Stil panting from my Shift, I knelt on the floor, naked and shivering. I was too exhausted to maintain my own body temperature, even in the middle of the summer, because I’d Shifted twice with no water and too little food. And because I hadn’t had a decent night’s sleep in days.

Eric al owed me no time to recover. He wouldn’t give me another chance to attack him. Not intentional y, anyway.

He had the lock off and the door opened before I’d even made it to my feet.

He wasn’t as fast as Miguel, but I was tired and weak. My body wouldn’t take much more stress and deprivation without serious consequences. Like passing out. I desperately didn’t want to pass out with Eric in my cage. Unlike Miguel, he didn’t want me to fight back. I wasn’t even sure he’d wait for me to wake up.

He closed the door, and I jumped when he snapped the lock into place.

So much for bowling him over in a rush for the exit. Instead, I struggled to remain standing. My vision darkened and my head swam. I held my arms out at my sides, trying to maintain my balance.

“You okay?” he asked, clearly pleased, rather than concerned by how weak I’d become.

“I’m fine.” I wiped cold sweat from my face with both hands, then realized I had nothing to wipe it on. “Let’s get this over with.”

His eyes roamed my body, and I cringed, crossing my arms over my breasts.

Yes, I knew his eyes were the least of my worries, but the invasion stil angered me.

And anger was good. It helped clear my head and forced me to focus. As weak as I was, I would only get one shot at him. If I missed, his first retaliatory punch was likely to knock me out. So I would have to choose my moment very carefully.

“Okay, ground rules…” he began.

“There are ground rules?” I laughed. I couldn’t help it. Imagine how fortunate I felt to have gotten a rapist who had ground rules. But al the rules turned out to be for me. Figures.

“If you hit, or scratch, or pull any of that kicking shit like you did with Miguel, I’m out of here. I’l leave you in here to pound dents in the bars, and Abby and I can have another go at it. Can’t we, Abby-cat?”

I glanced at her, but she had her back to us both. And if I wasn’t mistaken, her fingers were in her ears. Either way, she didn’t respond, so Eric turned back to me.

“Do you understand?” he asked, and I nodded, because there was nothing else could I do. My moment hadn’t come yet. “So we have a deal?”

Another nod. But then neither of us moved. He didn’t seem to know what to do next, as if my compliance had confused him, and I wasn’t about to volunteer my understanding of the process. Several awkward seconds passed. Awkward for him, anyway. I was just tired and pissed off. Final y, he put on a resolute face and pulled me forward by my left elbow.

I jerked my arm free on instinct, pleased and surprised to realize that the pain in my shoulder wasn’t that bad. Shifting back had done even more to help heal my injury.

Eric shot me a warning glance and a growl. I focused on Abby’s curls, and the next time he took my arm, I let him. He kissed me, and I just stood there. I could taste his toothpaste and smel his shampoo. My veins pumped scalding fury throughout my body, but I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t have the strength to hit him hard enough to hurt him, and if I tried and failed, whatever he did to Abby would be my fault. I’d have to take him out with a single strike. Anything less than a death blow wouldn’t be good enough.

If I could just figure out how to Shift my teeth…

I closed my eyes in concentration, doing my best to ignore Eric’s hand cupping my ass as I tried again to make my face Shift. Come on, damn it, change.

Nothing happened.

Eric was oblivious to my efforts and to my mounting frustration. He shoved his tongue into my mouth, deep enough to make me gag. The intrusion shattered the vestiges of my concentration like an ax through a thin sheet of ice. I barely resisted the urge to bite his tongue off. I could have done it, even with blunt human teeth, but I didn’t, because it wouldn’t have kil ed him. Not fast enough, anyway. It would damn wel have pissed him off, though.

He walked me backward, his mouth stil sucking at mine, until I was trapped between his body and the bars. His hands roamed, squeezing and prodding. His tongue trailed down my neck. I closed my eyes, again trying to force a Shift. His teeth pinched my earlobe, not hard enough to break the skin, but hard enough to leave indentations. He was marking me. I hate being marked.

But the worst by far was the hard lump in his jeans. It throbbed against my stomach through the denim, a warning of worse things to come.

Eric unzipped his pants, and that tiny whisper of a sound thundered through me like the roar of jet engine. My eyes flew open. He pushed his jeans down without ever taking his mouth from my neck.

This was going too far. If my moment didn’t come soon, it would be too late.

Angry and beyond mortified, I stared at the back of Abby’s head, trying to keep in mind the reason I was submitting without a fight. It didn’t help. Pain, I could take. I understood pain and knew how to deal with it. But I didn’t understand this.

This was absolute degradation, with no purpose but to humiliate me and break my wil . And it pissed me off.

My hands curled into fists at my sides. My nails bit into my palms. I was losing control, in spite of my determination to do whatever it took to keep Abby safe. I needed to concentrate, or I was going to make things worse for both of us.