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“And let me guess, you won’t be gentle.” His single harsh glance after I tossed out the comment was enough to create another wave of shivers.
From what I’d been able to tell, he was dressed in dark gray, his tee shirt and cargo pants just about as form fitting as was humanly possible. The color selected had been another dead giveaway that he was likely a soldier of fortune. Gray faded into the shadows more than black, a mistake the majority of bad guys made. Now I was analyzing his attack techniques. That’s what I did when I was nervous.
“Put on the mask. Now.”
I bit my lower lip, obeying his orders. Dozens of scenarios rushed into my mind, most of them insane. I did as he asked, feeling more helpless than I had my entire life. My father had been born and bred into politics, already a councilman in Charlotte by the time I was born. He’d quickly escalated to becoming mayor then off to the legislature, where he’d spent three terms. Now he was vice president, his popularity increasing every year.
Is this what his celebrity had led me to?
However, my father’s views had created thousands of enemies both in the United States as well as abroad. Any one of them could have hired this mercenary to kidnap me. My gut continued to tell me Cobra was the good guy.
I remained quiet, shivering the entire time. As the adrenaline started to wear off, the fear increased exponentially. With every sound, I jumped, fearful bullets would come blasting through the window. Or maybe I was a fool and should fear the man sitting beside me.
“Relax, Isabella. No one can hurt you at this point.”
At this point. Did he honestly think he would make me feel any better? I tried to think about a plan. At some point he’d stop, whether for gas or food. Then I’d make a run for it. As long as I could get to a phone somewhere, I’d be able to call for help. That’s exactly what I’d do. I clasped my hands together, trying to be patient. The drive seemed to take forever. While I’d heard traffic in the beginning, even able to tell when a vehicle was coming in the opposite direction given the headlights, it was now deathly quiet.
The moment I could tell he was slowing down, I bristled, almost ripping off my blindfold. Was I hearing gravel beneath the tires? I was almost certain of it. As soon as he pulled to a stop, I tensed even more, slowly guiding my fingers to the door handle. If I was lucky, the second he unlocked his door, I could bolt free. The van was jerked slightly, but the sensations were different than when he’d been driving. Why did it feel like we were being lowered below the surface?
The moment I heard the clicking sound of doors being unlocked, I followed through with my plan, yanking the handle then tumbling out onto hard concrete as I ripped the mask from around my eyes. Without hesitation, I lunged forward.
Only to realize that I was in a garage, completely surrounded by steel and concrete. I turned in a full circle, completely exasperated. Then I felt his presence behind me.
When he wrapped his hand around my hair, yanking me around to face him, the momentum forced me to smack my hands against his chest.
The bright lights of the confined space finally allowed me to take a good look at my captor.
Without a doubt, he was the most gorgeous man I’d ever seen but as I locked eyes with his, I quickly sensed the man had no soul.
As if it had been traumatically ripped away or even worse.
As if the man was pure evil.
Yet the way I felt in his arms was entirely different than I should. Safe. Protected against the malevolence of the world. While it made no sense, my instinct told me he wasn’t the one I had to fear. Unless it involved losing my dignity.
Or my heart.
I’d once heard that in the face of danger, your mind did strange things. That had to be the reason I was thinking about how attracted I was to him instead of the nightmare I’d been shoved into.
“That’s it, Isabella. I’m tired of wasting time with you. You deserve harsh punishment and that’s exactly what you’re going to get.” He dragged me away from the van toward a car that I hadn’t noticed. A Mustang. His? I almost laughed at the thought.
“You wouldn’t dare.”
“Oh, yeah? Who’s going to stop me?” He yanked me over the back of the car, unbuckling his belt. Oh, my God. The man was going to use his belt.
I jerked, almost able to get out of his hold. Then he slammed me over the trunk, wasting no time yanking the thick leather strap from his belt loops.
“Don’t do this,” I pleaded, my heart racing from excitement as well as extreme apprehension. The earlier spanking had stunned me but the way my body was reacting was insane. I’d wanted a dark fantasy, not a disciplinary belting.
He yanked up my dress as he’d done before but this time, I was more humiliated even though there’d been two men in the van with him. They’d paid little or no attention, following the jackass’s orders. He even had the nerve to yank down my thong, pushing it around my knees. I’d never been so embarrassed in my life. This dude was a complete stranger. For all I knew he could be the bad guy, ready to take me to some foreign country.
You know he’s the real deal. A new bodyguard.
I’d had plenty of those over the years, men who’d driven me batty following me everywhere.
When he brought the belt down directly across my already aching bottom, I let out an intense scream, continuing to increase the volume as he cracked three across my sit spot in rapid succession.
“Keep screaming, princess. In case you haven’t figured it out, the facility is totally soundproof and there’s no one around for miles.”
