He grunts as he takes a step back, a sinister glint in his usually cool eyes, and of course, it’s there. The devil himself just popped out of nowhere to disrupt my peace all over again, like his proposal this morning wasn’t enough!
He doesn’t lean down again, leaving me to stare at his waist and the prominent bulge between his thighs. Gulping hard, I pull the handle, forcing him to take a step back to allow me to get out of the car.
This is awkward, I think as I step out and straighten my blazer, noticing the disoriented look in his eyes, his brown curls disheveled as if he’s been drinking.
Except there’s no pungent smell of liquor when he opens his mouth to speak.
“I’m sorry, Annika,” he begins, and my brows knit to a tight frown.
“For what?” I ask, pointedly avoiding the topic he might be referring to because truthfully, it is beyond Henry Ralph to apologize for anything, even if he’s wrong.
“For this…” he says, taking a step forward and intruding on my personal space with the rather intoxicating scent of his cologne that I’ve come to despise. Confusion hits like a tidal wave sent to knock me off my feet, and there’s a flicker of fear stirring in my chest.
Is he about to kiss me without consent?
My fight instincts kick in, but it’s too late when he cups a hand over my mouth, and a metallic taste spreads from my nostrils down to my throat, weakening my knees with a force that’s stronger than any unwanted kiss would have been. Myvision blurs before it blacks out, and my body crumples into nothingness.
***
My mouth feels disgustingly dry when I stir awake from what feels like a horrible nightmare. I open my eyes to blinding light that hits me like a punch to my gut, and it takes some time for me to get my senses in order before I can open my eyes fully.
That was a crazy dream. Well, a nightmare, in which I’d blacked out after Mr. Ralph appeared to stalk me and press a hand over my mouth.
But “crazy” doesn’t even cut it when my eyes are finally open, and the smell of pine warns me that I’ve taken a breath in an unfamiliar space. The log beams above my head are completely different from the white squares in my apartment, and that’s when realization hits me like a freight train.
The nightmare was real.
Henry Ralphfollowedme to my apartment building. Hedidtap on my window. A hand flies to my throat, the metallic taste still evident there. He pressed something to my mouth, and Ipassedout.
He kidnapped me.
Henry Ralph, my boss, kidnapped me.
The realization jolts me upright, and I throw myself off the bed that isn’t mine, glaring at it accusingly, surprised by the cool air that brushes my skin.
My blazer is gone. So is my shirt, and the tailored slacks of the suit I was wearing. I’m dressed in a silk nightgown, which only means one thing.
“No…no…no…” I whisper in horror, my heart pounding as I lift the hem to find the same underwear I wore with the suit intact, and no sign of intrusion there. Still, my clothes have changed, which means he’s seen me in my underwear.
Anger simmers beneath my skin, my vision turning a frightening shade of red as I snap my head around in every direction. I charge for the door immediately, only to discover that it’s locked. I’m fuming at this point, crossing the room to the window and throwing the curtain open.
Mountains. Mountains everywhere.
I’m smack in the middle of mountains that stretch for miles ahead and above me, and my jaw drops.
“What the fuck…?” I murmur. Where has Henry Ralph taken me? And what is he planning on doing to me here, in the middle of nowhere?
The tips of my fingers begin to tingle as I stare at the mountains, feeling like they’re closing in on me, my breath turning shallow as if I’m suffocating.
Oh, no…
No…
I haven’t had a panic attack since high school…
My heart is racing again, hammering in my chest, when I hear movement at the door.
The approach of footsteps, the clinking of keys, and then the creak of the hinges as the door opens. I turn slowly, quickly pulling myself together with fight instincts, taking the wheel, and I run toward the door, slamming into it with as much force as I can. The ensuing chaos doesn’t have the desired effect I was hoping for, and instead of a neat escape, two strong hands gripmy wrists and I’m pushed back into the room, the door shutting with a nimble thud as if a foot was used to kick it.
