by Danube Adele
“I said, drink water. You’re dehydrated. It’ll make your headache better.”
Ral’e said nothing, just watched me.
Tabron crossed the room and clamped his hand around my arm as though I was going to run again. He was smart to think that. If there was an opportunity, I was going to get the hell out of Dodge. But I needed to understand where Dodge was. What the hell was this place? How did we arrive here so quickly? Who were these people? Was this a commune in the mountains or out in the desert? What was close to Pomona, California?
But that still didn’t explain how we arrived so quickly, or what the hell the blue light was all about. Was it some kind of mind-altering chemical that put me out for an indeterminate amount of time? Some kind of roofie? That would make the most sense. They gave me something that put me out, and that would have allowed them some time to get somewhere. But it was still light out, though it appeared to be fading. When we left the restaurant, it was dark. Could I have been out for hours? There were drugs that could do that. But I was tired. I was dead tired. I didn’t feel like I’d been asleep.
An involuntary sob had my throat tightening, but I held it in, turned it into something burning and fierce, emotional protection.
The sense of violation was complete. Romanced, lied to, taken from the very bosom of my family and told I would never see them again. Yanked this way, shoved that way and seen as nothing more than worthy of being a “problem” for one night. By the time we made it to my “room” with guards posted outside the door, Tabron followed me in, and my fury found its target.
“Isn’t this fun.” I jerked my arm free from his grasp, though I knew he let me do it, which was only that much more infuriating. He had no idea what I could do to him, but he would find out soon enough. “You get a kick out of kidnapping women? Throwing them around? But I guess they have no real value in your mind.”
An angry confrontation burned at the ready in his eyes, “You weren’t meant to be the one. There was someone else. It had to be done.”
Like that confession would make a difference?
“Oh, well, then that’s okay, isn’t it? Was it supposed to be Kevin? Was he the lucky first contestant on this game show?”
“It doesn’t matter who. But now that you’re here, you will do as you’re told.”
I barked a short, incredulous laugh. “Just watch me. I’ll do nothing.”
Almost immediately, he snagged my arm again, was pulling me within inches of his body to give a pointed warning. His face was inches from mine. “This isn’t a joke, Cecilia. Don’t play games with the king. He’s not known for his mercy.”
“Don’t you even care that everyone is going to be worried sick about me? Wondering where I am? What h-happened to m-me?” My throat tightened again. It was making me sick to my stomach just thinking about it. I couldn’t stop the tear that escaped, and I quickly swiped at it.
His jaw clenched. The scar running just above the jawbone turned white from the pressure, yet he still said, “It’s not my concern. You’re here for a reason.”
“Of course. Why would you have any feelings? Why would you care about anything? You’re a heartless bastard. Your mother must be so proud.”
“As a matter of fact, she hated me.”
Somehow, that took some of the wind from my sales, distracted me. How did a mother hate her child? Searching his vivid eyes, I saw hints of inner darkness, a rage that went deep. But I didn’t have it in me to sympathize when I’d just been told I would never go home again.
“Oh, well, then that just makes it all okay, doesn’t it? You guys needed some medical care and why not just take what you want—even people, if you need to. And you know what? Here’s what’s wrong with him. Let’s just cut to the chase.” I shoved away from him. “He’s severely overweight. That’s his problem. He needs to lay off the fatty foods, introduce him to some healthy fruits and vegetables, and have him do some laps around this joint. He’s probably got high blood pressure, partial blockages to his heart... Tell me this. If I can’t help him with his particular problem, what happens to me?”
With savage honesty, blue-green eyes holding my gaze, he stated, “I’m sure we don’t want to find out. It won’t be pleasant.”
The shakes returned with a vengeance, but this time my voice shook, too. “You don’t understand, Tabron. I’m either going to go home, or die trying.”
“Why can’t you just accept this,” he growled, his eyes sparking. “Why does it matter so much to you?” He truly didn’t understand. It was like he was confused or something.
“Are you kidding? Do you even hear what you’re saying? Do you have a mother and a father? A sibling? A...a...what the hell do you call it...a mate?”
His expression was stony. “No. I don’t. I care for no one, I need no one, and that’s exactly how I like it. I have no desire to be mated. None.”
“That’s pathetic. You’re broken. I have a mother, a father and a whole room full of people who absolutely love and adore me. They will be heartsick with worry when they realize I’m gone.” My eyes burned thinking of my mother’s face, the panic, the tears she’d be fighting trying to stay focused.
Stay calm. Breathe. Blink it away. Get through this. Maybe I was just in a bad, alcohol-induced dream or hallucination and would wake up with a splitting headache, during which, I would make promises to God about never drinking ever again if I could just feel better. I was praying for that to be the case. Unfortunately, I recognized that my thoughts were too lucid, and I hadn’t actually drunk that much alcohol.
“These are your suite of rooms. We’re on the second floor, so if you try to go out the window, you’ll only break your legs. The bathing room is through the far door.”
Bastard. Because of him, I had to choose a “mate.” How in the world was I going to get through all of this? I was just so tired. I could barely stand. Why couldn’t I just crawl into bed, close my eyes and pretend none of this was happening? Why couldn’t he just leave and let me have a few moments of peace?
A knock sounded.
“Enter.” Tabron issued the command, and the elderly servant from the dining room came in with my bag. He took it and immediately walked to the bed to dump out the contents. Even knowing this was going to happen, I couldn’t stop the surge of angry resentment. Nothing was sacred. Nothing. He picked through my scrubs, other clothing items, makeup bag, which he opened and looked over thoroughly with some concentration.
“What is this for?”
“Makeup. Goes on my face.”
He looked up at me, studied my face for a moment. I probably had raccoon eyes at this point. Then he went back to his work with my purse. Smartphone, smartpad and keys. Keys! I had a bottle of pepper spray on my keys! A surge of hope barely had time to blossom before it died on the vine. He snatched up the keys, studied them for a moment, and gave me a sharp look.
“What is in this container?”
“You should spray it and find out,” I smiled silkily.
Tabron turned to the servant who’d been standing quietly, waiting for further instructions. “She needs a bath. Draw one for her.”
“Yes, Tabron,” the servant nodded and went through the far door. The sound of running water could be heard.
“I have to take a bath? Why? Is there some law against dirt?”
Exasperation filled his voice. “Must you argue every point? You’ve got dried blood and dirt all over yourself. I thought you’d prefer to be clean.”
With some surprise, I looked down. My dress was wrecked, the delicate material rubbed through in some places. Broken nails, dirt streaks up my arms and down my legs. Dried blood spotted my feet. “Will you leave now?”
“And have you overpower the old woman? You’ll get privacy when she leaves.”
“Unlike you, I don’t hurt elderly people. Unlike you, I�
��m a civilized person who treats others with respect. I don’t take them from the nest of their family and make sure they never let them go home ever again.” How could I have thought he was attractive? Was I that hard up? “I promise not to hurt her. I would just like some privacy.”
“No.”
I could only glare at him feeling helpless, which did not sit well with me. Another surge of anger had me thinking that if he wanted a peep show, he was going to get one. Without breaking eye contact, I reached down and pulled my dress over my hips, past my ribcage and whipped it over my head. A matching set of lingerie, black lacy thong and demi-cup bra were all I had left. His expression didn’t alter, but the tension grew. Now what? Shit. I hadn’t really thought this through. My stupid temper. I didn’t actually want to drop trou for this stranger. I’d only been naked in front of one man...
“You have ten minutes,” Tabron growled. “Do not misuse the time. I will be waiting outside this door for you. If I hear anything suspicious...” He left the threat hanging, and taking him at his word, I decided to get clean really fast. The servant was bending over the water adding a scent. Lavender? It was calming for sure.
“My name is Ceci.” I told the woman. “Thank you so much for getting water ready for me.”
She looked into my eyes as though trying to determine who I was before responding, “Tayla.” There was a white film over one of her blue eyes, a cataract, and her skin was sallow and had heavy wrinkles. It was straining her back to have to bend over the tub, but there was a dignity about her.
“Let me do this,” I protested. “I don’t understand this place, but where I’m from, we don’t make our older generations do such hard work.”
That alarmed her. She sputtered, “I’m a servant here.”
“Yeah, I get that. Sit down or I’ll scream that you’re trying to kill me or something.”
“What?” Tayla’s eyes grew wide, and with that I helped her sit on the edge of a chair that was near a vanity.
“You need to stop doing so much heavy lifting work. I’m sorry to be so blunt, but as we age, our bones become more brittle and we risk breaking them. See what I’m saying?” I turned the water off and looked to her. “One of the most popular causes of death in older people is they do more than they can, they take a fall and end up breaking their hip or something like that. Your bones will not heal as quickly or efficiently at your age. You also need to make sure you’re taking vitamins and getting plenty of sun. Do you ever get a chance to just take a walk on your lunch break? That would be healthy for you. Not a long walk. Maybe you could eat your lunch outside? You know, have a picnic? Sunlight gives us vitamin D, which is what powers all the cells in our body.”
“I only get one meal a day,” she said quietly.
She was only eating one meal a day? No wonder she was so thin. What the hell kind of place was this? If they could treat an elderly person so shabbily, I had no misconception that I would be treated with any more care.
“You should be quick. He means what he says.” It was the worry in her tone that got me moving again. She actually seemed to care if I was all right.
Damn it. There wasn’t even time to question the servant about what the hell was going on. Instead, I stripped down and stepped into the hot water. It felt so good. But ten minutes would go by so quickly. How much time had already passed? It was a waste of a good bath.
“Soap. For your hair and your body.” Tayla gestured toward the items on a small table by the tub. “Is there anything else you need? Would you like help washing?”
“No, I’m fine. Thanks for this.”
She said nothing and simply walked out of the room. She paused in the doorway to give me an inscrutable look, as though she had more to say, but in the end shook her head and moved on. No real reaction to my attempts at being warm or friendly. I would have taken more time to wonder how she ended up with such a thankless job. Was this a forced position or a paid position? It seemed to be slave labor. She didn’t appear to be happy.
“You have five minutes left.”
He would come in, wouldn’t he? His hateful voice rang commandingly through the room. I grimaced and set to work giving my hair a quick washing and my body a quick scrubbing, taking the blood and grime out from between my toes. Anxiety rode me hard, so I couldn’t even enjoy this luxury. Such a prick! Somehow, I was going to make him regret this.
I’d managed to get out of the tub and dry before he invaded once again. With the towel wrapped around my body, I walked out of the bathing room to find him leaning against the far wall by the door and snapped, “Don’t you have something to do? Other innocent women to kidnap from their homes? Families to destroy? Loved ones to crush? Something like that? Fucking Darth Vader.” I grabbed my jeans, V-neck T-shirt and chunky cable-knit sweater from the bed, fully aware that I was being watched the entire time. It made me seethe. “I’m sure there’s lots more evil you need to do in the world today before you go to bed. Then you could feel really accomplished.”
“There is.” His eyes hardened as he came across the room.
Oops. Underestimated that one. I stumbled back a few steps toward the bathing room only to be brought up short by his grip on the front of my towel, the back of his hand resting on skin above the slope of my breasts. My eyes went round and a frisson of fear rippled through my body. Was he going to yank it away? He gathered it in his fist so I couldn’t move without risking losing it. Why couldn’t I keep my mouth shut? My anger was a fierce thing, something I was still working on. Fortunately, there was no one who got me angry these days or I’d have been in serious trouble sooner.
Hard eyes, clenched jaw. Tabron looked into my eyes. “I am no one’s lapdog.” I blinked rapidly a few times. Had I said that? I didn’t remember saying that, but I could have in my anger. I’m sure it wouldn’t have been something I said aloud, but these were unusual circumstances, and I was definitely under some stress, which was probably why I gritted, “If you don’t like the description, don’t wear it so well.”
“He’s sick.” Tabron ground out. “And I would see him well again. He’s been in failing health for several years. Now he has trouble walking, and he has fainting spells. Our healers don’t know how to help him. I will do whatever it takes to get him well again. I owe him much.”
My resentment boiled up again. I was supposed to care? Even now, my cousin Henry would have discovered I had walked out. He would see that my car was still parked next to his, would see the evidence of my high heels lying haphazardly in the parking lot, and would have told my mother. She and my father would be utterly distraught. The police would be looking for me, I’d be on the news with headlines and pictures, friends and family would start combing the streets. Bree and Kevin would be flipping out. I had no doubt.
And with that, my own eyes went stormy and the sting told me tears were close again. I had to blink that away rapidly, but it didn’t keep my voice from sounding emotional. “Tell him to take two pills of I-could-give-a-shit and call me in the morning.”
“We’ll see about that.”
He stormed out, and I was left to figure out what a kidnapped person was supposed to do under these circumstances. Clothes, sleep, then time to think with more clarity. Figure out what I was going to do, how I was going to get the hell out of here.
Surprisingly, it wasn’t as hard as I thought to let exhaustion take over.
Chapter Five
Damn it, Carlos!
I looked down from our perch high up in the trees, the suddenness of extreme height making me choke on my own spit when I gasped. The limb swayed under me, and I froze. We were so high up, my heart gave a kickstart, and I white-knuckled the branch I found myself on. The tree sat on the edge of a one thousand foot drop into a gorge with roaring rapids. Holy shit.
He sat next to me with a mischievous look, his dark brown eyes crinkled up and
, as usual, I couldn’t stay too mad. I wrinkled my nose at him and returned the smile, shaking my head with defeat. It was no use. Still, I wanted down.
I’m just pushing your limits, he offered.
My limits get pushed every day. I don’t need you adding to it.
You needed to see this, C. But his grin stretched a mile wide.
See what? Google Earth from the actual satellite? No thanks.
Yeah, this was a dream, and I wouldn’t actually get hurt in it, but it didn’t mean I couldn’t feel fear.
You know you’re okay, he chuckled.
That’s not the point. You could give a girl some warning. Can we get down from here, please? The tree was my new best friend, and I was hugging the trunk for all it was worth.
He gave me a pointed look, ignoring my request. Sixth grade, your cousin’s pool party and my swim trunks getting sucked into the drain. Need I say more?
The memory had me laughing. Okay, okay. That was bad. I’d forgotten about that. I’m so sorry.
You thought it was funny then, too. He gave me a baleful look. I had to wear your uncle’s shorts, but I was so skinny back then they kept falling down. I had to keep one hand on them the whole time.
It was my way of flirting, see?
You did it more than once. His stink eye actually had some stink to it. Was he still mad?
C’mon, now. Whose fault is that? You were always so nice and unsuspecting. You made it easy, Charlie Brown. Maybe I’d been too playful, but he always came back.
If I’m Charlie Brown, that makes you Lucy.
What the hell? Why am I Lucy? Lucy was a pain in everyone’s ass.
She was always pulling the football away at the last minute.
She was mean. I was not. I only messed with you a little, not all the time. No way was I like Lucy. See, I was more like Sally, trying to connive my way into your affections.
Except Sally wasn’t hurtful. His smile faded.
I wasn’t hurtful. Was I? At least, I hadn’t thought so. My smile faded as I saw the shadow in his eyes. I didn’t mean to be.