Bone and Steel (An Erotic MC Romance) by Talia Day Read Free Book Online Page B

nearby. 
     
    “I told you to shut up,” the woman beside me hissed.  “Don’t you get it?  Making a scene down here isn’t going to get you anything but punishment.  You think you have it bad now?  Just wait.”  Her words were cold and sent shivers down my spine and into my knees which began to shake uncontrollably.  I just wanted out of here, I just wanted to be back home, back to my boring life.  ‘WAKE UP!’ my mind screamed. 
     
    Hours passed and it seemed I fell in and out of consciousness, the darkness and fear overwhelming me and somehow distorting all sense of time.  It was a quiet, high-pitched sound that startled me awake, and as I struggled to understand what was happening a sudden burst of light blinded me.  I heard the shutter snap shut and realized instantly that someone was taking photos of me.  Again the sound heightened in intensity and once again the shutter snapped shut, a burst of light now illuminating the middle finger that I held out defiantly to the beast before me.  Through the darkness I heard the man chuckle as he snapped one final photo and moved forward.  It seemed he had some form of night vision goggles because he was able to make his way easily through the darkness.  I heard the rattle of a lock to my left and the woman who had warned me to keep my silence let out a low, exasperated moan. 
     
    My chest constricted with fear, for her, for myself, for every woman that was locked in this black hell hole.  She didn’t put up a fight as he drug her from the cage, but the sounds of her utter despair pierced deeply into my brain.  If I lived a thousand years, I doubted that I would ever be able to forget the sound. 
     
    As the sound slowly faded my stomach convulsed and I choked and spat uncontrollably.  A hand reached through the bars above me, startling me.  I launched myself backwards and away from the hand, fearful that the man had come back this time for me. 
     
    Landing awkwardly in the darkness I felt my ankle twist painfully to the right.  “It’s okay, it is just me… Felicia.”  A soft voice came from the darkness.  “I didn’t mean to scare you, I just wanted to comfort you.  We have all been exactly where you are.  Don’t worry though, somehow, you start to cope.” 
     
    Her voice trembled and cracked as she spoke.  'Some coping,' I thought to myself as the woman, clearly broken, tried to console me.  “Where are you?”  I asked gently, moving forward towards her again and sought out her touch.  My ankle was painful and throbbing but somehow the woman’s touch was enough to relax me and set my mind at ease, at least for the moment; I fell asleep.
     
                                                        **** 
     
    When I awoke my throat was dry and my stomach was growling with hunger.  “Felicia?” I whispered quietly. 
     
    “Yeah?”  She replied, her hand stroking my damp hair through the bars.  “When do they feed us? I am thirsty.  Is there any water?”  Up until this very moment I hadn’t thought about physical needs, as if my mind hadn’t considered the possibility of being here in this darkness for so long. 
     
    “Don’t worry, we aren’t any good to anyone if we are dead.”  My heart sunk further into the darkness and a tear welled up, rolling down my cheek.  I stuck my tongue out and savored the salt as it played on my taste buds. 
     
    The thud of footsteps approached, slow and menacing.  It sounded as if the phantom was wearing cowboy boots, each step tied to an ominous metallic click.  I felt my heartbeat spike and my chest constrict with fear.  I didn’t know how much more of this I could take, the darkness, the not knowing, the continual fear. 
     
    Where was Jacob?  How did I end up here?  A slew of emotions suddenly overwhelmed me and I began to wail uncontrollably.  Felicia pulled my hair forcefully, a warning to keep my mouth shut.