I let out a frustrated shriek and kick the door.
“Now stop it.” His hand clenches on the gun in his lap and I still instantly. “That’s a good girl, now just relax and enjoy the ride, we’ll be there soon.”
“Where?” I ask more meekly this time, not wanting to set him off. Not until I have a new plan anyway.
“My family has a little mountain cabin, you’ll love it,” He says happily, as though we’re a couple on a vacation.
I swallow back the insults I want to hurl at him and I clench my eyes shut.
Asher
I blink awake and stare around in confusion, trying to figure out what time it is and why I’m on the couch. I grab my phone to check the time and see that it’s four in the morning. I look around for Eve. My heart starts to accelerate when I don’t see her. I get up and stumble sleepily to my bedroom, expecting her to be asleep in my bed.
My bed is still made, my room empty. My stomach clenches. I remember my phone in my hand and I call Eve. Her phone goes straight to voice mail.
“Damn it,” I curse.
I slip my shoes on and head out the door to go over to Eve’s dorm to make sure she’s there. I stop at the end of the driveway as my eyes land on a dark circle in the snow. My brain rebels against what it looks like. It’s dark and impossible to tell. But, my gut knows. I curse again and put in Hadley’s number, willing her to be at the dorm. I’m do my best not to hyperventilate, I can’t take the time to get over there. I have to know.
“Hello?” Hadley mumbles into the phone.
“Are you at home?” I ask hurriedly.
“Asher?” She asks with sleepy confusion.
“Fuck, Hadley, wake the fuck up. Are you at your dorm?” I yell uncharacteristically.
“Yeah, why? Is something wrong?”
“Please tell me Eve is there,” I demand.
I hear shuffling, presumably Hadley getting up to check Eve’s bed.
“No, her bed’s made so I don’t think she’s been home tonight.”
“Fuck!” I yell again.
And, then I spot her necklace in the snow beside the dark spot and an animalistic scream sears my throat. I hang up the phone unceremoniously and dial 911.
“Nine-one-one what is your emergency?” The dispatcher asks in a bored tone.
“I think something’s happened to my girlfriend. She’s missing and I think there’s blood outside of my house,” I explain shakily.
“Okay, sir, give me your address and I’ll have police there shortly.”
“Walk us through this again Mr. Wright.” The middle aged, male detective directs authoritatively.
The “interview room” at the police department is making me insane. The fluorescent lights and the hard plastic chairs, and the fact that Eve is out there somewhere, hurt, and these fuckwads aren’t doing anything. I’m going to lose it.
“I’ve already told you four times,” I grind out between my teeth.
When he’d asked to hear the story again a second time I realized I was a suspect.
“You assholes should be out there looking for Eve. She’s probably hurt somewhere.”
“We have officers at the scene. Now, tell me again from the top,” He continues, unrattled by my outburst.
“I fell asleep waiting for Eve to get off of work. I woke up at four and realized she wasn’t there. I called her and her cell went right to voice mail. I went outside and saw the dark spot and I started to panic. I called her roommate to ask if she was at home, and when she told me ‘no’ I immediately called the police.”
“Look, Mr. Wright, we have a little bit of a problem. The thing is, a few days ago a friend of Eve’s came in here and filed a report that she had come to him and indicated she was afraid of you. Apparently this individual seemed to believe Eve was planning to leave you, and there was a good chance you would try to harm her if she did,” The officer says, a stern look in his aged eyes.
“No fucking way!” I slam my fist down on the table. “Eve wasn’t afraid of me and she wasn’t leaving me. Who said that?” But even as I ask the question I know the answer, and I also know who hurt Eve.
“We can’t tell you that.”
“It was that cocksucker Brahm. He’s the one who hurt her. They weren’t friends, they dated for a few weeks at the beginning of the school year. After they broke up he came into her work and put his hands on her. Ask her boss Ethan, he’ll tell you. The guy’s a psycho.”
The officers exchange a look.
“Well at this point it’s your word against his. We don’t have enough to hold you, but you’d better stay in town for now in case we have any more questions,” He warns. “We’re going to keep looking for her, and I hope we find her, otherwise you’re looking at murder.”
“She’s out there,” I say, practically jumping out of the chair. “At least look into Brahm, please.”
The female officer gives me a sympathetic look.
Eve
Brahm’s cabin in essentially a small hunting cabin, deep in the woods on a mountain. It took us almost an hour to hike to it after he left his car on the side of the road. My best hope is probably for someone to report the car abandoned on the side of the road so someone might find me. Although, we’re so secluded back here I don’t bother to hold my breath for someone finding us.
“I don’t want to have to do this, in time you’ll see we’re right for each other and then we can remove the restraint,.” Brahm assures me as he handcuffs me to the rusty heater in the living room.
I shiver with fear. I’m completely at his mercy.
“Are you hungry?”
I turn my face away because I can’t bare to look at him. My stomach growls but I refuse to admit that I need him to feed me. God help me when I need to use the bathroom. I shudder at the thought.
“My lovely Eve, please just behave,” Brahm murmurs as he caresses the side of my face with the back of his hand.
It takes all of my self control not to turn my face and bite his fingers bloody. I want to rip his throat out and watch him bleed to death in front of me.
Brahm makes his way to the small kitchen on the other side of the small cabin and I hear plates banging.
After several minutes he returns to my side with a sandwich. He holds the sandwich up to my mouth.
“Take a bite,” He instructs.
I meet his gaze this time as I take a bite, chew it a few times and then spit the wad of soggy bread and turkey right in his face. Bits of spit and bread cling to his face as it turns bright red with anger. I see his hand coming towards me and I flinch just before it makes contact.
He strikes the side of my face hard enough to cause my ears to ring and the world to tilt. I gasp at the pain. My head was still throbbing from the earlier blow, but now the pain has redoubled.
“The Lord says that just like the head controls the body so is the husband the head of the household. You will be obedient to me Eve. It is the Lord’s will.” His voice is cold and I don’t even see the next blow coming. I let out a strangled cry as I taste the metallic tang of blood in my mouth.
“I need to use the bathroom,” I respond coldly.
He uncuffs me from the heater and then cuffs my hands together before grabbing my hair by the roots and steering me towards the bathroom. Once we’re in he reaches for the zipper on my jeans and I jump back violently.
“I can do it,” I bite out, reaching down with my cuffed hands to undo my pants.
It wasn’t exactly easy but there was no chance in heaven or earth that Brahm was going anywhere near my lady garden. He stands in the bathroom doorway and watches me expectantly.
“You’re seriously going to stand there and watch me use the bathroom?” I look at him incredulously. He doesn’t respond, simply continues to stand watching me.
“Fucking perverted freak,” I mutter under my breath.
He strikes forward and wraps a hand around my throat. I gasp as his fingers squeeze my windpipe.
“That’s e
nough with the language. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. These things ought not to be so.”
I nod desperately needing to get oxygen into my lungs. He smirks, satisfied that I’m responding how he wanted me to and then he releases me.
“It doesn’t have to be like this, you know how a proper woman is to behave, and once you do so then I can lay only gentle hands on you as I am so desperate to do.”
The sour taste of bile rises in my throat once again. If he means that he’s going to try to have sex with me I am legitimately going to castrate him if he puts his manhood anywhere near me. Once my breathing slows and my heart rate returns to normal I lower my pants and sit on the toilet, holding his gaze defiantly the entire time.
Chapter 24
Eve
Two weeks. Two godforsaken weeks of captivity. On the bright side he hasn’t tried to rape me. On the negative side I don’t have a plan for escape and I’m bloody, bruised, and weak because I will not submit to him. I don’t care if it kills me.
“You are willful Eve. I can’t say that I’m not impressed with your spirit,” Brahm says with fondness in his voice.
I narrow my eyes at him with distaste. I don’t speak to him unless it can’t be avoided. To keep my sanity I’ve kept up an inner monologue to Asher, of all the things I wish I could say to him. He certainly has a strange way of showing it, doesn’t he, Asher?
“But, it’s becoming clear to me that there’s only one way to get through to you. We’re going to make love.”
“No!” I shriek, pulling at my handcuffs on the heater, hearing the aged metal groan in protest.
“Yes, Eve. Then, you’ll see how right we are for each other.”
He caresses my cheek and I turn my head and bite down as hard as I can on his fingers. He wails and pulls back. I spit a mouthful of blood out and continue to glare at him.
“You insolent bitch.”
He storms to the bathroom and slams the door.
My heart is pounding. It’s going to take him awhile to stop the bleeding, he probably needs stitches. I have no doubt that he’s going to be even more motivated now to try to tame me now.
I pull desperately at the cuffs again and I hear the metal of the heater give another small groan. Hope sparks in my chest and I yank again, harder this time. The grate breaks with a loud clang that echos through the cabin. Silent tears fall down my cheeks as I hold my breath, expecting Brahm to storm out of the bathroom at the sound. I look towards the bathroom door and listen for Brahm. I hear the water running and I know this will be my only opportunity. I get to my feet clumsily, my hands still cuffed together, and my legs numb from weeks of disuse and I flee through the front door as quietly as possible, into the pitch black forest.
Asher
It’s been three weeks since my heart was ripped out of my chest. I feel like I can’t take a full breath. I feel hollowed out and empty. I’ve hardly slept or eaten, and the police have all but indicated that at this point they’re looking for a body rather than a missing person. She’s out there. I know she’s out there alive. She fucking has to be.
A buzzing noise breaks through my thoughts and I realize that I’ve been staring at the static on the TV for god knows how long. I reach for my phone.
“Hello,” I answer in a monotone voice.
“Asher, It’s Detective Fitch,” The male detective who interrogated me a few weeks ago says on the other end of the phone.
My stomach lurches, he could be calling me to tell me that they found her. But, I may not want to know in what condition.
“Yes,” I respond breathlessly.
“We believe we’ve found Eve.”
“Oh my god.” I jump up off the couch. “Is she...I mean...Is…” I can’t say the words, I just can’t.
“You’d better come to the hospital,” He says.
I hang up the phone and race for my car.
When I get to the hospital Abby and Nikki are already waiting there. I’d called them on the way.
“Have you guys see the detectives or the doctor? Did they say…?” I ask, rushing over to them, my hands shaking uncontrollably.
She’s okay, she has to be okay.
They both shake their heads. I look around for someone who can give me information. I find the detective down the hall speaking with a nurse.
“Where is she?” I demand briskly.
“Now just calm down,” Detective Fitch instructs me.
“I’m going fucking insane here. Just tell me already.”
“She’s in bad shape, but she’s alive,” He reveals.
My knees give out with the relief the floods my body.
She’s alive. She’s alive. She’s alive. I cling to these words like a life raft.
“I need to see her.”
“You can’t. She’s unconscious. The doctor said that they’re working on contacting her parents and when they arrive it will be up to them to determine who they’ll let in to see her. Unless Eve wakes up first,” He informs me.
My fists clench and it takes every ounce of willpower for me not to punch a wall. Instead I stalk over to the waiting area and I settle in, because there’s no way I’m moving until I get to see my girl.
Her parents arrive the next day. They took one look at me and declared that there was no way I was going to see Eve. She still hasn’t been conscious and no one will give me any updates.
In an effort to endear myself to the nurses, in the hopes that maybe someone will break the rules and let me in to see her when her parents aren’t around, I had Nikki bring me brownies and cookies to give to them. They smiled at me with pity and I returned to my spot in the waiting room.
Chapter 25
Eve
I feel like I’ve been hit by a bus. The first thing I’m aware of, even before I open my eyes, aside from the pain, is the stinging smell of antiseptic and the beeping of monitors.
I’m in a hospital.
And, suddenly memories flood me. Brahm attacked me, kidnapped me, held me prisoner for over two weeks. Then, I’d escaped.
It probably wasn’t the best idea to flee from his cabin in the dark because I was immediately lost in the woods.
I’m not sure how long I wandered lost, cold, starving, and so thirsty. Everything had started to blur together. I couldn’t even be sure I wasn’t walking in circles. As I’d lain weak and unable to go any further I had been glad at least that Brahm had never gotten to defile my body. As I lay dying in the woods I was comforted by the thought that Asher was the only man I’d ever loved, in every way. And, then everything had gone dark.
My eyes fly open and I let out a sob of relief at the realization I’m not dead. I look around and see that I’m in a room by myself. It looks like every inch of my arms have tubes inserted into them. I turn my head from side to side, trying to find the button to call the nurse. Unfortunately, it’s well out of reach. So I decide to do the next best thing, I take the monitor off of my finger so my machines start alarming loudly.
A young nurse rushes into the room looking panicked. When her eyes land on me she smiles with relief.
“You’re awake,” She says in a friendly, southern accent.
“What happened?” I rasp out, my voice gravelly from disuse.
My throat is dry, my mouth tastes like garbage, and I’m vaguely aware of the fact that I feel a layer of grime covering my body. I can’t help but wonder how long I’ve been here.
“You were missing for three weeks sweetheart,” She tells me gently.
“I remember that part,” I rasp. “How am I not dead?”
“A hiker found you and called an ambulance. You were severely dehydrated and malnourished. You received several blood transfusions and have been on fluids. You also sustained an injury to the head which had caused brain swelling, so you’ve been in a coma for about two days. How do you feel? Can you remember anything?”
“I feel like I’ve been hit by a bus,” I admit. She nods sympathetically. “I remember everything throu
gh.”
“Do you know who attacked you?”
“My ex-boyfriend, Brahm.”
Her eyes go wide.
“Oh my lord,” She murmurs.
“I need to see Asher,” I ask desperately. “Has he tried to come see me?”
She lets out a little laugh.
“Honey, he’s been camped out in the lobby for two days. He’s been going crazy worrying about you. He’s such a sweetheart, always bringing the nurses little treats. It’s after visiting hours so I’m not supposed to let him in,” She tells me, gnawing her lip with indecision. “But, I do have to go let the doctor and the detectives know that you’re awake, so I’ll be leaving you alone for awhile. If he were to happen to sneak back here without my noticing, that would hardly be anyone’s fault.” She says with a little wink.
I smile gratefully and she turns to leave.
Asher
If you’ve ever considered spending any length of time sleeping on a couch in a hospital waiting room, I wouldn’t recommend it. I’m drifting in and out of restless sleep when a hand on my shoulder jolts me awake.
“Mr.Wright,” I recognize the polite southern drawl of Carrie Anne, one of Eve’s nurses.
“What’s going on? Has there been a change in Eve’s condition?” I ask drowsily.
“She’s awake.”
I jump up the moment the words leave her lips.
“Mr.Wright, it’s past visiting hours so I can’t let you see her. I need to go make some phone calls to the doctors and the detectives, so you steer clear of room 212, you understand,” She instructs, and then gives me a little wink before heading into an office at the end of the hall.
My legs feel like jell-o as I make my way down the hall. This has to be a dream.
Please, don’t let it be a dream.
When I reach the door to room 212 I stop and close my eyes, taking several deep breaths, and then push the door open.
“Asher,” Her voice is cracked and dry, and as soon as I lay eyes on her I let out a broken sob of relief.
Naughty Angel (Sexy Nerd Boys #2) Page 19