Read my Lips

Chapter 17

Eliana woke up feeling disoriented. Her body ached. And the room was slowly spinning around her. She reached for the center of her chest where the worst of her pain seemed to be coming from. Running her fingers gingerly over the bruised and swollen skin between her breasts, she located two small circular wounds there. The cuts were shallow. But they still led her to begin questioning just exactly what in the hell she'd been up to. She wasn't much of a drinker. On rare occasions she would overindulge, if she was out with Amber. The problem with that explanation to why she felt weird was that Eliana didn't feel hungover. In fact, she felt the opposite of that, almost like she was high on something. She didn't remember taking anything. Not that she would even if she had the opportunity. The most she'd ever done was smoke a little pot. And this was not that type of relaxing in a bubble bath high. This was something she'd never experienced before.

Eliana decided that the first thing she needed to figure out was where she was. Then she'd determine how she got there. She was lying on a bed. The sheets under felt expensive. And they smelled clean. This was in stark contrast to the ancient looking rock hewn wall that the bed was positioned next to. Was she in someone's unfinished basement? Eliana slowly pushed herself into a sitting position and looked around. She searched her foggy mind for some clue as to where she was or how she got to this strange place. She remembered being outside in the dark. Someone was carrying her. Someone strong. The memory of being in his arms gave her a chill. And Eliana pulled the oversized shirt she was wearing closed, wrapping the material around her like a blanket.

The shirt smelled like soap and men's aftershave. And as Eliana breathed in the scent that was lingering in the fabric, suddenly everything that happened came flooding back to her. She stayed the night in Spencer's apartment. She was wearing his shirt. But a man broke in. Oh god, Spencer's mom! Eliana gasped, jumping to her feet in panic. The sudden movement made her head spin. Her vision went black and fuzzy. She fell back onto the bed. Tears sprang to her eyes as she remembered watching Diana crumple to the floor with her head bleeding. The man in the devil mask hurt her. And then he pulled out a gun. Eliana thought he was going to kill her. But he only stunned her. And then he must have brought her here.

Eliana forced herself up off the bed a second time. This time, she was able to remain on her feet until the dizzy spell passed. She shuffled forward, supporting herself with her hand on the wall until she reached the only other piece of furniture in the room besides the bed. A dresser was fastened to the stone wall. She ignored it for the moment, determined to reach the door. Like the room itself, the door was ancient wood reinforced with new boards. Eliana jerked at the handle. But the door didn't budge.

"Hey! Someone let me out of here! HELP!"

Eliana called out again. But this time there was an answer. The voice was muffled. There were two locked doors between her and the owner of the voice. But Eliana could tell it was a woman. She had a hint of a southern accent. And her voice was filled with fear and desperation.

"Be quiet," the woman hissed. "He'll kill you!"

Eliana considered calling out again. She desperately wanted to know where she was. For some reason, she had a sneaking suspicion she wasn't in Virginia anymore. Whoever grabbed her, took her a long way from home. But before Eliana could say anything else, the door she was banging on rattled. She heard the metallic clink of a lock being opened. Eliana stumbled back, catching herself with her hand on the edge of the dresser before she could fall backwards onto her ass. Her body felt heavy, like she was moving underwater. And her thoughts were coming to her at the same achingly slow speed.

She was afraid of what was about to come through the door. And Eliana fought back the urge to sink down next to the dresser and curl up into a ball. The room was small and next to the dresser wasn't going to be an effective hiding spot even if it wasn't. So Elaina stayed where she was, standing in front of the dresser with Spencer's shirt hanging most of the way open. It wasn't until her captor entered the room that she realized she wasn't wearing anything under the shirt. Not even her underpants.

She gasped when she saw him, a white ball of fear exploding in her body like lightning. The white devil mask he was wearing when he abducted her was still hiding most of his face. But he'd removed the lower half of it. She could see that this man was smiling at her. Eliana tried to commit everything about him to memory, knowing that she might need to describe him later. To the police. If she ever made it out of this dungeon alive, that is. His feet were bare. He was dressed in a snug fitting pair of blue jeans. And he wasn't wearing a shirt. To say he was physically fit was an understatement. He was buff, the muscles in his arms, chest, and stomach clearly defined. He had the type of body that she and her girlfriends would drool over if they saw him with no shirt on. Her ex Riley was built like that. Whenever they went to the beach, girls would stare at him. He never stared back. And at the time, Eliana thought it was because he only had eyes for her.

Unlike Riley, who had a trail of dark blonde hair that trailed down from his belly button, every part of this man's body that Eliana could see was either waxed or shaved completely bare. She wondered if that was an aesthetic choice. Or if he kept himself bare to keep from leaving any trace of himself behind. The thought made her shiver.

"You're finally awake," he said. His voice was a low gravely baritone. "That's good…" He stopped and smiled. His teeth were even and white against his tanned skin. It was hard to tell with the mask on. But his eyes weren't dark like hers. They were lighter. Green, or maybe even blue. He raked them up and down the length of her body as she stood there shivering in fear with her oversized shirt held closed. "...I'm glad you're awake. Because we need to go over the house rules."

"Why am I here?," Eliana asked. "What do you want with me?"

He chuckled softly at her question, as though the answer was obvious. "I want what every man wants when he looks at you. I want to fall in love…" He paused, taking a step closer to her. Eliana fought the urge to jerk back. She wanted to move away from him. But there was no point. There was nowhere to go. "And from now on, I'll be asking the questions. Do you understand me?," he asked. Eliana nodded. "Good," he said, his voice now something close to a low purr. "On to the rules then. Do not try to escape. And do not call out. You do not have permission to speak to my other concubines. If you break these rules, I'll make you regret it. Do you understand?"

Eliana nodded. Her eyes flicked to the bottle of water in his hand. She was thirsty. But she was afraid to ask him for water. He had the same stun gun he shot her with before in his other hand.

"I have a present for you," he said, smiling again. He set the water bottle casually on the dresser top before he reached into his jeans. When he extended his hand to her, there was a tiny yellow pill with a smiley face it on resting in the center of his palm.

"What is that?," Eliana asked.

"I told you it was a gift!," he screamed. His voice echoed off the rough stone walls. Eliana's body tensed and she immediately bit down on her bottom lip hard enough to draw blood. He just told her not to ask him any questions. She was already in a bad situation. She didn't need to make it worse by making this psychopath angry. But it was hard to think with her head spinning and her body tense with terror.

"Now you can either take the gift I brought you or opt for a punishment instead," he threatened.

Eliana glanced between the small yellow pill and the stun gun in his other hand. Then she reached for the pill, tossing it into her mouth and reaching for the bottle of water on the dresser. Whatever he was about to do to her, she'd rather not be sober for it anyway. She chased the pill down with a large gulp of water. And she kept drinking until the bottle was empty.

"Good girl," he coaxed. He was staring at her body, his eyes lingering on her exposed legs. "This will be our first time together," he told her. "I was going to dress you in something more appropriate. But I think I like the way you look in his shirt."

Eliana's lips parted in shock. She knew by now that she'd been kidnapped. But she assumed it was random. She had no idea that it had anything to do with Spencer. No one even knew they were dating. She hadn't posted a single picture of Spencer on her social media, even though she took a few of his bare ass when he wasn't looking. But she'd never post something like that online even if they were officially together. Eliana had no idea how this creep had any idea that she and Spencer even knew each other. He grabbed her from Spencer's apartment. But how in the hell did he know he'd find her there? Had he been stalking her? Or Spencer?

"Who's shirt?," Eliana asked. "What are you talking about?"

She didn't even see him lifting the stun gun until it was too late. Her chest exploded with a vicious jolt of pain. The entire room smelled like a xerox machine running on full tilt. And Eliana's entire body locked up. To his credit, her kidnapper caught her before she hit the floor. He cradled her in his arms, like he did when he was carrying her through the woods half conscious. And then he laid her down gently on the bed. There were ropes already attached to the headboard, prepared and looped in a way that all he had to do was insert her hands and pull the knots tight.

She felt him bind her wrists, one at a time. He wasn't in any particular hurry. His hands moved down, unfastening the two buttons that were holding Spencer's shirt closed. He touched her gently, like they were lovers. He told her she was beautiful as he stroked her face and massaged her breasts. There wasn't an inch of her body that he didn't explore with his hands and fingertips. It seemed to go on forever. And at some point, Eliana realized that her body was responding to his ministrations. Not because she was aroused by what he was doing. But because the pill he forced on her was causing some sort of physical reaction in her body. The forced pleasure made her feel worse, ashamed and sickened by her own natural body functions. All she could imagine was being forced to sit in a witness box and answer questions about this. Ma'am can you please state for the jury how many times you orgasmed during the attack. She wished he would just kill her.

He slipped his fingers between her legs. And when he felt how slick her insides were, he groaned. "I knew you were the one," he said, pushing his fingers deeper inside her. "He doesn't deserve you. He can earn ten PhDs and he'll still never be man enough to give you what you really need. Weak men like him hide behind rules and laws. Because they know if the playing field was equal, they could never compete with a man like me. He wouldn't even know where to start."

When her captor was done with his rant about how he was better than Spencer, the man in the mask stood up. For a moment, Eliana hoped he might be finished with her. Maybe he would just leave. But there was no such reprieve for her. Not this time. Tears slipped from the corners of her eyes as she watched him strip his jeans off. He wasn't wearing anything underneath. And his erection jutted out in front of him, huge and swollen with bulging veins. He leaned down and pulled a condom from the pocket of his pants. And once he'd rolled it down to cover his dick, he threw himself down on top of her.

"Keep your eyes open," he warned. "I want to see the look in your eyes."

Catching her chin between his thumb and knuckle, he forced her to look at the horrid mask on his face as he entered her. His body writhed and rocked. Like his caressing touches, the rape seemed to go on forever. And as when he finally came, it was with her name on his lips as he told her he loved her. That's when Eliana realized that he wasn't going to kill her. He was going to keep her here, alive. And he was going to come back and do this again. Over and over. Whenever he wanted.

Eliana wasn't sure when he left. Or exactly when the sickening euphoric feeling of the pill he gave her finally wore off. But the next lucid moment she had, she was curled up in a ball leaning against the door to her prison cell. Spencer's shirt was gone. Her captor wasn't going to allow her that bit of comfort. Eliana clutched her knees tighter against her chest and began to weep.

"Hey! Are you okay?"

Eliana's head popped up. And she leaned against the door. She couldn't be completely sure. But she thought the woman talking to her might be the same one that warned her before, when she was banging on the door to her room.

"My name is Kate McNamara. I'm a doctor at the Duke University Medical Center. Are you hurt?" Eliana felt a surge of hope bloom in her chest. But it was tempered with fear and paranoia. He told her not to talk to the other women. She was afraid this might be a trick. If she answered, he'd come back in with his stun gun. And next time, he'd do worse than put his dick where it didn't belong.

"Please talk to me," Kate begged. She pounded on her own locked door with her fist. And then Eliana heard another voice from further away down the hall.

"Shut up, he'll hear you!"

"It's fine," Kate hollered back. "If he was here, he'd be beating me senseless by now." If the other woman had any opinion on that, she didn't offer it. And even further away than the second voice, someone started playing a violin. Perhaps the musician wanted to drown out the sound of their conversation so she wouldn't be tempted to join in. Or maybe she was just playing to pass the time. There was a brief moment of quiet mournful music before Kate spoke again. "What's your name?"

Eliana took a deep breath. Her body shuddered as she let it out. "I'm Eliana Kaminski."

"Nice to meet you Eliana, I'm Kate. Are you hurt?"

Eliana thought about that. She was sore all over. Her chest still felt like it was on fire. And between her legs wasn't much better. She was still feeling the after effects of all the drugs he forced on her. But she didn't have any serious injuries. Not yet at least.

"He raped me," she admitted.

"I'm sorry," Kate replied. "He calls himself Casanova. The great lover. He raped me too. Twice. I've got to get out of here. There are times when he gets us all together in the big room. He likes the rest of us to watch while he… " Kate's voice trailed off. And then she spoke again, quieter than before. "If we all fight him at once, a few of us might be able to escape."