An Unyielding Desire (After The End Book 2) (9 page)

Her mouth felt numb as she whispered, “I like it.”

“Do you love it when I pound you?” He moved more urgently, scraping her back up and down the tree.

Tears of pain came to her eyes, but she nodded. “Love it,” she mumbled.

“You’re going to love this.” He surged deep within her, filling her as he came.

As he spent himself inside her, Mina let her head roll to the side, not looking at him. He kissed her neck, and as he said against her ear, “Be waiting for me tonight,” she honestly hated her life at that moment.

*****

She made herself wait for him. Mina lay tensely under the covers, unable to sleep, and waited for the sound of her door opening. It came late in the night. Without a light to see the clock, she couldn’t be sure what time, but estimated around midnight.

He shed his clothes before climbing into the bed with her. Mina couldn’t help comparing the sly way he sneaked into her bed with the way she’d been going to Coop for the past week. Would he worry about her tonight, since she hadn’t come to
him? Her stomach jolted with dread as she considered the possibility he might come check on her. If he found Shane in her bed, without her trying to fight him off, he’d never believe she wasn’t a willing participant. That would be the end of any possibility of having a relationship with Coop.

She almost snorted aloud at the absurdity of that thought. There could be no relationship with Coop, beyond friendship. Shane would make sure of that. There was no escape from him.

She squeezed her eyes shut when he stroked her face before bending his head to kiss her. The kisses were gentle and sweet, and he slipped his tongue inside her mouth to stroke hers. Mina wanted to bite his tongue, but knew she would pay harshly for rejecting him. It took all of her will power to just remain still under his coaxing onslaught, instead of shoving him away. Tenderness was so much worse than force.

“Good girl, doing what you were told.” He quickly stripped off her nightgown and underwear. Mina squirmed with humiliation, but didn’t try to fight him. “A good girl like you deserves a reward.”

“I don’t deserve anything,” she said in a raspy voice.

“Sure you do.” He moved his mouth down her body, his ultimate goal easily inferred.

Mina shook her head, whimpering in protest, as he violated her in the most intimate way possible. She cursed him and herself as her body responded. When he’d made her come twice, he seemed satisfied with his cruelty and entered her. She endured the sex, but couldn’t banish the images of him between her legs from her mind. It made her sick, and she almost vomited on him, barely pushing him aside in time to grab the chamber pot and heave out the remains of the meager amount of dinner she’d consumed.

He pushed her hair off her face in a tender gesture, seemingly not
angry that he hadn’t finished before she shoved him off her. “Get it out, and you’ll feel better.”

She heaved again, but produced nothing this time. When she looked up and saw his huge grin, she glared at him. “Only a sadistic bastard enjoys someone else’s suffering.”

He laughed instead of looking angry. “Remember it’s for a worthy cause, Mina. It’s normal to feel miserable for the first few weeks.”

At first, she thought he meant being coerced into an unwanted relationship, before it clicked that he thought she was pregnant. Considering she’d just had her period during the six days she’d managed to hide from him, it was unlikely. Seeing how happy he was, she didn’t tell him that though, not wanting his ugly side to emerge. “Why are you so anxious for me to get pregnant?”

Shane’s look suggested he found the question stupid. “I’m forced to watch Ty growing up a bit more every day, bonding with Tony. He called him Da yesterday. It breaks my heart.”

Despite how much she hated and feared him, she still found a bothersome shred of sympathy poking at her. “You can’t replace Ty with another kid.”

He shook his head. “I know that, and I’m not trying to. I just think our baby will ease the ache.” He cupped her stomach protectively. “I can’t wait ‘til you start showing, and I can feel it kick.”

A heavy weight seemed to settle on Mina, and she knew she couldn’t allow him to keep thinking there was a baby. He would just be angrier when he found out the truth, and she knew he’d be more devastated the longer she waited to tell him. It shouldn’t bother her at all if he was completely crushed, but she wasn’t as soulless and cruel as she needed to be to handle Shane without any empathy or emotion. “I’m not pregnant,” she admitted reluctantly.

He tilted his head, his hand still caressing her belly. “It’s been long enough to start having symptoms, Mina.”

She nodded. “Yeah, but I had my period a few days ago.”

Disappointment was evident in his expression and the way he sighed deeply. After a moment, he seemed to rally. “It’s okay. It hasn’t been that long. We’ll make a baby in no time.”

Mina’s resolve
to avoid that at all costs wavered as an idea occurred to her. “If I give you a baby, will you stop coming to my room at night?”

Either he willfully misinterpreted what she wanted, or he was just too self-absorbed
with his goal to understand what she was offering. “Of course not, Mina. Like I said the first time, I’m going to make love to you until you’re so big it isn’t safe. Having my baby won’t make me lose interest in you.”

It was a relief to hear that, but only because it didn’t put her in the position of deciding whether she could stand to have a baby for the man in order to buy her freedom from him. The idea of trading a helpless infant for her sanity was sickening, and she couldn’t believe she had even briefly entertained the thought. Shane was already turning her into someone she didn’t recognize.

Chapter
Six

Mina winced as her back collided with the pantry door the next morning. Emme was standing nearby, holding an armful of jars, and she frowned. “What’s wrong?”

Shaking her head, she said, “Nothing.” Her back was raw and abraded from the tree bark, and she’d accidentally started it throbbing again when she’d hit the door.

Looking like
the severe older sister she was, Emme set the jars down on the counter in the kitchen after they walked back in before turning to face Mina with a frown. “Let me see.” When she shook her head, Emme put her hands on her hips and sounded stern. “Turn around now.”

Reluctantly, Mina turned away from her sister and slid off the flannel shirt. The tank top underneath slid up easily, and she hadn’t put on a bra, since the hooks rested right against a particularly sore spot.

Emme hissed. “My god, what happened to you?”

“I fell against a tree.”

“How many times? Fuck, Mina, it looks like you took a grater to your back.”

Mina hunched her shoulders and pulled away, starting to push down the shirt.

“No.” Emme’s hands stopped her. “You stay right here. I’ll be back in a minute. That needs to be cleaned before you get infected.” Her voice softened. “Don’t explain if you don’t want to, but please let me take care of the abrasions.”

Mina nodded and leaned against the counter as she waited for Emme. She jumped when someone exhaled raggedly, turning to find Shane staring at her back with remorseful eyes. Tugging at her shirt, she turned to face him, but he pinned her against the counter before she could complete the move.

“Dammit, Mina, why didn’t you say something yesterday?”

She looked over her shoulder to meet his gaze. “Honestly, I didn’t think you’d give a damn that you were hurting me as long as you got off.”

He winced. “I’m sorry.” His eyes were a soft brown, with gold flecks. “I never want to have to hurt you, and this could have been prevented if you’d said something.”

She shrugged. “As I said, I didn’t think you’d care.” Mina turned away, stiffening when he moved closer, pushing up her shirt to ghost his lips across the sore spots. It made her shiver with a combination of physical pleasure and mental revulsion. The confliction was the absolute worst part of this mess with Shane, she decided. Her mind and body couldn’t seem to sync up and reject him. He knew just how to make her feel good—as easily as he could hurt her or make her feel
awful—and she had no means of defense.

“I care, baby girl.” He pressed a kiss to her neck before straightening up as they heard Emme returning.

She frowned at the sight of Shane standing behind Mina. “Are you okay, sis?”

Mina managed a tight nod.

Shane gave her a charming smile. “I was just looking at her back. Looks like hamburger.”

“I was thinking it looked like someone
grated it,” said Emme in a neutral voice. “We’re going to take care of it now, if you could leave please.”

“Yes, D
oc.” He saluted Emme, seemingly without any annoyance at being banished, and left the kitchen.

“What a jerk,” said Emme, as he left.

Mina arched a brow. “You mean he hasn’t won you over with his charms?”

Her sister scoffed. “There’s something I don’t like about that man. Roll your eyes if you want, but my intuition screams at me to avoid him whenever I’m in his presence.”

“I’m not going to roll my eyes,” said Mina. “Like Dana says in her lessons, part of defense is trusting your instincts and listening to your intuition.”

“Do you like him, Mina?”

“No.” She could answer that without equivocation. He left her a jumbled mess, but she certainly didn’t like him.

“I think it’s best if we both stay away from him.”
Emme worked quickly, cleaning her back with cool water before applying a thick paste of something that smelled funky. Mina sniffed, wrinkling her nose. Maybe this would be enough to ward off Shane, at least for a while. When she’d finished, Emme put her hand on Mina’s arm. “Are you sure you don’t want to tell me what really happened?”

Mina looked away. “It was a tree.”

Emme sighed loudly, clearly not convinced. “Keep it dry, and see me at least once a day for the next few so we can apply more salve.”

Mina slipped from the kitchen to start her daily chores, conscious of
Emme’s gaze resting on her until she was out of sight. It was obvious she’d gotten her sister curious, and a probing Emme could be frightening to face. She hated thinking her sister was suspicious about something, though she was sure Emme didn’t think she was doing anything wrong. If she wanted to keep her secret, she’d have to make sure she was cautious around Emme.

*****

A week later, she knew she had to approach her sister again, even though it would mean a resurgence of the thoughtful, probing glances her sister sometimes directed toward her. They had just started to fade a bit, as Mina had made a conscious effort to act normally. That had been a challenge in itself, considering she didn’t sleep well, except on the few nights she’d managed to sneak out to sleep with Coop after Shane slipped away. Her appetite was nonexistent, and when she did manage to eat, she felt like throwing it up half the time. Mina was sure it wasn’t pregnancy. Just old-fashioned anxiety and stress.

“This is probably the last day you’ll need the salve,” said Emme. They were in her room, where she had a huge wall of dried herbs and various concoctions she’d prepared. “You’re healing nicely.”

“Good.” Mina gnawed on her lip anxiously. “Um, I need something from you, Emme.”

“Sure, sis.” Emme touched her arm as she pushed down her tank
shirt and slid on the light sweater she’d selected. “Do you need something for your stomach? You don’t seem to be eating well. Ulcer?”

“Um, maybe.”

Emme turned to the wall, searching her jars until she pulled down a large one filled with a beige-gray powder. “Slippery elm bark. Drink a cup of tea before you eat, and you’ll feel better within a couple of weeks.”

Mina took the small muslin bag her sister had measured out some into a few minutes later. “Thanks, but that’s not all.”

Emme propped her hip on her worktable. “What’s up?”

“I need more tea.”

Her sister frowned. “What kind of tea?”

Mina focused her gaze on a jar of what looked like dried rosehips. “The contraceptive kind,” she whispered.

Her sister looked deeply worried. “Honey, I know I told you to use it until your next cycle, but if you haven’t had one by now, we might need to consider that it didn’t work.”

Frantically, she shook her head. “No, it’s working. I had a period two weeks ago. I just can’t run out.”

“You don’t have to keep taking it after your period, Mina.”

She gripped her sister’s arm forcefully, not realizing she’d dug in her nails until Emme winced. Mina lightened her touch. “Please, I just need it. I can’t run out.”

Her sister’s expression changed subtly. “Oh.” She gave her a small smile. “Who’s the lucky fella? Coop, isn’t it? I knew there was something between you two…” She trailed off with a frown. “Not Coop?”

Mina didn’t confirm or deny it. “Could you please refill it for me?”

“Of course, but you don’t have to be embarrassed.” Emme touched her cheek to get her attention. “But you aren’t, are you? There’s something more to it.”

Panic flared in Mina, prompted by her sister’s perceptiveness and by the way Emme had touched her face. Shane often touched her that way. She began to tremble, and her stomach churned with nausea. Her vision narrowed until she could only see the blue of
Emme’s eyes, and her heart raced.