by Scarlet Day
Austin’s eyes widened. “She’s your sub, isn’t she?”
Well, fuck. Colt dropped his head in one hand and peeked out between his fingers, wishing he had something a lot stronger than coffee in his cup.
Tucker glared at Austin.
Price just stared back and forth between all of them, looking confused. “What’s that supposed to mean? What’s a sub?”
Austin’s expression of realization changed and Colt got the distinct impression that Austin was wishing he hadn’t said anything. Austin shifted in his chair and took a quick drink of water. “It’s…um…it’s…”
Austin threw a pleading look to Colt, but Colt just shook his head. No way in hell was he going to explain this to Laci’s brother, for fuck’s sake.
“Oh, for the love of—” Tucker threw his napkin on the table and turned to Price. “You obviously don’t know that your beta has been a frequent visitor to our resort, or what our establishment is known for.”
Colt’s mouth fell open. This certainly wasn’t where he expected this discussion to go.
Price spun to glare at Austin. “You’ve been here before?”
Austin looked as though he wanted to crawl under the table. “I just never really saw a reason to talk about it.”
Price stared at Austin for another minute and then shook his head, turning back to Tucker. “That still doesn’t tell me anything. What does this have to do with Laci?”
Tucker ran his hand through his hair, clearly frustrated. “We have a BDSM club here. Laci has willingly submitted herself to be another person’s sexual submissive.”
Price’s nostrils flared and his face turned red. Colt was surprised he hadn’t launched himself across the table at Tucker, but for the sake of the few diners who still lingered over their breakfast in the resort’s café, Colt was glad Price appeared to possess a healthy dose of alpha restraint.
Price let out a long slow breath and gripped his coffee cup, likely to keep from hitting something. “And she’s yours? Your sub?”
Tucker tossed a quick glance at Colt and then turned back to Price. “Actually, she’s ours.”
Price’s coffee cup shattered in his hand. He shook the shards of ceramic and the coffee off his hand, while taking several deep breaths. “Both of you. Great. Leave it to my sister. I couldn’t get her to settle down with one mate, so she runs off and finds two.” He glared back and forth between Tucker and Colt, his eyes narrowed. “You are going to mate with her, right?”
“We haven’t discussed it.” Tucker held Price’s incredulous stare.
“You haven’t—” Price ran his hand over his face and took a deep breath. “I need to talk to my sister.”
Tucker nodded. “Yes, you probably should. She was supposed to be here by now. Perhaps we should take this conversation to her, in private.”
The four men stood and stalked out of the café. It was a long, silent walk across the lobby and down the hall of the wing toward Laci’s room. Her scent was even stronger in the hallway than in the rest of the resort, making it almost overwhelming. For a scent that could travel on the wind for miles and miles, being so close to the source was always a heady experience.
Tucker stopped in front of her door, which was slightly ajar. He knocked on the heavy wooden doorframe. Nothing. He knocked harder. Still nothing.
Tucker pushed the door open. “Laci?”
She wasn’t there. The bedside lamp had been knocked off the nightstand. Her bed sheet lay strewn across the floor and the comforter was missing. Colt bolted into the bathroom. Empty.
“What the hell happened in here?” Price’s voice bordered on panic.
They hurried back out into the hallway, dread forming a tight knot in Colt’s stomach. Tucker took a deep breath, his nose turned up. He ran off in the opposite direction, toward the door at the far end that led outside. He shoved open the door and sniffed the air again.
“She went this way.” He sniffed again. “And she wasn’t alone.” Tucker exchanged a look with Colt that conveyed more worry and desperation than Colt had seen on his friend’s face in a very long time. It was a look that Colt had hoped he’d never have to see again.
Tucker pulled the door closed. “My office. Now.” Tucker didn’t wait to explain his instructions and no one else questioned him. Tucker was in full alpha mode and even though Price was also an alpha, Tucker had a few more years and far too much experience in his favor. It was obvious as to who was in charge.
They raced back across the lobby to Tucker’s office, ignoring the questioning looks from guests and employees. Tucker wasted no time pulling up the program on his computer that controlled the surveillance cameras around the resort. They waited, Colt’s anxiety increasing by the second, while Tucker scanned back through the morning’s recordings.
“Shit.” The color drained out of Tucker’s face.
Colt, Price, and Austin moved around the desk and crowded around the computer monitor. Tucker replayed the recording. The camera angle showed them the view up the hallway of Laci’s wing, toward the outside door. They watched as Laci came out of her room, wearing her usual denim shorts, T-shirt, and sandals. She started to pull the door closed, but a figure emerged from a small alcove near her door. The hooded figure aimed something at Laci and she collapsed, her arms and legs twitching uncontrollably.
“Bastard stunned her!” Austin’s outburst confirmed what Colt’s mind didn’t want to accept.
Laci tried to fight, but her arms and legs were useless with the electrical current coursing through her body. The attacker grabbed Laci’s arm and dragged her back into her room, closing the door once her legs cleared the threshold. Tucker put the recording into fast-forward, skimming through over two minutes of elapsed time. The urge to grab the screen and shake it welled up inside Colt.
At almost three minutes, the door cracked open and the hooded head poked out and scanned the hallway. With no one around, the attacker swung the door open and emerged into the hallway. He had something large, wrapped in Laci’s comforter, swung over his shoulder. The attacker ran up the hall, pushed open the door and ran out into the blinding white snow.
Horror clawed at Colt’s insides. He thought his heart might force its way up his throat. Blind panic threatened to overwhelm him, but a growing voice in his mind told him that would do Laci no good. He tore his stare away from the empty hallway on the screen and locked glares with Tucker.
White-hot anger warred with Colt’s horror. “Whoever he is, he’s a dead man.”
Tucker nodded. “Agreed.” He reached for the rifle hanging in the gun rack behind his desk. “Let’s go get her.”
Chapter Sixteen
The son of a bitch was going to pay. If it was the last thing she ever did—and judging from her current situation, it might be—the bastard would pay for this.
Laci winced as sharp pain stabbed through her shoulder blade. Her hands had been tied behind her back, and every time she tried to move her arms the awkward angle sent knife-like stabs through her muscles. Her body ached from the repeated times she’d been hit with the stun gun. It had taken three jolts from it, before her attacker had managed to tie her up. But she still wasn’t giving up.
She calmed her thoughts and focused on the thin rope entwined around her wrists. The rope was wound tight, but not so tight that she couldn’t twist her hands. The skin burned where the rope rubbed against her wrists, but she ignored the pain, just as she ignored the pain in her shoulders. She let it wash over her, much like she had on the occasions when Tucker used the flogger on her. The flogger had hurt, but she had accepted the pain and had felt stronger from it. She bit down on the rag that had been shoved into her mouth and let the burning in her wrists fade from her mind.
Her instinct told her to shift, but she would probably only succeed in ripping tendons if she tried to transform while she was tied up in her current position. She needed to get her hands undone, but the position she was in just wouldn’t let her get the range of motion she needed. Sh
e twisted her hands and worked her fingers, but she just couldn’t work her hands free. A growl of frustration rose up in her throat.
The muffled sound of her own snarl emphasized the fact that the ropes were not her only problem. She was also rolled up in the comforter from her bed, further limiting her movement. Based on the noise of a motor, her head hanging almost upside down, and the rough ride, she assumed she was stretched across the lap of her kidnapper and that he was driving a snowmobile. She didn’t know how long they’d been gone from the resort, but based on her stiffness from being in her awkward position, it had been a while. Escape was her only goal, but she would need to get him to untie her if there was any hope of getting away.
Her mind scrambled for a way to get him to stop and let her out of the comforter. Fighting wouldn’t work, since he had that damned stun gun. A thought worked its way up and took root. It was a simple idea, but maybe it was so simple that it would work. First, though, she had to get the bastard’s attention.
Laci took a deep breath and let out a piercing scream, though muffled from the rag that had been stuffed in her mouth. She just hoped it would be loud and annoying enough. She screamed until she ran out of air and then took another breath and screamed again.
Something hit her through the comforter. “Shut the fuck up!”
Well, at least she knew she was getting his attention. She screamed again. She squirmed and kicked her legs. She felt herself slide sideways.
“Shit!” The engine stopped. The man flung Laci onto the ground, still wrapped up in the comforter. “What the hell is wrong with you?”
Laci screamed and kicked. Then she was pushed and started rolling, unwrapping from the comforter as she rolled. Blinding white light struck her a split second before she realized what was happening. With one final roll, she was dumped out onto the snow. The icy cold bit into her exposed legs and arms, but she was free. Well, sort of. She kicked and screamed again, harder and louder. Heavy footsteps crunched in the snow behind her. The rag was ripped out of her mouth.
“What is your problem?” The man who’d kidnapped her towered over her, his face contorted into an angry mask.
Laci licked her lips, trying to get some moisture back onto the parched skin, while she tried to catch her breath. “Pee. I have to pee.”
“You’ve gotta be fuckin’ kidding me!” The man ran his hands through his hair and walked in a circle. “No way am I getting paid enough for this.”
Laci narrowed her eyes and watched him pace. So, he wasn’t the one who wanted her. He was just a hired thug. She sniffed. Now that she was out of the confines of the comforter, she could concentrate on his smell.
Boar.
She rolled her eyes. Great, just great. She’d been kidnapped by a freaking boar. When she got out of this, Price would probably never let her hear the end of it. Boar shifters were strong and tactless, but they weren’t known for being the brightest of shifter species. With any luck, maybe she could use his lack of intelligence against him.
Laci heaved herself up into a sitting position. “I could have just peed on you. As bad as I have to go, there’s no way it wouldn’t have soaked through the comforter all over you.”
“Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.” He paced back and forth a couple more times and then grabbed Laci by the arm, hauling her up onto her feet. “Fine. Go ahead. Pee.”
Laci just stood there, staring at him. He was a big guy, as big as Tucker. His wiry brown hair stuck to his forehead in wet strands from the falling snow and his eyes were just a bit too far apart.
“I said go.” He waved his arms at her. “So go!”
“And how exactly would you like me to do that?” Laci held his confused stare.
Finally, his eyes dropped to her shorts and then back up to her face. He let out a grunt and stalked toward her, extending his hands toward her shorts.
Laci snarled and snapped her teeth at his hands. “Try it and you lose a finger.”
He yanked his hand back and stared at her, a look of utter bewilderment on his face. She sighed. He was definitely dim-witted. She turned to one side and wiggled her fingers. He glanced down at her hands and then met her gaze again. She raised her eyebrows at him expectantly and waited.
“But, you’ll run away.”
She really couldn’t believe she was having to explain this to him. “Last I checked, you had a stun gun and weren’t afraid to use it.”
“Oh. Yeah.” Then he grinned, an altogether unpleasant look and slapped his back pocket with his hand. Laci caught a glimpse of the blasted device he’d used to shock her.
“Right.” She turned and wiggled her fingers again. “So?”
One brief expression of doubt crossed his features, but then he moved toward her and grabbed her wrists. “No funny shit.”
She huffed as he untied her wrist restraints. “Believe me, I’m not in a funny mood.”
The rope fell away from her wrists and she pulled her hands around in front of her. The muscles in her arms screamed in protest, but she shook them out, trying to loosen them up. She reached down and picked up a handful of snow and then rubbed it around each wrist. The snow felt soothing on the raw skin and helped to numb the pain. She shot an accusatory glare at her abductor. To her surprise, a flicker of what might be guilt flashed in his eyes.
Interesting. So he either didn’t really want to hurt her, or maybe he’d been told not to. Either way, maybe she could use that to her advantage. Two possibilities had occurred to her as to why she’d been kidnapped.
First, she’d thought that maybe Price had decided there would be no negotiation and he’d paid someone to take her back home before she could attempt to talk him into letting her stay at the resort. She’d mostly dismissed that idea almost as soon as it had occurred to her, though. Kidnapping wasn’t Price’s style. Besides, she knew Price would kill any man who dared to use a stun gun on her.
The other possibility was the one she thought was most likely. It was also the one that scared the hell out of her. She needed to find out if her hunch was right before it was too late.
She scanned the immediate area and spotted a large pine. Momentarily forgetting her ankles were still bound together, she tried to take a step in the tree’s direction and lurched forward.
“Dammit!” She threw her hands out to brace her fall, but arms caught her around the waist before she hit the ground. She was set back upright, and then he withdrew his arms and backed away.
Laci looked down at her feet and sighed. “Look, I just need to walk over to that tree over there.” She pointed to the pine she had spotted a moment ago. “You’ll be close enough that there’s no way I’d be able to get away.”
He shook his head. “Nuh-uh. He told me to keep you tied up till we get there.”
Laci’s heart raced, but she put all her effort into acting nonchalant. “Who’s he?”
“I’m not supposed to tell.” He looked down at Laci’s feet and then looked over to the pine tree she’d pointed out.
Laci hopped up and down, just to make things look more convincing. “Well, whoever he is doesn’t have to know. It’ll be our secret.”
He shook his head. “I don’t want no trouble. He’s paying me to take you to him, but he’d kill me if I let you get away.”
Laci saw the fear in her kidnapper’s eyes, but she also sensed he was the type who had a hard time keeping his mouth shut. “Why does he want me? And why didn’t he come get me himself?”
He laughed. “Another male lion could never get on that property without his scent giving him away.”
A lion. Laci’s earlier fear solidified into a hard knot in her stomach. “Then he wants me for a mate.”
“I guess.” He sighed. “If I untie you for just a minute, do you promise not to run?”
She lied easily and then waited with the most angelic expression she could muster, even though she felt as though she was going to jump out of her skin. If a stranger forced her into a mating, she’d be trapped. Even if she could get away fro
m him, no other male lion would ever touch her again. And if a stranger was cruel enough to do that, she had no doubt that he’d also be the type who would challenge her brother for their pride.
He hesitated for another minute. The snowfall increased, and he wiped flakes out of his eyes. Finally, he shrugged. “Ah, fuck it.” He lumbered over to her and then knelt down on one knee.
Laci tensed. She waited for just the right moment. The man’s thick fingers worked on the rope at her ankles. Laci’s gaze flitted back and forth between the rope and her ticket to freedom, lodged in her kidnapper’s back pocket and just within her grasp if she reached over his back. Everything depended on timing and luck. Mostly luck.
She checked the progress on the ropes. The knot came undone and her abductor pulled the rope away from her ankles. Another second and he would be standing back up. It was now or never.
Laci moved with the speed of her kind. She reached over and snatched the stun gun out of the man’s pocket and then pressed it against his neck.
“What the—” She pulled the trigger before he could get the rest of his words out or stand up.
He fell over, but he was still in enough control that his hand shot out and wrapped around her ankle. He snarled as he tried to pull her off her feet. She wished she’d been kidnapped by a squirrel or raccoon. They’d have gone down much easier. She shocked him again and ripped her leg away from him. He went down, but he wouldn’t stay there for long. She shocked him again for good measure and then turned and sprinted toward the snowmobile.
She threw one leg over the seat and breathed a quick sigh of relief that the key was still in the ignition. She started it up and opened the throttle, holding on tight to the handle bars as the machine shot forward. She looked behind her just in time to see her kidnapper struggling up onto his hands and knees. It wouldn’t take long and he’d be fully recovered. She needed to get as much distance as possible between them before that happened.
A quick glance around told her they’d traveled far up into the mountains. The clouds obscured the sun, so she had no idea what direction she was going. She pointed the snowmobile downslope and opened it all the way up, pushing the machine to its maximum speed. The snow fell heavier and blurred her vision, making it almost impossible to see. She just concentrated on avoiding the dark shapes ahead of her, knowing that running into a tree would end her escape far too quickly.