Leather & Lace- THE SPECTER SERIES [book five]

Chapter SEVENTEEN

Lacey Paxton

You shiver on the floor of the warehouse office, trembling so hard your bones rattle.. But you are numb, empty and utterly destroyed inside as you keep your eyes fixed to the floor, shame ebbing its way into the pit of your stomach, where it would make its new home, while David Kingsley buttons his pants and fixes his belt.. "You've been a good girl, Lacey, but I feel you could be better still, don't you, love?.."

You wrap your arms around your bare chest, unable to to bring yourself to look up at him, unable to move, or speak..

It is as though your very will to exist has been stolen..

Your blood roars, pounding in your ears as the walls crush in on you and your own skin becomes a claustrophobic cage from which you'll never escape.. Lost in a sickening daze you struggle to maintain your presence of mind as the office door swings open, and the same man who had earlier dragged you from the lockup enters..

He closes the door behind him, crossing the floor with a small dark vial and a hyperdermic needle, which he passes to David Kingsley who begins to prepare the syringe, immediately and methodically.. "Hold her down, Blue.."

Kingsley commands cooly as he inspects the vial between his fingers and his accomplice stalks towards you without remorse and without a moments hesitation..

You recoil violently, scrambling backwards on your naked backside as you begin to whimper, holding up your arms defensively.. "What is that?! No no no!.. Please.. Please don't do this!! .. Why are you doing this to me!?.."

The stoney eyed thug ignores you, remaining completely unaffected by your pleas as he takes you roughly by the arm, shoving you to your belly before kneeling on your back, pinning you to the floor, spayed out like the human equivalent of one of those creepy, macabre bearskin rugs you'd expect to see in a gentleman's club or a hunting cabin..

Fighting with all that is left of your might, you squirm and scream, kicking out your legs and clawing at the old, torn linoleum beneath you until your fingernails bleed.. "No!.. No, Get off me!"

With the suffocating weight bearing down on your back between your shoulder blades, the next thing you know, you're feeling the biting sensation and sharp pinch of the needle as it pierces your bruised neck and the chilly flush of the liquid injection follow as it enters your bloodstream ..

....

Your eyes snap open in the dim lamplight of the safehouse as you sit bolt upright, sucking in a single, sharp breath and shaking your confused head after sleeping for what feels like forever.. Though the alarm clock on the bedside table tells you its really late afternoon..

The vivid nightmare is already fading from your memory fast, but not fast enough to keep you from remembering the truth.. There is so much more to what had happened to you in that wearhouse.. More than you seem to be able to recall, trauma too difficult to process that has been buried away where it couldn't hurt you, deep in some uncharted corner of your subconscious..

Blinking through bleary eyes with a stretch, you look around to see Ace sitting at the small dining table, his posture stiff and his brow set deep in focus as he reviews the computer screen.. Quietly muttering to himself in frustration.. "Fucking Iris.. How'd she miss this shit?.. Fucking obvious.."

Your head tips to one side and you slip out of bed, clearing your throat as your bare feet touch the cool tiled floor.. "Hm.. What did Iris miss?.."

His head snaps in your direction and those aquamarine eyes lock with yours.. "Ah.. Just--"

He closes the laptop with one hand, hiding away whatever he'd been looking at when your eyes flick over his shoulder to peak a glimpse of what he'd been doing.. "We've kinda been dropped into the centre of a real fucking shitstorm here, Doll, n' I dunno how Iris approved any of it.. Without at least looking deeper into the medical program.. It doesn't make sense.."