Page 23 of Obey

“If that’s what gets you wet, babe, your wish is my command.”

His voice was rough with lust, now, and I could almost see him drooling over the thought. A quick glance at his crotch told me that he was definitely getting hard, and I fought the urge to throw up.

We’d been hot and heavy when I first met him. Lots of violence during sex. And at that time, fresh out of a home that had never appreciated me, I’d thought it was hot. A man who wanted to possess me, heart and soul, and keep me by his side. Someone who was willing to let me cut him with a knife, he wanted me so badly.

It had felt like love. It had felt like he actually wanted me as much as I wanted him. And I’d been into it for that emotional spark, that leg up into someone else depending on me.

Then it had gotten rougher, and rougher still, and before I knew it, he was hitting me even when we were out of bed. Loaning me out to other people and watching them beat me. Cutting me so deep that it made me scream in terror rather than pleasure.

He’d loved hurting me more than he’d loved me, and I’d realized that those seeds we’d planted when we first met had grown into a jungle of hatred and pain. And he’d thought it was all okay, because I’d been into it at first.

The rest, as they say, was history, but I was wondering if I could use it to my advantage once again. Right now, I didn’t have a weapon or any way out of this place. Sure, Sioux was going to help me, in theory, but what could she actually do?

And could I find a better way out on my own?

The idea was foggy and very fuzzy. Unformed and probably very, very stupid. I didn’t have any idea how it would work—or even if it would. There was, I thought, a 100 percent chance it would all go very wrong.

After all, letting Devil cut me had gone very wrong for me in the past.

But.

This time I knew what I was getting into. This time, I was going in with my eyes wide open, and that might make all the difference. If I was going to get out of this, I needed a weapon. I needed to shock Devil enough—maybe even hurt him badly enough—that I could get out of the house without him following me.

Right now, that wasn’t possible. Because I didn’t have any way of hurting him.

But if I got into a situation where I did have a way to hurt him, it just might work.

Step one: Convince him I wanted to play with him, and that I wanted to play rough.

Step two: Get my hands on a knife or two. Maybe even three or four of them.

Step three: Use said weapons to hurt Devil badly enough that he wouldn’t be able to come after me.

Step four: Get the hell out of the house and find the nearest freeway. Throw myself in front of the first car I saw and force them to take me back to town. Get in touch with Knight, or anyone in the Banshees and get to safety.

Was I skipping steps? Sure. Was there a very good chance that nothing would go exactly like I hoped? Absolutely.

Was it worth a shot, at least, if it meant I had a chance to escape and get back to Knight

For sure.

Hell, maybe I’d even manage to kill Devil in the process.

I walked toward him and ran my fingertips through his hair, biting my lip to keep myself from gagging. “It does get me wet,” I said quietly. “Give me a knife or two and let me strip for you, Devil, and I’ll let you do whatever you want to me.”

It had been a very long time since I’d tried to manipulate anyone, and I hoped he didn’t see through it. Because if he did, it would be my life on the line.

If he didn’t, though, and if it worked, this could be the route toward escape.

CHAPTER 11

KNIGHT

I COLLAPSED ONTO MY bed, hating that it was only mid-afternoon rather than night and hating even more that this was one more day where I hadn’t made enough progress on getting Saraya back.

Still, mid-afternoon or not, I needed some rest. My body was running on fumes and my brain was mush. I’d wrung too much activity out of my body and too many thoughts out of my brain, and I needed some sort of break.

Even if it meant delaying her rescue but a couple hours.