Stone Cold Cowboy(5)
She couldn’t help the tears anymore, or the pleading in her voice she hated. “No, please don’t do this.”
“I like it when you beg, but seeing you bleed gets me off.” He rubbed his hand over his crotch and leered at her again.
She met his lust-filled gaze, unable to watch him stroke the bulge in his jeans, knowing at any second he could change his mind, dump her back on the ground, and torture her a whole other way. “Please. The cold is enough. I can’t get free. You don’t have to do this.”
He cocked his head and grinned. “I don’t have to. I want to.”
He put the truth in his words to work and pulled the wire around her back and across her chest, once, twice, and over her breasts. To punish her even more for getting in her licks earlier, he pulled the wire on both sides of her tight, making the barbs pierce her thin bra and skin.
“No.” She bit back another yelp when he pulled the wire even tighter.
“Uh, the trucks will be at the meeting place in an hour. We need to go if we’re going to make it in time and before it gets dark,” Tony said from behind the devil dude.
“I’ll be right there. Gather up any strays and start pushing the herd down the valley again.”
Tony left without another word and without bringing his gaze up from his toes.
The devil dude glared at her. “You’ve cost me a lot of time.” He wound the wire around her hips, then around one thigh several times and across to go around the other. The wire bit into the knife wound, making it bleed even more. Tighter and tighter he bound her legs until he had her feet wrapped so tight her ankle bones ground against each other.
He tossed the rest of the wire to the ground at her feet. He pulled the knife out again and held it up in front of her. The waning sunlight glinted off the already bloody blade. Her heart stopped. She didn’t dare breathe or take her gaze from the deadly weapon and the man who liked to use it.
He jabbed her in the gut with his fist and the air whooshed out of her. She tried to suck in a breath, but ended up coughing before she could refill her lungs. She prayed he didn’t hit her again.
“If you somehow manage to get out of this, you say one word to anyone, I’ll hunt you down and make this”—he pointed the knife up and down her bloody body—“feel like a hug compared to what I’ll do to you next time.”
“Please, let me down. You can’t leave me here.”
The sharp point of the knife dug into her side between two ribs, piercing her skin, but not sinking deep. Damn, those shallow punctures hurt like hell. Exactly his intention. He pushed, sending her swinging and the knife slipping free. Lucky for her, he didn’t hold the knife there for her to swing back into.
“Pray the cold gets you before the wolves.” The devil dude lived up to his wicked tat with that parting shot.
“You can’t leave me here,” she screamed at his retreating back. “Help me! Connor, you can’t leave me here,” she bellowed. “Connor!”
She waited, hoping he’d do the right thing for once. For her. She’d saved him so many times. This time, she needed him.
The wind whipped up again, pushing against her back. Not a sound reached her. From her place on the hill and behind the cover of trees, she couldn’t see the valley, the cows, or even her brother.
No one came.
He didn’t come.
Tears spilled down her cheeks. She shook with the sobs wracking her body.
I’m going to die here.
Not one to give in easily, she wiggled, trying desperately to get free. Her toes barely touched the dirt. The more she moved, the more dirt she displaced, until she hung with no purchase on the ground. If he wanted to torture her, he’d picked the perfect way to do it. The more she moved, the worse things got. The wires bit into her skin, sending fresh dribbles of blood down her body. The cut on her side bled freely down her stomach, soaking her panties. She couldn’t hold up her weight, so her body dragged her down, making her wrists and shoulders ache.
A branch snapped. Her gaze shot up. The devil dude stood ten yards away with her clothes tucked under his arm. He shook his head and smiled. He liked making her crazy, seeing her struggle, and knowing she didn’t have a chance in hell of getting out of this alive.
She stared him down, not letting him see the fear growing inside her anymore. She used what little strength she had left to curse the bastard. “I hope those Kendricks find you. I hope Rory Kendrick finds you. Then you’ll be sorry. You’ll see. He’ll make you pay.”
Yeah, Rory would make him pay for the cows. Who would make him pay for what he’d done to her? No one. She’d die here abandoned by her brother and alone.