Chapter 24

Sadie

A ccording to the last road sign I had seen since we passed the checkpoint, we were less than two hours from Grand Junction. I still felt on edge after being questioned by that cop. Even though I wanted my freedom, I was more afraid that they’d find Keelan because I knew exactly what would have happened if they did.

Keelan, noticing how tense I was during that next hour, suggested we do something other than stop for gas or snacks.

“Alright, listen,” Keelan started after shutting off the engine. He reached out and placed his hand on my knees, gingerly caressing my leg. The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end as I waited for whatever threat or warning he was about to give me. Despite the rising tension, he squeezed my thigh before pulling away.

What was that? Was he comforting me?

Keelan pulled his T-shirt over his belt, concealing his gun on his hip. “I don’t like seeing you this intense and shut down, so maybe a drink and a decent meal will help. I’m sure you’re dying to stretch your legs.”

All I did was nod quickly, hoping everything would go as smoothly as I had imagined. It would eat away at my soul if Keelan hurt someone else.

Just like the checkpoint, I wasn’t going to run. I wasn’t going to tell anyone I was a prisoner.

Keelan got out first, came to my side, and opened the door for me, reaching out and taking my hand. He ran his thumb gingerly over my skin before wrapping his fingers around mine and leading me to the front door. “Behave, princess.”

The laughs and memories today were now forgotten, and we were back to this.

You got it, psycho.

The place looked like the typical dive bar we had seen on the road trip so far. Motorcycles lined up along the front curb, and old country music played from the jukebox, blaring out each time the door opened.

There were a few shops on the other side of the road that were now closed, but other than that, there weren’t many places I could escape to, anyway. This bar seemed to be out in the middle of nowhere, and the streetlight barely illuminated the road. I would get lost within minutes due to how dark and secluded this town was.

Once we stepped inside, a few heads turned, looking at us. The small crowd consisted of heavily tattooed bikers with beautiful women in their arms, groups of people shooting pool, and a couple of men taking shots and laughing.

Keelan would fit right in, but I stuck out like a sore thumb .

We reached the bar, and Keelan gestured for me to sit. He ordered a beer for himself and a cranberry cocktail for me.

He remembered what I liked.

“Okay, Sadie,” he said, facing me once the bartender placed his beer on the counter. He had a playful smile adorning his lips, as if he wasn’t an unhinged kidnapper carrying a gun on him that he planned to use if I got out of hand. “Truth or dare.”

I let out a small, breathy laugh. “I’m not twelve, Keelan. Give me a break.”

This wasn’t the first time we’d played this juvenile game. When Keelan was seven and I was five, our families started forcing us to spend time together, so he and my brother often hung out. During that time, I watched them play this game. I was never invited—not until I turned eight. My brother and his friends introduced me to the game, which quickly became a source of torture for me. It gave Keelan an excuse to humiliate me—and he always did.

“Come on,” he said. “We spent the last few hours talking and sharing stories. I thought we were making progress today.”

“Progress? You made me lie to a cop while you hid in the trunk with that gun. All I could think about was that if I fucked up, you’d kill him. You also held the goddamn gun to my head. My nerves haven’t settled one bit, you absolute fuckwad.”

“You laughed this morning, didn’t you?” he said with a playful smile. “We’ve done nothing but fight or fuck on this trip, and now you’re all tense again.”

I slowly turned to him and glared despite the involuntary flip my stomach did when he brought up fucking.

“So, how about you have a drink and play a game with me? Then we can start over? ”

“You want to start over?” I said. “Keelan, I’m a captive, being dragged across the country to help you find some fucking box that my dead brother left behind that has nothing to do with me. Not only that, but you decided to be kind to me last night at dinner. I’m guessing that was some manipulation tactic to get you on my good side? Now you want to play some game that we did as kids where you always picked me to confess something I didn’t want to or do some stupid shit to embarrass me. I’d rather pick a song on the jukebox and join that couple by the dartboard.”

I wasn’t exactly sure where to go when I hopped off the chair and grabbed my drink, but I dramatically marched away from him. I didn’t get far before Keelan grabbed the back of my neck and yanked, causing me to fall a little and splash my drink over my black shirt.

Dick!

Frustration built inside me as the sticky, sugary liquid soaked through my shirt and, most likely, all over my beige bra.

That is going to stain.

Keelan pulled me back to the bar, grabbed my drink, and put it down. “Sit your ass back down, Sadie. Before you make me cause a scene.”

I bit my bottom lip out of anger but obeyed, hopping back up on the tall barstool. This time, I wouldn’t turn to look at him. Instead, I grabbed my drink, pressed the glass to my lips, and knocked down the entire cocktail in one long chug.

I set the glass down and immediately felt the alcohol loosen the tension in my body and dull the edge of my thoughts. I sighed and leaned back against the chair. Keelan placed his hand again on my leg like he did in the car, but this time, he ran his hand up my thigh and between my legs. I stiffened as his thumb pressed over my clit through my thin leggings. “Truth or dare … wife?”

I closed my eyes as he began to rub circles, and I squeezed my thighs together, taking a slow and steady breath. The sensation was irritatingly wonderful, and part of me wanted to slap his hand away. The other part was holding me back.

“Would you like another?” the bartender said, and I looked up. My cheeks flushed pink. Despite his complete disregard for public displays of perversion, Keelan surprised me by lifting his fingers from that sensitive spot, though he kept his hand on the inner thigh so close to it. Once the bartender placed her hands on the edge and met my eyes, he removed his hand completely from between my legs and grabbed his beer, taking another sip.

The asshole was smiling.

“Yes, please,” I said, swallowing down my nerves. I knew the only way I’d get through this evening was to get completely obliterated. I thought about that, being vulnerable around him. Though Keelan was an unapologetic criminal, a small part of my brain somehow trusted that he wouldn’t do anything to me in that state.

A very, very small part of my brain.

“Truth,” I said, thinking this might be the safest of the two options.

Keelan smirked, and his eyes raked over me.

I’m not going to like this question.

The bartender placed my drink in front of me, and I picked it up, taking a slower sip of my cranberry vodka this time. The ice-cold burn anchored my spiraling thoughts, easing the anxiety from my shoulders and legs.

“Despite your fear and complete hatred for me, did you think of me when Brian fucked you?”

I choked on my drink, almost spitting all over him.

The audacity of this man. “No,” I said curtly.

“Liar.”

My nostrils flared, and though I didn’t want to give him that satisfaction, I suddenly felt a little brave. “Okay, fine. Yes. I mean … sometimes.” I looked away. “Brian’s … different. That’s not always a bad thing, Kee.”

I knew that would earn me a glare.

Good. Seethe about it.

“I see .…” he said, leaning back in his chair while taking a swig of his beer, his eyes never leaving mine.

Despite how much I knew that probably burned a hole in his chest, it was the truth. I cared for Brian. Wait, I still care for him. However, what we had was different. Brian was sweet, intelligent, charming, and had his shit together. Just because sex wasn’t wild and animalistic like mine and Keelan’s was, Brian didn’t kill people. Brian respected me, unlike Keelan, who only wanted my body—a pretty little object he could use. Though, his confession in the car had me second guessing that detail.

But Brian doesn’t make me feel alive when I come.

Something in Keelan’s eyes shifted then, a subtle yet dangerous edge in his eyes that caused my stomach to tighten. Particularly when he slowly grabbed the napkin his beer had been resting on and crumpled it with his hands.

Great.

“Truth or dare?” I asked, hoping to pull him out of whatever crazy thoughts were going through his head from that comment .

Keelan’s eyes softened then, and he smirked.

Thank God.

This time, he raised his brow, as if he were genuinely curious about what I would ask him to do. I was never this bold, so I had to show him I wasn’t afraid. I also knew Keelan would do absolutely anything I asked him to. He was always a loose cannon and feared nothing like he had to prove a point.

“Dare,” he said, and my brows shot up. This was too easy.

“Okay,” I said. I couldn’t think of anything crazy, so I just spoke the first idea that came to mind. “I dare you to let me hold your gun until we leave the bar.”

Alright, maybe that was a little crazy.

Keelan’s lips parted, and he flashed his teeth when he grinned, cocking his head slightly to the right like he was thinking about it. It was ballsy, and most likely, he’d laugh and tell me no. It didn’t hurt to try.

He leaned back in his chair and adjusted himself, reaching over to the holster on his hip and pulling out his gun. Okay, that surprised me. When he hesitated, I let out a small giggle. “I was always better at this game than you.”

Keelan’s playful laugh actually made me smile, and I wasn’t sure why. It was rare how often he’d laugh like that, like some schoolboy who had just had his first kiss. That “nothing bothered me” look and the way he licked his bottom lip seductively, though I don’t think he was intending to look sexy as hell doing it.

He grabbed the bottom of the gun, pulled out the magazine, and emptied the chamber before putting it on my lap. “Here,” he said. “I don’t trust you won’t shoot me with it.”

“You’re cheating. ”

“You said gun, sweetheart. You never specified if it had to be loaded.”

I wrapped my hands around the gun and sighed. The weapon’s weight was imposing, though I had handled firearms like this growing up. My dad always made sure my brother and I knew how to defend ourselves, even though he wanted us to use them for intimidation, not safety. I just had to find a way to get those bullets back from Keelan, and I could leave.

Maybe I can club him with the damn thing.

“Truth or dare?” he asked, taking a few more gulps of his beer to finish it off. He waved his hand for the bartender to come over and ordered another. It had been a while since I had seen Keelan drink, but if he kept this up, I wouldn’t be sure we’d be able to drive out of here, which could also be to my advantage.

“Dare,” I said, knowing I would regret this one. Maybe it was the vodka numbing my brain, but I felt braver and braver by the minute.

I also didn’t want him to ask me any more questions about Brian.

Keelan smiled and leaned so close to my ear that his warm breath brushed against my cheek. “I dare you to follow me to the bathroom and suck me off until I cum all over your pretty mouth.”

At those words, a rush of excitement surged right through my core. But I also knew this was my opportunity if I was ever going to have one again.

Keelan can’t kill anyone if I have his gun.

“Okay,” I said way too quickly, watching his brows shoot up in surprise. He was probably thinking I’d put up a fight or argument .

Keelan leaned back and pulled his shirt up again to unhook the gun holster. He then pulled my shirt up and placed it on the inner part of my leggings, securing it over the strap. Once done, he gestured with his head to the gun, and I slipped it into the holster.

“Let’s go,” he said, reaching out his hand.

While he placed the magazine in his pocket, I downed the rest of my drink and put it back on the bar. I took a glance around the room. The patrons paid us no mind as we rose from the stools and headed toward the hallway in the back. Keelan grabbed my hand and escorted me to the ladies’ room. Once inside, he began to unbuckle his jeans.

“There isn’t a lock on the door, Keelan,” I said. “Someone can walk in.”

“Then you need to hurry,” he said.

I swallowed and moved to him, kneeling on the hard tile bathroom floor. I watched him pull his cock free, and it was already hard and ready, the veins bulging along his shaft. Despite myself, I could feel the pulse of arousal in my core.

“To be honest, Sade, I didn’t take you for a girl who runs for the first dick who said hello to you. How did you meet him, anyway?”

“Really?” I said, looking up. “You ask for a blowjob, and now you want to know about … him?”

“I’m entitled to know about the asswipe who thought he could touch my wife.”

“Jesus Christ,” I groaned, leaning back on my heels. “We met in town. He and I ran into each other a few times before he asked me out at the shop. Happy, you weirdo? ”

“I’ll be happy when I break his jaw, and you’re filled with my cock again. Speakin’ of which …” Leaning back against the sink counter, he reached out and tightly tangled his fingers in my hair.

“Put it in your mouth,” he ordered.

I wrapped my lips around his cock, having to stretch my mouth to fit his girth, and began to suck. Keelan sighed and moved his hips, his thrusts going deeper until I almost gagged. He wasn’t slow or tender but aggressively pushing himself into me as I used my tongue to caress his hard length.

It was pretty clear that this was my punishment for responding how I did when he asked about Brian.

“Take it like a good girl, Sadie. I dare you.” The corners of his mouth turned up into a wicked grin.

I closed my eyes as I sucked, using my hands to grip his muscular thighs. Keelan moaned, his hips bucking again, harder and faster.

“I’m already close.”

How is that even possible?

When I looked up, his expression was pure pleasure, and his head fell back. “Fuck,” he cried out. “This is just another reminder of who you belong to.” He closed his eyes, and his jaw tensed. “Forget it. I’m not coming on your lips. I want you to swallow, baby. All of it.”

Another thrill bounced in my stomach. Keelan was the only guy I had ever done that to, and I’d be lying if I told myself I didn’t fucking love it. The taste of him.

With a few more thrusts, he let out a moan, his warm liquid filling my mouth. I swallowed the slightly salty fluid down until he pulled out and then used the inside of my shirt collar to wipe the remaining cum off my lips. Keelan was still dripping from his cock when I stood, but he moved past me, heading to the towels to clean himself up. Slowly, I stepped back until my hand touched the handle.

And then I bolted out the door.

All eyes looked at me as I maneuvered around the tables. I couldn’t stop, though. I had to get as far away from Keelan as possible.

Once outside, I looked around. It was so dark, and though a few men and one woman were hopping onto their bikes, I kept running. It would take too many precious seconds to explain that I was being held captive and needed to escape. Keelan would catch up, and who knew what would happen then?

Behind the bar was another parking lot facing a forest that was too pitch black to see through, only a barbed wire fence that gleamed slightly from the moon.

Up ahead, I heard laughter and a few bottles hitting the fence.

I didn’t want to scream to draw attention to myself, so I ran to where the voices were. There was a black Chevy Malibu with a man sitting on the hood chugging a beer. His friend was on the other side of the car, taking a piss into some bushes.

“Help,” I said, but I kept my voice low, watching the man zip up his pants and come back around the side of the car, both staring at me. “I need to use your phone. Please.”

The men exchanged glances, and what followed sent chills up my neck.

They … smiled.

“I gotta say, we don’t see women like you at this place,” the man on the hood said, biting his bottom lip. “Fuckin’ beautiful.” When the other guy smiled widely, he flashed his crooked canine, which happened to be one of the few surviving teeth in his gums. The men reeked of booze, even from ten feet away.

“Never mind,” I said, placing my hand on the holster where the gun hid under my shirt. Of course, it wasn’t loaded, but they didn’t know that. “I’m going to leave.”

The man on the hood jumped off and placed his hand on his crotch, grabbing himself and moving it in circles suggestively. “Come here,” he said before spitting onto the gravel.

I didn’t wait before I pulled out the unloaded gun and aimed. “Back the fuck up!” I warned, hoping they overlooked the missing parts with the dim light around us—the two sneered, clearly unphased by the weapon.

The darkness of the parking lot was too much. Even with the faint light of the utility pole nearby, I couldn’t see shit. Suddenly, the pissing man ran toward me and slammed his fist down onto my wrists, which caused me to drop the gun.

Fuck!

He shoved me toward his friend, who caught me by the arms in a tight grip. I screamed this time, slamming my heel onto his foot and attempting to head-butt him, but he was too strong. The man started dragging me to his car, the both of them hooting with joy at the pretty bitch they caught.

Everything after that became a blur. The man slammed my face against the hood of his car, keeping me pinned on my stomach while he zipped down his pants, lining himself up with my ass. He gripped the back of my leggings and tugged, attempting to pull them down. As I tried to kick at his knees, I went to scream again when warm liquid splashed over my cheek and onto the car .

My eyes grew in horror as the man collapsed beside me, a shining, dark wound at the center of his throat, and I moved my hand to my cheek to see what it was: blood. I turned slowly to see Keelan standing there with a bloodied knife.

Behind him was the guy who had grabbed me, lying on the ground with a massive knife wound on his eye. Keelan’s expression was fierce and feral. I didn’t want to look down, but I did. The man who tried to rape me lay lifeless, his eyes wide and his throat brutally slashed, the crimson liquid dripping from the hood onto the gravel.

“Are you okay?” he asked, his nostrils flaring as he reached out. I was trembling so badly that I couldn’t answer. Once he wrapped his hand over the back of my neck, he pulled me close to his chest, hugging me so tightly that I could barely breathe. “You’re safe. Fuck, Sade, you’re safe.”

Safe? I wasn’t safe.

“We need to go before anyone at the bar sees these men,” he said. “Come on.”

This time, I didn’t fight him or try to run. Instead, I took his hand and let him lead me past the bloody men. I should have been terrified that Keelan killed them, or at least mortified by how easily he had done it. I had seen him do it before. But this was different. Instead of terror and panic at the murder, what I felt was relief. Though the man who held my hand had kidnapped me, all I wanted was to be by his side, away from the dead monsters who only wanted to hurt me.