He did not let her finish her sentence.

"I would advise you to be careful how you finish that little sentence. Do you hear me?" Xavier had his hand over Dorcas's throat, silencing all protest on her behalf.

"Stop," she muffled the word.

"I rather enjoy this. You believe you have an option, yet you don't have any option." He squeezed her neck a little harder before he at last let her go.

He listened to her gasping for air. He watched her as she grabbed at her throat, yet he did nothing to help her. Looking at her now, he couldn't wait to see her surrender, to get a taste of her body. He'd wanted her then. Even when he'd taunted her every day, given her no cause to even look his way, he'd taken every chance to touch, to feel her.

Shrugging the thoughts aside, he looked at her now. She was a very beautiful woman.

"What do you think I'd ever do with something like this?" she said. "You must be absolutely crazy if you believe I'd ever allow you to get away with something like this."

He smiled.

"What about now?" He motioned toward the television and pressed "Play."

Loud and clear, the sounds of fucking filled the air, and Dorcas's face turned white.

"Do you see anything you like?" he said. "I see a whole lot of things."

"How did you get this?"

"I knew some people. It seems your parents weren't as squeaky clean as you might think. No, they liked fucking lots of people, and believe me, their medical bills show a huge amount. Did you know they spent lots of weekends with other people?"

"My parents are dead," she said. "You can't hurt them."

"But this would be an injustice to their memory, but what about you?" he said. He hit the forward button, and then he didn't really like watching this one, but since he went through so much trouble to set it all up, he made himself watch it.

"Pennywise?" she said.

Oh, he works for me. You know, the one that used to have to travel all the time on business. The hotel I own, and let's just say, I made sure every single corner you were put through."

He looked at her, seeing tears in her eyes. "If you want any of this to get out, leave. Walk away. You can leave right now."

"Why are you doing this?

"You know why. I am not even going to give that question the dignity of a fucking answer. You owe me, Dorcas, and you are going to pay one way or the other. So, what is it going to be?"

Four years ago

Dorcas cried out as she was slammed into her locker.

"Well, well, well, if it's not little fatty!"

The pressure was off her. There was no mistaking Derek, one of the most popular boys in school, who just so happened to be one of many boys who liked to bully her. She grabbed her book and closed her locker, turning to face his small group.

There were three other boys.

"Be careful, she might eat you, Derek," Cynthia said.

There was a chorus of laughter.

No, she won't eat me. She only eats things that have real flesh on them. You're the one who's going to be in trouble, Xavier. The guy's huge. I'm sure she'd choke on him."

They all started to laugh.

"Are you done?" she said.

They crowded around her, and she hated being the focus of attention, even negative attention in the form of bullying. She didn't like attention of any kind. Her hands shook, but she clutched her book in the hopes none of them saw quite how anxious they were making her.

Xavier's face appeared and he pushed her hard. His hand was large; he was the biggest kid in school even at fourteen. He slammed her into the locker. "I suggest, little girl, you mind who you're talking to."

"We're the same age. That doesn't quite make me little." She slapped at his hand.

"Ah, so you like it rough. That what you're trying to tell me?" Xavier asked. Both of his hands went to her shoulders, and she gasped as he slammed her into the locker, making her wince.

"Xavier, dude, we've got to roll. Principal is coming this way," Roman informed him.

"Then I suppose, we had better go." Xavier did nothing to release her.

She gazed at him, refusing to look away despite the pounding of her heart. Out of all the men, Derek frightened her, and Xavier puzzled her. Xavier had been caught gazing at her. It was as though he was trying to figure her out, or whatever his motive was for gazing at her. He was bigger than her in every conceivable way. Before he left, he pushed himself against her, making her quite aware of who was the stronger of the two of them. There was nowhere else for her to go. She was at his complete mercy.

"Until next time." He pushed her once more before he turned and left.

Not waiting to be asked questions by the principal, she quickly traversed the hall and turned the corner, heading to her next class. There was no way she could tattle on Xavier and the others. They were the stars of the school, and doing that would make her public enemy number one. All she needed to do was get through high school and leave town. That was all she really wanted.

Present day

"I don't believe this," Dorcas said.

The movie was stopped, and she was conscious of how naked she was. Stephen and Xavier could see. There was no preventing them from looking. There she was, in all her naked glory.

This can't be happening.

Only, it was.

Xavier would leak the tape of her parents. She'd had no idea they were into orgies or anything she'd caught a glimpse of. As for Pennywise, she'd met him at a bar a few years ago and they became friends. He'd asked her out on a date, and she'd agreed. They'd dated for a few months before they'd actually gone to bed. When he'd taken her to a motel room, she hadn't suspected a thing, since he said he moved around. She'd used Pennywise attempting to move on, to seek out a way from the despair that was her everyday life. He'd worked for Xavier the entire time and was only doing what he was told to do. There were no feelings for her.

"I hate you." The words came easily from her lips. She did hate him, just not as much as she hated him.

She scowled at Xavier, not wishing anything to do with him. There was no way she could make this choice. Not fair at all. Her parents didn't deserve to have their memory ruined because he wanted revenge. What was his issue with reporting sexual assault? That wasn't her, and now she was more confused than she had ever been in her entire life.

It doesn't matter.

Xavier laughed. "I'm not going to make you like me in order to have sex with me." He stepped closer, and she retreated. For each step he took, she kept backing up until his desk halted her, and she couldn't go any further. He put his hands flat on his desk surface. She could feel the hard edge of his dick pressing into her stomach. This wasn’t the first time she’d been in this predicament, not with Xavier. There were a few times, so many years ago, almost a lifetime ago, when it was different. When he’d trapped her in a school classroom and wouldn’t let her go, not until he had one taste.

She pushed those memories aside and instead focused on trying to get out of this.

“I’m not going to sleep with you.”

You want the whole world, if not the town, to know what you do in your free time? How you appear when you orgasm? You want the whole town, if not the world, to view."

"You can't do that," she replied.

"Oh, believe me, I can. I wonder what people will say when they get to view miss squeaky clean all filthy and more than happy to have a cock shoved in her pussy. It will not be so simple to convince people of your innocence."

"What do you desire?" she inquired.

"For you to plead."

"Release me. Be the larger person and just overlook all this."

He laughed. "You think I came back to this crap town for the view? No. I came all this way for you. To fix an injustice you perpetrated. Anything that might happen from now on is entirely your fault. Now, either get down on your knees for me, or face the repercussions. Either way, you're not leaving this place clean."

She glanced over his shoulder, watching television. It taunted her.

"I thought he cared."

"Oh, he did. For the hefty paycheck he'd be receiving when I got what I wanted. He has no problem starring in your little porn show." Xavier's hand came up by her face, and she couldn't help but flinch as he touched her.

He tutted. "Don't worry, darling, I have no interest in hurting you. At least, not where anyone else will notice. You will not get any black eyes from me. I will ensure it. Your time is running out. I will determine if you are taking too long."

She hated this. Why had it come to this?

Why did you not leave town when you had the chance?

So many questions swirling around in her head, and not a single one of them could be answered. Not until she got rid of this little problem. She hated feeling like this. Trapped. Paralyzed. But it would not have mattered if she had left town. Xavier was clearly determined to find her.

The evidence of Xavier's arousal for her, and worse, she was not disgusted by it. What was wrong with her?