Sweet Retribution (Book 2) (Editing and Improving) x

Plotting

Present Day

The sting was intense and with each lash of the leather against the tender skin of my back, the pain only intensified. That was the point I suppose. A deterrent to keep me from acting up for Gary again.

The belt tore through my skin, drawing so much blood that I felt it pooling at my feet. It wasn't the initial sting that made my stomach jump into my throat with fear every time he hit me, it was the anticipation between each swing. Jordan loved making me suffer and so would leave long pauses in between each thwack. It was knowing that a fresh, intensified bout of agony was coming that made the entire ordeal much worse.
He promised 12 lashes but for his lack of ability to get hard earlier on, he somehow reached the notion that it was my fault and left me with 36 long, deep lacerations.

'I'll be back Monday to see if you're growing my boy yet,' Jordan spits as he replaces the belt to his waist. I stay in the position he put me in, bent over the bed.
Every breath that I took, felt as though I was being stabbed in the spine by a thousand knives and though I knew it was exactly what he wanted, I couldn't stop sobbing from how excruciating it was.
'If there's still no result, you'll be going to a gynaecologist'.
The tears were streaming down my cheeks by the dozen, the agony was sprawling through every nerve and was only getting worse by the second.
I can only release a muffled squeal of pure excruciation when Jordan wraps a fistful of my hair around his wrist, and wrenches me to my feet. He deliberately pulls me backward so that my poor, poor back slams against his front.
I squawk and writhe as the stinging hits the peak of my pain threshold but he only tightens his grip on my hair, forcing me to stand still.
'If you misbehave for anyone in between now and Monday, I will beat you so hard that you'll never see again,' He pushes the bridge of his nose against my temple to accentuate his seriousness.
'Am I understood?'
I give the smallest nod.
'Good girl'
And with that, I am thrown to the floor and unable to save myself given that my hands remained tied behind my back. I lay there, a sobbing mess that yearned for Phoenix whilst Jordan hollered for two porters to come and take me back to isolation.

They threw me into Phoenix with as much tenderness as a wrecking ball and gave me a generous kick to the stomach for good measure. My entire body jolted as the sobs of absolute agony rallied through my chest. It felt as though someone had scalded every nerve ending and poured salt over the burns!
'Oh darlin,' Phoenix whispers, brushing my sweat drenched hair away from my face. He'd managed to exit his straight jacket and Jordan had left me out of mine for which I was minutely grateful.

Phoenix kneels behind me , observing the damage done. When he sucks air through his teeth I know that it's as bad, if not worse, than it felt.

As I sob, Phoenix repositions himself in front of me and tenderly pulls the rogue strands of hair caught in the tape covering my mouth. He proceeds to peel the remnants of the gag away and presses a soft kiss to my lips, kissing away the tears dribbling over them. With as much tenderness as possible, he cautiously pulls me into his warm embrace and whispers comforting assurances into my ear.

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Sometime after my hysterical sobs had dimmed down to the odd sniffle here and there, Phoenix spoke.
'We need to get out of here'
I half laughed, half groaned as the lacerations scarring my back, stabbed deeply into my nerves.
'You think?'
The depth of his chuckle vibrated through my every sense, soothing over them like warm custard.
'Oh you're such a funny bird aren't you baby?'
'That's why you love me' I give him a huge playful and toothy grin.
'That and many other reasons, darlin'.
Phoenix presses a lingering kiss to my forehead, one that corroborated how much he did love me.
'Thank you for loving me' I reply softly, taking his warm hand into mine.
It would forever amaze me that despite Phoenix having excessively large hands and a tower-like height, his touch with me was always so tender and soft. I loved it.
With some difficulty, I hoist myself into a sitting position and press my lips against his. They are warm and smooth as they mould against my own and I almost melt into his palms as he places them on my hips.
After sharing a passionate kiss, I rest my forehead against Phoenix's and whisper that I love him.
'I love you too baby'.

After a short time of doing nothing but smiling goofily at one another, Phoenix finally pulled away from our silly demeanour and said something that was music to my ears.
'Pierce said there's some maintenance work being done down in the kitchen,'
I look at him in a somewhat gormless manner.
'That helps us, how?'
'Well, he mentioned that the workmen have only put a plastic sheet over the work hole that leads into the yard,' Phoenix continued, his eyes alight with determination and an eagerness mutual to my own.
'Yes but didn't you see how heavily armed the yard is?' I point out. I wasn't trying to be a constant dampener to his optimising and enthusiasm but we needed to be real about the risks or Phoenix would get a bullet to the skull promised by Jordan if we ever attempted to run. Hence, why my trepidation had kept the two of us here for so long.
'Not so much at night baby, they all have us locked up don't they?'
'Okay, you've pointed out another obstacle but something tells me you have a plan...' I grin, knowing by his tone he was holding something back.
'You know me well darlin' Phoenix winks.

Ahh! So I'm leaving it on a wee bit of a cliffhanger but I hope you're all enjoying the book!
Again, I apologise for the delay I've started a new job and it's kinda been taking it out of me! However, I've got my writing mojo back so a new chapter will be up in the next few days!
Much love to you all ❤️

Word Count - 1106