Taken by the Beast Read online

  She stopped crying and laughing and just remained trembling with her arms tight around herself. “Stop saying my name,” she said, her expression suddenly very serious.

  He didn’t react. “Can you stand?” he asked, rising to his feet and holding out his hand.

  She ignored it and slowly stood on her own.

  “Brush your teeth so we can go. We have some ground to cover before we reach the hut.”

  She rinsed the toothbrush with some water, then opened the tube of toothpaste and smeared some onto it. Turning away, she brushed her teeth and rinsed. She felt better, even if she had just brushed her teeth with a stranger’s toothbrush.

  She handed everything back to him and straightened her spine, trying to look more courageous than she felt. “Elijah,” she began, his name sounding strange to her ears.

  He waited.

  “I’m not going anywhere with you,” she said matter-of-factly.

  “We don’t have time for this,” he said. He zipped up the bag after putting the water and toothbrush away.

  “There is no we,” she corrected. “And I didn’t have time for what happened in my apartment either.”

  “Are you walking or am I carrying you?” he asked, ignoring her completely.

  She simply raised her eyebrows and folded her arms across her chest. “I’m not going.”

  He exhaled, shook his head, then walked toward her, and before she could put any space between them, had her once again over his shoulder. She screamed and pounded on his back and when she felt the flat of his hand smack her square on her butt, she stiffened, caught momentarily off guard.

  “That hurt, you jerk!” she said, pounding harder, but realizing he barely felt her fist falls on his thickly muscled body. She kicked her legs and wriggled to get free of him and he muttered a curse before finally setting her down. As soon as he did, she took off. She didn’t know where she was going, but the only thing she could think to do was run.

  She heard something like a growl and turned to look behind her, suddenly afraid the wolf had returned. But it was the man and he had her on the ground in an instant. Straddling her hips but keeping his weight on his knees, he took her wrists and held them up over her head in one of his hands.

  “Listen to me, Kayla; we don’t have a lot of time. I will explain everything when we get to our destination, but you will be coming with me. There are some people who will be hunting us soon and as the sole survivor of the attack in your apartment, they’ll know what you will have witnessed. If I leave you behind, they will take you and they will hurt you. I’ve inadvertently placed you in some danger and as sorry as I am for that, you have to accept it as your reality right now. That said, I’ll warn you only once. If you scream, I will gag you. If you fight me, I will spank you. Am I clear?”

  Spank? “You’ve lost your mind!” she spat, struggling beneath him.

  He shook his head and flipped her onto her stomach, bringing her hands behind her back.

  “Let me go,” she screamed.

  She heard him unbuckle his belt and pull it fast through the loops. She fought him when he wrapped it around and between her wrists again and again. “How tight do you want it?” he asked. “Huh? How tight?” Now he sounded pissed.

  “Ow!” she whined when he pulled, securing it. “It’s too tight, it hurts.”

  “Learn a lesson for next time then,” he said.

  Next thing she felt was a strip of cloth at her mouth.

  “Open,” he said.

  “No!”

  But that was all it took for him to slip the gag into her mouth before hoisting her to her feet so quickly, she felt dizzy.

  “If you want, I can add a blindfold. I owe you a spanking. You’ve wasted enough time and we’ll cover more ground if I carry you. Behave and I’ll be lenient on that punishment. Fight me and you won’t enjoy sitting for a few days.”

  She stomped her foot and looked at him, trying to talk through her gag, but her words sounding jumbled. Fury radiated from her eyes even though she didn’t doubt for one moment he meant what he said, and when he lifted her over his shoulder for the umpteenth time, she allowed him to carry her, wondering if it was normal that she was feeling as aroused as she was anxious.

  * * *

  Elijah carried her for a good while until they came to the small hut. She’d stopped struggling and he would have let her walk, but it would have slowed them down too much. He set her down and caught her when she stumbled. With her hands bound behind her back, her balance was off. But looking at her expression, he was fairly certain she hadn’t truly learned a lesson. The base part of him hoped she hadn’t, actually.

  When he’d moved into the apartment building a year ago, it had been to keep an eye on her from a distance. Until she met the abusive jerk she’d called a boyfriend. The first time Elijah had interacted with her had been early one morning when she’d been on her way out and someone had bumped into her, knocking her papers to the floor. Elijah still remembered what it had taken to check his anger when the man had just walked by without so much as an apology. Although he’d intended to keep to the background, he’d helped her pick everything up and when he’d handed her her things, the look on her face had made his heart tighten. Her pale blue eyes were reddened, either because she had been crying or was about to cry. She’d looked so young, so innocent, and in need of protection. His protection. He still remembered how she’d had to gasp when his fingertips brushed hers and how her pale face had taken on the slightest blush. From that moment, some part of him had known he wouldn’t be in the background for long. She didn’t belong in that neighborhood or in that building any more than he did, but at least he could take care of himself. Although of average height, she was quite petite. He determined she weighed all of 110 pounds. At least the way she’d tried to stand her ground and pounded on his back while he’d carried her showed she had some fire in her and wouldn’t back down too easily.

  “Turn around,” he said.

  Her eyes grew wide and she shook her head.

  “I want to take your gag off. No one will hear you if you scream here, but you will irritate me if you do it. Turn around unless you want to wear it all night. I don’t normally like to repeat myself.”

  She looked at him warily but turned. He gathered her thick, white-blond hair and moved it over her shoulder. Untying the knot carefully so as not to pull any stray strands, he took the gag out of her mouth and slipped it into his pocket. She turned slowly to face him.

  “What about my hands?” she asked. At least she hadn’t screamed yet.

  “Once we get inside.”

  He walked to a rock that looked no different from any of the other rocks, and from beneath it he removed the key to the hut. Unlocking it, he opened the door and gestured for her to go ahead of him. She did, but with caution; there was no electricity to switch on and it was pitch black. Although he could still see well enough in the dark, he imagined she’d be blind.

  He closed the door and moved to where he kept candles and matches and lit one. Setting it down, he found several others and lit them as well, illuminating the space in a soft, golden glow. Although he’d taken into consideration she’d be with him when he’d constructed it, the cabin was basic. It was purely to be used in an emergency. For a case just as this. Inside were some food stores, canned goods mostly, and bottled water. There was a long, narrow table set against the wall with a box on top and a mattress supported on crates for a bed with a sleeping bag for a blanket. The cabin had no windows but for the small holes drilled into each of the walls so he could look out, but no one could see in. Although he didn’t need the holes, really. His hearing was more than sufficient.

  He rummaged through the box and found the bottle of Advil he kept.

  “Does your head still hurt?”

  “Yes.” She sounded indignant. “I don’t think bouncing around upside down helped any,” she added. She had a smart mouth. He’d expected her to be more afraid of him. This was better than that, at
least. And more fun.

  He took out two pills and retrieved a bottle of water. “Open,” he said, holding the pills for her to see.

  He could have untied her and knew she was wondering why he hadn’t done that already, but some part of him wanted her helpless.

  “Open,” he repeated. “I’ll keep you safe, but you need to learn to obey.”

  “Obey?” she asked, both eyebrows raised once again in disbelief. “I don’t need you to keep me safe. Besides, you’re the one who’s kidnapped me.”

  “I’ll appreciate a little respect. Open.”

  She sealed her lips and shook her head.

  He slapped the pills on the counter, making her jump. “All right, let’s get this over with,” he said, dragging her with him toward the bed.

  “Get what over with?” she asked, resisting.

  “I always keep my promises and I promised you a spanking earlier. Everything will go easier if you learn your lesson the first time around, but I’m guessing it’s not going to go easy with you, is it?” he asked, not really expecting an answer. “I need your complete obedience, Kayla. But I have no problem teaching you.”

  He sat on the edge of the bed and, before she could process what was about to happen, pulled her across his lap, supporting her torso on his thighs.

  “Are you fucking crazy?” she yelled, struggling to free herself.

  “No.”

  “You can’t do this!”

  “I can and I am.”

  He lay one leg over the backs of hers and gripped her waist with his left hand, holding her to him. When he reached beneath her to untie the drawstring of her pants, she fought him with all she had, but it only served to harden his cock as he pulled her pants down to her knees, revealing lacy, pale pink panties beneath.

  “Stop. You have no right!” She kicked and wiggled like a slippery fish. “At least leave my pants on. Please!”

  “No,” he said, feeling the lace of her panties with the tips of his fingers before taking them down.

  She groaned, squeezing her legs and buttocks together.

  “Relax your muscles,” he said, circling his palm flat over the full, lush mounds of her bottom. He was going to enjoy this much more than he should.

  He lifted his hand and brought it down hard.

  * * *

  Kayla gasped. It was surprise and sound more so than pain, but she knew that was coming. He struck again, this time on the opposite cheek.

  “Ow!”

  “Relax your muscles; your real punishment won’t start until after you’ve done that.”

  He struck twice more and she tried to wriggle free, but he only clamped down tighter with his leg and arm.

  Two more strokes hit their mark.

  “Please! It hurts!” she begged.

  “Soften.” Four slaps followed, swift and hard.

  He stopped for a moment and rubbed her buttocks, giving her time to consider her position, naked from the waist down over this stranger’s knees, being spanked. Her face flushed red with embarrassment and she was suddenly as aware of his rock-hard cock pressing into her belly as she was of the warmth spreading between her own legs.

  “Kayla, I’m doing this for your own good. Men are going to come after us. Bad men who will not hesitate to hurt you. I need to trust that you will obey me without question.”

  “You’re doing it for your own good and from what I can see, you’re the only bad man. Did you save me from getting raped so you could just do it yourself?” she cried, sorry the moment the words left her mouth because he rained blows down on her harder than what he’d already done.

  “I’m no rapist,” he said, his voice quiet but final. “But I will discipline you.”

  He alternated between her buttocks and thighs, the surprise factor gone now, replaced with hot pain. She’d never been spanked as a child, much less as an adult, and it was more humiliating and painful than she could have imagined. But at the same time, there was something else. She cried out and in her struggles, her legs came apart and she wondered if he could see the pink of her sex, which she knew was glistening now. She was turned on; how could she be turned on? It hurt like hell. But she couldn’t deny the fact. And she knew what it was, why it was. He had complete power over her. Something inside her gave way and as much as she knew she’d never admit it, this act of his forced her submission. She let her knees bend and gave herself over to it. She cried while he held and spanked her. He shifted her when she relaxed her body so her hips were lifted higher and she was sure he’d see her sex now, swollen and wet. Her only consolation was that his hand probably stung as much as her bottom did.

  “Stop. Please. It’s enough, I promise. I promise,” she begged, not sure what she was promising at all.

  “You will obey me in all things without question, is that clear?”

  He slapped several more times and she was panting to answer. “Yes. Ow! Yes, yes.”

  “Yes, what?”

  Yes, what? What did he want? “Yes, I will obey.”

  “And what happens if you don’t?” He didn’t let up, even as she struggled to answer.

  Shame battled with defiance, but she forced the words out. “I get spanked.”

  “Good girl,” he said, the slaps changing suddenly to caresses over her scorching hot bottom and thighs.

  She sniffled, unable to wipe her nose, her eyes. The floor beneath her face was wet from her tears and all she could think at that moment, even upturned as she was on his legs, her bottom exposed, punished, was that she didn’t want him to see that her eyes were red and puffy from crying.

  You’re stupid, Kayla.

  He stood her up between his legs and she looked down at her feet, still sniffling. He pulled a tissue out of his pocket and wiped her eyes. She was fully aware of her vulnerability, standing there, hands bound behind her back, pants and panties down around her ankles. Her thighs felt sticky and she couldn’t help but glance quickly at his crotch where his cock bulged against his jeans as if begging for release.

  “Turn around.”

  “What?” she asked, her voice small as a fresh rush of shame made her clit throb anew.

  “Turn around,” he repeated. The fact that he sounded almost bored only added to her heightened state, making her wonder what was wrong with her.

  She searched his face and part of her considered running or refusing or something, some act of defiance. Something to make clear she didn’t want this. But logic intervened. They were deep in the woods; she had no idea where or how far they were from civilization. She’d seen him turn into a beast and kill, but somehow knew he wouldn’t hurt her, not like that. And besides, that part was too much to process now. She turned and stood with her back to him. She didn’t know what to expect, but nothing happened for a few moments. She squeezed her eyes shut as she imagined him at eye level with her bottom, which was probably red and covered with his handprints.

  He untied the belt from around her wrists and every time his fingers touched her skin, she felt heat, like they singed her. She remained as still as possible, but splayed her fingers out to cover as much of her bottom as she could. His hands took hers lightly and moved them to her sides. She stood still, just as he’d positioned her. Likely looking over his handiwork.

  “Turn around and look at me,” he said finally.

  She turned and imagined how red her face was, probably as red as her bottom.

  “Pull up your panties.”

  She swallowed. Could this be any more humiliating? She reached down and took hold of both panties and pants and began to straighten.

  “I said panties, Kayla.”

  She glanced at him, then quickly dropped her eyes. She pulled her panties up and waited for the command to continue.

  “Now you may pull your pants up.”

  She wanted to hurl insults at him, but instead, tugged her pants up and retied the drawstring.

  “Would you like me to hold you?”

  Was he fucking serious? She contained herself a
nd forced a “no.”

  “Then thank me.”

  She blinked a few times. That did it. He was a lunatic.

  His expression and the bulge in his pants told her just how much he’d enjoyed spanking her. It took all she had to control the stupid part of her that wanted to challenge him. In the end, it was fear of the pain and the image of him turning her back over his knee and continuing with her punishment if she didn’t say those two damned words that made her give in.

  “Thank you,” she spat out, narrowing her eyes and refusing to drop her gaze. She wouldn’t let him see just how he affected her.

  “Go take the pills. I’ll make something to eat.”

  “I’m not hungry,” she said, even though she was starving. “And I have to use the bathroom.”

  “I’ll take you outside; no facilities here, I’m afraid.”

  “You don’t have a bathroom?” she asked.

  “It’s not exactly a vacation home,” he said, unlocking the door.

  She swallowed the Advil and grabbed some tissues out of the box on the counter. “I’m not cleaning myself with leaves,” she said and walked past him.

  Elijah led the way around the back of the hut. “You can go here, I’ll turn around.”

  God, she hated this, but she had to go. She was glad she hadn’t peed when he’d been spanking her, although it would have served him right. Fucker. She was going to make him pay.

  Once she was sure he wasn’t looking, she squatted and relieved herself, cleaned up, and walked inside, ignoring him altogether.

  “Where do I sleep?” she asked.

  “We sleep on the bed, princess.”

  “We?”

  “Yes, we. I need to check on a few things before I sleep. I’ll lock the door behind me and I have excellent hearing, so don’t get any ideas.”

  “How long are you going to be gone? What if there’s a fire or something?” she asked, realizing how unlikely that was, but not wanting to be alone.

  “I’ll be right outside and there won’t be a fire. You sure you don’t want to eat something?”