Taken for the Hunt: A Dark Romantic Suspense

by Mae Doyle

  “A shower will feel good,” he tells me. “In here.” He points to the bathroom door and I nod, stepping through it, fully expecting him to wait outside. When he follows me through the door and stands with his back against it, I feel panic rising in me.

  “What are you doing?” I ask him, taking a step back. There are a few toilet stalls to one side of me with sinks across from them and on the other side of the room are three shower stalls and a large soaking tub. A rack with towels and washcloths hangs on the wall and there’s a shelf with all sorts of shampoos, conditioners, and body washes.

  I haven’t seen any razors, and I’m regretting the fact that I didn’t shave before I got kidnapped.

  It’s fucked up, I know. I need to get my priorities straight.

  “Helping you shower,” he tells me with a cocky grin. “The last thing that we want is for our rabbits to be injured while getting clean. This will let me check your bruises and even give you a massage if you want.”

  The thought of him rubbing his hands all over my body excites me, but just for a moment. “Not a fucking chance,” I spit at him. “I don’t need to be observed like I’m some stupid little kid who doesn’t know how to shower.

  As I speak, I realize what’s so weird about the bathroom. I think that I kind of noticed it before but pushed it out of my mind because I couldn’t make sense of it, but now it’s all clear.

  There are no doors on the toilet stalls or showers. Everything is open, fully exposed, so you can look around the room and easily see what every person is doing. Realization dawns on me and I turn to him, scowling.

  “No.”

  “Oh yes, rabbit. I’m here to make sure that you not only get clean, but that you don’t accidentally hurt yourself in the process.”

  “Accidentally?” I make air quotes around the word. “How many women killed themselves in the bathroom before you wised up and realized that watching us was a great way to live our your peeping tom fantasies? Fucking creeper.”

  He smirks, the look on his face making my stomach twist.

  It twists because he’s fucked up, right? Not because he’s hot?

  “Strip down, rabbit, and get it over with. There’s no reason for you to drag this out any longer than necessary, all that will do is cut into the time that you get to sleep later and you’ll be exhausted for training.”

  I don’t move. “More training with you?”

  “Owen. Now strip, rabbit.”

  “Natalia. I’m not a rabbit.” I don’t know why the fuck I’m making this stand right here and right now, but it’s suddenly really fucking important to me that he stops calling me rabbit. I’m a person.

  I have to make sure that he remembers that. Maybe it will make me more difficult for him to kill later.

  “Fine, Natalia,” he says, rolling my name around in his mouth for a moment before spitting it out at me. “Strip down, get clean, put on your pajamas. I want you nice and rested tomorrow.”

  Fine. I don’t see that I have a choice, and I’d much rather change than have him do it for me. “What happens tomorrow?” I ask, turning around. I think that I’m happier with the idea of him seeing my ass and not my tits and cunt.

  “More training. Maybe, if you’re lucky, I’ll take you on a walk around the island. You do get to explore it once a week before the hunt, but only if you’re good.”

  “How magnanimous of you,” I remark.

  “Maybe you don’t need that thesaurus after all, hmm?” He traces his finger down my spine and I freeze in place for a moment before walking forward to the towel rack and grabbing a washcloth. There’s no way to take a towel into the shower with me without it getting soaked, so I’m just going to have to parade in front of him, naked and dripping wet, when I need one.

  The thought makes me sick.

  “Have a good shower, Natalia,” he tells me, but I ignore him, turning the water on as high and hot as it will go and standing directly under the spray so I can’t hear anything he says.

  He’s still staring, though.

  I can feel his eyes boring into my back.

  Chapter 12

  Marco

  Natalia doesn’t get to leave the building to explore the island for two weeks. It takes her that long to learn to behave, to learn to do what I’m telling her to do, to stop fighting me, Owen, and Helen.

  The only person she seems to respond halfway well to at all is Becky, and I almost want to move Becky to another rabbit so that Natalia can’t get to see her, but my heart’s not that cold.

  I don’t think.

  By now, Natalia doesn’t fight me anymore when she showers. She simply strips down, turning her back to me the entire time, and cleans off. It’s like it’s a chore for her, just something that she has to do to make it through the day.

  But she wouldn’t stop talking to Zach’s rabbit, and I finally made Natalia eat by herself in the hallway as punishment. What Zach does to punish his rabbit is up to him, but I’m not letting Natalia try to get buddy-buddy with any of the other women.

  It hasn’t happened before, but I’m not so stupid as to think that it wouldn’t be a huge fucking issue.

  It’s breakfast time and Natalia looks up at me in surprise when I walk down the hall to see her. She has a plate with an omelet and some apples with peanut butter on them, but she’s mostly just pushing the food around with her fork.

  “Not hungry?” I ask, looking down at her. She’s sitting with her legs straight out in front of her like she wants to trip someone and she glares when she sees that it’s me.

  “It’s fine. Just busy fueling up for a long day of training,” she says, stabbing a bite of omelet and eating it defiantly.

  I roll my eyes. “Get up, Natalia.”

  “I’m not done.” She takes another bite, chewing it slowly, then swallows hard. “It’s so good I just want to take my time.”

  “Jesus.” Leaning down, I grab her arm and pull her up, making her stand next to me. “You’re not training today, Natalia, so get over yourself.”

  Her face pales. “Is it today?”

  The hunt. She’s talking about the hunt and I pause for a moment before shaking my head. “No. That will be at night. Don’t you remember that I told you you’d get to explore the island some before then?”

  She nods. “I didn’t know if that was still on the table.”

  “Because you’re a pain in the ass? Yeah, it’s still on the table, so let’s go.” She gives me another quick nod and follows after me, trailing behind me a few steps until I pause to let her catch up.

  Dressed in her normal black pants and tank top, she looks ready to take on anything, but I know for a fact that she won’t make it halfway around the island before passing out from not eating enough, so I stop at another door, scanning my fob to open it.

  “Stay right there,” I tell her, walking in the door but leaving it open so I can keep an eye on her.

  “Where would I go?” She asks. “Back down the hall to my omelet? Maybe to a training room for more hell?”

  I roll my eyes and grab a sack, putting some waters and some granola bars in it. We’ll both be hungry by the time we walk the entire island and I want to make sure that we have something to eat.

  I have no doubt in my mind that she’s going to drag my feet and make this little tour take all day. Normally rabbits are so spooked by being outside that they want to hurry through the tour and get back to their rooms.

  It’s a mistake. Rushing means that they don’t pay enough attention to the terrain. This is a gift we’re giving the rabbits, and when they don’t take it seriously then you just know that they’re not going to do well on the big day.

  But I have a feeling that Natalia is going to take this very seriously. She’s still standing at the door where I left her when I get back, and although she raises an eyebrow when she looks at the sack I’m carrying, she doesn’t say anything.

  I lead the way outside and she stops for a moment, blinking in the air. It’s a gorgeous day, wit
h a cool breeze blowing in from the ocean and seagulls calling as they fly overhead.

  “Oh,” she says, tilting her head back to look at them. The way she’s standing gives me plenty of time to really look at her and drink her in. She has a soft curve to her neck that looks like the perfect place I’d want to kiss on a woman, but I shake my head and push that thought from my mind.

  Natalia isn’t a woman. She’s a rabbit. There’s a huge difference, and you can’t be both. Sure, I’m happy to call her by her real name if that will make her play the game that much better, but I can’t let myself forget her role on the island.

  “How long do I have?” She asks suddenly, turning to look at me. “Before you’re going to make me go back in?” There’s a desperation to her voice that I find incredibly sexy. It’s part of the reason why I love my island and the games that we play on it. Knowing that you have complete control over another person is sexiest thing.

  “As long as you want, until it gets dark. No rabbits out after dark,” I tell her, and she cocks an eyebrow at me.

  “You’re going to let me explore the island all day?”

  “Not by yourself,” I tell her, hefting the bag of snacks and water and slinging it over my shoulder. It’s looking like a really good idea that I brought this with me if she’s this excited about spending time outside. “I’ll be with you all day.”

  She was walking away from me but stutter steps, standing still in her tracks. “Why you? Why not Owen?”

  The fact that she would ask for her trainer pisses me off and I walk in front of her, turning to look at her. “You’d rather be with your trainer? Why?”

  She better have a damn good reason for asking for him. The very fact that she might prefer his company over mine pisses me off. I’ll kill him if I have to. Anything to keep her attention focused on me.

  “I trust him more.” Natalia’s barely breathing, her lips parted slightly as she looks up at me. She’s dropped a bomb on me and she knows it, and now she’s just waiting to see how I’m going to react to her.

  I’m sure that she wants me to get pissed. Maybe she wants me to lose focus on what we’re doing so that she can try to escape.

  But that’s not going to happen.

  Without taking my eyes off of her, I take a deep breath and hold it for a few seconds before exhaling slowly. It’s going to be a long day of her pushing my buttons, but I have no doubt in my mind that I’m the one in control here.

  “Good. You shouldn’t be outside with someone you trust,” I tell her, not letting on to the fact that it stings a little that she would prefer his company. I hate myself for caring what a rabbit thinks, but I can’t push away the feeling that Natalia might be different.

  “It would be more fun,” she snaps back at me, crossing her arms on her chest. “At least I wouldn’t be miserable all day long.”

  “You want to go back in and sit in your room all day? I’m more than happy to make that happen and I’ll spend the day outside by myself. It’s better company, to be sure.”

  She’s silent for a moment but I have no doubt that she’s busy coming up with a retort. Sure enough, after a moment, there it is.

  “As long as I don’t have to hear you talk, I guess it will be fine.” She sidesteps me and starts walking away from the building. I watch her go for a moment before walking quickly to catch up with her.

  “Try to run and I will kill you,” I say, keeping my tone light. “Try to take anything in from outside and the next time we come out here together you will be naked. Anything fishy that I don’t like and we go straight back, you understand?”

  “How wonderful that sounds,” she says, her voice dripping with sarcasm. “Now, tell me, Marco, how big is this place?”

  She stops for a moment, obviously taking in the sights. From where we’re standing we’re only a short distance from the helipad, which is the only way on and off the island. From there the island seems to go on forever, at least until it drops off in the cliffs.

  I pause, enjoying the view for a moment. This place is amazing and the culmination of every dream I’ve ever had. I wish that I could see it through Natalia’s eyes, but before I can get her take on it, I decide to tell her about the island.

  Nothing that will help her out, of course, just an overview.

  But before I can do that, she starts running.

  Chapter 13

  Natalia

  “Natalia!” Marco’s voice surrounds me, flowing in my ears and spurring me on as he cries my name. The wind whips it away from me but I can still hear the anger and rage in it.

  He’s pissed.

  He’s going to kill me.

  He told me that if I tried to run that he would kill me and I know that I’m only running towards my death but I can’t stop my legs. They’re pumping under me as hard as possible and I can’t seem to slow them down.

  Even though I know that I am now really and truly fucked, I keep running.

  I’ve never been particularly fast, but that doesn’t matter right now. What does matter is that I keep moving. This has been put in motion, literally, and the only way that I can get out of it now is if I somehow manage to escape.

  Even though I know that it’s stupid as hell, I’m running with a goal in mind. There’s no way that I can reach the ocean from here, it’s too far across the island, but there’s something between me and the water that may save me.

  His helicopter.

  It sits there like a bright green behemoth, totally out of place in the gorgeous nature of the island, just waiting for someone to come fly it. All I can do as I barrel towards it is hope that the keys are in it.

  Oh, and that I can suddenly fly a helicopter.

  It’s a stupid ass plan, but one I committed to as soon as I took that first step away from Marco and there’s just no going back now, no matter how much I wish I could turn around.

  “Fucking hell, Natalia!” He screams and I shiver, goosebumps breaking out all over my body even though it’s nice enough out. The sun is warm and I’m wearing all black, so I shouldn’t be cold, but an icy chill runs down my spine, pooling through my veins, almost stopping me in my tracks.

  Even though part of me knows that I should turn around and beg for his forgiveness, there’s no way that I’m going to do that. The chances of him forgiving me are about or under 0%. I’m better off trying to get into that helicopter.

  Maybe there’s a gun inside. Marco has mentioned over and over again that the end result of my time on the island is going to be a hunt. There’s no reason to hope that he’s not being serious when he’s talking about that.

  I reach the helicopter and grab for the handle, saying a little prayer of thanks when I feel it shift open under my grasp. The door swings open. It’s heavier than I would have thought that it would be and I have to throw my whole body into it to get it open.

  As I pull it open, I glance over my shoulder.

  Marco’s gaining on me. He’s not close enough that he could lunge for me and take me down, but he’s only got a short distance to go before he can do just that.

  Panic courses through me and I grab the bar to pull myself in, swinging up into the cabin of the helicopter right as Marco reaches the landing pad. He grabs the door, yanking it free from my grasp.

  I lunge for it, trying to grab it and pull it back, but it slips from my fingers and I turn, throwing myself back into the helicopter.

  I really didn’t think this shit out.

  “Fucking hell, Natalia!” He screams, reaching in for me.

  I shriek and scoot out of the way, kicking out the door at him. One kick hits his shoulder and he grunts, turning to the side a little, but he doesn’t step back from the door.

  “Just let me go!” I scream. Tears stream down my face — the first that I’ve cried since he took me, and I know that I sound hysterical, but I can’t help it. “Let me go, you bastard!”

  I’m not sure what my plan is now that he’s leaning in the helicopter for me, but I keep kicking at him
, not stopping when his hand wraps tight around my ankle.

  “You’re going to die,” he tells me, dragging me from the helicopter. I scream again, flopping over to grab onto anything I can.

  The seatbelt slips through my hands, the material burning my skin as I try to hang onto it. I scramble for something else, my fingers finding a little purchase on the metal lip on the bottom of the helicopter.

  Without thinking about what I’m doing, I latch on, curling my fingers around the lip.

  “No!” I scream. I can’t kick at him anymore, he has both of my ankles trapped between his arm and his side and has grabbed my hip with his free hand.

  “Natalia,” he says, his low voice a warning that I know I should heed, but I just can’t seem to listen to him. I don’t want to do what he tells me to, because if I do, I’m dead.

  “Fuck you!” I scream. His hand is hard on my hip and he digs his fingers into my skin, pulling me back from the helicopter. I try to hold on for as long as I can, but my fingers slip and the sharp edge cuts through the pads on my fingertips.

  Screaming, I let go. Marco pulls me back, holding me tight against his body so that I can’t get away. Three of my fingers on my right hand are bleeding and two on my left hand ooze blood as well, but he doesn’t seem to notice.

  If he does, he certainly doesn’t care.

  “What the fuck are you doing?” He screams into my face, his just inches from mine. I wince back, trying to pull away from him, but I can’t, not with him so close to me.

  “You were going to kill me!” I scream back. I’ve lost all sense of self-preservation right now. All I want to do is make him see that he didn’t give me a choice when I decided to try to escape. “I know that nobody gets off the island! I know that you’re just keeping me here to kill me!”

  “Fuck, Natalia!” Marco says, pushing me away from him. I stumble back but catch my balance at the last second, somehow managing to stay on my feet.