Survival Games Read Free

struggled not to vomit at the glimpse of
what her future held.
    Her heart slammed
in her chest with the frantic beat of her feet on the tread. Her thighs burned,
like red-hot irons stabbing her with each step. Buckets of sweat rolled off
her, making the treadmill slick in the spots where it stained the belt. The
metal shackles cut into her wrist and she fought to catch her breath, to keep
pace. Her eyes filled with tears, tears of frustration, tears of pain, tears of
fear and she caught herself, violently shaking her head, blinking them away.
    I will not cry!
    She clenched her teeth,
determined not to let her captor see her falter.
    After the last
horrifying image scrolled off the screen, the treadmill slowed enough for her
to keep pace without the frenzied pounding in her chest leaving her breathless
and terrified her heart was going to explode.
    She closed her
eyes and ran, thankful for the silence.
    The door opened
and he walked in. His steel blue eyes studied her and he approached the front
of the treadmill, leaning on his crossed arms against the monitor displaying
her speed. His gaze dropped to her bloody wrists and back up to her face and
his lips twitched into a boyish grin.
    “Bastard,” she
said breathlessly. The son of a bitch was enjoying her pain.
    He laughed and
straightened. “Beg for me. Beg me to stop the treadmill.”
    His reasonable
smooth tone struck a match in Jessica and she jutted her chin out in defiance.
“No.”
    “Do you know how
long you’ve been running?”
    She had no idea,
it seemed like forever and every muscle in her body screamed for her to give
in, for her to beg him to turn off the treadmill. She shook her head.
    “Over an hour,” he
said. “You haven’t had any exercise in months. How much longer do you think you
can last?”
    Jessica shrugged,
not daring to speak for fear of giving him what he wanted.
    “When you fall,
and you will, those shackles will tear the skin off those pretty hands and your
lovely knees will be ripped to the bone by the tread.” His blue eyes sparkled and
he tilted his head a little to the side. “I would really hate to see that.” He
shook his head slowly, feigning pity and then his expression changed. “Now,
let’s hear you beg.”
    “No,” Jessica
whispered willing herself not to cry. She turned away from him and ran on.
    He grabbed her
face and yanked it toward him, almost knocking her off balance on the
treadmill. “You will,” he said through clenched teeth.
    “Not in a million
years!” Jessica thundered and yanked her face out of his grip.
    Frustration turned
his blue eyes dark and he stormed out of the room, leaving her running.
    She stared at the
treadmill shaking with rage, not daring to sound the sob building in her chest.
Locking it down, she blinked and her tears splattered on the tread. Her heart
skipped a beat. Metal lined either side of the continuously moving strip.
    If she could jump
and catch the edges, she could stop running. That would give her the break she
desperately needed. It was a risk, but at the pace she was going, her legs
would give out any minute. She didn’t have anything to lose at this point and
without hesitation, she took a deep breath, jumped up and spread her legs the
distance that she thought was correct. When she came down with both feet on the
edges, she let out a yell of triumph and shuffled up until she could lean over
on the front of the treadmill. She hit the off button with her chin. Her legs
were wobbly but able to sustain balance on the small area while the tread
slowed to a stop. She closed her eyes in relief.
    * *
* *
    Ty, already
infuriated with her defiance, went over the edge when she let out a yelp of
triumph and clicked the treadmill off. He stormed back in to the room.
    The brief flood of
relief dimmed when he flew through the door. The fury in his eyes made her
recoil away from the front of the treadmill. He slammed a button with his palm
and the wrist shackles opened, freeing her. She