Prologue

‘A lot of men would have given up on you a long time ago, the way you carry on,’ he told her. ‘You don’t appreciate how lucky you are.’

‘Lucky?’ she retorted before she could stop herself.

She bit her tongue and lowered her gaze, but it was too late.

‘It’s all just one big game to you, isn’t it?’ he replied, his voice rising as his anger escalated. ‘You like to see how far you can go before I snap. What about my feelings? You don’t care about me, do you? Do you? Answer me, you stupid bitch.’

She shook her head, struggling to control her trembling. He had that effect on her. However hard she tried to hide her fear, he could see it in the craven drooping of her head, and the way her legs shook.

‘Take your clothes off,’ he commanded, stepping back to watch her as she stripped.

He sat on the bed and waited until she was naked. She could feel his eyes crawling over her skin, from the top of her head to her bony feet, lingering on the small mounds of her breasts and the darkness between her thighs. She clutched her shoulders, hiding her breasts behind her crossed forearms.

‘Drop your arms,’ he snarled.

‘I’m cold,’ she whimpered.

‘Did you hear me?’ he demanded. ‘I want to see the whole of your body, not just your scrawny arms.’

Shaking violently now, she let her arms fall to her sides. He pounced like a panther then, teeth bared in a grin as the soft flesh of her belly gave way beneath his weight, and she cried out in pain.

‘Don’t you ever do that again,’ he hissed, his breath hot against her hear.

‘What did I do?’ she whimpered. ‘What did I do?’

She closed her eyes and tried to imagine she was somewhere else, somewhere far away.

When he had finished, he strode away leaving her sprawled on the bed. She waited until the door closed behind him before bursting into tears. For now, all she could do was suffer. He had drawn all the strength out of her, and now even the sound of his breathing in bed beside her at night was enough to shatter her will. But one day she would summon the strength to resist him. She made that promise to herself. Only when she was out at the shops, or walking along the street, did her terror abate. She never felt safe inside the house.