasn’t sure how she managed to walk to the couch until she noticed that Troy was pulling her along then shoving her down to a seat.

“So you’ll leave Ryan alone?” she asked but he wasn’t listening. His eyes were covering the length of her body, the hand on her arm releasing to cup one of her breasts. Helena instinctively jerked away, and Troy grabbed her chest with both hands.

“I thought you were going to do whatever I want,” he said, his grip tightening until Helena whimpered. “I thought that’s why you came back.”

“I came back to protect Ryan,” Helena managed to say but Troy squeezed her roughly, and she cried out.

“You’re going to protect him,” Troy told her, his smile curling up the side of his face like smoke. “But in order to do that, you’ve got to give yourself to me.”

He released her then grunted something about having to make a phone call. When he was in the other room, Helena rubbed her tender breasts thinking back to earlier that day and Ryan’s hands caressing her body into orgasm. She remembered his cock filling her; how good it felt and how badly she wanted it. It’s not going to be like that with this bastard, she thought, looking in the direction of the bedroom where Troy was. He doesn’t give a shit if you like it or not.

She had assumed this as part of the risk. Ryan had as well. When he was explaining the plan to her and he got to the uncomfortable fact of what Troy might do to her, he got quiet. His face hung long; he shuddered.

“This is the main thing I’m worried about,” he had told her. “God only knows what he might do to you.”

But Helena knew. She knew perfectly well. Every woman and girl knew; most of them had lived through it already.

Troy returned and sat on the other side of the couch. He wasn’t smiling but his eyes were energetic and excited. “Daniel’s coming with the van.”

“And where are you guys taking me?”

“You don’t need to know about that.”

He moved closer to her, ran his fingers along the outside of her thigh. “If you just go along with it,” he told her, his mouth coming right next to her ear, “it’ll be better for you. You might even like it.”

“I doubt that.”

“Did you like it with Ryan?” he asked, and Helena’s head whipped in his direction. Troy smiled again. “How many times did he fuck you, princess?”

“That’s not your business.”

“That many, huh?”

His hand crept around to the inside of her knee, threatening to slide up to the V between her legs. Helena could see him studying every inch of her, thinking about what he was going to do to her. A knock at the door made them both jump.

Troy stood up. “That’s Daniel,” he said. When Helena didn’t move, he snapped his fingers. “Com’on. On your feet.”

The look on Daniel’s face when he saw Helena made her sick to her stomach all over again. He wrenched her out into the hallway, laughing as she stumbled. The side of his head was bandaged and there was a bruise spreading down his cheekbone to his jaw.

“Like your handiwork, you little bitch?” he spat at her as he jerked her upright and dragged her along. “Like what you did to me?”

“Yeah, sort of,” Helena muttered back without thinking. Daniel shoved her, and she slammed into the wall of the stairwell.

“Not too rough, Daniel,” Troy admonished in a breezy manner. He was smiling at every moment; Helena knew he was loving this. “We don’t want to damage my new mate.”

“Oh is that what she’s for now?” Daniel sneered. “I might have guessed.”

Both men literally threw Helena into the back of the van they had used to kidnap her. She landed hard on her stomach, knocking the wind out of her. Daniel got in the driver’s side but Troy climbed into the body of the vehicle with her.

“Maybe your daddy will pay and you won’t have to be my mate,” he whispered to her as the van lurched into action. He yanked her close to him. “Either way, I’m going to fuck you. You know that, don’t you?”

Helena didn’t answer. Troy’s arms closed around her, his fingers finding places they weren’t supposed to be. She wanted to make herself stone and rock, any substance so strong no man could penetrate it. Except for Ryan, she thought when she felt Troy’s palm rest on the swell of her ass. Ryan can have me whenever he wants.

Through the windshield, Helena watched the overhead street signs. They were leaving the city; they were bringing her further away then she thought they were going to. She felt sick all over again, and Troy’s roaming hands weren’t helping. He pressed his nose into her hair and inhaled deeply.

“Ryan loved how you smelled, didn’t he?” Troy asked. Again, Helena said nothing. “I’ll bet he stuck that nose of his into your pretty little pussy every time he fucked you.” He sniffed her again. “You smell like a mate. You smell like a meal.”

“Smells like a spoiled bitch to me,” Daniel chimed in from the driver’s seat but then turned his attention back to the road, leaving Troy to do whatever he was doing.

“Don’t say that, Daniel,” Troy said, touching Helena’s hair. “That’s my new mate you’re talking about.”

Helena closed her eyes tightly, swallowed hard. This was part of the plan, something she had been aware of but could never properly prepare for. She suddenly wished she had told Ryan that he was crazy, that none of his plan made any sense to her. She wished she had stayed in the nice apartment with the beautiful tub and spent the rest of her life riding Ryan’s cock and eating delivery. That all seemed so impossible now, like a dream she had lost for this nightmare.

I’m counting on you, Ryan, she thought as the signs overhead told her they were entering the headlands. Back into Troy’s territory. Please don’t let me down.

Through the windshield, the sky was blue and cloudless. Cars drove past them on either side without ever imagining what was happening in the belly of the van. Helena kept her eyes closed, her breathing steady. If the plan worked, this whole mangy pack would be sorry they had snagged her at all. If it didn’t...Helena couldn’t even think about it. A cold sweat formed along the back of her neck as the van propelled them all forward. They were moving away from the city, away from Ryan, to where Troy had dominion, and pretty soon Helena knew there was going to be little Ryan could do to save her.