Lycan It

Chapter Three

“Please! Let me go. I haven’t done anything to anyone. Just let me go home.” Janine had never been so scared in her entire life.

She hadn’t thought being kidnapped could get any worse. She’d been wrong. She had at least thought she’d have a chance at getting away from her captor until she’d seen where he’d been dragging her to. There were at least twenty-five men standing around the biggest fire she’d ever seen. They were all big, scary and feral-looking. They painted a picture of what she might have imagined Vikings, or even cavemen, to look and live like. They were raw, primitive, and she hadn’t a hope in hell of escaping.

A strange scent curled through her nose, which she could only describe as wildness. From what she had gained from her captor’s speech, she was about to be used as a means of punishment, which was kind of ironic since she was the one who was obviously going to suffer the most. All the talk about packs and leaders had thrown her a bit, but she narrowed it down to assuming they must be some type of cult.

Tears welled in her eyes, and hopelessness beat through her with wings of terror. She was never going to get out of this alive. She was in the middle of nowhere with scraggily men who obviously had no respect for life, or at least not for hers.

At the mouth of the cave, she was shoved toward the man inside with such force, she landed on her knees on the hard packed dirt floor in front of him.

She gasped when she looked into gray eyes that eerily glowed back at her from the dimly lit cave. He was crouching, and remained as still as a rock.

Not one muscle twitched. Not one blink of his lids betrayed his statue like pose. One of those funny images came to mind of a homeowner walking in on a burglar who freezes. The unsuspecting homeowner walks by the robber several times, getting a beer from the fridge, grabbing a newspaper from the table, and never so much as glances at the intruder before retiring to another room. This man in front of her was capable of pulling off such a feat in real life.

Suddenly, he lurched forward, and she fell back hard on her backside, thankful for the first time in her life that she had a bit of extra cushion there to soften the fall. She propped her weight on her elbows and watched him as he crawled over her on his hands and knees, only stopping when his face came within a few inches of her own.

That was when she noticed the metal collar around his throat with the chain leading from it to the wall behind him. If she’d come across him in another time or place, she’d no doubt she’d find him attractive. His golden-blond hair was cropped closely to his head with a bit of length and spike to the top. His cheeks were lean and tapered down to a square jaw with several days’ of beard. Facial hair had always been a turn off for her, but on him, it worked. The hairs matched the golden color on his head, and complemented his full lips. His nose was straight and narrow.

If she had to guess, she’d say he was over six feet, but it was hard to tell with him practically lying on top of her. The only thing he appeared to have on was a pair of jeans, and his wide, bare chest accented shoulders that were close to twice the width of her own. Power practically emanated from him, and she gulped.

“Are you going to hurt me?” Janine wasn’t even sure she wanted to know the answer to that question, but felt compelled to ask anyways.

He put his mouth close to her ear and whispered so low she almost couldn’t hear his words. “I know you have no reason to trust me, but I’m in the same situation as you. We are both prisoners. If I do not do what they say, they will kill you.”

“You are going to rape me?” Tears swelled in her eyes and spilled over her cheeks.

He closed his eyes for a moment and swallowed hard before answering.

“We only have to put on a good show for them.” His eyes burned into her.

“Do you understand what I’m saying?”

She nodded. Was he really a good guy or was it all just an act? At this point in time, did it really matter?

“I can’t fake some things, and I’m apologizing up front, but I’m going to have to kiss you, and touch you a bit.” His intense stare never wavered from her face.

She panicked and tried to scramble out from under him, but his hand clamped around her arm and adequately halted her try for escape.

“Listen to me!” he whispered through clenched teeth.

She stared down at the dirty floor, and he cupped her face and forced her to look him in the eyes. “I swear to you, I am not going to rape you, but we have to make this look and sound realistic or they will kill you. I am going to act the part, but I will not take this to its expected outcome.”

She didn’t know why, but at that moment, she believed him. Maybe she chose to because she couldn’t handle any other possibility. Maybe it was a terrified grasp at hope that she would be okay. Whatever it was, she would play along if it meant there was a chance of her coming out of this alive.

“Okay.” She quietly agreed, hoping she hadn’t just sold her soul to the Devil.

“Get on with it!” one member of the pack yelled out, and other jeers shortly followed.

Raze looked down at the woman. “What’s your name?”

“Ja-Janine,” she whispered.

His heart hammered. She was absolutely gorgeous. His body had already hardened, ready to claim his fated mate. He wouldn’t allow that, though. Not tonight, and not like this. When he took her, it wouldn’t be in front of an audience, and he’d love her like she deserved . . . long, slow and thoroughly.

The pale blue of her eyes sparkled with fear, and if he thought he’d wanted to kill Damon before, those wants paled to the need to do so now.

“Mine’s Raze. Are you ready?”

She nodded.

“I’m sorry if I get a little rough with you, but I promise I will do as little as I have to do to please the assholes out there.” He nodded toward the opening of the cave.

“Okay. Let’s just get this over with.” She squeezed her eyes shut.

Those were so not the words he’d ever wanted to hear from his mate. He took a deep breath and yanked her shirt over her head, and took her mouth before she had time to scream. Her lips tasted of honey and sugar, and he groaned, trying hard not to thrust his tongue inside for a better taste. He promised he’d only do what he had to, and shoving his tongue in her mouth was not something necessary for this show.

She sobbed into his mouth, and his gut clenched. There was no other choice, no other hope of saving her but to do this and he continued on, fighting the urge to take her. The rage for Damon boiling inside him was nearly his undoing, but he hung on to his control by a shred.

He blocked out the whistles, jeers and disgusting comments coming from the pack, and focused on Janine. She struggled against him, but he got the distinct feeling that she wasn’t genuinely frightened of him, and that she was playing a part just as he was. She kept her arms on the ground at her sides, and he longed for her to hold him. There would be time for that in the future

. . . or at least, he hoped.

He broke the kiss, cupped her full breasts through the pale lavender fabric of her bra and kneaded them. He stared into her eyes, willing her to understand that he was only doing what he had to, willing her not to hate him. Her lids were squeezed tight, but her mouth formed a small “o,” which made him wonder if she was enjoying his touch, but she couldn’t possibly be under the circumstances. Could she?

Before he could stop himself, he flicked her nipple, and she gasped and let out a low moan. His cock hardened painfully and throbbed to the rhythm of his heart. When he trailed his hand down her soft stomach and opened the fastening on her jeans, her eyes shot open and panic darkened them once again. He shook his head at her, silently commanding her to trust him, but she bucked wildly, trying to get away from him as he yanked the denim from her legs and tossed them across the cave.

He reached for the snap on his jeans and wiggled out of them. The only thing that separated them from being skin to skin was her matching panties and bra. She renewed her efforts to get away from him when he pinned her arms above her head and reached between her legs with his other hand. He didn’t touch her where he ached to. Instead, he stroked high on her inner thigh, the creamy skin soft against his rough fingers. Her eyes widened when she realized he wasn’t touching her where she obviously thought he’d been headed.

He nestled his hips between her thighs, and brought her arms to her sides where he encircled one bicep with each hand and held her against the floor of the cave. Tears streamed down her cheeks, but he was positive she knew he had meant what he said about not raping her after he had refrained from touching her intimately.

“Janine.” She stared up at him. His chest ached with the fear he saw etched deep in them.

His thumbs hooked in the waist of her panties, yanked them over her legs, and her startled gasp sent a sharp pang of guilt through him. He made a show of kicking her knees wide with his own, and arched his hips up.

“Scream.”

When he slammed his hips against her, she let out a yell that pierced through the sky straight to the heavens. He lay his forehead against her chest and pumped up and down against her while she continued screaming and crying out. No one but the two of them knew that he was not penetrating her, and he got some small amount of satisfaction at the continued jeers and taunts because he knew he was fooling all of the idiots in the pack. They obviously believed what he was doing was real. His skin burned against hers, and he fought hard not to give in to the primal urge tearing at him to slip inside her thrust after thrust.

The thought of sliding into her hot, wet channel sent him spiraling into a lust-filled haze. His breathing grew ragged and, within moments, he climaxed. When he did, he made sure to direct it where it was evident he’d done the deed if anyone decided to check. When he released her and stood, she scrambled across the floor, gathering her clothes. He stood in the mouth of the cave in front of the pack and glared at Damon.

“I’ve done what you’ve asked. I see the error of my ways, and I ask that you release me now so that I may enjoy the woman some more tonight.”

Raze made sure to keep the hatred for the leader from showing on his face.

“You can enjoy her just fine with the chain on. You will be watched closely for the next few days, and if I feel you have truly learned your lesson and your place in the pack, maybe I will have the chain removed. For now, you will stay in the cave with the woman, and once you tire of her, the rest of the pack will do as they please with her. If I find out you are lying to me and try to escape, she will die a horrible death.” Damon raised a brow as if waiting for Raze to defy him.

Over his dead fucking body. No one but him would ever touch Janine.

“Whatever pleases you.” Raze gritted his teeth as he bowed to Damon.

After Damon left, Raze moved to the back of the cave, slipped on his jeans, and sat beside Janine. She’d gotten her clothes on, but they were disheveled. He reached over and pulled her to him by the arm until she sat between his legs, her back to his chest.