Vicious Love; Nathaniel's Captive

I

It hurt so bad as she hissed under her breath, but she had no time to react when the sound of urgent footsteps compelled her eyes to shoot open. It wasn't about a single man.

When she looked up, she found more than one man intruding on her house with urgent steps and bitter facial expressions.

Her face went pale, her heart dropping. She found her suspicion to be right. He wasn't an ordinary man. He was much more, carrying more like him. They were dressed like him, tall and intimidating, wearing all black and exuding only danger.

She understood she had to run away and that's what she did.

"Take care of her," one of them said very casually, moving away.

His partner nodded and chased Delilah before she could reach the staircase. Her arm was seized in his dangerous clutch as he yanked her back, causing her to wince in pain. The way they used and were going to use wasn't pleasant, at all.

Horror gripped her when she was held back. "Leave me!" She cried out the very next instant, starting to wriggle wild.

"Shut up!" He yelled into her ear, keeping her close and under.

His command was absurd and everybody knew that. She could not shut her mouth after some unknown bulky men just intruded on her house and misbehaved with her after pretending to know her father.

"No!" She shot back, only to be turned by the man harshly as she faced him now. Before he could take another action, Delilah wasted no chance and kicked him right between his legs, catching him off the guards.

In reflex, her arm was freed as he bent over in throbbing pain but what Delilah did earned the attention of the rest. He cursed her under his breath while she cringed in disgust. But that wasn't something she cared about the most.

Her life, yes, that's what she wanted to save.

She turned to escape when the other man stepped in between. He grabbed her hand as he made her face him and slapped her right across the face hard, making her fall silent.

Finally, no more yelling and wriggling could be heard but only the deadly presence of those men surrounded her.

On the other hand, the pain she felt was terrible. As badly as she wanted to hold her cheek, she feared a mere touch may increase the terrible pain. It burned like hell.

"Try to behave like a b*tch again, and I'll do worse," the same man who just manhandled her threatened with a voice dripping with venom, a promise so solemn and deep.

Delilah cringed. Her stomach churned in disgust at the man's threat. She wondered if he was even a man.

While she faced the ground in shame, tears burning her eyes and turning them blur, the man breathed in satisfaction as no noise was echoing around to bother him. He hated noise.

He stepped ahead and she flinched back, her heart skipping a beat in fear he might hit her again. When he tried to grab her arm, she pried it off, still glaring at him through her watery eyes.

The man who stood before her admired her audacity, cocking a brow as if impressed. Even if the corner of his lips was quirked up in amusement, fury still swirled around his dark and deadly orbs. He was the first man among them whose eyes Delilah could see and that too shone with threat.

"You're testing my patience, girl," he growled, ignoring the eyes of other men. It was becoming amusing to them.

She stood her ground, swallowing as she tried to muster up the courage to speak. "Look, I don't—" she tried to speak but ended up hissing under her breath when the muscles of her face ached. The slap was really hard. Her hand itched to hold her cheek but she didn't.