Free Ravished (The Teplo Trilogy #1) by Ayden K Morgen

downright furious.
    Her confidence began to wane.
    "Tristan, what-"
    "Don't. Talk," he snapped.
    "Then let me go before you hurt me," she said, stumbling to keep up with his long-legged pace.
    Tristan immediately let go of her wrist, almost as if she'd burned him with her words. He lashed an arm around her waist, lifting her from the ground. Without so much as a word of apology, he hauled her the last few feet across the cracked blacktop of the street.
    "Open the door," he demanded, lifting her up the steps to her front door before setting her back on her feet.
    Lillian stared up at him, confused. For the first time, she began to comprehend just how little she knew about him. He could be a serial killer, a rapist, or any number of things. The anger flashing in his eyes drove that point home quite well.
    Fear crept back into her heart.
    "Lillian, open the damn door."
    Her mind screamed warnings at her.
    If he got her inside the house, he could do whatever he wanted to her. Five minutes before, she might have welcomed that thought with arms wide open, but not any longer. She glanced around, weighing her options.
    He'd outrun her in a minute, but maybe if she screamed loud enough….
    Her gaze darted toward the crowd milling across the street.
    "Don't bother," he said, his voice soft and lethal as he guessed her plan. "Even if they hear you, they won't give a damn, just like they didn't give a damn about what I did to you last night or the night before."
    She knew he was right before he finished speaking. Even if she did manage to put enough volume into her scream to be heard over the music, there was little likelihood anyone in that line cared enough to intervene, including the bouncer who'd let her in the last two nights. They were there for one thing and one thing only. Lillian doubted they'd risk the police descending before they got it, not for the sake of someone they didn't know and didn't care about.
    "Promise you're not going to hurt me," she demanded, far more boldly than she felt. She knew as well as Tristan did that she wouldn't be able to stop him if he really wanted to hurt her. Even so, she was proud of the fact that her voice didn't waver.
    "Open the fucking door, Lillian," he said again, dark amusement in his tone. The way his upper lip twitched did nothing to calm the angry storm clouds raging in his eyes though.
    "No." She shook her head, praying he didn't lash out at her for refusing. But there was no way she was opening the door for him without a fight, not with that thunderous look on his face.
    "Fine." He shrugged a shoulder as if it didn't matter to him one way or another, contempt stamped across his face, and then took a step backward.
    She watched in horror as he lifted his foot from the ground and took aim.
    The old door didn't stand a chance when his booted heel connected with the wood beside the doorknob. A sharp crack sounded, the dark wood splintering. The locked door caved beneath the force of his powerful, well-aimed kick.
    He forced it open before she processed what he'd just done, let alone gathered voice to scream and hope someone in that line gave a damn after all. He plucked her up and carried her inside before setting her on her feet and kicking the door as close to closed as he could. And then he spun on her, rage in his blue eyes.
    She cowered against the wall between the living room and front door, away from his livid expression. Her leg ached from the way she locked it in place. Intense shards of pain radiated up and down her thigh and into her hip and calf as if to remind her how helpless she truly was.
    "How much do they pay you, Lillian?" he asked, flicking his gaze up and down her body. The contemptuous look in his eye made her blood run cold.
    "W-what?" She swallowed, trying not to enrage him any further as she held onto the wall to keep herself upright.
    "The club. How much do they pay you?"
    He thought she worked for a club? Teplo?
    "I'm not a stripper!" she huffed. She hadn't