Chapter Ten

CHAPTER TEN

Ace

M y skull was pounding something fierce as I slowly dragged myself out of the darkness. My jaw was throbbing, the pain rattling through my teeth and down my throat. I could even feel the low throb of it in my fucking ear canal.

“Oh, he’s waking up,” a deep voice crooned, but not in a soft, soothing way. It was condescending and cold. It made shivers of trepidation slide down my spine.

And it immediately made my eyes snap open. Bright light assaulted my eyeballs, making me hiss a breath through my teeth and wince. I blinked rapidly, trying to force my eyes to quickly adjust. When they did, I turned my head and looked at Johnny Dorman, my lips curling in a sneer at the sight of his sick, twisted face.

I tried moving my wrists, but they were bound to the surface I was lying on. My heart slammed against my chest bone, fear gnawing at my insides. When I tried moving my ankles, I realized they were bound, too. Vomit swirled in my gut, and when he reached forward, tracing my jaw, I had to swallow bile. My stomach was revolting, and my body began trembling despite the bravado I was forcing.

“You really do have such a pretty face and a perfect mouth,” Dorman murmured, tracing my bottom lip with the pad of his thumb. I turned my head away, and he gripped my jaw, forcing my head back around so I was forced to look up at him. I swallowed more bile. “I’ve got a few clients who would love to break you and force you to bend to their will.”

“Fuck you,” I sneered, fear clawing at my throat. “And get your goddamn hands off of me.”

Dorman’s face twisted into a sneer. Clearly, he had no patience, and I was going to use it to my advantage. I’d mouth off until he killed me before I allowed myself to become a rape victim again. Before I ever allowed this son of a bitch to sell me off to the highest bidder.

Death was always the better option. Going through all that shit a second time would destroy me.

“While other men—and some women—might enjoy the mouth you’ve got on you, Ace Journey,” my teeth clenched at the sound of my full name, “I do not. Don’t test me, boy.”

I snorted. “So, you what—personally kidnapped me and you can’t handle me? Is that it? Not man enough to?—”

His fist connected with my cheek. My head slammed to the side, and my teeth cut into the soft flesh of my mouth, blood welling on my tastebuds. Another of his fists rained down, smacking me in the temple. And then another. And another. I laughed and laughed, blood spilling from my mouth and pooling on the metal table until finally, blessed darkness wrapped me in its comforting arms.

“Gunner?” I called, dragging my hand down the wall. The hallway was so fucking dark. And it seemed never-ending. There were no doors. No windows. Where was the goddamn exit?

“Just keep following my voice, baby. I’m here. I’m always here.”

Tears welled in my eyes and spilled down my cheeks at the sound of his strong, steady voice. Pain exploded in my rear end, and I screamed, my legs trembling and threatening to give out on me. Vomit crawled up my esophagus, and I choked as it poured from my lips, spilling down my bare skin.

Why was I naked? Where did my clothes go? I looked down at my body, panicked.

“Papa?” I cried, sobbing. Everything hurt. My head was going to explode. I screamed again when my hole was forcefully stretched open, and I retched again. My legs gave out beneath me, and something pinned them down. “Papa!” I screamed.

Where the fuck was my Papa?

“I’m coming, Ace baby. I’m coming for you. I swear to you, I’m coming. And when I do, I’m slaughtering everyone who put their hands on you, sweet boy. Just hang on for me.”

I jerked awake, a scream tearing from my abused throat as I just got stretched wider and wider. “Shut him up,” someone growled. A rag was stuffed over my nose, and then, everything went dark again.

A rough slap dragged me awake. I groaned, the stench of vomit stinging my nostrils. I ached everywhere, especially in my ass and my face. My hands and ankles were bound again, but this time, they were just bound together and not to the table, which gave me a little bit of mobility. I’d have to be smart about getting the fuck out of this mess.

“Wake up, boy,” Dorman snarled, slapping me again.

I spit in his general direction, laughing when I heard him mutter a curse right before his hand wrapped around my throat, cutting off my airflow. I blinked up at him through blurry eyes, darkness threatening to pull me under again. I was extremely weak and tired, and I just wanted to sleep.

I needed to sleep.

“Go fuck yourself,” I slurred, my words strangled. My eyelids were too heavy to fight against.

“Don’t you?—”

The loud explosion of gunshots rang out from the hall. Dorman jerked back from me and rushed for another door away from the hall, running like the coward he truly was. Gritting my teeth, I rolled, then rolled again until my body dropped from the table and landed on the floor with a loud thud that knocked the breath from my lungs. I was pretty sure I bruised a few ribs, too.

I bit back a whimper, trying to force myself to breathe. I couldn’t just lay there and be a sitting target. I had no idea who the fuck was here, but I needed to find cover. Because if it was an enemy and not someone here to help me… well, I could find myself in a much more dangerous situation than the one I was currently in.

When I moved, my vision blurred, the pain in my skull threatening to take me under, but I forced my eyes open wider. I couldn’t give in. Not yet. I needed to get these bindings loose and get the fuck out of here.

I wiggled across the floor like a caterpillar, having to stop every few seconds to remember to breathe. To not pass out. To not vomit all over myself again. The pain was damn near about to drag me under. And I was pretty sure I was bleeding rectally, which definitely wasn’t a good thing.

Boots thumped into the room—two sets. I paused, holding my breath, willing myself not to make a single move or sound.

“Ace?”

I burst into tears, sobs tearing from my throat. “Papa?” I cried, slumping to the floor. He was here. He’d come, just like he’d promised in my dream, though I hadn’t dared to believe it. But he was here . He’d come for me .

I could give in now. I could give into the pain and the nausea and the fear. Because he was here, and he would keep me safe.

“Got Dorman,” I heard Jax announce. I turned my head to the side, blinking through blurry eyes filled with tears as Jax dragged Dorman out of the room he’d disappeared into by the back of his shirt, an assault rifle slung over his shoulders.

“Good. Hold him. Ace?” Gunner called again, his boots thumping across the floor.

“O-Over h-here,” I choked out, my vision becoming dark around the edges again.

Gunner rushed around the table and dropped to his knees next to me, quickly rolling me over and sitting me up. His jaw was clenched, his eyes burning with fear and concern and anger as he yanked his knife from his belt and cut my bindings. Immediately, I clung to him, sobbing as I buried my face in his neck.

“Can you walk, baby?” he roughly asked. I shook my head. I didn’t think my legs would hold me up. “Alright, sweet boy. Just hold on to me, okay? Can you do that?” When I nodded, he pressed a kiss to my temple and stood from the floor, his arms beneath me, cradling me to his chest. He looked at Jax. “Make him fucking suffer. I need to get Ace out of here and to a hospital.”

Jax nodded, a chilling smile tilting his lips. With that, Gunner quickly left the room. Immediately, two men I didn’t recognize flanked us, rifles at the ready as Gunner rushed to the nearest exit. I just quietly cried into his neck, not daring to look up, not wanting anyone to see how much of a mess I was. It was bad enough that Jax had seen how bad off I was.

Sunlight suddenly warmed my skin, and then, Gunner was depositing me into his truck. He slung his rifle into the backseat, then ripped his shirt over his head, draping it over my body. Once I was buckled in, he closed my door and pulled his phone from his pocket, calling someone as he rounded the truck.

“Yeah?” Jax asked, sounding a little winded but… cheerful? I heard a gurgle. “Just finishing up.”

“That was fast,” Gunner grunted as he shifted the truck into drive and peeled away. He set the phone on the middle console and reached over, grabbing my hand in his and lacing our fingers together. His bare arm flexed as he fishtailed onto the highway, speeding toward… somewhere. God , my head hurt. “Meet me at the hospital?”

“Yeah. Which one?”

“The one we passed about five miles from the warehouse,” Gunner told him. I moaned in pain when he hit a rough bump. My head slumped back, darkness threatening to drag me under again. “Ace baby, hang on for me. Don’t go to sleep.”

“I’ll be there shortly. I’ll take Dorman’s vehicle and have Arlo come grab it and get rid of it.”

“Sounds good,” Gunner told him before he ended the call. “Baby boy, talk to me. Please. You’re so pale.”

“Don’t feel good,” I muttered. My words were too slurred. I was going to pass out, and I couldn’t stop it any longer. “Everything hurts. I don’t think I can stay awake, Papa.”

“Ace baby?—”

My vision went dark, and peace finally settled over me.