Eric sighed heavily, frustrated by the turn of events. More troubling than Kitten's attitude was the prospect of Raymond's upcoming visit. He had tried to call Raymond before, while the Kitten changed his clothes and combed his hair, but he did not answer. Eric could only surmise that Raymond was either on his way or ignoring him. He hopes the latter. The last thing he needed after a long and exhausting driving journey was to confront Raymond. Their relationship goes beyond complicated. For Eric, Raymond is a lot of things. At one point he was his guardian. Then a friend. And now? Raymond calls him brother. But Raymond is more than that. He held a kind of power and influence over Eric that he found uncomfortable. Eric was once a difficult teenager. After Narweh, he was left with fear that was slowly turning into anger. There had been times when they'd argued, and Eric had seen things in Raymond that he wished he'd never seen again. Raymond won't stop until his plan goes well. Everyo
"I know what I am," he said nonchalantly. “I always knew.” He looked at her from top to bottom. She slouched down on the chair, as if his gaze was poisonous. “It was me, because I thought differently,” Eric said. He watched the Kitten flinch. His words clearly hurt her feelings, but they were all true. The truth is painful for both of them. She had seen him as something else, something she thought was good. There was a time when he had the same thoughts as her. He never realized how much it meant to him, until it was no longer real. No one had ever acknowledged that he could be someone more than that, and yet he had just hurt the only person who could. Anyway, that's it. He wanted to go back to the time when he didn't know of her existence, the time when his life was only black and white, the gray area didn't matter. He longs for the simplicity of his old life, without a guilty conscience, guilt, humiliation, suppressed lust, and the worst sin, hope. He wanted to go to bed every ni
Eric knew exactly what he would do if he were in her position, because he had done it before. Many times he tried to find someone to help him, free him and save him from Narweh's abuse. He had heard the men who bought his body swear to love him. He had allowed himself to trust the affectionate words they whispered to him. But when it was all over, when they had gotten all they wanted from him, they betrayed his trust for Narweh. He remembered how his heart had broken when Narweh used his own words to mock him by beating him. “Sorry I suck at it. Sorry you find my attempt funny, but I don't know how to do better. You are all I know. Either way, I'm not trying to make you believe anything. I never lied to you. When I asked him to have sex with me, it wasn't a trick, hearing him say otherwise was painful to death, because…” her voice broke at last, tears welling up in her eyes. lie. Eric was bewildered. He didn't know what to do. Her words, her presence, and her pain affected him. He h
"Take it off." “Eric…” “There!” he growls menacingly, “not the way you talk to me. If you do it again, I won't forgive you." Kitten started to cry but stood still. “Yes…Please…don't…” “I gave you a choice. If you can't decide, I'll do it for you. Understand?" She sobbed, “Yes…Master.” But that word seemed too painful to say, but right now Eric didn't care about her pain. This was the last time she dared to challenge him. He watched calmly as she slid her shirt off her shoulders and finished off her panties. She stood there, trembling and sobbing, but finally yielding. "Kneel!" he growled as he watched her frantically follow suit. He smiled as her knees touched the worn-out carpet, and her hands went up to cover her breasts. His heart beat faster, and he almost groaned when his palm touched the erection stuck inside his pants. Slow and deliberate, he stepped toward her, watching with brutal delight as she closed her eyes and moved her lips; but she did not speak. He pulled her h
Day 6: I looked around the room and was frustrated by the lack of darkness and dryness. In my imagination, an interrogation room would look like this: a two-way mirror, a scratched metal table, a high-pressure light bulb in my face that makes me sweat. Instead, the room looked like a kindergarten classroom, with artwork and inspirational quotes plastered on colored paper hanging on the walls. I was sitting on a plastic chair, staring at Kudo on the other side of the round, faux-wood table in front of me. “All right,” said Kudo. He let out a sigh, “in chronological order: After being abducted, she spent about three weeks locked up in a locked room, in a city she couldn't remember. She runs away from a man named 'Eric', and is almost kidnapped for ransom by a guy named 'Tiny', and his gang. She then contacted her friend, Nicole Freedman, asking her to pay a ransom of one hundred thousand dollars and go to 'Tiny' in Chihuahua, Mexico, in exchange for her freedom. She didn't make it to
Kudo loosened his grip to an extent, the calmer I became, the more he relaxed, and as soon as I was free, I stood up. He is much taller than me; I wasn't even his shoulder height yet, so I had to tilt my head all the way up to scowl at him. “If you keep spitting at me, you won't like what I do next,” he said seriously, but I could still see the rarest smile. Eric. “What about what I want?” I whispered, taking advantage of the close distance between us. Now I'm not as bruised as I used to be, and I know what men like him, powerful men, love in women like me. I swung my body toward him, trying to act like it was just a coincidence. He frowned and looked at me strangely. Slowly, his hands came up and rested on my shoulders, they were warm. I wonder if his mouth is like that. I wet my bottom lip and his eyes follow my tongue. He reminds me. He reminds me too much of him. It's been days without anyone touching me the way I like it. He gently pushed me back. This man only knows he has a
Agent Kudo is back this morning, preparing for another interview, that's what he called, and I consider it an interrogation. Dr. Sloan got here an hour before him. I watched, nonchalantly, as she asked Agent Kudo to step outside with her. He gave me an annoyed look as he left. I guess he thought I was a rat. But I don't care, because it means I can keep quiet a little longer. When Dr. Sloan returned, she looked very nervous. It seems that what she heard made her angry. If I wasn't exhausted from grief, I would probably be smiling. Now she has calmed down. The door to my room was closed, keeping us inside, but she didn't ask me any questions…not enough. I rocked back and forth, holding a picture of Eric in my hand as I sat on the bed. He is so beautiful. I love you very very much. Dr. Sloan was sitting in a chair near the corner of the room, crocheting a sweater. What an odd look - unless she has an octopus pet that needs a shirt. Several times I desperately wanted to ask her what th
How did Kudo know about Felipe? Did he know more about Eric? Will he accuse me of murder? It's just self-defense. I have a feeling Kudo would be easier to talk to if my attorney wasn't here. Still a nasty guy, but less pushy. Dr. Sloan said he was a good man and would be of great help to me. Lately I don't have much faith in what people tell me, but a glimmer of hope is better than nothing. I took a sip of water as Kudo pushed the paper cup below my face. May he feel guilty, hateful man. David put his hand on my shoulder and I shook it, "Don't touch me." “I think we should take you back to your room, Miss Ruiz,” he said. “I want you to go,” I whisper, my eyes still fixed on the table. “What is that?” David said angrily. “I don't think that's a good idea, Miss Ruiz. I strongly advise you to keep quiet and let me do my thing.” "She wants you to go." Kudo said. He knows he won this battle. He cornered me, and I just let him do it. I should have noticed that he knew a lot, not just
It's just a feeling, but I've been feeling it for a while. Someone is following me. I contacted Kudo, and he seriously sent some scouts to see if I was in danger. He was supposed to see me in a few days, in the name of investigating a fake case. During that time, he wanted me to behave normally. He didn't want my stalker to find out I knew.Kudo said he had heard several reports of people targeting Raymond's allies. Raymond has been missing for over a year and his government is not happy about it. They think the FBI has something to do with his disappearance. Of course they have no proof. Kudo didn't seem too upset about that, though. The culprit is clearly an unknown person. He freed eighteen women from sexual slavery.When I first heard the news, I immediately thought it might be Eric, and my heart felt like it was being squeezed by someone. Kudo didn't say it, but I think he might as well suspect Eric. It showed in the way he asked if I was likely to know who the person was or if s
Johnny sits across from former Miss Yena Ruiz. She looks terrible. Her long dark hair was pulled back from her face and pulled into a messy bun. She has dark circles under her eyes and doesn't eat much either. The lack of food kept her in the hospital for another 72 hours, but they couldn't keep her once she decided she wanted to leave. Agent Sloan was also in the room. The revelations of the case were hard to swallow for her, too, and Johnny wished there was some way to comfort her without misleading her into thinking he was seducing her. She went to his room after visiting Yena at the hospital, and learned about his last conversation with Yena. They discussed the case for a while, but then she wanted to talk about the night they had sex, and he had to tell her frankly that it was just a one-night stand. She called him a coward. He called her even worse. “Is this the last piece of paper?” Anne Caliph asked. “Yes,” Johnny said. “Once you step out of this room, you will be Anne Cali
“Why don't you let me decide for myself what is right? I want to stay with you.” I said choked. My heart rate increased, and I couldn't hold back the tears anymore. You're giving me a chance to go back home, back to my life, back to what I said I wanted - but all I can think about is, it doesn't matter if That means I'll never see you again. He tightened his grip on the steering wheel and pressed his forehead against it, “You don't know what you want, Nana, and what you want, you're just brainwashed into wanting them.” I immediately inhaled, trying to protest; He raised his hand to stop me. “I've been doing this for a long time - manipulating people to my liking. That's why I think I love you. Because you broke me and then put me back together and made me believe it. This is not an accident. Once you've left everything behind…you'll see that." I could barely see him through the mist of tears clouding my vision. Eric believed what he said. I could hear it in his voice – but he was w
I was just unbuttoning my shirt when it happened. There was a huge explosion and something hit me right in the face. I reached up to touch my cheek. The breath left me in a heartbeat. Eric was above me, screaming, but I couldn't hear what he was saying. Looks like I didn't hear anything. My head ached. I bumped it to the floor when Eric lunged at me. Bricks flew everywhere. “Nana!” Eric shouted as he shook me. It pierced the silence in my head. BOOM! Another flood of rubble flew towards us. Eric lay on top, covering my face with his hands while burying his head near my shoulder. There's someone out there shooting at us. My eyes drifted to the door and I could see huge holes in what used to be wood. We rolled to the back of the bed. My whole body was shaking and I had no idea what was going on. Eric was pushing me and I cried out in pain. “Get in the tub!” He shouted. Then he pushed me again. I managed to get up on my hands and knees. Crawling towards the bathroom, I squirmed in
The mansion is very quiet, strangely quiet. No Felipe. No Celia. No Raymond. Eric didn't answer and I didn't ask any questions.It was very hot outside, even though it was only early morning. I realized I hadn't stepped outside in a long time, under the bright sun. I am wearing clothes. I was…free. My footsteps stopped when that realization hit. FREE!“The truck isn't far, keep going,” Eric said coldly.I felt myself choking, an excited laugh escaping my lips, “Where are we going?” I said with tears of joy in my eyes."Please don't ask. Just go with me.”I looked at him, the pain on his face was so intense. Now is not the time to argue with you. Whatever he was doing, it seemed like a big deal. It will change everything between the two of us, but he is begging me to go with him, and when the man you love asks you to go with him – you will.We walked less than a mile, but I was amazed at the overall scale of Felipe's mansion. Whatever his business is, it's probably making a profit. We
Fear aside, I parted my lips and let his tongue invade my mouth. He groaned as I wrapped my arms around him and pulled him down on top of me. I tug on his dirty shirt and he pulls away from the kiss just long enough to pull it over his head. Sand and blood, I'm sure, fell on my face, but I just wiped them off with the back of my hand and continued to kiss Eric. His hands were everywhere at once, touching my hair, pulling me close, squeezing my breasts. His pillow hill slid between my knees, pushing them apart. I opened my legs and let Eric's lower belly press against me. I can feel his masculinity, confined in his jeans, pressing against his inner thighs. As we pounced on each other, a part of his wild personality seeped into me and before I knew it, I pushed him aside. He grabbed my shirt and let out a sound I understood to be a warning. “Yours, Eric. I promise," I said. I grabbed the hem of my shirt and pulled it over my head, exposing my breasts to Eric. His mouth came in, causi
Eric has been gone for hours. I sat on the floor, next to his gun, waiting for something to happen, anything. So many times I thought about leaving the room and looking for him, but still tried to convince myself to give up the idea. Eric told him to wait. So I wait.A sense of dread began to rise as I saw light seeping through the curtains. The sun was rising and Eric hadn't come back yet. I wonder if Celia will return, but I doubt it will. The bridge between us has been completely burned down. The only consolation was knowing that she would keep Felipe from harming me.Suddenly, there was a very loud thud at the door, and then another hour. My heart almost jumped in my throat, but then I remembered Eric said he'd knock twice. I reached for the gun, just in case.I watched the revolving door handle and when the door swung open I could barely absorb what I was seeing. Eric stood in the doorway. His body was covered in mud. Blood stains everywhere.“Eric?” I managed to whisper, but sti
“There will be no trial,” Kudo said. He started walking again, a fist resting on the back of his neck. “I know how it is. I don't want to believe it, but I know. I've been arguing with my boss for the past few hours. There will be…” Kudo seemed very flustered. “There will be a lot of arrest warrants, I'm sure. Those who are auctioned will no doubt be taken to a shelter, but… no justice will be served. Not the kind that those victims deserve.” "How can that be?" I sobbed. “How could you let that happen?” “Raymond is a senior officer in the Pakistani Army, Nana. His government will not allow a scandal to get out. They agreed to let our government take part in the raid on the condition that they keep their men out of the way. When the chaos is over, it's up to them to decide who's present and who's not, that's how international political organizations work." I felt like someone had just hit me in the chest with a heavy wooden stick. For the second time in my life, I understood Eric's
“Are you sick?” Eric whispered. His blond brows furrowed nervously. I've never seen him like this. He looks so happy and peaceful. I reached up and stroked his beautiful face. "I am fine." He wiped my eyes, "Then why are you crying?" "I don't know," I replied and continued to run my hand over his face. "I think I'm just happy." He smiled, "Strange reaction to happiness, but that's okay." He bent down and licked away one of my tears. I squirmed, “What are you doing?” I laugh. "I'm curious," he whispered seriously. "About what?" “Will happy tears taste the same as sad tears?” he replied. His words made me cry harder. I can't control them. I am overwhelmed by everything. "And?" I managed to ask. "I think they're sweeter," he replied, kissing me, "but maybe it's just your face." We burst out laughing. I heard voices. I sat up in bed. For a few seconds, I forgot where I was. The room is very small. There are bars on the window frames. The bed wasn't Eric's. “I can't come back