He turned the flame toward her and froze when it illuminated her face. Her black hair was pulled up on her head, but much of it had straggled free to hang around her shoulders and frame her narrow face. Enough of her hair remained up that he recognized the remnants of a French twist. He’d listened to his niece, Vicky, prattle on enough about hair over the years to have picked up on a few things.
The straight edge of Mollie’s nose had a small upturn at the bottom. Her rosebud lips were compressed into a line as she stared at the dancing flame with a ravenous gleam in her eyes, and those exquisite eyes stole his breath from him. Not only did she smell of apples, but her eyes were the exact shade of a green apple.
He’d never seen anything like them or the woman herself before. She wasn’t pretty or beautiful, but she was striking, and she fascinated him so much that for a minute he forgot all about their surroundings and circumstances as everything in him became focused onher.
“Mike.”
Mollie frowned as he continued to gawk at her like she was something straight out of a spaceship from Mars. She had to look like shit, who wouldn’t after being stuck in a cage for hours on end? But she wasn’t a freak show, and he didn’t have to look at her like she was.
Or at least Mollie didn’t think she was a freak show, and if she was, she didn’t care. She had far more important things to worry about than her appearance.
“Mike,” she said again.
“What?” he asked, and his hand jerked.
Mollie bit back a cry when the flame sputtered before surging back to full strength. “Can I see your lighter?”
“Put it out!” someone hissed.
Those in the cages closest to them recoiled as far as they could from the two of them. Mollie ignored them as she remained focused on Mike’s royal blue eyes as they sparkled in the flame. His broad face and square jaw gave him the look of a man who belonged in a shaving commercial, especially with the blond stubble lining his jaw and cheeks. The sandy-blond hair on his head stood on end as if he’d been running his hands through it.
Normally, a man as good looking as him would make her feel self-conscious, but now all she cared about was getting her hands on his lighter. If Mollie could see one of the locks, if she had a better idea what she was dealing with, she might be able to get this damn cage open.
Then she’d find Aida and get her somewhere safe no matter what it took.
“Can I see your lighter?” she asked again.
“What are you going to do with it?” Mike asked.
“Hopefully, it’s going to help me get out of this cage,” she said.
“You’re both going to die,” a voice promised.
“Fuck off,” Mike replied before focusing on her again. He didn’t bother to ask her how she planned to break out; he suspected they didn’t have much time before their captors returned. “You can have the lighter if you agree to release me too.”
“Deal,” she said and thrust her hand through the bars toward him.
Mike hesitated before holding the Zippo out to her; he liked having it, but there was nothing he could do with it. He had to trust she would use it to her advantage and keep her word about freeing him.
Mollie snatched the lighter from him and scurried to the opposite corner of her cage. Ignoring the pain it caused her knees, she knelt on the bars and held the flame out toward the cage next to hers. She couldn’t see the lock on Mike’s cage, but this one was turned toward her. When Mollie snaked her arm through the bars, she was able to get a good look at the lock.
Mollie recoiled when the man inside hissed at her before scurrying into the opposite corner of his cage. Mollie’s trembling hand caused the flame to sputter. She swore she’d seen a flash of red in the man’s eyes before he retreated.
No! Not possible!But her hand still shook.
“It’s okay, he can’t harm you,” Mike assured her as he glowered at the vampire. If the man tried anything with her, Mike would find a way to make him pay for it, and he wanted the vamp to know that.
Mollie bit her lip and gathered her flagging courage. Red eyes or not, she had to see one of the locks better if she had any chance of getting free.Aida, Mollie reminded herself. She crept closer to the bars and extended her arm through once more.
Cowering in the back of his cage, she saw no red in the man’s eyes as he stared at her. Mollie examined the lock for a minute before returning to the one in the center of her cage. Setting the lighter down, she pulled the pins from her bra. She pictured the lock on the other cage as she bent and twisted the pins into a position she hoped would work.
Watching her, Mike couldn’t help being a little skeptical about her intentions. However, the concentration on her face fascinated him. “Do you think that will work?” he inquired.
“I don’t know.” Mollie spoke around the bobby pin she’d placed between her teeth. “But I’d rather they came back and killed me for trying to escape than sit here and wait for them to rape me or sell me to the highest bidder.”
He didn’t tell her they had far worse plans for her; she didn’t have to know that unless it became necessary. Besides, he agreed with her attitude.
When she assumed she had them about right, Mollie removed the pin from between her teeth and stretched her hand around the cage. The metal was cool and smooth beneath her fingers as she searched for the keyhole until she found it.
