His Word...Discovery ~ Book One in the Trusted Saga (excerpt) - Available now. Link in Book Section.

~ Samantha Barnes ~

An oppressive weight pressed my body hard against the mattress beneath me. Panic began to grow, quickly threatening to overwhelm me.

My heart rate escalated when I became aware of a large hand clamped tightly over my mouth, pressing so hard the inside of my lip began to bleed when the edge of my bottom teeth cut in from the pressure, leaving me with a bitter taste of copper on my tongue.

Long, strong fingers were digging ferociously in my cheeks---so hard I knew there were going to be small bruises from the force.

Fear, and self-preservation kicked in, making me react.

Thrashing my legs around beneath the sheet, I tried valiantly to shift the weight from on top of me, the hand over my mouth muffling my screams trying to get out, and lodging them in the back of my throat.

My heart raced, pounding in my chest. I whimpered, realizing my attempts were futile against his weight, and tears of regret gathered in the corners of my eyes, overflowing until they trickled down the sides of my temples, and dripped in my hair before soaking the sheet beneath.

It hadn’t always been like this.

HE hadn’t always been like this.

For one brief second, I felt great sadness, for what could have been. My breathing became erratic, and I felt his weight shift slightly. A glimmer of hope began to grow, slightly easing the rising flow of panic welling through me, until I realized he only shifted enough to pull at the sheet covering my body.

That realization quickly extinguished the small glimmer, snuffing it out as quickly as blowing out a candle. With the sheet removed, I was left naked and shivering, but not from the cool air of the room caressing my skin.

It was outright fear.

Why? The question was asked, but I never received an answer.

His free hand captured my left wrist in a vice-like grip I knew I’d never pull out of. His superior strength won out, forcing my arm down the side of my body where he immediately clamped a bent knee on top of my palm, crushing my fingers beneath his weight.

I didn’t think my eyes could widen any more. But, they did.

He repeated the action with my right wrist, despite my efforts to fight against him. I was no match for him---I never had been.

I heard the swish of his leather belt when he tore it out of the loops of his black denim jeans---like the warning hiss of a snake before it struck.

The determined look in his steely gray eyes when he threaded one end of the belt beneath my neck, turned the blood coursing through my veins to ice.

I watched with disbelief while the corners of his mouth turned up in a slight smirk when he put the end through the buckle, and pulled. It constricted around my throat---so tight, I thought he was going to crush my windpipe. His belt was choking me, leaving me gasping for every slight bit of air I could drag in my lungs.

He slowly removed his hand from my mouth, and lowered his head to whisper in my ear. The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end under his breath.

“Don’t scream, Cherub. Or I’ll pull harder. Understand?”

As if to remonstrate, the belt tightened for a brief moment, and I nodded, expediently conveying my willingness to comply. The pressure around my throat eased off a little, and I drew in a deep breath, expanding my lungs to capacity.

He moved his knees off my hands, and I instinctively flexed my sore fingers on both hands while he slid down the length of my body. His hips hovered over mine, and he used his knee to wedge between my closed legs, forcing them to part while I grappled with the hand holding the belt firmly around my throat.

Trying to pry his fingers from the grip he had on the belt, infuriated him. The sickening thud when his fist connected to the left side of my face, and crashed against my cheek, stunned me into letting go of his fingers.

Once more, I tasted blood. I saw stars behind my eyelids, brilliant flashes of white dotting like a kaleidoscope. I felt the rising of my flesh as it swelled and throbbed.

Fuck, that hurt!

Fumbling with his one free hand, he released the button on his jeans, and drew the zip down before he pushed the denim down over his hips until the garment gathered just above his knees.

He held his erection in his free hand, and lowered himself down on top of me, positioning his swollen smooth crown at my entrance.

Leering down at me, his face was just inches away from my eyes. I smelt the familiar peppermint on his breath when his lustful, gray eyes held my terrified gaze. He rocked the head of his cock up through my channel, ready to plunge. Distracted from his hold on the belt, the pressure around my throat eased off.

Taking one last lungful of air, I screamed as loud as I possibly could.