Page 54 of Securing His Obsession

Her hope had been that by submitting to Ivan, it would be what he wanted. It wasn’t. No sooner had she asked him not to hurt her, he’d began to beat her. It was as though she’d unleashed a monster with her docility.

He’d yelled at her as he punched her. Telling her that she was pathetic. That she wasn’t worth his time, and he’d decided that no one could have her.

After a while, she’d closed in on herself, the blows being so frequent that she’d become almost numb to them.

Every breath she took was painful. Her right arm was broken, she’d heard the bone crunch when he’d kicked it with his boot.

She coughed, and the metallic taste of blood filled her mouth. She had to get away from him, but staying awake was becoming impossible.

Maybe if she slept for a little bit, she’d be able to recover enough strength to get out. Mentally, she laughed at the absurdity of her thoughts. There was no way she was going to be able to move. Her hands and feet where still bound up. Her arm was broken, and she wouldn’t be surprised if Ivan hadn’t broken one of her legs.

She didn’t know what she’d done to Ivan to deserve the wrath he’d unleashed on her. But she was too tired. Too exhausted to think anymore.

Sleep was tugging at her, and she gave herself over to it, only to startle the second her eyes closed, when heavy footfalls sounded outside the door, the same as she’d heard when Ivan had stomped away after beating her.

Ivan was still angry.

If he started beating her again, there was no way she was going to survive it. Her body was too bruised and battered as it was. Another session of what he’d done to her would finish her off.

A lone tear trickled down her cheek at the thought of not seeing Damon again, but at least he knew she loved him. And for a little while, she’d known his love as well. She would take that with her.

The door opened, and as she tensed, red-hot pain streaked through her.

“Fuck! Got her! She’s here!”

The voice sounded like Andy, but it had to be her mind playing tricks on her. There was no way Andy was here, even though she had believed deep in her soul that Damon would find her. But after the first punch from Ivan, she’d switched to survival mode and blanked her mind from everything that meant anything to her.

More feet stomped into the room, and as much as she tried, she couldn’t stop herself from trying to curl in on herself. She moaned at the movement, but she had to protect herself.

“I’ve got you, Little Pearl. I’ve got you.” Gentle hands turned her, causing another guttural sound to escape from her.

Little Pearl.

The name penetrated the thick fog of pain, but she had to be hallucinating. Dreaming. Her subconscious was playing tricks on her. “Damon?” she whispered, not believing for a second he would answer.

“Yeah, I’m here. Help is on the way. I love you.” His voice a balm that she didn’t believe she would ever hear again.

Margot focused on it, but the edges of her vision were darkening. Little black spots were growing larger by the second. “Love you,” she mumbled, before the abyss of unconsciousness sucked her down into its warm embrace.

Feeling and awareness began to return little by little. A twitch of her toes. The dull ache of pain in her arm. The soft tattoo of drums playing in her head, an almost invisible beat, but there all the same.

A heavy weight surrounded her right arm. The same sort of weight on her left leg. Every breath she took hurt. And there was a constriction in her chest, as if she’d been wrapped tight, but she could tell it wasn’t.

There was also a soft stroking motion on the top of her left hand. Comforting and reassuring.

Her eyes were gritty and seemed to weigh a hundred pounds, making it impossible to raise them, but her mind was turning things over, so she forced them open. She blinked a couple of times and then stared up at the muted lighting above her.

Sounds permeated her consciousness now, and she could hear the steady beeping of a heart monitor, and the muffled voices of conversation on the other side of the room she was in.

Slowly, she turned her head to the left and connected with the dark brown eyes of the man who owned her heart. Dark stubble covered his jaw. Purple shadows hung below his eyes, as though he hadn’t slept in days. His full lips curved into a soft smile.

“Damon.” His name a tortured whisper through dry lips.

“Hey, Little Pearl.” He leaned over and brushed his mouth across her cheek. A sweet gesture that warmed her soul. “How are you feeling?”

“I don’t know. Sore. Achy. Uncomfortable.” The more awake she got, the more aware she was of her limited movements.

“Understandable. You’ve got a broken arm and leg, along with some fractured ribs, and your body is pretty bruised.”