Chapter 2 Chapter 2

Liv

“Oh. It speaks,” I say sarcastically, ignoring his comment about the supposed trouble I’ve gotten myself into.

There is no situation. I haven’t done anything. He’s drunk and trying to be a white knight or something. He’s probably hoping I’ll give him pity sex.

But I stare into his strange, azure eyes, and feel his rockhard body against mine, and I know that this is not the kind of man who relies on a pity fuck to get laid.

Despite the fact that he fell into a Vodka bottle tonight, he smells amazing. Like summer days on the beach and Christmas mornings all rolled into one. There’s a faint hint of cigarette smoke clinging to him, but it blends in nicely - as if it belongs to him.

“You need to get out of here,” he says, and his velvety smooth voice sends a shiver of pure delight down my spine. “Get in your car, and put about three hundred miles between yourself and this town.”

“Yeah, about that… I’m kind of shit out of luck. I’m out of gas. If you could give me a ride to the gas station…”

What the fuck am I doing? For all I know this guy is a serial killer, and I’m asking him for lifts?

Do I want to die?

He lowers his head, burying his nose in my neck. I tense up, my stomach muscles coiling tightly. His teeth graze against my skin, leaving a deliciously hot trail in its wake. My head starts to spin and a wet warmth settles between my legs.

He’s a stranger. A weird, maybe even a violent stranger.

But all I can think about, all I want him to do, is kiss me.

My knees buckle, but before I can collapse, his arm snakes around my waist and he pulls me tightly against him. I go limp, and for a moment, I just dangle there like a helpless ragdoll, quietly screaming and hoping that he’ll kiss me, but then he just drops me.

I hit the ground hard, my legs folding under me. Gravel bites into my palms as I catch myself.

What just happened? Tears blur my vision, and through the haze I can see him grabbing his head and tangling his own fingers in his hair. He leans back and stares up at the sky, his chest heaving as if he just ran a marathon.

I get the distinct feeling that I just dodged a massive bullet, but my mind and body are not in agreement. From the neck down, every part of me wants him.

He turns his head toward me, and a wave of pure, unadulterated terror washes over me.

There’s a low, vibrating sound coming from deep inside his chest. I’ve never heard anything like it - not quite animal, but it’s not human either.

This was all just a game to him, and I’m going to die. I understand that now, but I will not do it on my knees begging. I will hold my head high and meet my end like I didn’t meet life. With dignity.

My tears dry up, and I wipe the back of my hand across my wet cheeks. With strength I didn’t know I had, I get to my hands and knees, and then to my feet.

“Go ahead,” I say, my voice hoarse but steady. “Do it. Do whatever it is you came out here to do.”

For a moment, he just stares.

Then his brow furrows, and something flickers across his face. Confusion? Frustration?

His hand flexes like he’s fighting against himself

The growl in his chest deepens.

He bends at the waist, pushes his shoulder into my stomach, and with terrifying ease he throws me across his back like I weigh nothing at all.

The air rushes out of me in a startled gasp.

Before I can even register what’s going on, he’s already walking, carrying me away from my car, away from the bar, away from any chance of escape.

I dangle over his shoulder as he strides into the trees. The night swallows the glow of the bar behind us until there’s only darkness and the sound of… nothing. I can’t even hear him walking. I can see his feet touching the ground, but he knows where to step so he won’t draw attention to himself.

As he walks, the fear that consumed me slowly starts to ebb away. It’s replaced by nothing short of rage.

I pound my fists against his back until they ache, screaming at him to put me down. He doesn’t respond. Not even a grunt. It’s like my blows have no effect on him at all. He doesn’t even stumble or slow down.

My legs are free.

I pull back and kick him as hard as I can. A soft puff of air breaks from his lips, but that’s about it.

“Quit it,” he growls.

“Or what?” I challenge him.

Really, what do I have to lose at this point?

He doesn’t answer me. He appears determined to remain all dark and mysterious and deadly.

I give up. If I’m going to escape, it’s not going to be with brute force. He’s taking me somewhere, and eventually he’ll have to put me down.

I start to calculate my next move. He’s big, and big people are slow. I’m sure I can outrun him.

After what feels like hours, the woods open up into a clearing. He drops me, and I land on soft grass.

Now is my chance.

But before my legs even start moving, his fingers curl around my wrist like a vice. “Don’t even think about it little rabbit. However fast you think you are... I’m faster.”

Damn it. How did he know?

Moonlight spills across a large cabin with a wrap around porch. There’s a light on outside, bathing the wood in a warm, almost cosy, golden hue. A big black truck is parked next to the cabin.

My stomach knots.

This is probably where he brings his victims. Once I’m inside that cabin, I’ll never leave again.

In a blind panic, I start to pull, trying to release myself from his grip. Desperate, I dig my heels into the soil, hoping I’d slow him down at least, but he easily drags me across the clearing, my feet leaving deep grooves in the ground.

The cabin looms closer, bigger, and my chance for escape grows smaller by the second. Then we’re up the steps that lead to the porch. He kicks the door open with his boot, slamming it shut behind him as he shoves me deeper inside.

I stumble, catching myself on the edge of a remarkably nice leather couch.

“You can’t just kidnap me.” My voice comes out louder than I expect. “People will be looking for me. They’ll find you.”

I hear a click, and the interior of the cabin fills with light. “Who?”

“What?” I ask.

“Who will come looking?”

No one. That’s who.

“Look at me.”

It isn’t a request, and I have a feeling that saying ‘no’ won’t go over well with him.

Slowly, I straighten, and on shaky legs I turn around to look at him.

He is still standing by the door, his arms crossed over his impressive chest.

His mouth curves into a sarcastic little smile. “No one’s coming for you,” he declares with arrogant certainty.

I remember reading once that victims have to humanise themselves. Killers are less likely to murder someone if they know their names and something personal about them. “My name is Liv,” I start, hearing the uncertainty in my voice. “What’s yours?”

“It doesn’t matter. After tonight, you’ll never see me again.”

Oh God, he has zero humanity.

I brace myself for whatever may come next. I’m shaking so bad that I can barely stand, but I feel compelled to ask, “What are you going to do to me?”

“Nothing.”

“Nothing? But… you brought me here.” My voice cracks on the words. “What is wrong with you?”

“That was a mistake.”

He pushes away from the door, and takes a step towards me. I instinctively back away.

His eyes flash amber.

I blink and they’re blue again.

The shock.

I must have imagined it.

He takes another step forward, and I keep retreating, until I hit something solid. I feel behind me. A table.

I wildly look around for a way out. But there is nothing. He’s between me and the exit.

“Stand still,” he growls.

My heart almost stops when he reaches out, his hand grips my waist, pulling me tightly against him.

He smells ridiculously good. No man who takes a woman captive should smell this good. Or feel this warm. Solid. Welcome.

His eyes glaze over and he goes for my neck again. I brace myself for… I don’t know what.

Then he licks me.

Licks me.

Slow, deliberate strokes of his tongue, cleaning the blood from my skin, tasting me like I’m his favourite meal.

A low rumble vibrates in his chest, dark and pleased, and he actually moans - a sound that shoots heat straight through my body. It settles between my legs with a warm, throbbing ache.

I should be horrified.

I am horrified.

But I’m also burning from the inside out. His touch sets my nerves on fire, and every swipe of his tongue sends sparks racing through my body.

No. I can’t want this. I can’t want him.

He steps back and lets me go. “What the fuck was that?” I ask.

“Incredible restraint,” he answers. “Don’t try to leave.”

“Or what? What will you do if I leave?”

“Me? Nothing. But these woods are full of monsters who’ll eat you alive.”

I start to laugh, but then I look at him and see that he’s deadly serious. There’s not so much as a trace of a smile on his face. “Monsters. Like you?”

He shakes his head. “Not like me.”

Without another word, he turns away, staggers to the couch like the fight’s been drained from him, and collapses face-first onto the cushions.

Within seconds he’s asleep. His breathing evens out into a deep, even rhythm - the sleep of a man who had too much vodka and not enough food.

I stare at the stranger sleeping on the couch, my heart thundering, my body humming with unwanted desire.

What the hell just happened to me?