Untamed

Chapter 10

(ElAINE)

I was thrown into a room that was a great improvement from the dungeon. At least instead of landing on a cold stone floor I landed on a soft one. I laid there and ran my fingers through the thick carpet. The thick rug was expensive. It was soft and dark green. It was so large that it covered most of the floor. I was grateful to land on the rug instead of a hard stone floor.

The main piece of furniture that stood out the most to me was the large bed in the middle of the room. It was concealed by a canopy with thin golden material. I inched to the bed and pulled back the curtain cautiously expecting someone to be there waiting for me. The bed was empty except for a small red box on the pillow. I pulled the golden string that held it shut and a necklace fell into my hand. It was a giant emerald. It was so large I thought it would tip me over if I wore it around my neck.

I knew it was a gift from Roderick and my hand started to shake.

Earlier he had kissed my neck then to my relief the door opened and a servant had walked in. Immediately he released me and I was able to get away from him. I hurled the jewel and the memory across the room. It hit the wall with a thunk then fell to the floor in a knotted heap. He was a disgusting man. I wanted him to die for touching me. He deserved to die. I sat on the edge of the bed and trembled.

"Stop it." I whispered to myself as I tried to pull myself together. This was unacceptable. I wasn't allowed to be scared. I had to be tough in order to get out of this situation. There had to be a way out. "Think."

I pulled my knees up to my chest as tears welled up in my eyes but I refused to let them fall. I had to get out I couldn't stay here. Roderick would force me to marry him against my will then who knows what else he would do. I was at his mercy and in his control. I had been incredibly stupid to leave Ben. All I wanted to do was to go back to Elondra or Chedix. It didn't matter which one. I imagined the feel of Ben's arms around me like he had held that other woman in the clearing. Now that I had left him all that I could think about was him. I was going insane. I hadn't ever needed a man to make me feel complete. I wasn't going to start now.

The squeak of the door knob turning had me on my feet and hiding behind the canopy on my bed. It wasn't the best place to hide the slightly see through fabric wouldn't hide me for long. All my new guest had to do was walk around my bed and they would see me cowered there. Sinking to the floor I rolled underneath the bed. The rapid beat of my heart would surely give me away as I tried to quiet my loud breathing. I mentally ran through all of my options. I didn't have anything to protect me other than my bruised hands. I was in an unfamiliar place with nowhere to go.

I could see two large boots walking around the room. They paused in front of the bed just a few inches in front of my face. The bed skirt that hung just an inch above the ground was protecting me from sight. The floor length fabric of the canopy parted as the person looked inside.

"Elaine I know you're in here." He said.

Roderick.

I watched his large boots circle the room as I laid there under the bed like a child.

"You can't hide from me forever."

He laughed.

"I want to pick up where we left off before we were so rudely interrupted." There was a sudden weight on the bed and he sat down. The mattress sunk down under his weight almost touching me.

"It wouldn't be so bad you know." He bounced slightly getting comfortable. "I could teach you a few things." I nearly gagged.

The hand on my ankle made me scream and try to crawl away but he yanked me out from underneath the bed. I rolled to the side kicking my legs out and throwing my arms around. The grunt let me know that I had succeeded in hitting him. I jumped to my feet and started running for the door. It was unlikely that I would be able to figure out the layout of his home before he caught up to me but that didn't matter. I just needed to get away.

But the layout didn't matter because I never even made it to the door.

I was yanked off my feet and my head collided with a small table that had a flower in a vase on it. The vase fell to the ground and shattered into a thousand pieces and I landed in the shards of glass. My palms were torn open as I caught myself with them. The air left my lungs as something large landed on my back. Roderick was sitting on my back. He rolled me over in the bed of glass so he could sit on my chest. He straddled me with his knees pushed against my ribs and the length of his shins locking me in place. I struggled but I couldn't move.

"That's much better." He said when he leaned over me clasping my wrists in his hands holding them out at either side of my face. I kicked out with my legs trying to get my knees up to hit him in the back. For a second he released my wrists and sat up. That was his mistake. I pushed him while arching my back throwing him off balance then managed to hook my ankles around his neck and yank backwards. His whole body smacked against mine but I threw him off as I scrambled away from him leaving with a kick to his head. His neck jerked sideways as I fumbled with the door handle.

It was locked.

From the outside.

He started laughing. A low deep chuckle that morphed into a high-pitched falsetto girlish giggle that was eerily familiar and made me think of a rock dungeon.

By now he had sat up and was looking at me with blood streaming from his temple as he laughed. I wished I had kicked him harder.

"They weren't kidding." He chuckled spitting a stream of blood on the floor as he sat up. "You are strong." He stood up leaning against the wall to keep his balance. "You will agree to marry me. You know that don't you?"

"I won't." I growled.

He laughed again then fumbled in his pocket and pulled out the key to the door. I looked at the key that was just a few feet away from me. If I could get it away. Then I would be free. But there was no way. Even with him slightly disoriented he was still so much stronger than I was.

"You will." He said when he took a step towards me I cowered away from him. I wished I could have stood tall and spat in his face. But it would have just gotten me hurt. He would overpower me in an instant and I would have more problems than bleeding palms. "Believe me you will marry me." He said with his hand on the door handle. "Goodnight my dearest." He whispered sweetly as he pulled open the door and shut it behind him.

"Sweet dreams!" he crooned from the hallway then he left me with a loud giggle.