Dark Redemption (Broken Souls #1)

by Sarah Marsh

  “I turned off the oven when I went to search your apartment after you passed out.”

  Eitan studied her closely. She was genuinely relieved she didn’t have to worry about setting the building ablaze. Would a criminal worry about others living in her apartment building? None that he’d ever met would.

  “Oh, thank God,” she answered and then looked back at him with narrowed eyes. “Why did you search my apartment?”

  “To make certain I knew who you were before I began questioning you, and to make sure no one would notice that you’re missing for quite some time,” he answered ominously.

  Eitan could see the wheels turning in her head, and she was most likely thinking about how long it would take for someone to notice she was missing. Most people did, after all, once they’d been abducted, and from the information he’d managed to grab out of her office and her computer, things weren’t looking very good for Miss Boon. Seems he had all the time in the world to make her crack.

  Chapter Seven

  Over and over again the man asked the same questions and Sofia gave him the exact same answers. She barely knew Carl Roberts. She hadn’t even been on one date with him. She didn’t even have his cell phone number, and she sure as hell didn’t know where he was right now. Thinking clearly had been next to impossible. She couldn’t stop thinking about the torture tools he’d had on the counter earlier. Horrible scenes played out behind her eyes over and over again. This was a very unfortunate time to have the rampant imagination of a writer, because the more she thought about what he could do to her, the more upset and manic she became. She’d been crying the entire time. The front of her shirt was soaked and her mouth was parched.

  At least she finally believed this man wasn’t going to outright kill her now and dump her body in the river, which was a small relief, but still she didn’t know how long this would continue.

  “Can I please have some water?” she finally asked, hoping he’d have a little pity on her.

  “Yes, I’ll get you some.” He walked over to the fridge and pulled two bottles of water out. He opened one up and brought it to her lips so she could drink.

  Just then his cell phone began to vibrate and he looked at the screen and walked toward the other side of the room.

  “Sir,” he said in a low voice as he answered the call. “Yes, I have her…no, there wasn’t anything at her apartment. I went over it thoroughly…I really don’t think she’s an accomplice―why would he tell you that?…are you certain?…affirmative. I will continue until I have the location.”

  Sofia didn’t get too much information from his side of the call, but it certainly sounded like she was still in a lot of trouble. Especially when he stepped back in front of her. The angry set of his eyes was terrifying and she could barely breathe thinking about what he may do to her.

  “You haven’t been telling me the truth, Sofia.”

  “What?” she answered quickly, eyes wide with renewed fear. “Yes, I have!”

  “My employer has apprehended Carl Roberts and he says you’re in possession of the zip drive with the stolen information on it,” he replied, tangling his fingers in her long, dark hair and pulling her head back firmly so she had to look at him.

  “I don’t know why Carl would say that,” she sobbed. “I don’t know anything about it.”

  “Do you have any idea what he did to get his hands on that information? Any idea who you’ve gotten involved with, little girl?” he said in a low, furious tone, “He murdered a female CIA operative in cold blood for that drive. He slit her throat from ear to ear.”

  Oh God. Sofia almost gagged when he told her that. She broke out in a cold sweat thinking she’d invited that monster in to have dinner with her. She’d thought he was a nice guy! But she still didn’t know anything about the zip drive this maniac was going on about.

  “Why won’t you believe me?” She was still a sobbing mess. “I don’t know where it is―he’s lying.”

  “He wouldn’t be lying, little girl. He’s strapped up to a polygraph machine and the bastard is trying to make a deal for his freedom. The location of that zip drive is the only bargaining chip he has, and he can’t be allowed to see the light of day after what he did to that woman, so one way or another you’re going to tell me where that item is.”

  He stormed out of the room, leaving her there to imagine the worst. Would he go back on his word not to hurt her? Sofia was deathly afraid of any kind of pain, and her heart began to thump in her chest just imagining what the tall man with the stone gray eyes would do to her.

  ***

  Eitan was furious as he left the room, his boss was convinced this slip of a woman knew the location of the zip drive and he’d just been ordered to torture the information out of her. But he wasn’t convinced this tiny woman was even capable of hurting a fly, let alone aiding and abetting a complete sociopath. His instincts were telling him Sofia Boon wasn’t knowingly involved in this at all, but his boss was adamant she was. If Eitan outright refused to continue, then Hays would probably just send someone over to pick her up and continue her interrogation. But if she was innocent, that would mean he’d helped kidnap and torture an innocent woman, and he couldn’t let that happen.

  That didn’t seem to be his only problem. He wasn’t as immune to her as he should have been. Sofia was just supposed to be another mark, just another faceless criminal…wasn’t she? Eitan had never let his emotions get in the way of his job before, but there was something about her big blue eyes that got to him. Those eyes that were now puffy and red as she’d been crying nonstop since she’d woken up tied to that chair. She was either one of the best liars he’d come across in a very long time or Donovan was somehow passing the polygraph while bullshitting his ass off. Which was possible, he supposed…after all, Ben Donovan was a con artist of the highest caliber; but why would he risk his only shot at freedom and lie about where the drive was? No. She had to have it. It was the only possibility; but there was a slim chance she didn’t know she had it.

  Clearly, coming at her with threats of pain and violence wasn’t going to get him anywhere with this woman. He was going to have to use a different kind of persuasion. One he would enjoy a great deal more.

  He needed to disarm her mentally and emotionally if he wanted to get more information out of her than the ‘I don’t know anything’ she’d been giving him for the last four hours. He could tell when a person’s limits were snapped and she’d already passed that level of rational thought. Now it was time to turn her perspective upside down and see what he could shake loose.

  Chapter Eight

  “You must be hungry. I’ll fix you a plate and then you can rest,” he said as he strolled back from the bedroom, seeming to have his anger back under control.

  “Yes,” she said in a quiet voice. She didn’t want to set him off again.

  Sofia was surprised when he went behind her and untied her hands. The blood rushed back as she bent them forward and stretched in relief.

  “Go into the bedroom and I’ll bring your dinner,” he said, staring directly into her eyes as if he was daring her to disobey.

  She’d spent the entire time while he was in the other room looking frantically around the apartment for a way to escape, but the windows didn’t open at all, and it was obvious they were high up enough from the view that she wouldn’t be climbing out onto any fire escape anyway. There was a complicated alarm pad beside the door that seemed to imply he was telling the truth about her not being able to leave that way either. Seems she really was trapped. Sofia certainly couldn’t take this man on in a fight. He was clearly well-trained and outweighed her by more than a hundred pounds. Without any real options, she followed his instructions and went into the bedroom, taking a seat on the bed, as it was the only thing to sit on.

  A few minutes later, he arrived carrying a tray and set it down beside her. It was the full dinner she’d planned to serve Carl, right down to the tiramisu she’d made for dessert. Clearly the man had not only
abducted her, but he’d raided her fridge as well.

  “Like Italian food, do you?” she asked sarcastically before she remembered to curb her tongue.

  He just looked at her for a moment and she wondered if he was going to punish her for her big mouth, then without a shred of humor, he replied as he handed her another bottle of water.

  “I don’t like to waste food, especially when it looked and smelled that good.”

  There was a tiny place deep inside of her that was pleased with the compliment, coming from such a dominant man. Sofia imagined he wasn’t one for false flattery, so if he said it, then he probably meant it. But the moment quickly came to an end when he retreated out of the room and she heard the click of the door locking behind him.

  Sofia instantly jumped up and scoured the room and adjacent bathroom for some kind of exit or weapon she could use, but of course, the stranger made sure she didn’t find anything. Eventually, she gave up and returned to eat, as it had to be well past midnight by now and she was starving. When her belly was full, she curled up into a ball under the covers on the bed and cried herself softly to sleep.

  ***

  Eitan checked the video monitors in the bedroom to make sure Sofia had eaten what he’d left for her. She tossed and turned for hours before she finally slipped into a deep, exhausted sleep and he set his alarm so he would wake up at dawn to prepare for the next stage in her interrogation.

  The next morning he quietly entered the room and stared at the lump she made under the covers. He’d made certain to increase the temperature in the room before he slept last night…that way she would be less likely to notice when he began to draw down the sheet that was covering her.

  He was amazed to see that she’d kept the covers on at all, really, as she was still fully clothed and sweating from the heat underneath. She sighed in her sleep as he pulled off the sheet and made room for her to extend her legs. She certainly was a sweet little package. Her curvy frame was padded in all the right places, and the more Eitan saw of her, the more his body was on board to begin what he had planned. He hadn’t been joking when he mentioned to her that this apartment was fully set up for full bondage play. The wrist and ankle restraints were built right into the wall above the bed and were adjustable enough that he was able to slowly draw her arms up and lock her wrists in without waking her. It was even clearer now that she couldn’t be a spy if she still hadn’t woken up with his presence in her bed.

  When he had her bound, he took a small knife and carefully removed her skirt and blouse, revealing a sexy purple lingerie set underneath that set off her creamy skin perfectly. His dick immediately reacted when his fingers trailed over her soft skin. He didn’t want to imagine that bastard Donovan getting to touch her sweet little body. He could almost see through the delicate lace of her bra and panties and he was more than tempted to remove them as well.

  But that would come later, he thought as he felt her breathing begin to change. His little captive was beginning to finally wake, and his game of seduction and confusion would begin. Soon enough she would be doing anything to help him find the location of that zip drive, and Carl Roberts would be a distant memory. Eitan didn’t want to think about why that thought gave him so much satisfaction.

  Chapter Nine

  Sofia woke once again to the now familiar feeling of her arms being restrained and was almost afraid to open her eyes. She’d hoped yesterday had just been a horrible nightmare and that she would wake up in her own cozy bed. How wrong she was, as the next thing that became apparent once she’d opened her eyes, was that she was also lying on the bed tied up and the clothes that she’d fallen asleep in were now gone.

  “What did you do with my clothes, you bastard?” she yelled out before she could get a hold of her temper. She was even more shocked to hear a deep voice answer her from the en-suite bathroom.

  “You won’t need them today.”

  When her eyes followed the direction of the voice and found not only the door to the bathroom wide open but also the glass shower door, she almost yelped when a muscular, perfectly sculpted ass confronted her.

  Sofia had to fight to focus on what he’d just said because even after everything she’d been through in the last twenty-four hours, her body betrayed her at the blatantly seductive sight of this dark stranger stroking his large hands down his wet, naked skin.

  She must be insane. There was no way she should be attracted to her captor, but she couldn’t deny the warmth that suffused her body as she watched him. Was this some sort of Stockholm syndrome? God help her it must be, because as wrong as she knew it was, she couldn’t seem to drag her eyes away.

  “I’ll be right out, I’m just finishing up,” he said as he turned toward her in the steam of the shower. “By the way, that color of purple is lovely against your skin.”

  She couldn’t even blink when he turned to face her, let alone respond to what he’d said. Sofia’s eyes were riveted to the slow wet trail his hands were making down his hard body. Every inch of him was sculpted muscle. The tattoos she’d noticed when she first met him were a beautiful tribal pattern that covered his arms and shoulders. When his hand began to move down his tight abs, her breathing increased and she couldn’t help the wetness that began to dampen her panties when he finally reached his long, hard cock.

  Jesus, this was hotter than any porn or romance novel she’d ever read or written before. As her brain tried to protest that she shouldn’t watch this, there wasn’t anything in the world that could make her avert her eyes from the bounty in front of her.

  ***

  Eitan knew he had her undivided attention as he moved his hand down to his now aching cock. He had no idea this would be as hot as it was, putting on a show for his sweet little captive. But as her breathing increased, making those pretty little lace covered breasts heave, and her legs began to get restless, he leaned back against the tiles and took a few slow strokes up and down his hard shaft. He watched her carefully, loving the way her eyelids got heavy and her pink little tongue slipped out to wet her lips slowly. Any hesitations he’d had about moving forward with this plan of attack were completely obliterated when he saw how she reacted to the restraints and his nakedness. Clearly under that buttoned-down, sweet exterior, she had some hidden kinks, and that contradiction in her personality only made him harder.

  Oh yeah, he thought as he using the slickness of the soap on his body to ease his hand as he stroked himself, his eyes locked onto her. It was so natural to imagine Sofia’s soft brown hair wrapped around his hands as he fed her his cock. He easily pictured her kneeling in front of him in the shower, giving him complete control as he stroked in and out of her hot, wet mouth.

  Eitan imagined himself sucking hard on those pretty pink nipples he could see through the lace of her bra as he slipped aside her panties. He thought about how good it would feel to slide the swollen head of his cock along her soaked folds. How she might gasp as he would finally rip away the silk and lace of her panties and spread her thighs wide apart so he could see every inch of her. In his mind, he saw her moaning out loud when he took his shaft and slowly fed it into her until he was balls deep inside her hot sheath.

  He was now stroking himself at a hard pace, ready to come, and when he did finally hear a low moan escape her luscious looking lips, that was all he needed to have the cum rising up and coating his still moving hand. Eitan slowly stroked until the last of his release was coaxed from him, and as he looked back toward Sofia, he could see from the unquenched desire on her face and her heavy breathing that she had been thoroughly enjoying the show…but not nearly as much as he’d enjoyed giving it to her.

  He rinsed off and stepped out of the water, turning off the shower. He took his time drying off his body, not looking directly at her, so he could gather his composure before he slipped on a pair of black boxer briefs and stepped back into the bedroom.

  “Well, I feel much better this morning. You must be hungry?” he asked as he walked past her casually toward th
e open door to the rest of the apartment. “I’ll go grab you some breakfast.”

  Chapter Ten

  That rat bastard! She thought as she watched him stroll out of the room just as though nothing had happened. As if he hadn’t just gotten her so turned on that she thought she’d spontaneously combust and then just…left.

  Sofia didn’t think about what she would have done if he’d tried to have sex with her. That would just ruin the fury she was currently riding. She should be relieved he hadn’t tried to force her. She should have been, logically speaking, but she had to admit to herself that her overheated body was ready to beg for release and that her traitorous hormones were killing the rational part of her brain. Sofia knew it was crazy, but all she could think about right now was that the most satisfying way to get some relief would be under her sexy captor. It was an issue that only got worse as he walked back into the room with a tray of food and all that beautiful, tanned bare skin.

  “Here, let me help you sit up so you can eat,” he said, putting the tray down on the nightstand and moving closer, “Or would you rather wash up and use the bathroom first?”

  “Bathroom first, please,” she said immediately, thinking she could follow his lead and get some satisfaction while cleaning up.

  But clearly her eagerness must have given her away because he raised one eyebrow in challenge.

  “Okay, but you have ten minutes to shower, and you are not allowed to touch yourself other than to get clean―am I understood?” he said in a firm tone as he leaned forward and undid her wrists.

  “You’re going to watch me?” she asked, not quite certain if she was offended or turned on at the prospect. She wondered for a second why his firm tone seemed to excite her more than it should have.