Authors: Jenna Castille
I
’
m going to die here
.
But drugged or not she could tell the attention of her kidnappers was completely focused on sex and blood, not her. If she stood a chance at escape this was it. Praying helped center the mind but only did so much. Unless god sent down some divine intervention, and soon, she was on her own. Lisa tugged one last time on the cords holding her ankle. She’d pushed and pulled at them so much blood now coated the nylon, turning it light pink. To her surprise the blood soaking through the material gave her more leverage. Millimeter by millimeter the cord gave.
As soon as she could slip her foot through the loop she scooted toward the door.
A noise came from the hall, freezing Lisa to the spot, eyes shooting to her captors. The woman urged the man on but his attention pulled away from his sexual haze, gaze flicking to the door. The room fell eerily silent.
“Pay no attention. It’s just vermin. More. I want more. The portal will soon be open enough for the master to speak with us, tell us what to do next. I want more pain from this body before he does. Who knows what his next command will be? We may have to return to prepare for the invasion. Curse you, fiend, fuck me,” the woman growled and sneered, pulling the man closer to her. The hand creeping out of the crack in the floor clawed harder. The woman bucked beneath the man, trying to force him back in her. But the man gave Lisa a warning glance, pulled out of the other shrieking and spitting woman.
“We can’t risk anyone knowing of the master yet.”
He opened the door, peeking outside. Another sound, a faint thud, echoed in the dark distance. The man jerked on his pants and fished a key out of his pocket. When he left, Lisa heard the faint click of the lock engaging.
Lisa scrambled for the door, keeping a close eye on the woman, who lay on her side watching with a self-satisfied smirk, thighs spread as she fingered herself. Lisa jerked the handle, sagging to the floor as she found it locked back automatically. Tears warping her vision she looked around the room for something, anything that might work to open the door.
She gritted her teeth against despair as the woman snickered behind her.
A scratching sound came from the other side. She wished for a piece of wood or something to bash the bastard’s head in with but other than the lasciviously smirking woman the room was empty. She crouched down. Her only hope was to push past him as the door opened, to make a run for it.
The woman continued to watch her as a cat would watch a trapped mouse. Obviously she didn’t see how Lisa could escape. Not when she didn’t even bother to tie her back up.
Maybe she planned on Lisa joining in on the fun when her perverted lover got back. Maybe she just enjoyed watching the mouse struggling in the trap. Either way, her unconcerned gaze set Lisa’s teeth chattering.
The door eased open slowly, with a crack of light and a creak of old wood. Lisa launched forward, powering her way past her captor.
Lisa bolted down the short hallway. She barely had time to pray it was unlocked before she hit the door, tearing it open. She slammed it behind her just as the man rammed into it. Her fingers trembled as she shoved home the bolt lock.
He had to have the key. He’d had it before. Not much time. The warehouse room was immense and the exit was way on the other side. Her eyes darted for a hiding place.
Then a cool hand clamped over her mouth, pulling her against a hard body. She squeaked, clawing at fingers as her heart jumped to a faster beat.
“Shh,” a soft, familiar and comforting voice whispered in her ear. “Follow me.”
The hand slid from her face to clasp her own. Tears filled her eyes as she looked up at Tim’s dear face.
Lisa could barely hear the other man searching the far side of the hall over the screeching and pounding of the woman behind the door. But she didn’t wait around. Every muscle in her body trembled, adrenaline deadening the pain in her side as she scurried behind Tim. He rushed her to a bank of windows, to one that was broken out. He shoved her through the window and followed after.
Tim grabbed her hand and dragged her down a short alleyway to a deserted lot. Her lungs burned but she stumbled along with him as fast as her poor bare feet could run. Gravel-abused soles rated much lower than rape or torture. A nondescript sedan sat there behind a dumpster with a large Hispanic man at the wheel.
“Hello, Ms. Harrington. Good to see you again,” the big teddy bear of a man quipped, a look of true relief in his eyes as Tim wrenched open the door.
Lisa blinked at the thickly accented, rumbling voice. “Detective Ramirez?” she asked in grateful amazement.
“I know,” the detective replied with a quick nod. “Not who you expected to see. Not tall or handsome enough. Just got the dark covered.”
“Julian not back yet?” Tim asked, sliding in the backseat behind the detective, scooting over and dragging Lisa in after him.
Detective Ramirez looked in his rearview mirror, lips pursed, face tight and tense. “Nope. We’ll give him a couple more minutes. If he doesn’t show by then I’m dropping you off at your condo. He said if anything got tight he’d meet you there.”
“Aren’t you going in after him? You’re the officer. He’s just a security expert,” Lisa said, appalled. Not matter what her drug-hazed mind might have imagined during their sexcapades those two were dangerous. Julian had put his life at risk for her and this cop planned on sitting the whole thing out? “You’re leaving him in there with a couple of violent psychos?”
The detective gritted his teeth and drummed his fingers against the steering wheel, looking as happy about the situation as she felt. But he didn’t budge. “They’ll explain it to you but this is one case where I’m out of my element. Julian knows what he’s doing.”
Lisa started to ask more but Tim interrupted, pointing out the window. “There he is. He’s running. Get this car moving.”
Ramirez peeled out, dust shooting out in plumes behind them. He squealed to a quick stop beside Julian, who dived in the passenger side, Tim reaching forward to close the door behind him. The male attacker ran close at his heels. His hand was raised but Lisa couldn’t see what kind of weapon he held. Ramirez didn’t wait to find out. Another quick, bumpy takeoff and they roared down a paved road.
Suddenly everything crashed down on her. Her skin turned clammy, freezing under the blast of the car’s air-conditioning. Lisa started shaking uncontrollably, teeth chattering. Tim reached for her, cradling her in his arms and smoothing her hair with a gentle hand. “It’s okay, sweetheart,” he crooned. “We’re here. We wouldn’t let anything happen to you. You’re safe with us.”
“You’re just saying that ‘cause I’m paying Julian a pittance to guard my precious self,” Lisa muttered, snuggling into his comfort, tears brimming.
“No, we’re saying that because we’re sleeping with you. We’re not done with you yet,” he joked. But he never let her go. It was as though he planned on holding her sanity together by sheer force of will alone.
“Just ignore the married man driving,” the detective teased, glancing back in the mirror. “I’m not even here. You can talk all you want about your kinky sex life. Don’t let my presence stop you.”
“We won’t,” Tim replied, holding her tighter.
Lisa was beyond caring. She curled into Tim’s secure warmth. Peace, love and calm flowed from him and into her. She wallowed in the sensation before reaching out with her other hand between the front seats, grabbing for Julian.
He took her cold hand in his large, warm grip. The two men anchored her, keeping her safe and calm.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Lisa huddled on Julian and Tim’s couch, a comforter wrapped around her shoulders and a mug of hot chocolate cupped in her frozen hands. So this is what recovering from shock felt like, cold and empty. At least she had people who cared about her with her, people who would put on soft music and tuck warm covers around her. Even if she didn’t know how to feel about the fact that she could depend on somebody to take care of her, much less two somebodies. But Tim sat close beside her, arm wrapped around her shoulder, as Julian puttered in the kitchen for snacks. Each man did what he knew best to make her feel better.
“You’ve never been quiet this long before,” Lisa said, scrunching down in the plush couch, letting rich warm chocolate flow over her tongue.
“I didn’t know if you wanted me to talk or if you just wanted someone to be near you,” Tim answered in the soft tones one would use with a small child or wild animal, not a lover. It was as if he thought the slightest jar would shatter her.
“I need to be normal,” Lisa whimpered, putting her cocoa down and closing her watering eyes against memories she didn’t want to revisit but couldn’t seem to let go of. “Be normal for me.”
“Okay, what do you want to talk about?”
No matter how hard she tried Lisa couldn’t take her mind off what happened. She felt the warmth of the blanket and the pressure of Tim’s embrace. She smelled his spicy cologne and the hint of savory food drifting from the kitchen. She heard the soft jazz music. She should be thinking of her last night in their arms. But somehow some part of her was still trapped in that dark, barren warehouse, listening to her kidnappers fuck each other senseless and having delusions of a gate to hell opening. “How did you find me so fast?” she finally whispered. “I thought no one would find me.”
Tim looked at the kitchen, tension and uncertainty clear on his face. “That’s for Julian to say. I came along for the ride. Backup.”
Lisa could feel more behind his words, insincerity rolled off him. But she was too tired to confront him. She just wanted to talk out her fears, find out the details of her rescue. “Okay, how did you get in the warehouse?”
He shrugged, tension draining from his frame. “That’s an easy one,” he answered with a self-deprecating laugh. “You know, before meeting Julian I lived on the streets. I did some things I’m not proud of, learned some things normal people wouldn’t know. I had to break into abandoned buildings sometimes to get off the streets at night. Worste came to worst I coulda picked that lock. Not too reliable if you ask me. Shoulda called Julian to set up their security.”
As he talked Lisa looked down at his designer jeans and brand-name sneakers. “I can’t picture you on the streets.”
Tim gave her his boyish half-smile and shrugged. “What can I say? Living with Julian, having money, it’s easy to get used to. He keeps me in a style I’ve enjoyed becoming accustomed to. I don’t think about the other side much, not unless I have to.”
“That bad?” she whispered.
“Worse.”
Tim looked so sad, lost in his own dark memories, that Lisa regretted pushing him to talk. Even if it did go to show how little she actually knew about either man or their lives. She let loose of one side of her blanket to reach out to him. “Sorry, didn’t mean to drag you down to my level. Seems to be a night for life sucks.”
But Tim wouldn’t let her get away with her maudlin attitude. She might not know him very well but she realized somber and Tim didn’t often mix. “Hey, better than the alternative. You’re here with us contemplating life suckiness. Could be a hell of a lot worse.”
Lisa shook her head but tucked her blanket around herself and snuggled closer. “I don’t understand why this is happening, any of it. I didn’t know either of them. The man wasn’t the same one as before. What are the chances of two random attacks happening to the same woman in less than a week? Why would people be after me? I’ve never known anyone to go after a chef if they didn’t like their meal. Sue or threaten to, yes. Call the media, yes. But try to kill her, no.”
On that note Julian stepped in, carefully balancing a heaping tray of drinks and finger foods. He eased it on the table in front of her.
She stared blankly down at the array, her stomach twisting at the mere thought.
Now here
’
s a new diet to try
,
shock
.
Lose weight quick
.
Makes even bland cheese and crackers look repulsive
. “I’m not hungry.”
Julian gave an understanding smile, reaching for a cup and handing it to her. “At least drink more. I made hot tea. The warmth should settle your nerves.”
“Hot tea?” she asked. But she took the cup with a shrug, trying a sip of the flower-scented concoction. “Whatever floats your boat. The cocoa was better. Hell, a stiff drink sounds great.”