Saving Suki (Horse Mountain Shifters Book 4) Read online

  “Dog’s don’t have thumbs.” His tone conveyed his warning and threat.

  Trembling as she stared at his scuffed footwear, she grasped the small plastic piece on the end between her teeth and pulled until she’d untied the bow. She had to feel around with her lips and shake her head from side-to-side for what seemed like forever until she’d disengaged the knot. He reached down and rubbed her beside her ear, and as his rough fingertips, brushed against her skin, her stomach churned. Don’t fucking touch me, you piece of shit!

  She didn’t dare say what she felt. Instead, she kept her head down, her gaze on his shoes rather than his face. She tried to stay calm, but her heart pounded so hard, controlling her breathing was difficult.

  “Good, girl. Now pull out the tongue with your teeth to loosen her up for me.” She glanced up at him; her eyes narrowed and her lips pursed. He grabbed her chin and squeezed. “You can wipe that look right off your face unless you’d like a little training. I’ll be using a choke chain and a muzzle, but it won’t be a newspaper I’ll be hitting you with. You will be taking my shoes off this way every day from now on until I get tired of you.”

  The way he said the last few words sent a shiver up her spine. He’d already shown himself without bothering to hide his face. I’m expendable, and he wouldn’t have any qualms about killing me. It’s more of a matter of when he’s ready. She leaned forward and bit down on the leather tongue before tugging like an animal. Tears pooling in her eyes threatened to fall, but she blinked them away.

  She moved on to the second boot without being told and he chuckled while pulling off the first. His foot odor hung in her nose, making her want to gag, but she swallowed down her revulsion and completed her task before sitting back on her knees. As he reached over and scratched beside her ear again, she involuntarily flinched, making him guffaw.

  “You must be starved. Stay right here, and I’ll be right back with your din-din.” As soon as his footsteps were far enough away, Suki leaped to her feet and checked the windows. They’d been tinted so the asshole could see out but no one could see in, and all four had been glued shut, not that they weren’t far too small for her to exit through anyway. She ran to the bathroom, but there were no windows there. Exiting the room, she heard footsteps returning. In a fit of desperation, she peeked into the dog kennel, and noting the blanket inside, she hid the nail file underneath before running back over and taking her place on her knees by the chair again.

  The stranger who’d taken her returned carrying a plastic bottle filled with water and a box of generic cereal. He filled her bowls before demanding, “Eat. Drink.”

  He set the items in his hands down on a nearby shelf and stared at her, his hands on his hips as he looked down his nose. He clenched his jaw, a slight smile playing on his lips as if he’d love for her to try to defy him.

  Her skin crawled as she kept her gaze on the floor and traveled over to the bowls on her hands and knees. Her chest heaved as she stared down at the dry corn puffs. She hesitated but the fear of him shoving her face into the water bowl if she took too long urged her to dip her head. She fought tears as she used her lips and tongue to force a few pieces of food into her mouth. She chewed slowly, hoping she wasn’t expected to eat the entire serving.

  He stood over her, his shadow looming as he watched. Her hair swept the floor as she ate another mouthful. “Don’t forget to drink.” Suki moved over to the water bowl and stuck her tongue in the water, lapping the liquid into her mouth like an animal. Humiliation clung to her as heavily as a drenched shirt in a rainstorm. Her face flamed as his laughter hung in the air above her. “Good job.” He reached down to pet her, but this time his nails raked over the back pocket of her jeans, making a scratching sound.

  She tensed, and her stomach roiled. His touch wasn’t sexual—he hadn’t looked at her with lust, only hatred. He’s trying to embarrass me more. He wants to dehumanize me. To break me. She gritted her teeth. Good thing I stashed the file. A small glimmer of satisfaction steeled her resolve to survive.

  “Eat up, girl, while I unwind.”

  She turned her head enough to see him plop down in his chair and pick up a remote control before returning her attention to the food. The bland, dry pieces of cereal crunched between her teeth as she chewed. As disinterested as she was in finishing the meal, for the time being, she needed to humor him. She ate as much as she could until her mouth became so parched swallowing was difficult. She glanced at the bowl of water. As much as she despised drinking like an animal, she had to stay hydrated. Droplets wet her chin and lips, and the effort seemed out-of-proportion to the reward for the small amount of drink she managed to consume.

  This sucks. She continued the back-and-forth between the two bowls while gathering her thoughts and brainstorming her rescue and escape options. Granny will be expecting my nightly phone call. She’ll wait an hour or so, but then she’ll start calling me, and when I don’t answer, she’ll call dad to check on me. He’ll go to the Patterson house. Her dad had a key, but she hadn’t texted him the new alarm codes. Doesn’t matter. I hadn’t set it—that’s how they got in…stupid, so damn stupid! Mal and I were in such a hurry to run together…I wanted to feel the wind in my mane and experience the change with the man I love.

  Her chest ached as she considered the events leading up to her abduction. The time she’d spent with Mal, shifted and untransformed, had been amazing. Her bottom remained sore, but she hadn’t hated his claiming of her ass. She clenched her buttocks, remembering how he’d owned her. He had to be wondering where she was.

  I didn’t even tell him why I was bolting out of there. Will he be worried? Even if he’s angry…surely, he’ll come looking for me, but how will he ever find me? A tear rolled down her cheek. She turned her head toward her shoulder, wiping her face on her shirt. I can’t let the bastard over there see me crying. He’ll enjoy it.

  Suki didn’t know where she was or even how far she’d traveled. She had no idea who had taken her or why he hated her so much. No one would think to search for her at his house. If she was going to live, the only person capable of saving Suki was her.

  Using her tongue, she pushed the deformed paperclip farther back along her cheek for what seemed like the ten millionth time. Twice, she’d nearly swallowed her make-shift tension wrench. As she tongued the last bite of food, the end scraped against her cheek and gums. Grimacing, she glanced at her kidnapper to see if he was looking at her. She released the breath she’d been holding after seeing him focused on inserting a disk into the DVD player. She snatched the paperclip out of her mouth and dropped it inside her bra before resuming her mortifying dog posture until she lapped up enough water to rinse all the remnants of food sticking to her teeth.

  “Finished eating?” His voice sounded calm, but a lump formed in her throat all the same. Suki sat up on her knees and nodded. “Alright, come rest on your bed next to me while I relax.” He pointed at the designated spot. He grinned, a flash of malice in his cold, shark-like eyes. “Dogs don’t make a fuss.”

  If his facial expression wasn’t enough to scare her to death, his tone while delivering the last line made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. Her knees already ached as she trekked over to the plush, round futon placed inches from his seat and crawled on top. He watched her sit down, and the sides of his thin lips curved into a tight frown.

  “Okay for now, but you need to do better. Three circles and then curl up.” He shook his thick finger at her in a scolding fashion. Her lips parted as her eyes widened. He lifted an eyebrow. “Got it.” A low growl accompanied the question. She closed her mouth and nodded. A nostril on the left side of his nose lifted in a sneer. “Good.”

  Warm shame burned Suki’s face as she blinked back tears. He returned his attention toward his television, clicking on his movie. Suki didn’t pay any mind to the woman on screen speaking or the background music as she glanced around while trying to determine if anything in the room could be used for weapons. Unfortunately,
the area was a bit sparse. He hadn’t left a single paperweight or heavy knick-knack for her to bash over his head, and his trophies were displayed on a high up shelf. She would require a stool to reach them, and he wouldn’t even allow her to stand.

  As the sound of a woman’s heavy breathing and moaning drew Suki’s attention, her head jerked in the direction of the noise. She gasped as she realized her kidnapper was watching a porno and had his dick out of his pants. He glanced at her, a smirk playing on his lips, as he grasped the base of his shaft. She looked away as fast as possible, her heart pounding as she resisted the urge to vomit. She pursed her lips, tears pooling at the corners of her eyes as she turned her head. Why is he doing this?

  His groans taunted her, filling her with disgust and a heap of fear. She didn’t think he wanted sex from her, but she wasn’t positive he wouldn’t force himself on her as some sick form of torture. She heard another loud moan and a tinge of bile crept up her esophagus and into her mouth. When Mal’s lips had been by her ear as he made sounds of pleasure, wetness had filled her pussy as the tender flesh swelled with arousal, but every time the bastard in the chair next to her expressed his excitement, she felt sick and imagined the area between her legs drying up fast enough for a burst of sand to gush out.

  Suki’s kidnapper continued moaning and fapping, but suddenly kicked down the foot of the recliner and stood. As he took a step toward her, Suki’s stomach dropped to her knees and she shook with fear and revulsion until he walked past her and continued onward to the bathroom. His rapidly softening cock still in his hand, he paused at the door to threaten, “Don’t even think about moving. This place is locked up nice and tight.”

  Her pulse pounded in her ears and tears she could no longer control ran down her cheeks. Fear and stress tensed muscles she didn’t even know she had. She heard the toilet flush and the sink’s faucet running before he returned and knelt in front of her. Although she tried not to show any emotion, she imagined her fear was evident enough based on how smug he looked.

  “Do you remember me?”

  She shook her head. “No.”

  “Master.” He gritted his teeth, nostrils flaring. “I don’t want you talking, but when you do, that’s what you call me.”

  A whirling ball of living, breathing fury whizzed around inside Suki’s stomach, but for the time being, she was helpless to do anything. “No, Master.”

  “Remember how I asked if you were one of those talented, partial-shifting types?” He tilted his head as he waited for her reply.

  “No…I mean, yes, I remember, Master, but no, I’m not one.”

  He nodded. “Didn’t figure you’d have many talents being as you’re a warped abomination.” He wrapped his hand around her nape, applying slight pressure. “But I’ve got a special ability.” He paused as if he were waiting for her to say something, but Suki didn’t speak. “Not a partial shifter, mind you, but lots of us have unique gifts. I hear some shifters, particularly a few of the canine varieties, have an amazing sense of smell—even better than bloodhounds—they can smell milk souring days before it does.”

  Suki sniffed, her tears flowing more freely as she gulped. His close proximity to her filled her with terror, and if she still had the file, she would have already tried to stab him. Her line of vision wandered down to the stun gun holstered on his hip, and she scrapped the idea of fighting her way out with such an inefficient weapon.

  “A lot of the matriarchs are matchmakers. They’re always trying to pair their people up with their fated mate, and some of them are decent at the job, though I often wonder if they’ve developed some sort of sense at it or were born with the gift I have.” He paused, his cheeks filling out like apples as his mouth pushed into a gargoyle-like grin. I’ve always been able to tell if a couple was fated. See my parents were, and from the time I was a baby, anytime they were close enough to one another, I could see this pale, yellow aura wrapping around them like a ring. I saw it that day when that self-righteous asshole, Malcolm Patterson, stuck his nose into my business and pushed me and my buddy around.”

  He ran a hand through his brownish-red hair, pushing it away from his forehead. She squinted, and for a split second, if she imagined a small layer of baby-fat rounding out his face, she could see the boy he had been. She blinked away the memory of the pale, round-faced middle-schooler who had helped another kid trip her. The pain she’d felt when she hit the ground hadn’t stayed with her, but she’d never forgotten the insults he’d spewed at her or the venom in his voice. Ollie. His name is Ollie. She remembered the dirt on his face and how quickly his bravado had died when confronted by someone larger than him.

  “I was so disgusted I could barely catch my breath. The rich boy, rodeo champion was fated with an atrocity like you.” He scoffed, shaking his head. “Serves him right, really, but if I let the two of you have a life together, not only would you be wealthy, but your filthy, half-breeds would contaminate the Banks clan—my clan. I can’t have that.”

  Suki looked away—meeting his gaze was like diving headfirst into a hot pit of bubbling hatred. She placed a hand on her chest, hoping to settle the hallow, aching.

  “I kept an eye out. Seemed like he was out of school for a while. Lucky for you that cousin of yours was more vigilant than ever those days. Mal even quit the rodeo circuit. At first, I was afraid it had something to do with you—maybe something happened when you rode off in the car with him.”

  Suki’s eyes widened. “No way! I was only ten. Malcolm would nev—”

  A burst of pain spread across the side of her face as his palm connected with her cheek. She gasped and rubbed the offended area.

  “I didn’t ask you!” He grabbed her by the throat. “Didn’t I tell you not to speak unless I told you to?”

  As his grip tightened around her neck, she nodded as best she could while struggling to breathe. He squeezed harder, choking her until she felt dizzy. Releasing his grip, he raised his hand as if he were going to hit her again. Suki shrunk back, putting her hands up in front of her face. His expression lightened as a sinister smile spread across his face.

  “That’s better. Anyway…where was I before you opened your fucking trap…” He didn’t seem to expect her to answer as he looked off to the side as if collecting his thoughts. “Oh, yeah, I never saw the two of you together, and then he moved away. It seemed like he’d dodged a bullet. He was a couple of years ahead of me in school, but I followed him to college after I graduated. The fucking dumb ass spent all of his time with humans—still did until he came back here for his old man’s funeral. I’ve been watching him, waiting for the best time to get my revenge, but he didn’t seem hung up on anyone or anything enough for losin'em to hurt.” He smirked. “Till now.”

  “I don’t understand, Master.”

  He laughed. “I knew you were stupid. You always had to go eventually. We’ve still got a lot of cleaning up to do, but you were high up on the list of bitches we needed to remove from the gene pool, but that prick mate of yours came back, smelled those pheromones, and started fucking you. Now I can kill two birds with one stone.”

  She scooted back on the dog bed until her back pushed against the wall. “Master, what do you mean by remove?” She gulped.

  He ignored her question. “You’re a filthy Marks so I imagine you spread those legs for anyone. Malcolm Patterson was just one more, but for him, you’re special. See, I saw how my father was after my mama died when I was in high school—broken. Now, I’ll get to see Malcolm go through the motions of his miserable life, never knowing you’re at my house, removing my shoes, bringing me my slippers…we will be working on that later.” He winked and nodded. “Learning to roll over and speak…all of it.” He smirked. “Oh, and being punished.”

  “Punished…” she whispered the word as all types of horrors raced through her mind.

  He tapped a finger against where he’d hit her face. “That’s a taste, but not exactly what I had in mind.” He stood upright, looking away as if he’d
lost interest in her. “I’m going to go make my dinner. I’ll be back later to put you to bed. If you make any noise, I will gag you. If you cause any trouble, you’ll regret it. Understand?”

  She swallowed the lump in her throat. “Yes, Master.”

  “Stay in your bed for now.” He stood and strode off to the bathroom. After pushing up on her knees, she rubbed her smarting cheek. I’m going to pay that motherfucker back for this. She scooted forward on the dog bed. Feeling his gaze settling on her, she made the three-turn loop before resting on her side.

  He tossed a damp washcloth at her. “Wipe your disgusting, blotchy face. I don’t want snot everywhere. I’m not sure about your clothes. I want you to look more like a dog, but for now, you can wear your stuff.”

  Curled up in the fetal position, Suki cried. She couldn’t believe what had just happened. If…no, when her dad or her cousin, Collin, found out, they would kill that mother fucker. Maybe Mal would want a piece of him too—they’d have to wait in line. None of them wanted him dead as much as she did.

  While he was away, she took the opportunity to hide the bobby pin and paperclip in the dog kennel. She’d noticed the padlock on the wire-mesh front and had every reason to believe he’d be sequestering her inside for the evening.

  When she heard Ollie returning, Suki flopped down on the large floor pillow and pretended to be asleep. The sound of his footsteps ended as he stepped off the stairs onto the carpet. Her heart pounded so hard her head ached, and as something landed nearby her with a loud thud and jingled, she jolted upright, eyes wide open.

  A tangled mess of leather and metal had been tossed in front of her. Suki wasn’t sure what she was looking at until Ollie dropped on his knees in front of her and then fished out a choke chain. She swallowed back her revulsion, biting her bottom lip as he fastened the torture device around her neck.

  Fresh tears welled inside her eyes as he picked up a black dog mask. Except for the eyeholes, the soft leather covered her entire head, almost completely dehumanizing her face. The front had a molded dog’s snout, but there were buttons to allow eating without removing the mask. Does he intend for me to wear it at all times?