by A. C. Arthur
She found none.
Wooden beams hung above her, heavy and forbidding. What looked like old furniture and boxes were stacked in every corner. An old picnic table and chairs sat at the far end of the room, and boxes of old vinyl records blocked her view of the steps. Where the hell was she? And more importantly, how had she gotten there?
A hand on her shoulder panicked her and she screamed loud enough to wake the dead. “It’s just me,” Terrell whispered in her ear.
When she stared at him with eyes as huge as saucers, he gently stroked her arm until recognition dawned. “It’s okay. I’m pretty sure we’re alone.”
She spoke hesitantly, afraid of what the answer might be. “Where…where are we?”
“I think we’re in the basement of somebody’s house.” Finally sitting up, he turned to help ease her into a sitting position beside him. He had been awake for some time now, coming to with a start at the unfamiliar surroundings, just as she had. He didn’t remember how they’d gotten there. His last memory was that of a big burly man telling him to drink a gritty tasting liquid from a paper cup. His mind was blank after that, until awakening this morning on the floor of a dark, cluttered basement.
Only a few moments before Leah awakened he remembered the big burly man was Donald. The man his mother was about to marry.
“How did we get here?” Leah asked as she looked around. It was definitely somebody’s basement.
“I think we were drugged.” Bringing his fingers to his temples, he began to rub against the nagging pain.
“Drugged? By who? For what?” As she asked, the answers clicked into her brain. She remembered the sleazy strip club and what had happened in the alley beside it. “Donald.” She said his name in the faintest of whispers.
“Bingo.” Turning to her, Terrell surveyed her appearance. She wore simple jeans and a sweatshirt that should not have turned him on the way it did. Unfortunately, that sexy leather jacket was made more for fashion than for warmth. Her hair was a bit tousled, as if she had been rolling around in bed with a man, with him. The stab of lust that soared from his brain to rest hotly between his legs was staggering and he hurriedly looked away.
“Oh my God! Can we get out?”
He smoothed back wayward strands of her hair. “I was just about to get up and look around. You sit still and let the grogginess pass.”
Terrell got to his feet, stood for a second, then followed the stream of light on the floor toward the door.
“Check all the doors. And check the windows.” Struggling to get to her feet, Leah felt a wave of nausea hit her and she wobbled into a table, sending an abundance of noisy items to the floor.
Terrell turned around, saw her condition, and hurried to her side, catching her in his arms before she fell. “Not only do you talk a lot, you have a problem following simple directions as well.” He looked down at her grimly.
“Oh shut up. And put me down, I can walk.” He was holding her in his arms as if she were a thirty-year-old baby. Her head, curse its betrayal, rested against his shoulder.
Terrell grinned to cover the fact that he was worried about her. Apparently she wanted to show no weakness to anyone. “Yup. You just showed me how well you can walk.” He liked holding her close, liked the feel of her soft curves in his arms, but knew it was only a matter of time before she really began to protest. Besides, he needed to find a way out. He turned, looking for something he could set her on, and spotted an old lawn chair in the corner.
“I’m serious, Terrell. I don’t need you carrying me around.” He was walking with her now, his arm beneath her knees, his hand dangerously close to her butt. She squirmed, but he didn’t break his stride. Damn, he’s a lot stronger than I thought. She let her hands splay over his shoulders and back, almost groaning as she felt the flexing of rigid muscles beneath his clothes.
Before she could say another word Terrell stopped and released her legs gently, so that her body slithered down the front of him. Her eyes locked with his, and they both stood perfectly still.
The smoldering heat between them was instantaneous. His hands were trembling. He didn’t release her, and she looked up at him with those enticing eyes and licked her lips. Every drop of blood in his body rushed to his midsection and the throbbing began. He saw in her eyes the moment his arousal pressed against her belly. He thought she’d pull away but instead she moved closer.
It was as if Leah were seeing him for the first time. His strong jaw was clenched, his lips drawn tightly together as his eyes smoldered over her. He held her in a tight grip as if afraid to let her go. She didn’t want to move, didn’t want to disturb the safety she felt there, wrapped up in Terrell. Her nipples tingled as they rubbed against his chest, and lust swirled in the pit of her stomach like a whirlpool, trickling slowly down to rest between her legs. Maybe she needed to re-evaluate what exactly was her type.
Before this moment led to something he wasn’t sure she was ready for, he knew he had to end it. Taking a deep breath, he slid his arms from her backside to rest on her hips, as if to steady her. “I’m going to let you go for just a minute while I pull this chair out. Then I want you to sit.” He looked at her intently. “Do you understand? Sit. Don’t move.”
Leah nodded, still tingling from their closeness.
When he had her settled in the chair, he checked the back door. It was locked—one of those old locks that needed a key on both the inside and outside. Gritting his teeth, he moved to the window. It had a latch on it, and was about big enough for a ten-year-old child to slither through. He jiggled the latch from the inside, thinking that maybe he could pry it apart, but then figured it would only bring in the cold air. And if they were going to be stuck here for any length of time, that wouldn’t be such a good idea.
Abandoning the window for now, he went to the stairs, taking them two at a time until he reached the door that led into the house. Of course that was locked and as he rammed his shoulder against it, he realized it was also bolted from the other side. He cursed under his breath. The longer they were in this basement, the more likely they were to starve or freeze to death. Maybe that was the plan. Maybe Donald didn’t want to personally kill them, but didn’t object to them dying a slow and tortuous death. His heart rate accelerated at the thought. Then, as if he weren’t already on a roll, the possibility of someone who worked for Donald coming to finish them off arose. He was building himself up to a fine panic when he looked to the corner to check on Leah, surprised that she’d been quiet and still for this long.
“What now?” she asked, meeting his defeated gaze.
He took a second to calm himself. The last thing he wanted to do was scare her more. Taking a deep breath, he checked his jacket pockets. “Damn. Where’s your cell phone?”
Leah looked hopeful for a moment, then sank back in the chair. “In my purse,” she said quietly. “In the car.”
“Okay, that’s out.” Hands on his hips, he looked around the room, in search of what, he didn’t quite know. He refused to think of them as being trapped, refused to accept that there was nothing he could do.
Leah watched him from her spot in the chair. Outwardly, he appeared calm and determined, traits she’d already known he had, but hadn’t realized were so endearing. Refusing to sit idle any longer, she stood, slowly this time. In his mind, she was sure Terrell was thinking of an escape. She took a couple of steps towards him, then paused and turned to look around for something to break open the window with. They could yell for help she thought.
Terrell, who should have still been thinking of a way to get them out of this mess, watched the sway of her hips as she moved. Her bottom completely and tantalizingly filled out the jeans she wore. Licking his lips, he wondered if the drug Donald had given him was Viagra.
Here he was, trapped in somebody’s basement, and all he could think about was sleeping with Leah, who was sending him such mixed signals he had to concentrate with all his might to keep from losing his mind. First she’d kissed him ardently i
n her office. Then tonight in the car she’d looked at him as if he were one step down from slime after their forced kiss. But just a few minutes ago he could have kissed her, could have peeled away all her clothes and laid her down on this floor. He could have had his way with her, he knew without a doubt, from the way she’d been looking at him.
Being locked in this basement wasn’t what worried him most. Being locked in the basement with Leah was the challenge.
Just as she spotted a bat, she realized that breaking the windows would make the damp basement chilly and even more uncomfortable. Turning back, she looked at Terrell in question. “So we’re stuck?”
With one hand he removed his glasses and with the other massaged his eyes. Stop looking at her like that. You’re never going to get out of here if you don’t. It was a warning he wasn’t sure his mind was listening to, or could listen to when he opened his eyes and found Leah standing right in front of him.
“Are you okay? You think you’re feeling aftereffects from the drugs?” She lifted a hand to his brow.
He tensed at her touch, grabbed her hand and held it to his cheek. She was so soft, her nearness so comforting. In that moment he pictured himself coming home from a hard day’s work, and finding her waiting for him at the door, asking him if he’d had a rough day. The image was so clear, felt so real, he almost moaned in gratitude. “I’m okay. I just need to think of a way out of this.”
Leah let him hold her hand, let her fingers be guided over the face she’d become so familiar with, and realized she liked it. “We’ll think of a way out of this,” she vowed.
When she smiled up at him he realized he was in even deeper than he had thought. His attraction to her had quietly grown into something beyond mere attraction. His heart beat rapidly as he tried not to show her too much too soon. He had things to work through, feelings to get in check, and he suspected she did too. Now was definitely not the time to be thinking of entering into a relationship with her—no matter how tempting she was.
“For the moment it looks like we’re stuck here. That window seems to be our only option, but I don’t know how viable that is. I sure can’t fit through it.” He released her hand slowly, took a step away from her. They were trapped in a basement together, in a precarious situation, one that could result in a lot of other precarious situations, and he needed to be strong enough to avoid that.
Leah turned so that she now faced the window, her back to him. Something had just happened between them. The moment she’d touched him, the moment he’d looked into her eyes, their relationship had shifted, moved to a position she hadn’t anticipated. “I don’t think I can fit through it either.”
Terrell looked at her butt again and moaned. “No, I don’t think you can.”
She spun around quickly. “And what’s that supposed to mean?”
When Leah glared at him, he held his hands up in mock surrender, grinning all the while. “It just means that you’re packaged pretty well, and I’d hate to see that trying to squeeze through that little window.”
Her scowl deepened.
“I messed that all up, didn’t I?”
Leah couldn’t help laughing with him. “You sure did.”
Their smooth banter ceased as they again considered their circumstances.
Terrell, wanting nothing more than to get her out of the situation, went up the steps again to try to get the door to budge. “If we could find something heavy we could probably bust the lock on the door; that would at least get us upstairs.”
When Leah didn’t respond right away, he came back down the steps. He wasn’t prepared to see her balled up on the floor, her arms locked around legs drawn up to her chest, and her forehead resting on her knees as if she were a small child.
Ignoring that voice in the back of his head that warned him about moving too fast, he crossed the room to her. When she made no move to acknowledge he was there, he stooped down so that he was eye level with her. Carefully placing his hand on her back, he called her name. When she didn’t answer, he moved his hand in circles.
The moment he moved away from her, a fear so strong and so compelling hit her that she had to sit down to absorb it. Not only were they trapped in a basement, possibly left alone to die, but she was feeling things she’d never felt before, things she’d sworn she would never feel and, up until now, hadn’t even had to worry about.
For whatever reason, she’d allowed herself to feel emotions for Terrell that she’d never felt for another man. Sure, she’d offered comfort to Leon when he’d had a bad day, but that was usually only a few kind words. With Terrell she’d wanted to make whatever was bothering him better. At first it had seemed like pity, as if she were simply doing what was needed for some poor unfortunate soul. Now she realized she was doing it for another reason entirely. She’d told him he wasn’t her type, yet he’d asked her out again. She hadn’t been particularly nice to him, yet he’d come to her again for help, had held her in his arms and kissed her as if she were the only woman in the world. When her stubbornness had prevailed, he’d carried her—actually carried her—to safety instead of letting her fall flat on her face.
Sitting on the floor, she felt tears sting the backs of her eyes. They could die in this basement if they didn’t figure out a way to escape. She could die without ever knowing what it felt like to love and be loved in return.
Without another word he lifted her to sit in his lap. She seemed to cry a little harder then. With one hand he brushed through her hair while the other stroked her arms. The strong, feisty, argumentative, talkative Leah he’d steadily been falling for had finally showed a weakness, and he was overwhelmed with the need to soothe her. He whispered all sorts of assurances he wasn’t positive he could make good on, but all that mattered to him was making her feel better. “I’ll keep you safe, Leah. Always. I promise. I won’t ever let anything or anyone harm you. Please believe me.”
From the depths of his heart he meant every word he said to her, and not just for this situation.
Leah knew he was sincere, knew that if it were the last thing in the world he did, he’d make sure she was safe. She could believe him with her whole heart because that was the type of man he was—loyal and protective to a fault. His protective instincts had carried over to her, and she knew that she could count on him. He’d given her something no other man had ever come close to—a feeling of security. She’d been so busy proving that she was independent she’d never realized she needed it so much. But now, in Terrell’s arms, she did.
“Sweetheart,” he whispered against her ear.
The endearment warmed her and she moaned her reply, “Mmmm.”
“It’s going to be okay. I’ll get you out of here. And then I’m going to make sure you’re never in danger again.” He dropped light kisses along her forehead.
Relationships started under high pressure circumstances never worked. Wasn’t that what the guy in that movie Speed had said? Maybe what they both seemed to be feeling was a result of their nerves being stretched too thin and the fear of dying. She looked into Terrell’s eyes and could swear she saw more there than just fear, but she couldn’t be sure. And until she was positive of his feelings for her, she wasn’t about to go putting hers on a platter for him to feast on. He thought she was upset about their predicament; she’d let him continue to think that. “I’m afraid, Terrell.” Hell, I’m terrified of what you’re making me feel. “What if they just leave us here to die? Or if they’re upstairs and are going to come down and finish the job later?”
He wouldn’t admit his own fears right now, because his focus was to make her feel better. She seemed at her best when they were sparring with each other, so that was the route he’d take. “And what if pigs could fly?” His lips curled into a smile while she contemplated her response.
Only Terrell would say something so absolutely ridiculous at a time like this. Twitching to keep from smiling herself, she pushed against him with her body.
“Exactly,” he said, his voice
growing a little more serious. “Who cares about what if? Now is what matters.” Brushing a piece of flyaway hair from her face, he stared at her, longing for another kiss, wondering if she had any idea how much she affected him. “So like I was saying, if we can find something big then we can try to bust the lock on the door. They’re probably not up there anyway.” He lifted a hand to wipe the tears from her face.
She blinked once at his soft touch, then relaxed, accepting that this was simply how he was. “How do you know?”
“Because I heard them talking about the boat leaving from the Harbor. I assume they meant this afternoon or possibly tonight. Anyway, if we can get upstairs, then we can call the police or we can just walk right out the front door.”
“Or we can just walk right into them, and they’ll kill us on the spot.” Instinctively she countered his plan.
“If they wanted us dead, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.” He frowned. What had happened to all her optimism? When he’d originally come to her with his suspicions about Donald, she’d countered every shred of evidence he’d presented to her, and now it seemed she was resolved to believe the worst.
Maybe because at this moment it seemed that they were experiencing the worst, he thought cynically. Still, her defeatism worried him.
“I guess you’re right.” Shrugging her shoulders she added, “Continue.”
“Yes ma’am.” With a playful salute, he proceeded, pleased that she didn’t sound so desolate now. “I heard them saying something about catching a plane just before they opened the door to give us whatever it was they gave us to drink. Something in the liquid must have knocked us out cold, and now they’re probably already gone. The fact that they just locked us down here means that they don’t really want to kill us.”
He sounded confident of his assessment, as if he had all this information on good authority and there was no reason for her to doubt him. And actually, she didn’t. “Well, at least Donald doesn’t want to kill us,” Leah added. “His friend looked like he’d take us out without a second thought.”