I can’t see Hunter from where I am, but it sounds like he relents and stops whatever he was doing. Despair flows over me but I’m glad I won’t have to hear Lucas break any more of his fingers.
Knife in hand, glinting in the bright light, Lucas stands over me. “It’s all about paying your dues, something you’d never understand. You think all the big porn stars didn’t have to work to get to where they are? You’re just a spoilt brat. You always were. And I’m going to teach you a lesson.” He climbs onto the bed and crawls across me, pinning me with his weight. I can barely suppress a shudder of revulsion as his breath washes over my face and I feel the hard length of his erection bumping my hip. “You were the only one,” he whispers. “The only one stupid enough to say no. You had everything. The looks, the body, the big innocent eyes. The camera loved you. But you had to fuck it all up.”
“I was glad to be out of there. In fact” —I force a laugh— “I’m glad you demanded I sleep with you. It gave me the incentive to get out of that life.”
“You fucked everything up for me too, you little bitch.” Spit sprays across my face, forcing bile into my throat. “I couldn’t focus after that. The studio never cared who I slept with before but suddenly I wasn’t allowed to fuck the girls. Said I was too rough. I was forcing them. I’d get the studio in trouble. You ruined everything.” His hands come to the neckline of my top and his gaze drops as he pulls the material away. “Now,” he hisses, “I’m going to ruin you.”
Panic surges through me, the unwelcome hands tugging at my top make me breathless and light-headed. “You’re going to ruin yourself,” I whisper. “You’ll go to jail.”
“I won’t.” His lips twist and he yanks my top. The rip echoes through the room and I release a panicked cry. In spite of my squirming, he has no troubles holding me down with his weight. “I’m going to be long gone and your video will only ever be seen by one person. After this I’ll be rich enough to live wherever I want.”
Ice coldness fills me veins and I still. “What do you mean?”
“Someone is willing to pay a vast amount for a video of you for their private collection.”
“Why?”
Carl lifts a shoulder and sets to work pulling the torn cotton from me. “Rich men feed on power. What’s more powerful than having control over someone’s life?”
“My life?”
“Yes, whore. Your life.” He slide off me and drops my torn top to the floor. “You, baby, are going to be a superstar. You’re going to feature in your very own snuff film.”
“S-nuff...as in…?”
The wash of calmness in his expression and the hint of excitement in his eyes makes me wretch.
“Today you’re going to be fucked. And then I’m going to slit your throat.”
More grunts of frustration and Lucas spins around to slam Hunter to the ground with a back hand. “I’ll cut you both! I’d cut you now if I didn’t want you to watch as I ruin her,” he screams.
Coming back to the bed, he unsnaps my jeans with one hand. I writhe and fight him but he brings that knife to the waistband of my trousers and I freeze, the touch of metal against my skin making forcing a trickle of sweat down my chest. With practiced movements, he slices open my jeans, cutting and tearing at them until they’re nothing but scraps and can be ripped away with ease.
In only my panties and bra, goose bumps prick my skin but whether I’m cold or terrified, I’m not sure. Tremors wrack me. When he kills me, what will it be like? Will it hurt? Is it quick? Absurdly I keep thinking what a mess it will make against the white bedding. But I guess that’s why he chose it.
“Why try to kill me if you wanted to do this?” I ask, not really caring but praying for some kind of delay.
“I was trying to kill him,” he replies through a clenched jaw as he thrusts a finger toward Hunter. “You weren’t meant to be on the bike. He kept getting in the way.”
He puts the knife aside and stands to turn on the camera. I stare at it, silently entreating. No one is watching but someone will eventually. Some rich person who cares nothing for people. Maybe I can make them see I’m more than just a nameless woman.
“You ready, baby?” Lucas taunts.
“Fuck you,” I spit.
I roll when Lucas climbs onto the bed. He drags me back but I do it again. Then I thrash and kick with my bound legs. I catch him in his erection and he curses and backhands me. Stars break out in my vision but I won’t give this up easily. Not when Hunter’s life is at stake too.
“Keep still,” Lucas hisses.
“Never.” I thrust out my feet as he tries to pin me and catch his stomach.
“Do you want him to do die?” Lucas’s face is wild, his short hair in disarray, his dark eyes bloodshot and wide.
“Do you want me to cooperate?” I cry.
“You’re in no position to negotiate.”