By the time the sun is fully up, and the bedroom I’m hiding in is bright with daylight, I'm hyper and overtired.
And I’m ready to try and get this tall, dark, sexy as all hell stranger to slip up and give me something to work with.
The only thing I know for sure is that the sooner I get away from him and escape, the better. The longer he has me, the fewer my chances become!
Sitting up on the bed, I groan when I catch the dull scent of my own gym clothes. Fine. Maybe I should shower first.
I rummage through the closets. Mostly they’re empty, but in the far one near the wall, I find an assortment of brand-new sweatpants. I grab the pair closest to my size and march into the bathroom attached to my room.
The shower feels amazing. I should have done this last night, but I was too focused on guarding the door that didn’t even flicker open once. I could have had a good night’s rest. Fuck knows I needed it.
Now I’m hungry and grumpy and, even though I hate to admit it, I’m scared, too.
I scrub myself with the lavender shower soap, and when I climb out, I feel a million times better. Awake, even. Slipping into the fresh pants, I leave my gym top off and just throw my favorite hoodie over my head. It’s old and worn, but it’s sort of like a comfort blanket for me, so I can’t give it up.
Then I storm downstairs to confront my kidnapper.
The man is in the kitchen making coffee. I glance into the living room, and it looks like he slept on the sofa. He looks even more rugged this morning, with a darker shade of hair across his jaw and moody, mysterious eyes.
“So, did you come to your senses?” I say, walking boldly into the kitchen and tugging the fridge door open to find the milk.
“What senses might those be, darling?” he asks, sounding amused.
“Well, I imagine Josiah has given you some new orders, now that you know my brother won’t be pleased about this wholething. So, have you decided where you are letting me go? Before my brother has you buried in a shallow grave?”
He scoffs, laughing at me. I sneer, annoyed. He says nothing and keeps making coffee as though he doesn’t have a care in the world. How can the threat of death not affect him?
“I see,” I huff. “So, then, it’s my brother behind all of this. He put you up to it, and he’s basically just messing with me,” I snap.
The man turns to look at me. The smile on his face is darkly tantalizing, and I have to force myself to focus and not get distracted by it.
“Do you always talk this much in the morning?” he asks, completely ignoring all of my prying questions. “Can’t you at least wait until the coffee has kicked in?”
“Are you always such an arrogant asshole?” I snap back at him. It’s so damn annoying how he doesn’t appear fazed by anything I say and is so damn good at just breezing over my questions. In the world I know, people are scared of Illyin. This guy should be, too. Surely, he knows who my brother is.
His casual coolness is…actually, it’s damn sexy. It’s hot that he hasn’t shown any fear or concern and is staying calm through everything. A man in control of himself. It’s kind of rare these days.
“Stop hogging the coffee machine and move over,” I huff, annoyed that I was staring at him too long and more annoyed that it was because I was perving on him.
He finds my outburst amusing, and a half-smile touches his face. His eyes glimmer with mischief as he slides over just a little, not quite giving me enough space, but still letting me close to the coffee machine.
I huff and make a point of letting him know I’m unimpressed by bumping into him continuously while I make my coffee.
“Be careful, darling, or I’ll end up spilling hot coffee over you,” he warns me when I bump him a little harder.
“No decent man on the planet would spill hot coffee over a girl on purpose, so don’t bother with your stupid games,” I snap.
He turns, and suddenly I’m frozen in place as he stands over me with those storm-gray eyes piercing right into my soul. He sets his coffee cup down on the counter without taking his eyes off mine. His masculine scent washes over me, like a forest after rainfall. Pine and fresh, crisp air. He reaches up to wrap his hand around my jaw, and his voice is a low growl when he says, “I never claimed to be a decent man.”
His words shiver through me like a dark and delicious warning. My body spikes with desire in ways it should definitelynotbe spiking. The man is threatening me, and I’m going weak in the knees.What the hell is wrong with me?!
I tug my face away from his grip, and he laughs, a low, deep rumble.
Hurriedly, I finish making my coffee and storm out of the kitchen to escape him and to try to pull myself together.
Goodness me, but I have no idea what just came over me. It’s never happened before. For a second, I thought I was in a movie or something, and the devilishly sexy man was going to lean down and kiss me, and…I wanted it to happen!How freaking ridiculous our minds can be, playing silly games like that.
I need to make sure not to get close to him again.
