Free Hell Breaks Loose: A Devil's Rock Novel by Sophie Jordan

concerned. Their relationship might lack sparks, but she knew he
     cared about her.
    By the time daylight arrived, her nerves were drawn tight, imagining every worst-case scenario that might happen. The worst
     was Reid leaving, abandoning her among these men.
    Tired of sitting, she paced the small space, stopping several times to attempt to open the wedged-tight window. Each time
     she failed and she cursed the lack of hours she’d spent in the gym, pumping weights so she could be stronger.
    She examined every corner of the room, opening the closet and exploring every drawer, thinking she might find something she
     could use as a weapon. She listened at the door and walls as voices rumbled from somewhere in the house. The words were impossible
     to identify. She was near the door when she heard footsteps, and she scurried backwards, fortifying herself with a deep breath
     for whatever was about to happen.
    The door opened and Reid stepped across the threshold, shutting the door behind him. As much as the sight of him discomfited
     her it relieved her, too. He was the lesser evil.
    With the morning light streaming through the window, she was forced to confront his good looks again. Not that she had forgotten.
     Nor had she forgotten her shameful reaction to him in that bed. Two facts that only made her more uncomfortable.
    She stood in the center of the room, well away from that bed. Humiliation washed over her as his hazel eyes raked her. His
     expression revealed nothing but she knew he had to be thinking about what they did, what she let him do, what she had encouraged him to do. She’d told herself to submit so she could win his favor. She’d told herself that was the only reason. And then
     he had touched her and she came out of her skin and forgot everything logical and right and sane .
    In that moment, she forgot why she’d told herself it was okay to fool around with one of her abductors. She forgot because
     the only thing that mattered were his hands on her and the throb between her thighs. God . She was all kinds of messed up.
    Thankfully, that was behind her now. Sanity had returned.
    She hugged herself, chafing her hands up and down her arms. Lifting her chin, she asked, “Are you getting me out of here?”
    A corner of his mouth kicked up for the barest moment before disappearing and flattening into a hard line again. “That’s not
     what I promised you.”
    “That’s exactly what you promised,” she said in affront—as though his lying somehow shocked her and was the final indignity.
     “You promised to keep me safe.”
    “I did. You’re safe for the moment.”
    “For the moment?” she flung back at him, the volume of her voice climbing. Again, not super heartening. “The best way to keep me safe would be to get me out of here. Like you promised!”
    He glanced over his shoulder as though expecting someone to be standing there. Seeing nothing (or no one), he stepped closer,
     his voice a sandpaper growl. “Do me a favor, princess. Do us both a favor. Quit saying I promised to keep you safe if in fact
     you want that to be a reality.” He let those words hang between them.
    As his meaning sank in, she looked over his shoulder to the shut door. Understanding dawned. He was concerned with the men
     outside this room, too. He couldn’t control them. For the time being, they were tethered animals. If they should become free—if
     they decided to direct their savagery on her—there was nothing he could do.
    It was a grim, sobering thought.
    They definitely didn’t need to hear her shouting that he had promised to keep her safe.
    Pressing her lips together, she nodded jerkily. “I understand,” she said, her voice much more subdued.
    “Here’s what we’re going to do,” he said as he moved to one of the dressers she had examined earlier and started rifling through
     it. She braced herself, trying to control the sudden surge of satisfaction at his use of “we.” She couldn’t help it. It