by Lara Swann
He hadn’t hurt me - he’d barely even yelled at me - and it seemed that as long as my efforts didn’t put him in any real danger, he was willing to be lenient. It was the only reason I could think of that I’d felt comfortable enough to be so obvious about defying him - either that, or I was just an idiot. Any other kidnapper probably would have—
I shuddered again and tried to make myself stop thinking about it, but the images of what I’d expected from him flicked through my mind anyway. What I’d said about the way he looked at me was true, and I’d been sure that he’d intended so much more when he came to my room tonight. The look of shock and horror on his face when I’d accused him of that had brought almost immediate reassurance - but, if I was honest, maybe a slight tinge of disappointment too.
That was even more stupid, of course, but when I’d spent the evening waiting for him, knowing that if I didn’t escape that was likely to happen…maybe I’d resigned myself to it a little. That was what this evening was meant to be about for me, anyway. I hadn’t had a choice with Viktor, so how would this have been different? And was it so bad for part of me to like the idea of my first time being with someone handsome and powerful? Someone who made my body spark and heat when he touched me?
Yes, Alessa. Yes, wanting your kidnapper like that is all sorts of fucked up.
I sighed and shook my head. It must be the exhaustion. And lying next to him in the same bed certainly hadn’t helped. I glanced back, and he was still in that same position - still watching me. My body tensed again, but some part of me heated at the attention. No one had ever looked at me like that…watched me like that. I’d never warranted that much focus or interest before.
He’s making sure you don’t do something stupid, idiot.
But I couldn’t even think of anything stupid to do anymore. I was out of ideas. Out of plans. And tonight had confused the hell out of me. I didn’t really believe he’d ever let me go, but I wasn’t sure I could risk another escape attempt - not yet, anyway.
And…he wasn’t really so scary - being kept here with him wasn’t as painful or terrifying as I’d imagined. Or at least, not in the conventional way - what terrified me most seemed to be my own crazed reactions, not anything he was doing.
It wasn’t like I had a lot of options anyway. Maybe the best thing would be to dial down on the defiance and act like I was going to go along with his let me go eventually plan. My father should find me at any moment, and in the meantime…I could learn as much as I could about Leo - either to tell my father, or to find something to exploit and escape.
The idea of that settled me a little - almost gave me permission to relax and stop looking for any little escape opening, without being an admission of giving up.
I thought about that for a few minutes, accepting it before I took a deep breath and got up from the window. One more brief look out at the desolate garden and I let the curtain fall closed. As I came back to the bed, Leo stopped watching me and lay back down, giving me the slightest bit of privacy to slip under the covers again.
I could still feel his weight beside me, the heat from his body carrying over to me, but I felt better about ignoring it now. I had a new plan, and now the hardest part was going to be fighting the strange feelings he provoked. But I could do that after I got some sleep and stopped my mind from churning at an insane pace.
I turned my back to him and clutched the pillow, willing myself to fall asleep. I didn’t believe it would work, not after everything that had happened and with Leo’s large form behind me, but I was more exhausted than I’d thought, and in the end that sucked me down into a blissful unconsciousness.
Chapter Six
Leo
“I’m in trouble, Jay. Can I come ‘round?” My voice was urgent, but I kept it quiet as I glanced at the closed door to the bedroom where Alessa was still sleeping.
It was barely light outside, and I hadn’t wanted to wake her when she couldn’t have had more than a few hours of sleep. Instead I’d locked the bedroom door and come out into the corridor to make this call, while staying close enough to hear if anything dramatic happened within the room. After what she’d done last night, there was no way I was leaving her completely unsupervised.
There was a long silence on the line, and my stomach knotted unpleasantly as I waited. Jay had always come through for me before, but—
“Want to tell me what this is about?” The gravelly voice wasn’t exactly hostile, but it wasn’t what I’d wanted to hear either.
“I’ll tell you in person.” No way were we having this conversation over the phone - and Jay knew enough to respect that.
The silence deepened before I finally heard a grunt. “Be here in an hour - and no promises.”
“One hour.” I confirmed before hanging up and leaning back against the wall, my eyes closing.
Last night’s headache had become a dull throbbing force behind my eyes, and Jay’s reluctance only made it worse. I needed to talk to someone else about this mess at the very least, and work out what the hell I should do. Politics and bullshit simply wasn’t me - I only paid enough attention to make sure I stayed the hell out of it. The idea of Jay turning me down was almost too much to think about.
Breathing deeply, I pushed away from the wall and ran a hand through my hair, looking warily at the bedroom door. I didn’t want to go in there and wake Alessa - and the last thing I wanted to do was take her with me to Jay - but I couldn’t leave her here alone. Not after last time.
Damn girl.
Still, the thought of what I’d come home to yesterday had a reluctant smile forming. Crazy, impetuous girl. I should hate that she was spirited as fuck - having a scared, timid captive would make my life a hell of a lot easier, especially since I didn’t know what the fuck I was doing. But for some reason Alessa’s attitude only made my blood boil hotter for her. Which was another disaster waiting to happen.
I’d spent last night caught between an irritating guilt for terrorizing her, and outrage that she wasn’t afraid enough to be sensible. I should probably have gagged and restrained her from the start - and definitely after seeing her behavior - but I hated everything about keeping her hostage, and I couldn’t bring myself to do it.
And overriding those conflicting feelings was that cursed, unrelenting desire. One that I thought I’d seen mirrored in her eyes a couple of times - but that must have been my overly stressed mind playing tricks on me. She might have glowed with a fierce sensuality, but there was no way the girl was going to want to fuck her kidnapper - and her horror at the thought that I might force her had only made that more obvious.
I’d hated knowing she thought me capable of that, but considering the circumstances I could understand it. And since I was having enough trouble following through with treating her like a hostage, it was probably a good sign she feared me.
And however outraged I’d been at her thinking I’d ever do something like that, it hadn’t been enough to resist pushing her buttons anyway. It was a terrible idea, but I was good at seducing women - and with such stunning beauty in front of me, it had been a purely natural response. About the only thing I knew about women was how to set their pulses racing, and when I’d seen the outraged-innocence that she’d responded with, any good intentions had vanished. I’d wanted her too much not to make it blindingly obvious.
Maybe she would never go for it, but I’d make sure she couldn’t doubt the offer was right there in front of her.
Besides, it seemed to be the only way I had of keeping her off guard.
Of course, it had all caught up with me when we’d headed to bed. She’d put up a show of objecting to sharing the bed, as I’d known she would, but I’d been the one to suffer in the end.
She’d fallen to sleep while I’d had to lie there, thinking about her beautiful sun-kissed skin next to me, the soft curves of her hair, and that delicate set of her face. Imagining what it would be like to roll over and touch and taste those full, waiting lips. Just the sound of her breathing h
ad worked its way into my consciousness, and I’d spent the night lost in thoughts of what the hell I was going to do - with her, with Viktor, with everything - and struggling with that red-hot desire.
I was used to instant gratification whenever I wanted it, and by the time I caught the first hints of light coming through the window, I thought I’d go crazy with the frustration. But it was day now, and the conversation with Jay had been enough to wake me up and cool my mood, leaving me with just a splitting headache to remember the night by.
Before I could think too much about what was waiting for me on the other side, I unlocked the bedroom door and stepped inside, walking over to Alessa’s side of the bed. The faint light streaming through the curtains highlighted her face and made it appear even softer than it had the night before.
The range of violent emotions that it had shown then were smoothed away now, and I hesitated as I reached for her, feeling awkward about disturbing her brief peace. My cock twitched against my pants as I looked down at her and I almost growled at feeling my awakening interest already.
Today was going to be impossible.
And you think you’ll be rid of her by the end of the day?
I ignored the ever-present question of what I was going to do with her, and finally reached out a hand to her shoulder, putting on a familiar smirk and settling into pretending far more confidence than I felt.
She jerked against me, opening her eyes and blinking with confusion for a brief moment - then horror and fear passed over her expression again and she recoiled from me, pulling back into the covers. Understandable.
I shifted back and accepted it with a shrug, meeting her dazed eyes as I spoke. “Time to get up, princess.”
Her brow wrinkled and she groaned from lack of sleep, shaking her head. “Whaa’ time ’s—?”
The pulsing behind my eyes sympathized with her muttered objection, but there were more important things to worry about.
I followed her gaze to the window that showed only a hint of dawn before answering her. “Early, but I need to get moving - and you’re coming with me.”
“Wh-yy?” She was obviously half-asleep, and the whine in her voice was almost sweet - but the idea that she was comfortable objecting made me uneasy. Maybe it was driven by sleep, but I was too aware of my piss-poor job at intimidating her into obedience.
I tilted my head and raised an eyebrow pointedly, thinking of the night before and all the reasons I had to drag her with me today, but she barely had her eyes open and seemed to miss my response.
Irritated, I growled a verbal answer instead. “I’m not letting you out of my sight - remember?”
Her face screwed up and she gathered the covers tight to her body, nestling down into the center of the bed and closing her eyes as if it would make me go away. My blood pounded in my temple and reminded me that I’d just love to be able to do the same thing - but I didn’t have time to deal with this shit.
Instead, I folded my arms and stepped back, appraising her.
“Do you want me to pull you out of there myself?” My low voice could have been a threat - should have been - but I couldn’t help the thrum of seductive promise there either. I wasn’t even sure which I’d intended.
Either way, the comment was enough to have her jerk upright, outrage reddening her cheeks again. “You wouldn’t dare!”
Her elegant, heart-shaped face became cute and cherubic every time she flushed like that, stirring my blood and making me wonder whether she had any idea what sort of effect she was having on me.
“Try me.” I gave her a cocky grin, surprising myself with how much I enjoyed provoking her as I watched those hot-tempered emotions flare. When she scowled at me in response, I decided that she was awake enough to follow simple instructions and turned away to leave her to it. “You have ten minutes.”
“Ten minutes?!” I was glad she couldn’t see my second grin at the outrage there. “You have obviously never lived with a woman, asshole.”
The careless accusation hit me unexpectedly hard, and my mood soured.
Maybe not - but look how right I was about that. It’s a fucking nightmare.
“Ten minutes. You’re not dressing up for royalty, princess - I just need you ready to walk out of the house.” If she noticed the sudden coldness to my voice, it wasn’t obvious.
Instead, she seized the opportunity to retort. “And just what should I be dressing in, then? Do you have a woman’s wardrobe somewhere around here?”
I turned back to see her out of the bed with her hands on her hips, glaring at me with a now-familiar challenge. She’d obviously worn the silken dress to bed last night, and now stood there in its full glory - barring a few creases - and with every generous curve on display. I recovered from the stunning sight within moments, then drew my gaze over her slowly, enjoying every glimpse as she narrowed her eyes at me. But she didn’t make a move to cover herself up, which - considering her modesty the night before - I was oddly impressed by.
“Well?” Her raised eyebrow said that she knew exactly what I’d been looking at - and while the redness staining her cheeks showed some of her discomfort, she clearly refused to be intimidated by it. My smile broadened in appreciation, before her question finally registered.
“Damn.” I frowned and turned to look at the two dressers on either side of a mid-sized wardrobe in the middle of the opposite wall, thinking. I could sense her satisfaction at evidence of something I hadn’t thought about, but I only glanced over mildly as I moved forward to start searching. “Go and get on, I’ll find something.”
She gave me a smug look, but walked towards the en suite bathroom without complaint.
“Leave the door open, too.” I called it over my shoulder, anticipating the following angry squeal with ease. “Either that, or you get to close the door with me inside, princess.”
I had meant what I said about not leaving her alone. She cursed at me for a couple of minutes and I could hear her stomping around the bathroom, but she left the door open. I’d already removed any questionable items so I wasn’t worried about what she might find in there and instead, I caught myself smiling at her antics. Then I reminded myself that we were not here for her games, and they were likely going to make my life very difficult. I needed to focus, and she was wrecking it with every fiery comment - no doubt deliberately.
So why can’t you get angry about it? Scare her, restrain her, do something to get it all under control again?
I pushed that thought away and turned back to the wardrobe. This safehouse had always been intended for me, and it was well stocked with my clothes - but I’d never considered a female guest.
I rummaged through everything there, but I had to admit it was lacking. The sound of the shower from the bathroom had me cursing and I called out a reminder to be quick - I couldn’t afford to wait for however long women took to get ready in the morning. Maybe Alessa’s attitude amused me, but there was no doubt that having her around was a pain in the ass. Turning back to the wardrobe only highlighted that again, and with a grunt of irritation I started pulling out a couple of my old shirts and t-shirts.
Everything was far too big, and none of my pants stood a chance of fitting her, but maybe she could throw something together. Anything would be better than that revealing piece of lingerie that she’d been wearing when I took her. My blood flared at the thought of her in that again, but even if she’d go for it, having her parade that in public would attract far too much attention.
She came out from the bathroom quicker than I’d expected, but even so I was pacing impatiently by the time I saw her in the doorway, my mind absorbed by thoughts of what I was going to tell Jay later. I stopped as I noticed her there, wrapped in a cream towel that barely covered her golden skin and showed off the long length of her legs. Her gaze met mine briefly and she blushed, obviously awkward around me in just the towel.
Far too modest for her own good. What was an innocent girl like that doing with Viktor Kovalski?
I
ignored the thought as she walked towards the clothes lying on the bed - getting curious about her wasn’t a good idea.
“I only keep my clothes here, so you’re just going to have to find something that works. None of the pants will fit, but maybe one of those will cover you up anyway.” I nodded towards the over-sized shirts on the bed, and was met by an immediate frown.
“You really expect—”
“We don’t have time for this, Alessa. So either pick something out, or I’ll drag you out of the house in that towel.” I cut her off, my impatience reaching its limits and any earlier humor leaving my voice. I simply couldn’t have her questioning and resisting every little thing.
The horror that glazed over her expression at my words told me that my threat had been taken seriously, and I tried to ignore the thrum of guilt as she turned back to the clothes awkwardly, cheeks red.
I wouldn’t have done it, of course. Even if I could have put her through it, hauling an almost-naked girl across the city was not the way to lay low. But she didn’t know that, and having her believe me capable of everything I threatened was the only way I was going to maintain control over this situation - my self-sabotaging feelings be damned.
Instead of watching her change, I walked into the bathroom and looked through the cabinet there for a couple of painkillers. Swallowing them down with a few sips of water, I caught a glimpse of my expression in the mirror and winced at the dark shadows under bloodshot eyes. Hopefully the pills would be enough to take care of the headache - fuck knew, I needed to focus today. And maybe I’d get some sleep soon. If Jay could help me out.
Straightening, I buried my concerns and smoothed my face back to its usual uncaring confidence, walking back out to collect Alessa before we headed to the car.