Page 14 of Ravage (The Wellard Asylum #6)

T he sight of her naked on the shower floor sent me into a frenzy.

My first thought was how damn sexy she looked, and the second one was that I broke my new toy.

That thought alone pushed me into action to get her frozen body away from the cold shower spray that was pelting her skin.

Her lips were tinged blue, and I almost hate to say that it was one of the most beautiful things I’ve seen.

Her skin was slick and frigid as I dragged her against me, hoping that the close contact would wake her up.

Her eyes started to flutter, and I think she thought that she was dead—that is until her vision fully focused.

I could see the moment she realized who had saved her from her frozen tundra, and the animated change of her emotions was euphoric to watch.

The more she fought me the more it turned me on, and I fear I would have taken her there on the bathroom floor if I wasn’t a strong man.

When she let me pick her clothes out for her without a fight, I knew that I had started to finally get through to her, and that made me preen like a canary on the inside.

I wasn’t lying when I told her that things could be perfect between us; all she had to do was fully submit to me and things would be grand.

But no, she’s a stubborn one, and I have no doubt that she will fight me tooth and nail for even an ounce of submission.

Her fight is an aphrodisiac that keeps me coming back for more.

The journey to my conquest of her will be rough, but well deserved.

Her tiny fists pounding against her bedroom door make me wonder how they would feel pounding against my own flesh.

Would it feel like the brush of a butterfly's wings, or will she finally give me back the pain that I no doubt deserve? It’s been an hour, and she has yet to tire from her plan of breaking the door down.

I'm sure she's bruised her fists and feet from how hard she’s been throwing her body into the wood. Within that hour I’ve been crunching numbers to pinpoint her perfect dose of the potassium I snagged out of the med room at work.

If she won’t submit on her own, then I will just have to give her a little nudge in the right direction.

Make her feel like she has no other choice but to give in to my whims. Once I’ve narrowed in on the magic number, I walk over to the fridge and grab the orange juice, pouring her a healthy glass before measuring out the dose and dropping it into the cup.

I grab the makings for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and place it on a plate with a banana and then head back to her room.

Balancing the items in one hand, I quickly unlock the door and push it open along with the pretty lady that was slouched behind it.

Using my foot, I push the door closed again before turning towards the disheveled beauty seething at my feet.

“I brought you some food. You need to eat after that fiasco I walked in on earlier.” I say, setting the plate and glass down on the dresser.

She shakes her head at me before climbing to her feet, backing up to put distance between us.

The movement makes me seethe, watching her back away from me like a petulant child.

Just to antagonize her, I step towards her slowly as I speak again, “You will eat. If I have to force-feed you, then I will.”

“No, you won’t! Get out of my room, Kole. I don’t want anything to do with you right now.” Her slim arms cross over her chest, and her hip pops out to the side. The attitude she throws towards me makes my fists clench at my sides.

“You underestimate me, Sloane. You have no idea what I’m willing to do to get what I want.

” Her back finally hits the wall, making her feet come to an inevitable halt.

My hands cage her in against the wall, leaning down so close that my breath makes strands of her hair float around her face while I speak, “It would be easier to just save your energy instead of fighting me at every turn. Eat the food, Sloane. It’s not like I poisoned it.

” I push off the wall away from her to punctuate my words.

“How can I trust that it’s not poisoned? You just told me that you would do whatever it takes to get me to do what you want.” Her eyes roll so far back into her head I fear they will fall out and roll across the floor at our feet.

“Why would I go to all this trouble to get you to give in if I was just going to kill you? Do you realize how dumb that sounds?” My hand sweeps up and brushes her hair behind her ear.

I can visibly see the gears turning in her mind while she tries to conjure up another excuse to not eat the food.

Her food really isn’t poisoned, but to her, the potassium I slipped inside would probably classify as it.

She thinks on it for a moment before finally giving in and taking the plate from the dresser, then plopping down onto the bed.

She sniffs the sandwich and the juice, trying to find any hint of a suspicious smell, but I know all too well that she won’t pick up on any weird stench.

“It’s not going to bite you.” I finish with a smirk and a chuckle, which she promptly rolls her eyes at.

I wait for her to take several bites of her sandwich before I start to get nervous that she won’t touch the drink.

Once she’s scarfed down the entire sandwich, she finally picks up the glass of juice and chugs it like she hasn’t had a drop of liquid in days.

My smirk turns into a full-blown smile as I watch her polish off the juice in the glass and set it back on the plate.

Before she can get up, I graciously grab the plate and the glass from her.

She scoots back on the bed, her back against the headboard, watching me with an eagle eye.

I leave her to her devices, exiting the room to put the dishes away and make sure all exits are secure.

I don’t need her trying to escape before the drugs kick in.

Making my way to the front door, I arm the alarm and the new lock that I picked up from the hardware store.

The store associate assured me that it would be perfect to keep my unruly child inside my home.

I walk through the apartment checking all of the window locks before settling onto the couch to wait for the games to begin.

I’m almost giddy with excitement as I pretend to watch the newest serial killer documentary that dropped on Hulu.

It’s my favorite pastime to criticize the killer’s methods and how they utterly failed at being discreet.

These killers were more worried about how famous they would be than about completing the act itself correctly.

After a few hours the sun has gone down, leaving the TV’s glow the only thing that lights the room.

I’ve gone through about five different documentaries, all roughly the same in nature, because god forbid anyone be original anymore.

As soon as the next show starts, Sloane’s bedroom door creaks open, and I hear her stumbling steps coming down the hall.

“Kole?” Her beautiful voice reaches me as she comes around the corner, her face pale in the low light with her hair plastered to her sweaty forehead.

“I—I don’t feel so g-good.” She trips over the living room rug on her way to me, sending her towards the floor.

I reach my arms out just in time to catch her before she crashes to the floor.

Her body is pressed against mine, her breathing is erratic, and her eyes are glassy.

“I don’t know what’s wrong with me. Everything h-hurts.

” She stumbles over her words as she looks up at me with a pitiful look.

I brush her hair away from her face, her eyes going in and out of focus while I cup her cheeks to direct her gaze.

“Look at me for a minute.” I scan her face, noticing her watery eyes and flushed face. “What hurts?” Her breathing is sporadic as she tries to digest my words.

“I-I…” She tries to get the words out but she gets choked up, and then I see the telltale sign of what’s about to happen next.

Sloane leans over my arm and pukes up the contents of her stomach all over the white carpet.

Inside I’m jumping for joy because my plan is working, but on the outside I’m in full-on nurse mode.

“Shit! It’s okay, get it all out.” I pat her on the back until she’s dry heaving and her head is leaning against my thigh, her eyes closed in exhaustion. “Maybe the orange juice was bad; did it taste okay?” I question her already knowing that everything was just fine.

Her dry lips part before she croaks out, “Everything was good; I don’t know what happened, Kole.

One minute I was sleeping, and the next I felt like I was dying.

Everything hurts.” She looks up at me with tearful eyes, her lips trembling as she speaks.

She truly looks pitiful in her destroyed state.

“Don’t worry, I’ll take care of you. Everything will be okay.

” I give her a gentle kiss on the forehead, brushing her clammy cheeks with my thumbs.

“Let’s get you cleaned up now, yeah?” A soft smile mars my face to assure her that everything will be okay, but inside I know exactly how this is going to end, and only one of us will come out victorious.