The back of his hand hit my face for the third time but this slap really stung. The force of it rocked my head back but it wasn't enough to knock me off my feet. "Kneel," he commanded again, his voice thick with fury. I brought the back of one of my hands, that were bound in front of my body by rope, to wipe away the trickle of blood from the corner of my mouth. "I do not kneel," I whispered. I know what kind of things they made girls do on their knees. He would have to beat me senseless, kill me even to get me to do those things. The man's green eyes, the only thing I was able to clearly see in the darkness of this windowless room, glinted. He nodded, an unsettling evil grin stretching across his pale face. "Then you will stand." His fist hit me in the center of my chest and I hunched over, trying to breathe past the pain. Then he bent to whisper in my ear, grabbing a fistful of my dark curls, "But I promise you will wish you had gotten down on your knees." For Teryn Gardener, the truth behind human trafficking and the sex trade was far darker than she could have imagined; as if the institution wasn't terrible in and of itself. Behind the prostitutes are their pimps and behind it all are monsters beyond her wildest imaginations: bloodthirsty vampires who kidnap and enslave human girls in cheap brothels. They plan to use Teryn; to break her will but she refuses to cry. She refuses to bend the knee. She refuses to submit. She is intent on staying alive and getting out of there without having anything to do with the monsters she has come to despise. But what is she to do when her resistance leads her into the arms of one of the monsters? Will their senses of will clash or will Giovanni be the one to bring her to heel?
"Breathe. Just breathe, Teryn..."
I chanted that in my mind. Not more than a few feet away, I could hear the wet sucking sounds as the monster drank from the girl beside me. His neck was nestled against her throat, pale white hands holding her still.
The girl whimpered but she did not scream. She knew better than that. She knew it would do her no good.
We had been in the cabin of the boat crammed together like sardines in a can, for what I thought was three days. I was only aware of the passing of time because of the light coming through the cabin's only window that was above my right shoulder.
During moments like these, I would stare out that window and pretend that I was an entire galaxy away. The sounds of the waves lapping against the side of the boat took me away and the cries of the gulls over head always distracted me. But there was nothing to see now; just the empty blackness, cut only by a thin stream of silver moonlight. The waves made no sound. There were no seagulls flying above us. Just the sound of the girl dying next to me.
One feeble hand brushed against my feet and before I could stop myself I turned to look at her. I regretted it immediately. The look in her eyes broke me.
I knew that she had blond hair but I couldn't see it in the darkness. The feeble light only illuminated her dark brown eyes and there was so much fear in them. All I could see of our captor was his pale hands gripping her shoulders and his short, dark hair.
There had been sixteen of us; sixteen girls originally at the bottom of this boat three days ago but the monster, the vampire had an insatiable hunger. He came down here in the middle of the night to feed. The first girl he fed from, Tiffany I believe her name was, with bright red curls, screamed so loudly when he bit her that it woke the rest of us up. He crushed her ribs with a single blow to her chest, collapsing her lungs instantly and she couldn't scream anymore. He drank Lily, the brunette sitting next to Tiffany, dry when he was done with the red head. None of the girls ever screamed again after that. After Tiffany and Lily, he came for another brunette name Clarice and then a raven haired girl name Opal.
Now it was the blond haired girl named Maple.
The look in her eyes said she knew that this was the end for her and she was so frightened of that. The other girls managed to sleep through all this, as they had through the other four girls' attacks but I never could. I couldn't turn a blind eye to their suffering. Doing so would be like forgetting that they even existed and no one deserved to be forgotten.
I reached down and wrapped my fingers around hers. I held her hand and stared into her eyes, watching the emotions flow across her face like a soundless film. First fear, then confusion and finally an odd, peaceful expression. Her skin grew colder and colder as her life was slowly sucked away.
Then the sucking sounds stopped completely. Her fingers no longer clenched around mine. There was nothing in her eyes; the soul that was once there had been wiped away.
She was gone.
I couldn't help thinking that maybe she and the other girls before her were better off; that they were in a better place than where the rest of us were going. I had a sinking feeling that wherever this boat was heading, held worse horrors for us. Maybe a quick death was the best we could hope for.
I let Maple's limp hand fall to floor and closed my eyes; silently praying that the monster would leave and not turn his attention to me. I heard him stand, the shuffling of his boots on the wooden floor and then nothing. When I opened my eyes again, he was kneeling in front of me, his green eyes studying my face.
One pale cold hand clamped over my mouth and for the first time in my short life, I prayed for death.
After a heated confrontation with her husband and mistress, Brianna was pushed down to stairs. She thought she would die but when she woke up again, she realized that she traveled back two years ago, when it was not late for her to correct her path. The first thing she needed to do when she was reborn was divorce that scum. She saved from the darkest time but he lied to her and murdered her in the end. This time, she would not repeat the same mistakes anymore. She would bring the glory of her family back and make those people who betrayed her pay the price! However, in the process of climbing up to the peak of her career, she met a very intimidating and handsome man who kept on messing with her head through his bold attitude. Brianna doesn't want to be involved with another man again, for she has proven to herself that they will just drag her down, but her constant incidents with him are slowly breaking the wall she built to protect her heart. Brianna will surely choose her career over a man this time, but it's possible to choose both, right? What if he hurt her too? No! She won't risk it but. "You have to run away from me, Bree. Coz I'm done running away, I'll chase you now."
Katie was forced to marry Dillan, a notorious ruffian. Her younger sister mocked her, "You're just an adopted daughter. Count your blessings for marrying him!" The world anticipated Katie's tribulations, but her married life unfurled with unexpected serenity. She even snagged a lavish mansion in a raffle! Katie jumped into Dillan's arms, credited him as her lucky charm. "No, Katie, it's you who brings me all this luck," Dillan replied. Then, one fateful day, Dillan's childhood friend came to her. "You're not worthy of him. Take this 50 million and leave him!" Katie finally grasped Dillan's true stature—the wealthiest man on the planet. That night, trembling with trepidation, she broached the subject of divorce with Dillan. However, with a domineering embrace, he told her, "I'd give you everything I have. Divorce is off the table!"
Lucille was one of the most skilled female assassins, and on the previous night, she embarked on a top-secret mission. However, the mission's details were leaked, leading to her untimely demise at the hands of a traitorous companion. She never discovered the identity of the person who betrayed her before her death. But by some miracle, she was granted a new life, and was reborn as a girl with the same name. Determined to uncover the truth and seek revenge for her family, Lucille seized her second chance at life. She planned to avenge her loved ones. However, her plans were complicated by Joseph, an apparently frail man who was actually skilled in martial arts. And he seemed to fall for her deeply, now this newfound knowledge only added to the complications of Lucille's revenge plan...
Joelle thought she could change Adrian's heart after three years of marriage, but she realized too late that it already belonged to another woman. "Give me a baby, and I'll set you free." The day Joelle went into labor, Adrian was traveling with his mistress on his private jet. "I don't care whom you love. My debt is paid. From now on, we have nothing to do with each other." Not long after Joelle left, Adrian found himself begging on his knees. "Please come back to me."
Three years ago, the Moore family opposed Charles Moore's choice to marry his beloved woman and selected Scarlett Riley as his bride. Charles didn't love her. In fact, he hated her. Not long after they got married, Scarlett received an offer from her dream university and jumped on it. Three years later, Charles's beloved woman fell terribly ill. In order to fulfill her last wish, he called Scarlett back and presented her with a divorce agreement. Scarlett was deeply hurt by Charles's abrupt decision, but she chose to let him go and agreed to sign the divorce papers. However, Charles seemed to delay the process deliberately, leaving Scarlett confused and frustrated. Now, Scarlett was trapped between the consequences of Charles's indecision. Would she be able to break free from him? Would Charles eventually come to his senses and face his true feelings?
RATED 18+ (WARNING) - EXPLICIT SCENES. "Strip for me" the beastly alpha called, his voice echoed from his dark cell, causing a shiver to go down her body. She couldn't fight the way her body reacts to him. Her nipples harden from his touch. "I can smell your wetness omega" he mutters, his hands tracing under her skirt till he feels up her wet jeweled folds, causing a hiss from her lips as his fingers push in. He whispers to he ears, a voice filled the dangerous promise "you are mine" .******. Elise Aldermen is the daughter of the Silvernight Pack's chief alpha. She has waited her whole life for her marriage ceremony, hoping it would be the best day of her life. However, she gets the shock of a lifetime when her betrothed coldly rejects her and makes her a slave after finding out her true origins, even though they were already bound. Not Not only is she claimed to be a bastard on her mating day, but she is also disowned and rejected by her pack and mate. Elise's life turns into a nightmare as she is thrown into the dungeons as the cruel alpha's slave, only to be handed off to his greatest beastly champion, who dwells in the dark cells. Elise soon discovers that the beast she is now forced to be marked and bound to is more than a monster; this beastly alpha could also be her fated mate.