by LM Terry
When he speaks the low rumble of his voice vibrates against my back and stirs something inside me. “I’m not going to murder you,” he says again.
Who am I dealing with? When he moves off me I turn over to get myself into a sitting position. My mind is swirling with a million questions. I slowly peek up at him. He towers over me.
If I had one word to describe him, it would be magnificent. He is tall, so tall and fit. His arms are bigger than my thighs. He is nothing but solid muscle. His hair is dark with wavy curls that hang just below his shoulders. I can see the golden highlights in his hair when the sun breaks through the trees. His eyes are smoky and dangerous, the look he gives me rockets adrenaline through my veins.
He runs his hand through his hair. I cannot take my eyes off him. He reaches out to help me to my feet. My body reacts without thought sending my hand out to accept his. As I am about to let him latch on I notice the scab on my palms have ripped open.
I quickly pull my arm back. I stare down at the blood pooling in my palms, then for some unexplained reason I cry. Why now, no, no not now…but I can’t stop.
He crouches down beside me and takes my hands in his large ones. “I said I’m not going to kill you,” he says gently.
I shake my head. I’m not crying because I think he will kill me. I’m crying for Sophia, the man at the hotel, my parents, all the girls who have been taken and for everyone who died at the estate. I even weep for the man I killed and most of all for myself.
He doesn’t say anything and tugs me to stand by my wrists. He then wraps his arms around me, hauling me in tightly to his chest. I’m not sure what is happening. I don’t fight him, I just cry.
After a few minutes, he lifts me and carries me back to the car. I keep my face buried in his chest, drawing from the stranger’s strength. He sets me on my feet as he opens the passenger side door. I sit, he takes my hands in his and turns them over to exam my open wounds.
He goes to the backseat grabbing a duffle bag. He crouches down in front of me and opens it pulling out a white first aid kit, a bottle of water and a t-shirt. He opens the water pouring it over my palms then carefully drying them with the shirt.
I focus on the top of his head, while he tends to my wounds. I resist the urge to reach out and run my fingers through his hair. What is wrong with me? I’m just tired, I haven’t slept in several days and my mind is playing tricks on me.
He puts ointment on my palms and wraps gauze around each hand. I watch mesmerized as he rips the first aid tape with his teeth securing the bandages. When he finishes his ministrations, he looks up at me. His eyes lock on mine.
He is the most frighteningly beautiful thing I have ever seen. He reminds me of a wolf, gorgeous to look at but deadly. He is wild, free I can see it in his eyes. He answers to no one. I am positive this man would have nothing to do with Oliver Wright.
“I’m serious, I’m not going to kill you.” He wipes the tears from cheek with his thumb and then stands.
I swing around in the seat and pull my legs inside the vehicle as I do then he shuts the door. It seems weird to be sitting in the passenger side of my car. I don’t think I have ever sat here. I watch him in the side mirror as he puts his bag in the back.
He opens the driver’s side and gets in. He has the seat moved all the way back, but his long legs still appear cramped. He is so big he fills the space. I face my window, suddenly feeling very small.
He starts the engine and backs out of the grove of trees turning on a dirt road leading to a highway.
I shift to peek at him. I have a question burning a hole in my mind. I am frightened of his answer, but I need to know. “Where are you taking me?” I squeak out.
He reaches behind my seat, hands me my sunglasses then the map I bought for my trip and points to the red x.
“We are going to wherever your treasure map leads us, x marks the spot, does it not?”
∞∞∞
Dylan
Plan C, I hoped I would be able to use Sarah to lure Oliver Wright into my web. But, the moment I saw the first teardrop run down her cheek that idea went right down the toilet. She is mine and I will not let him anywhere near her.
Fuck. I don’t understand what is happening. I have rescued all sorts of girls and I have never once found myself attracted to any of them. There was always empathy yes, and anger at those that had hurt them but this, this is something I’ve never experienced. Could it be guilt for not saving Sophia? That doesn’t change how I feel. I’ll never be able to give Sarah up.
The way she skittered away from me in the woods, asking to be chased had me so fucking hard. By the time I finally had her trapped underneath me I was ready to ravage her body. It took so much self-restraint to keep myself at bay. She is frightened of me I can see it in her eyes, but I also sense a current that runs alongside that fear. She is curious about me and in a good sense. I could easily take advantage of that, make her bend to my will, but it will be sweeter watching her come on her own, and she will.
She is beautiful and exotic. She seems familiar, like I have known her my whole life. She reminds me of someone? I can’t put my finger on it. The minute we locked eyes I recognized she wasn’t the type of girl to fall for Oliver. She assumes I work for him. She is frightened of going back.
There is no way he will get to her. I will make sure of that. I’ll call Liam and figure out another means to get to Oliver. My little fishing lure did her job, but it wasn’t him that she snagged it was me. Things are never going to be the same.
She has yet to tell me where her x on the map is leading us. My guess is it’s where she was going to set herself up and wait for Oliver to come for her. She has been quiet since I released her from the trunk, looking out her window the entire drive. I can see that she is fighting sleep, her head keeps bobbing, but she refuses to let herself drift away, lulled by the moving car. She is a fighter.
I myself am having a tough time staying awake. I could stop for coffee or…I could just get a hotel room and curl up next to that warm little body of hers. Would she scream alerting everyone? I guess it’s a chance I’m willing to take because now that the notion is in my head there is no letting it go.
“We still have about six hours till we reach your x. How about we stop and get some sleep?” I stare straight ahead as I ask, watching out the side of my vision for her reaction. I see the expression on her face and recognize the flicker of hope, hope that this might be her opportunity to escape.
I could let her go. I should let her go. If I keep her I’m no better than the men I hunt. But how can I? I realize she is in danger and I am the less of two evils. The prospect of letting her go tears at my soul. To protect her, I will have to scare her, it’s for her own good.
“So, what do you think?” I ask again, watching her mind reel at the possibilities.
She shrugs trying to seem indifferent. “You are in charge, I don’t know what my opinion matters.”
“You are right, I am in charge.” I reach behind the seat and grab one of the guns I brought setting it on my thigh. “So here is how this will go down. I will get the room and if you are quiet the whole night, no one will get hurt.”
I’m taking a chance, hoping that she won’t do anything stupid. I know she would risk herself. She told me so by asking me to kill her after she ran from me. But, if she thinks I will harm innocent people, she will be good.
I look at her. Yep, that did it.
“I’ll be good,” she says sadly.
There it is, that damn tug. I will tell her the truth of who I am when we get where we are going. I don’t want her thinking I work for that ass-hat Oliver any longer than necessary. But for now, this is how it has got to be, she must listen.
Chapter Fifteen
∞∞∞
Anna
The dark stranger pulls off the highway. Before heading into the little town, he draws a pair of handcuffs out from behind him. He doesn’t use them on me, he just sets them in the cup holder. He looks at
me in warning. I understand. I can’t do anything, I’m not about to risk anyone else’s life.
I thought he might not be one of Oliver’s men but now I’m not sure what to think. I’m so tired. The prospect of stretching out on a bed and getting some sleep is overriding my thoughts of running away anyhow.
He seems satisfied with my reaction. We pull into a gas station and he points to the young woman working. He doesn’t say anything, but I nod my understanding. He gets out and I fight myself to stay sitting. He goes inside coming out with a couple of sacks and tosses them in the back.
“Good girl,” he says as he bends himself into my tiny car.
I shiver at his words, good girl…if he calls me kitten I will stab his eyes out. I reflect on our encounter in the wooded area and how he called me Sarah. When I was rescued in Venezuela, I debated the entire plane trip home on whether I would come clean and give detective Sharp my real name. He was so kind. He would have helped me, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it.
It would have been a perfect moment to start my life back up as Anna but so much had happened. I need time to come to terms with it all. I also didn’t share with him the fact that the man who died in his bed from a heart attack was my father. It’s something I never want anyone to discover. I don’t know why I’m ashamed. He is the one who did the evil, but I am his daughter none the less. Some of that evil lives inside me. I killed a guy with my bare hands, well my bare hands and a rope so the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.
I study my bandaged palms and then the stranger. He so tenderly cared for me. Yet he kidnapped me. Much like Oliver, but it seems different. It’s not though. Tired Anna, you’re just tired.
We continue down the block to a tiny little motel. He gives me that look again, and I nod. He gets out and goes into the office. I watch as he and the old man inside laugh both looking out to the car. I wonder what he is telling him. Is it that we are lovers and needing a place for a secret late afternoon tryst? As I roll the image around in my head I notice a warm sense of arousal stir in my core. I fidget in my seat trying to force the reaction go away.
He comes out and gets in smiling at me. I fidget again as a blush finds its way up to my cheeks. I twist to stare out the window. That smile. Oh. My. God. It is a make your panties melt off kind of smile. Not good. Anna, you need to focus, what the fuck is wrong with you?
“Maybe we should just keep going, I’ll drive if you would like. I promise I will be good,” I say in a rush of words not turning to face him.
He pulls away from the office and parks in front of a door to a room giving me a little chuckle. I swear I can feel his laugh rumble right through the car up through my seat zoning in on my crotch.
“Sarah, I know you would be a good girl. You will be good either way. But I see you are tired and so am I, so we stop. We can wake up early and get a head start but I need rest.”
Calm. Anna, breathe. We are just going to sleep here. It will be okay. One foot in front of the other. Before I realize it he is out unlocking the door to the room. He looks at me through the windshield and beckons me with his finger.
I should run but I don’t. It’s like there is unseen magnetism pulling me towards him. The outside world is slipping away, and it is just the two of us. I slide in past him and pause on the other side of the threshold. There is only one bed. The parking lot is empty, surely he could have gotten a double room. He laughs and turns to go back out leaving me in the room frozen, staring at that damn bed.
He comes in carrying all our bags. He sets them on the floor and walks past me again to close the door. The lock click echoes through the room. It’s dark now with the curtains closed to block out the late afternoon sun. He flips the light. “Have a seat Sarah.”
I turn to face him as he points to one of the hotel chairs. Grabbing the sacks from the gas station he sets them in front of me on the table. “I figured you might be hungry or thirsty. Go ahead, nothing in there bites I promise.”
I open the bags finding gas station sandwiches, bottles of water and chips.
“Not much, I would take you out for dinner, but I’m not sure if I can trust you yet Sarah.” He looks at me and searches my face with those frightening eyes of his.
I grab a water and sandwich watching as he picks up my small travel bag and dumps it out in the middle of the bed. I feel violated seeing him run his hands over my things picking them up examining them.
“Just making sure there is nothing in here that you could shoot, stab or strangle me with.” He furrows his dark eyebrows keeping his eyes on me.
I swallow hard, did he know the guard I strangled? I laugh nervously.
“Umm, first off I didn’t realize someone would kidnap me today. I was a little unprepared, I left my weapons at home. Second, I couldn’t strangle you if I wanted.”
“Do you want to?” He picks up the book that Oliver gave me. I don’t know why I kept it, but I did. He sees the pen tucked inside and opens it to the last page of my mussing’s.
I try to distract him. “You should eat, I promise there is nothing in my bags you should be worried about.”
“You didn’t answer my question, Sarah.” He twirls the pen through his fingers and looks at me in all seriousness.
“No, I don’t want to strangle you.”
“Perhaps you should.” He studies the calligraphy on the pen. “So, who is Anna?”
I glance down at my lap. “I don’t know. Oliver gave me the pen along with the book. I assume it was a pen he picked up along the way.”
“Hmm, it doesn’t appear to be a pen that is just picked up along the way. It looks like someone had it made for an Anna.” He stares at me tilting his head down slightly. His intensity terrifies me and excites me at the same time.
I shrug and pick up my sandwich taking a bite.
He drops the subject. He hasn’t though, I can see it in his eyes. He didn’t flinch when I mentioned Oliver. My heart sinks. Obviously he works for him. But he doesn’t know who I really am. I guess Oliver didn’t tell anyone. As far as I know only four people know my identity. Well now, we are down to the two of us since William and Sophia have passed.
He opens my larger bag and sifts through my clothing. Satisfied that I have nothing to kill him with, he gathers the items from my travel bag and carefully puts everything away. He pushes it and my suitcase by my feet.
“After you are done eating take what you need, and you can shower,” he says joining me at the table.
I quickly gobble down the rest of my sandwich, gather a few things and practically run to the bathroom locking the door behind me.
He unsettles me, his presence is so large I feel like I’m being swallowed up. He must have been sent by Oliver to keep tabs on me. I was hoping for some time. Time to spend in my new cabin…alone. I haven’t had a chance to process everything and now here I am forced to deal with this larger-than-life man.
A knock on the bathroom door makes me jump.
“Sarah, you can shower by yourself, but you need to keep this door unlocked.”
I stare at the doorknob. Do I unlock it? What if I do and he insists on coming in? Crap. I can’t bring myself to turn the latch.
“Sarah,” he growls in warning.
I reach out and slowly turn the lock stepping back to wait for him to open the door, but he doesn’t. I hear his footsteps retreat. He kept his word. I quickly undress and hop in the shower washing as swiftly as I can, listening for him. I dress just as fast and walk out in my sweats and tank top.
“I thought that would speed the process up,” he says as I pull the towel off my head to dry my hair.
I glare at him as I walk over and grab my brush. He doesn’t move. He never takes his eyes off me. I’m suddenly self-conscious. “Do you need help?” He stands following me as I sit on the end of the bed.
“I’m fine, thank you.” I am worried about him touching me. If Oliver finds out, he would kill the dark stranger and that makes me sad for some reason. “Oliver doesn’
t like anyone to touch me,” I whisper.
He takes the brush from me and sits down beside me. “I don’t give a fuck what Oliver likes, you don’t belong to him anymore. Your hands are injured, and you need help. Besides you belong to me now.”
I’m so confused, did he say I “belonged” to him? Did Oliver sell me to this man? No, that can’t be, he wouldn’t receive my father’s inheritance. I am so tired of all the guessing and uncertainties. This guy could just be stupid and thinks he can get away with this. When Oliver finds out, he will put a bullet in him.
“I don’t think you understand,” I say with urgency, needing him to listen to what I am saying.
He runs the brush through my hair leaning in to smell it. “No, I don’t think you understand, Sarah. You are mine and Oliver Wright can go fuck himself because I’m not letting him near you ever again.”
“He killed a man…for touching me,” I exclaim, pushing his hand away from head.
“Awe, you like me don’t you? You are worried about me that is sweet.” He goes right back to running the brush down my long locks.
“You obviously don’t know him.” I guess if this idiot wants to get himself killed who am I to stop him.
He stops, I detect his restraint, his anger comes to the surface as he has the brush paused in my hair. “Oh, I know him, he is a dead man walking.”
I don’t move, apparently I’m in the dark here. I have no fucking idea what the hell is going on. Something tells me to drop the subject and just let him finish. He starts the brush again and I keep my mouth shut.
When he is satisfied with his work, he stands and grabs the handcuffs out of his bag. I crawl back up on the bed as he follows walking alongside, hovering over me. “Two choices here, one I handcuff you to the bed, so you can’t run, or the other is, you join me in the bathroom while I shower. Either choice will be appetizing.” He leans his hand up against the wall over me while waiting for my answer.
