by J. S. Scott
“There’ll be people looking for me, you know.” Anna tried to drag her feet and lower her center of gravity to keep me from hauling her into the cabin, but it wasn’t going to slow me down, no matter what kind of tricks she tried to pull.
“No one’s going to look for you, Anna. Though if it makes you feel better, then you can keep telling yourself that.” Tired of her sad attempts to slow me down, I hefted her onto my shoulder, ignoring her kicking and screaming as I took the stairs up to the porch and front door, unlocking it and letting us in. But when I put her down, her lush curves brushed up against me, making my cock go hard when she was so close, my grip on her still tight.
“Please, just let me go. I swear, I won’t tell anyone about you. You have my word.” Her blue eyes shimmered with threatening tears and her bottom lip trembled, making me feel like a monster for scaring her.
She hadn’t asked for any of this. Not that it mattered. My options were few, and she’d gotten snagged into my mess. “I’m sorry, Anna. But we’re stuck with each other until this is over—which hopefully won’t be for too long. So I suggest you try to calm down and don’t do anything stupid until we can get out of here.”
“Are you really expecting me to just sit here and…what? Keep you company until all of this blows over?” She tried to shrug out of my arms, though I wasn’t ready to let her go, tightening my hold on her and earning me a glare that would have most men backing off—not that I was most men. “Let go of me, or I swear I’ll kick you so hard, you’ll be choking on your balls.”
“To start with, you shouldn’t warn your opponent of your move. Second—I’d like to see you try, Cupcake.” She was brave enough to try it. She jerked her knee upwards, but I easily blocked it since she’d stupidly told me what she was going to do, not to mention, she’d telegraphed her move from the very start.
She growled at me in anger and frustration, though seeing that fire in her only made me want her more. “I fucking hate you, Kane.”
“My turn.” Years of martial arts training had me scooping her off her feet, sending her crashing towards the floor, though I caught her before she hit the ground and yanked her back up and into my arms. The look of panic and surprise on her face hopefully meant that she’d realized that fighting this was futile. “This would have been a whole lot easier if you hadn’t tried that little move. Now I’m going to be a lot less nice than I’d planned on being.”
“Don’t hurt me. Please…” Her tears finally spilled over as I grabbed her bound arms and hauled her towards the only bedroom in the cabin—though that wasn’t entirely true, given that there was an entire highly secured level below the cabin.
I debated whether we should stay up here or head downstairs. Part of me wanted to keep it a secret on the off chance I ended up having to use it in the near future. But then again, the area downstairs had exits that were secured with a code. It’d allow Anna a little more freedom—if I decided she could be trusted with it.
For now, the bedroom would do, especially since I didn’t mind the idea of her tied to the bed. “I suppose you should use the bathroom before we get settled for the night.”
With a hand on the door, I swung it open and shoved her into the bathroom. “You have two minutes. If you try to escape, I’ll not only hunt you down, but if I decide to let you live, every piss and shit you take afterwards will be with the door wide open and me watching.”
“You’re such a fucking perverted bastard.” She all but spat out the words, venom in her voice and hatred in her eyes.
“I didn’t say I’d enjoy it, Cupcake. So do us both the favor and behave yourself.”
CHAPTER 4
Anna
I wasn’t about to show Kane that I was afraid of him. Guys like him probably got off on a victim’s fear.
Think, Anna. Think!
I was trying to control my panic over being so far into the mountains, tried to forget how high we’d climbed. Luckily, I knew exactly where we were. I’d grown up in these mountains and there were few areas I wasn’t familiar with in this part of the Rockies.
It was private property, a large portion of acreage that was bordered by state and federal lands. It was rumored that the owner was eccentric, and he’d chase off anybody who crossed his property boundaries. I hadn’t ventured onto his land when I’d come into the mountains. I’d been warned to leave the area alone because the owner was certifiable, but I knew how to get back home. The problem was getting away from him long enough to get a good lead.
God, how did I end up in this situation? Inside, I was terrified, but I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of seeing it. I might as well fight for my life rather than lay down and let him kill me.
I knew Kane didn’t own this hunting cabin. Although I’d never seen the owner personally, he’d always been described as an older guy. Did my kidnapper even know the crazy man who held the title to this property? Or had he just known it was vacant and decided to use it as his hideout?
I struggled to wash my hands with my wrists bound, then stupidly looked around for a towel. Like this place was going to have guest towels? Jesus, I really was losing it.
I swiped my hands on my jeans, wishing I had a change of clothes. I wasn’t completely decked out today. My rolled up jeans and vintage red and white checked shirt were pretty tame considering some of my other work clothing, but I could do without the black heels that completed my throwback look.
“If you aren’t out of there in one more minute, I’m coming in,” Kane threatened through the bathroom door.
“It’s not exactly easy to pee in bondage,” I flung back at him in what I hoped was a fearless voice. I didn’t want him to see that I was scared, but it was difficult to hide my terror. The only way I could do it was with a very real anger I was experiencing about him kidnapping me and dragging me up to the mountains.
I couldn’t afford to think about anything else…such as whether or not he was going to kill me.
Don’t think about that, Anna. Just try to stay alive!
I took a deep breath and reached for the door handle, still not able to figure out a plan. He obviously wasn’t going to release me, and I was freaking out because I knew he was going to, at the very least, find a way to contain me. I hated being held immobile, being trapped and unable to move. In fact, I was downright phobic about that, and I froze when I opened the door and looked at the bed.
He’d already tied the rope to the headboard, and he was just waiting for me to come out of the bathroom.
“My prison?” I asked, hating the panicked note in my voice.
“It’s not like I can fucking trust you, Cupcake,” he growled.
I knew that we were reaching a pivotal moment, and that I should try to gain his trust so that maybe I could convince him to let me go. Since he was planning on holding me prisoner, he obviously wasn’t going to kill me right at the moment, but I couldn’t hold back my horror at the thought of being helpless and unable to move.
My fight or flight response took over, and since I couldn’t fight much in my current condition, I did what my body was demanding that I do.
I bolted.
I wasn’t sure where I was going as I scrambled through the small cabin, or how I was going to get back down the mountain. All I could think about was getting away from him and his ropes.
Run! Run! Run!
My heart was pounding and I was already gasping for breath from panic as I flung open the cabin door, knowing he was right behind me. Darkness had fallen, and all I could see were flurries of snow and the cover of the woods beyond.
Cursing the low heels I was wearing as my feet slid in the snow, I kept sprinting toward the trees. At the moment, I would have given anything to be wearing my sneakers and a warm pair of socks.
Don’t look back. Keep going!
By the time I ducked into the woods, my feet were frozen, my flimsy f
ootwear no protection from the elements.
Shit! I was cold, and as I slipped into a small opening in the pine trees, I finally looked toward the cabin to see how much ground Kane had covered.
I didn’t see him. There was no sign of him, at least no one visible in the illumination from the cabin porch light.
What if he’s already here? Tight in my hiding place, I bit my lip to keep from making a sound. I didn’t hear anything…until his furious voice rang out no more than ten feet away from me.
“Get the hell out of there, Anna. Are you fucking crazy? You won’t last an hour out here. Jesus, woman, use some sense.”
Shit. Shit. Shit.
Did he know I was here, or was he just talking to draw me out? I wasn’t sure so I stayed put, not moving a muscle as I clung to a flimsy pine tree branch.
I held my breath, my body starting to shiver violently.
Before I could make a conscious decision, Kane thrust his arm through the tall pines and grabbed me by the waistband of my jeans. He tugged hard, forcing me back through the trees and forcing me to slam into his rock-hard body.
“Shit!” I squeaked loudly.
“What the hell was that about? Have you lost your damn mind? Do you want to die out here?” His voice was rough, irritated.
“It’s better than letting you rape me, and dying inside,” I muttered defiantly, struggling to get away from him, a fight that proved futile.
He easily tossed me over his shoulder, and started back toward the cabin.
“No! Please! Don’t do this.” I choked back a sob, and started to beat on his back with my joined hands.
“I don’t make idle threats, Anna. I’m done.”
I struggled harder, but it was hopeless. He had me back in the cabin in moments, and he strode to the bedroom and dropped me onto the bed like I was a sack of potatoes.
Straddling my body, he reached a long arm out and grasped a knife from the bedside table.
His weapon of choice? Was he going to just kill me now and be done with it? Or would he play with me first, like the sick, sadistic bastard that he was?
I watched nervously as he put the blade to my taped hands and cut the bindings, then stretched my arms over my head.
“No!” I twisted in alarm, knowing I was going to be trapped, unable to move.
“Calm the hell down. Where did you think you were going to hide? You’re already shivering, and it wouldn’t have taken long for you to freeze to death in this kind of cold. I don’t know why you’re worried about me killing you. Fuck, you’re already suicidal. If I didn’t know better, I’d think you wanted to die.”
“Then just kill me. Don’t confine me.” My fear was so intense that I didn’t care what he did as long as he put me out of my misery. “I can’t do this. Please don’t.”
“I can’t trust you, Anna.” He ignored my plea, securing my hands over my head. “But fuck…you’re a whole lot of trouble I don’t need right now.”
I looked at his face, his expression dark, cold, and unyielding. Tears coursed down my cheeks as my heart sank. He wasn’t going to give in. “Then just let me go. You said yourself that I’d never make it out in the wilderness alone. Why bother to keep me tied up? Let me go commit suicide in the elements.”
I flinched as he moved a rough thumb to wipe the tears from my face. “You really think I could do that?”
I knew he could. “You butchered a woman. Of course you can.” Hell, I was encouraging him. Yeah, I knew I would probably die out there, but I didn’t care. At least I’d be free.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” He shook his head, looking at me in disbelief. “That’s insane.”
“I can’t be confined. I’m phobic.” I hadn’t meant to tell him, knowing he’d use my own fears against me. But I was desperate.
“Why?” He sounded more confused than angry.
I didn’t want to tell him. I’d already blurted out enough. “There’s no logic behind phobias. They just…happen.”
“That’s a load of shit, and you know it. If you have that bad of a phobia, then something caused it. So, what happened to you, Anna? Why don’t you want me tying you up—or is it that you don’t want me confining you?”
I was silent as my eyes locked with his defiantly. For a brief second, he almost seemed human, even if he was sociopathic. Weren’t most sociopaths nice on the surface and all screwed up inside? “Nothing caused it,” I lied, wishing I hadn’t told him so he could use the weakness against me.
“I don’t believe you,” he rasped, swinging his leg over my body to get off the bed. “If you decide you want to tell me, and give me a reason why I shouldn’t confine you, let me know.”
That brief, fleeting moment of connection ended. Maybe I should have told him, tried to make him understand, but I wasn’t convinced he had any human emotions that I could really reach.
I watched with terrified eyes as he stood beside the bed looking down at me, his expression blank and unreadable. Finally, he turned and strode out of the room.
“Wait! Please! Don’t leave me here!” I yanked against the rope around my wrists, knowing I was chaffing my skin. But it didn’t matter. Like an animal caught in a trap, I’d gnaw off a limb if I could to get free.
I screamed as I got stuck in my own nightmare, flashing back to an earlier time when I’d been cold and trapped.
I couldn’t breathe.
I couldn’t see.
The cold was attacking my body mercilessly.
I knew I was going to die slowly and painfully, my lungs burning as I fought for air.
I was living in my own nightmare, unable to get free and move.
Screaming was the only thing to break the silence, so I didn’t stop.
Finally, I heard his voice again. He lifted my head and forced me to swallow a pill, giving me water to wash it down, then covered me up with a pile of blankets.
I couldn’t make out what he was saying, but it didn’t matter. For some reason, I was slightly comforted just by having the silence broken by his voice. He told me he was giving me something to relax, and I didn’t fight it. Anything else he uttered was beyond my comprehension. I was living in the hell of my own making.
“Sleep,” I heard him say gruffly as he turned to leave the room.
Strangely, I wanted to beg him to stay. Anything but the silence was preferable to me.
I don’t know how long I kept screaming, but it felt like an eternity before I felt my body start to relax and I ceased to yell. My wrists were sore from my hysterical attempts to get free, but it was a small discomfort compared to my mental state.
I whimpered quietly as whatever medication he’d given me took effect, my eyes starting to grow heavy. I closed them because all I saw was darkness in my mind anyway.
Strangely, I was almost grateful to him for shoving the pill down my throat before I finally fell asleep.
CHAPTER 5
Kane
Thank fuck my uncle had insomnia and anxiety, too paranoid to sleep most nights and opting for a little help when he needed it. Not that I had a clue as to what was freaking Anna out—aside from the little fact that I’d kidnapped her and I was wanted for murder.
Fuck.
Well, maybe she’d have more to say on the matter once she’d woken up. She mentioned some sort of phobia and it was clear she was scared of being restrained, though she didn’t say what had caused her fear. Not that it really mattered when all was said and done. It didn’t change a single thing. I couldn’t trust her not to make a run for it, and until I cleared my name, I needed her to stay put. There was no way in hell I was going to jail because she was panicky.
Checking in on Anna to make sure she was still passed out, I headed out to the car and unpacked so I’d have some clean clothes and supplies. It was late—nearly two in the morning, and I hadn’t had a decent nig
ht’s sleep in days. But first, I needed a long, steaming hot shower.
I stripped down naked and padded over to the shower, letting the water run for a bit and get it up to temperature before stepping in under the spray. Fuck, that felt so good. It was a far cry from the luxury shower I had at home, but at this very moment, nothing had ever felt better—and I sure as shit had experienced far worse.
Standing there under the spray, I let the water beat down on me, washing away some of the tension I’d been carrying since this nightmare started. My racing mind finally started to slow, letting go of the mess I was in, only to be replaced by thoughts of Anna.
What the fuck was I going to do with her? She had definitely not been part of my escape plan, though of all the people I could get stuck with, Anna might at least keep things interesting. Because one thing was sure; my cock had gone hard from the moment I’d laid eyes on her, and had yet to let up.
Lathering up, I scrubbed myself clean while wondering what the hell Anna’s story was. She was living out in the middle of nowhere, when she looked more suited to a happening city, with her rock-a-billy looks. All curves and sass…I couldn’t keep from stroking my cock as I thought of her, my hand slipping down my long hard shaft as I thrust through my fist with a groan.
Fucking hell…it’d been days. And though I felt like shit for kidnapping Anna, she was still the one I was thinking of as I squeezed the head of my cock before working my hand down my hard shaft, my pace starting to quicken. The energy of my orgasm started to build at the base of my spine as I thought of her lush curves and flirty smile, her full breasts and slender waist.
And then I couldn’t stop myself from picturing her on her knees, sucking me off as I fisted her hair and fucked that pretty mouth of hers, her red lips wrapped around my cock…couldn’t help but think of her greedily swallowing my come as I shot it down her throat before she licked me clean. And just like that, I was coming with a grunt as my orgasm crashed over me, the energy of it electric as my cock pulsed in my hand, shooting silky white ribbons in spurts, my heart pounding against my sternum.