“No one else lives here.” He presses his body into mine for a beat too long. My eyes dart around frantically. “You’ve been here four times. Did you ever see anyone?” That’s exactly how many times I’ve been here. “That doesn’t include the number of times you’ve followed me around town, though, does it?” He leans into me again as if it’s his right to be this close. If I weren’t so scared, I’d be turned on. “That was nine times.” He nips my ear.
“Oh,” I yelp. He’s so close that I can’t lift my hand to shove him away. Not that I could. He’s so much stronger than I thought he would be. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I took a wrong turn down this street. Please let me go.” I lower my voice and speak as softly as possible. If nothing else, I can play the docile female. Men fall for that shit all the time. I goso far as to bat my eyelashes. “Sometimes, I just get turned around.” I bat my eyes again. “I’m not the best driver.” I do my best not to vomit at the baby voice I just used.
“Oh, don’t do that, sweetheart. This isn’t you.” He leans down and lowers his voice. “I much prefer the vixen. I don’t like docile women.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I make sure my voice trembles.
“You’re caught in your own web, Bella.” He’s still pressed to my body, and I can feel his erection. He leans down and inhales. “What is that little baby voice you just used? It’s cute, but it’s not you.”
“That’s my voice.” To my own ears, I sound like a cartoon mouse on crack. I never want to diminish myself in front of a man, but this is about survival, and I’ll do whatever I need to do to get away from this maniac. “Can you move, please? You’re making me uncomfortable.”
He abruptly steps back, and I’m left to lean on the car for support while I catch my breath. He’s right about one thing. There isn’t another human being around here. The street is eerily quiet, and I could go missing here, and no one would think of looking for me. At least not until my best friend and cousin figure it out and raise holy hell, but I might be locked in a dungeon or dead by then.
My only hope now is to run into the woods and hide from him, and that hope is quite slim. But it’s all I have, so I kick him in the groin as hard as I can and run in the direction of the woods.
“Shit. God damn it,” I hear him say, followed by a whistle. That’s when a giant dog leaps in front of me. I let out another scream and run back in the direction of the man and jump into his arms to get away from the monster that is trying to nip at the bottom of my jeans. One of my shoes slips off in the process.
“Get him away from me!” I grasp onto his shirt and try to climb him to get away from the dog.
“Finch, down.” His voice is commanding, but the monster doesn’t listen and tugs at my jeans again, forcing another scream from me. “You’re going to burst my eardrum, Bella. Enough. Finch, I said down.” He yells the last part, and the dog whines, but lies down at his feet. But it’s right beneath me, and if I get down, I’ll get eaten, and not in the good way.
“Get him away! Get him away!” I claw at this man’s face while I try to climb higher on his body.
“Finch is a girl, and she won’t hurt you. She’s just a baby.” He snaps his fingers at the monster, but it doesn’t move.
“She’s evil!” He walks me a few feet away and puts me down. He stares down at me, and I’m thankful it’s too dark for me to read him. I inch a few feet away, ready to make another escape. He moves with me.
“I wouldn’t try to run again.” His voice is a warning. He looks toward the dog, which is now standing, ready to attack. “All I have to do is whistle at her.”
“Let me go,” I order.
“Go? You just got here. I’m going to give you what you’ve been after.” He pulls something out of his pocket and snatches me. He spins me around and puts my back to his expansive and hard chest. Before I can register what he’s doing, he blindfolds me and tosses me over his shoulder like I’m a bag of dirt. I rain punches on his back, but he doesn’t flinch. My other shoe slips off, leaving me barefoot. There’s no way I can run and hide in the woods now without injury.
“Put me down!” I yell. “Let me go. Eden knows where I am, and she’ll be here with her big boyfriend,” I warn.
“I’m petrified,” is all he says. Then he starts walking.
Chapter 2
Cori
It takes me ten seconds to realize that my hands are free and I can take the blindfold off. I toss the damn thing to the floor, at the feet of that beast. We’re inside the ranch house, but he walks through the first floor and takes me down a flight of stairs. When he gets to the bottom, I hold on to the side of the door to prevent him from going any further.
“Bella,” he chides like I’m a child. “Stop that, now.”
“Fuck off.” I tighten my grip on the door frame, and he sighs as if he’s disappointed or annoyed.
“Get her, Finch.” The words are barely out of this maniac’s mouth when that rabid monster jumps up and tries to bite me. It manages to swipe its filthy tongue on my cheek. I scream, and in my haste to wipe his drool, I let go of the frame. “Good girl.” The crazy man mutters, and I don’t know if he’s talking to his beast or me.
There are no other doors for me to hold on to while he walks down an endless hallway that looks and feels more like atunnel. I rain punches on his back. I try to bite him, but I can’t maneuver my head so I can latch my teeth onto his skin. He doesn’t react to my punches, and my hands start to throb. The long walk in the tunnel continues, but I refuse to cry or beg. He has to put me down at some point, and when he does, I’m going straight for the eyes and groin attack, so I need to save my strength.
I know he’s going to take me into some dark, dank, and grimy dungeon. All I have to do is disable him before he can lock me in.
But how are you going to disable that aggressive mutt?
I’ll worry about that later. I need to take care of him first. If I’m lucky, I will lock him and his monster in the dungeon and get away. They can both starve to death for all I care.
The long trek to wherever he is taking me seems to be endless, but he’s in no hurry. He whistles and walks as if he’s strolling through a park with his eighty-year-old grandmother. I finally hear a door open. He goes up a flight of stairs and opens another door. It’s not the dark dungeon of my imagination, but a beautiful kitchen. He drops me onto the floor, and I stumble on wobbly legs.
