He turned the flashlight on himself and I immediately saw blood. “It’s right there!”
I saw his face scrunch up in confusion and then he started swiping at his face. “Huh. That’s weird.”
“That’s weird?” Taking a chance that he wouldn’t attack me or inject me with some deadly poison, I climbed out of the car and backed away from him, realizing that my flip flops were gone when I stepped on something sharp. “You have blood on your face. You fucking kidnapped me!”
“I didn’t. I swear!”
“Then explain the blood!”
“It must have happened when I went in through the passenger window.”
I couldn’t believe this guy. It was just one lie after another with him. First, he lied about why he was in the park and then he lied about the whole assault thing and tried to get me arrested.
“Look, just let me go and I’ll forget that any of this happened.”
“Let you go? Why would I do that? Someone’s trying to kill you.”
“Yeah, and I’m looking right at him. You’re fucking crazy, you know that?”
He sighed tiredly and took a step toward me. I moved away and he stopped. “Okay, the car died and we have a good ten mile walk into town. Once we’re there, I’ll get us a motel room. Then, I’ll get a new car and we’ll head to a safe house.”
I shook my head unbelievably. It was like he didn’t even hear himself speak. If only he could understand how crazy he sounded.
“I’m not going anywhere with you.”
“Where are you gonna go then? Look around you.”
He held his arms wide, motioning to the dark countryside. There was nothing around, no one to help. I was either with this guy or wandering around in the dark on my own. And I didn’t even have a clue where we were.
“Would it make you feel better if I let you carry my gun?”
“Yes,” I answered without thinking twice. At least if I had a gun, I could ward off any potential attacks. Even if I didn’t know how to hold a gun.
“Fine.” He slowly pulled out his gun and handed it over to me. “But I’m gonna warn you, if we come under fire, I’m ripping that out of your hands.”
I nodded, believing that he could take it back anytime he wanted, but I appreciated him letting me think that I had some control. Even if he was a psychotic kidnapper. At least he had a friendly personality.
“Can we get moving? I’d like to get some sleep before we head for the safe house.”
I stepped warily in his direction and held the gun at the ready. Or, I thought I did. He sighed and grabbed the gun from my hand.
“Here, let me at least show you how to hold it right.” He positioned both my hands around the gun and started pointing out different parts of the gun to me, like I could actually follow along.
“Alright, now, if you’re going to shoot me, you want to aim for my chest. It’s a big target, and while your shot may or may not be deadly, it should at least slow me down. You could always go for a leg shot too. However, I request that if you do shoot me, try not to hit any major body parts.”
“Like what?”
“Well, my head, for one. And try to stay away from my heart and my lungs. That would suck. Also, stay away from my liver and my kidneys. Oh, and if you shoot me in the leg, try not to hit my inner thigh. Aim for the outside. The femoral artery runs along the inner thigh.”
I nodded. It was a little strange to get instructions on where to shoot the man that I took the gun from. It was like he was giving me permission. But that couldn’t be right. Who would be stupid enough to give all this information? A stalker, that’s who.
“The safety is on. That’s this button right here. When you carry it, don’t point it at anything unless you intend to shoot it.”
“So, I can point it at you.”
“I would prefer that you didn’t. If you shoot me, who’s going to protect you from whoever kidnapped you?”
I narrowed my eyes at him, though I was sure that he couldn’t see me. “Seeing as it was you that kidnapped me, I think I would be safer if I just shot you and got it over with.”
“If you believe that, I guess you would be right. Although, then you’re stuck out here with nature.”
“Nature is harmless.”
“Except for the bats.”
“Bats?” I asked, a little creeped out. I had never seen a bat up close, but I had seen them in movies and that was as close as I wanted to get.
“Oh yeah, about eight or nine different species. Most are rare, but there’s still a chance you’ll see some. And then there are the foxes and coyotes. Now, those are pretty common around here. I wouldn’t want to be out when they’re hunting. And then there are black bears,” he said thoughtfully. “Do you know how to handle a black bear? Because I’ll need to give you instructions before I leave you.”
“Uh…”
“Now, it’s fall, so the bear is trying to bulk up for winter. Which means it’s looking for food. You don’t have anything on you, right?” Before I could answer, he moved on. “Now, if the bear approaches you, stand tall and spread your arms wide. You want to appear as big as possible. Yell at it, and if it does attack you, fight back. Do not play dead.”
The flashlight shook in my hands. His face looked creepy as the light accentuated his features in the dark.
“But…”
“Oh, and if it does approach you, just spray bear spray at it.”
“But I don’t have bear spray!”
He winced and rubbed the back of his neck. “Well, then just fight back. You’ll be fine,” he said, slapping me on the arm. “Other than that, the only thing you should have to worry about are skunks. And I hate to tell you, you probably won’t see them until you get sprayed. But a little hydrogen peroxide, some baking soda, and liquid detergent- you should be fine.”
He turned and started walking away, leaving me alone in the dark with all animals he just told me about. I didn’t understand it. How did he go from stalking me to walking away? I spun around when I heard what sounded like howling. My heart raced as I stared into the night for any sign of movement. And Craig, he just walked off. He didn’t even have a flashlight or his gun.
Spinning back around, I looked at Craig, growing smaller and smaller in the distance as he walked away from me. I had a choice to make. I could stay here and take my chances or I could go with my stalker and pray that he didn’t try to kill me somewhere along the way. Another howl and I took off running for Craig. Better to stay alive now and escape later.
“Craig! Wait!”
The flashlight beam bounced around the darkness as I ran for Craig. I saw that he stopped, a quizzical look on his face. “Is everything okay?”
“I’m going with you.”
“Are you sure? Because I want you to feel safe. And if you don’t feel safe with me, then I’m not doing my job.”
“I’ll get away from you at some other point, but I’m not staying out here in the dark by myself.”
“If you’re sure…”
I nodded.
“Well, in that case, I’d like my gun back.”
“Why?”
“Because if a bear or a coyote comes after us, I’d like to be able to kill it before it kills us. Unless you suddenly learned how to use a weapon and you think you can defend us.”
He had a point. I handed the gun over and watched as he checked the safety and then slid it into the back of his jeans.
“Ready to go? We should reach town in about two and a half hours if we keep up a brisk pace.”
I followed behind him and noticed that he moved closer to me, like he was trying to protect me. I didn’t get it. He was just about to walk away from me and now he was guarding me. It didn’t make any sense. Why would-
I stopped in my tracks and stared at Craig with a gaping mouth. “You played me.”
“What?” He kept walking, not bothering to stop and wait for me. I jogged to catch up to him and grabbed onto his arm.
“You
totally played me.You let me think you were going to walk away and leave me in the dark with bats and bears.”
“Don’t forget the coyotes.”
“But you weren’t really going to, were you?”
“Does it matter? You needed to decide what you wanted to do and I gave you the space to come to the logical choice.”
“But…” He looked at me expectantly. “Fine, we’ll do this your way.”
“See? Wasn’t that an easy decision?”
“I really hate you,” I said as I stalked off.
“That won’t last forever, my little Reese’s Pieces!”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Craig
“Would you just get on my back?”
“No,” Reese said forcefully as she limped along the road. She lost her shoes when that guy took her. Her feet were probably all torn up, but she refused to hitch a ride, no matter how much pain she was in.
“Look, I haven’t hurt you yet. Can’t you see that I’m not trying to kill you?”
“No, I can’t see that. Because I ended up in the trunk of a car that you were driving.”
“I already told you, I followed you when you were taken and then I leapt on top of the car so that I could get into the car and save you.”
“Don’t you think I would have heard you jump on top of the car?”
I shrugged. “I bet you were more concerned with how to escape than what was going on outside the car.”
She opened her mouth to refute what I said, but then snapped it shut. “Fine. You may have a point.”
“Will you please just get on my back? If I do anything you don’t like, you can just strangle me.”
She bit her lip and thought it over. I prayed to God that she would say yes and get on my back. I wanted to feel her body heat next to mine. I wanted her warm breath blowing across my neck. Anything to be close to this woman. If she said yes, maybe I was breaking through to her. Maybe she would consider what we could have together. It would be like accepting what was between us.
“Fine, but this doesn’t mean anything.”
I snorted out a laugh. “Of course not.” Okay, so I had that all wrong. But it didn’t matter, because she was going to be holding onto me.
I bent over and let her climb on, but I instantly realized what a mistake this was. Now that I had the woman I needed more than life itself on my back, I knew I couldn’t let her go. Hell, I was about to kidnap her anyway. Would it really matter if I didn’t let her go back to her life and just kept her to myself?
I continued walking for the next two miles, trying my best not to let my woody get in my way. It wasn’t working so well. And then, to make things worse, she started to doze on my shoulder. I gripped her legs tighter, trying to keep her on my back. Her arms had loosened and were now just hanging loosely by my neck.
After another hour, I was finally at the edge of town. I walked to the closest hotel and checked us in. Reese woke up, but was too comfortable to walk on her own. At least, that’s what I told myself. She slid the card into the reader and I opened the door, then set her down on the bed. She laid back and closed her eyes. She looked so damn sexy lying on the bed.
I cleared my throat, trying not to stare at her anymore. There were too many thoughts running through my head. Thoughts of her lying in the bed next to me, or running her hands over my body. Hell, just seeing her like this on the bed had me thinking about what it would be like to be inside her.
“Right, well, I’m gonna go take a shower.” I walked over to her and grabbed her hand, pulling her to her feet.
“What are you doing?”
“You’re coming with me.”
“Uh, no, I’m not.”
I chuckled. “It’s so cute that you think you have a choice.”
“I do have a choice and I’m not going with you,” she said forcefully. “There’s no way I’m joining you in the shower.”
“While I would love to get you in the shower with me, I know that’s not going to happen anytime soon. You’re just going to sit in the bathroom where I can keep an eye on you.”
“Look,” she huffed in irritation. “I came with you. I rode on your freaking back. You’re the one that pointed out I have nowhere else to go.”
“Ah, but see, that was before. Now, we’re around people again and you’re going to try to run.”
“I’m not going to run. I have no money and I have no clue where we are. All I want is to lay down in bed and go to sleep.”
I tried to read her face, but it was nearly impossible. She looked nervous, but it could have just been fear. She had been through something terrifying tonight. As much as I didn’t want to let her out of my sight, it would work in my favor to show her that I trusted her.
“Fine, you can lay down.”
She grinned in satisfaction, but I wasn’t through yet. I walked over to the large cabinet that housed the tv and started shoving it across the room to the door.
“What are you doing?”
“Making sure you don’t go anywhere.”
“But…what if there’s a fire?”
“Don’t worry, my little pixie. I won’t let you burn.”
She stomped her foot and then winced. “Don’t call me that. I’m not anything to you.”
“Sure,” I grinned.
“I’m not.”
“Oh, I believe you. I know you are your own person. And I respect that.”
“What are you talking about?” she asked in frustration.
“I know,” I responded. It made no fucking sense, but it seemed to piss her off even more, and I liked it when she got all worked up. It made my dick hard.
“Now,” I brushed my hands off after I shoved the cabinet firmly against the door. “I’ll be in the shower. Don’t worry, I won’t be long.”
I grinned and headed for the bathroom while she huffed and plopped back on the bed. Turning on the water, I stepped under the spray of warm water and groaned. My body was tired, but my dick was ready for action. I gripped my dick in my hand and imagined my little Reese’s Pieces, down on her knees and taking me into her mouth. Damn, I could feel her tongue licking my balls and then taking me in her mouth.
I groaned and pumped a little harder. It didn’t take much to push me over the edge. She was just in the other room and I’d carried her on my back for a good hour tonight. I could still feel her breasts pressed against my back. I washed myself quickly and shut off the shower. After drying off quickly, I wrapped a towel around my waist and was pleased to see that she was still sitting on the bed, pissed as hell, but still there.
When her eyes flicked to mine, I could practically see her pulse jump up and take off. Her eyes did a slow perusal of my body, taking in every muscle. She licked her lips and I swore I heard her breath catch when she spotted my erection sticking out from where the towel joined at the front. Yeah, I was hard again. Of course, any guy would be when a beautiful woman was looking at him like a piece of meat.
“Have you changed your mind about me, Reese?”
She snorted, but her eyes lingered on my cock. I released the towel and stood there in all my naked glory, smirking when her eyes widened. She squeezed her legs together and I knew I had her. It wouldn’t take much to flip that switch and get her in my bed.
I walked over to the bed and sat down beside her. God, she was so fucking gorgeous. I brushed my thumb over a smudge on her face and ran my thumb along her lip. She didn’t try to stop me, instead stared at me like she wondered what it would be like to kiss me. I leaned in slowly, giving her the chance to back away, but she didn’t. I pressed my lips lightly to hers, but it was like having my first taste of chocolate. And I needed more of it.
I deepened the kiss, pressing my tongue to the seam of her lips. I almost lost it when she parted her lips slightly and let me in. Hell, this woman was going to be the death of me. I wanted to run my hands over her body and feel every curve. I wanted to know what it was like to feel her tits in my hands. But it wouldn’t happen like th
is. It would be because I knew she wanted me just as much as I wanted her.
Against my better judgement, I pulled back from the kiss and got to my feet. I needed distance so I didn’t maul her. Not to mention, my dick was so hard that I needed space to gain control of myself. I stood at the end of the bed and took deep breaths to calm my body down.
But then it was like cold water was splashed on me, because the bottoms of her feet were all torn up and she had to be in pain. Snatching my clothes out of the bathroom, I quickly tugged on my jeans.
“Where are you…” She cleared her throat when her voice cracked. Inside I was grinning. “Where are you going?”
“To get something for your feet. They’re all torn up. Why didn’t you tell me you were in pain?” But she didn’t answer because she was too busy staring at my chest. I yanked on a shirt and snapped my fingers at her. “Hey, focus.”
“What?”
“Why didn’t you tell me you were in pain?”
“Uh…I guess I didn’t really notice.”
I rolled my eyes and shoved my feet in my shoes. “Can I trust you to stay here?” She nodded, but it wasn’t good enough for me. “Promise me you’ll stay here, please. I can’t stand the thought of you disappearing on me. Especially not when someone tried to kidnap you tonight.”
She flushed bright red and nodded. “I’ll stay.”
I kissed her again and headed for the door. “I won’t be long. Is there anything else you need?”
“Shoes?”
I grinned and tapped the side of my head. “Right.”
I moved the cabinet out of the way and headed downstairs. Things were finally coming around. It wouldn’t take too much longer to convince Reese that she was mine.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Reese
I waited for him to shut the door and then I leapt off the bed, wincing slightly at the pain in my feet. I hadn’t been lying about not feeling the pain. I was too worried about other things to think about something like pain. I pressed my ear to the door and then ran back to the phone when I didn’t hear anything. I quickly dialed Brooke’s number and waited for her to pick up. But instead, a man picked up.
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