Sweet Temptation (43 page)

Skylar stomped past him into the room; he followed.

“You’ve already treated me like one, Nate,” she whispered.

“I neve
r
have, baby. I’m not the same person that I was when I first met you. I would never do that to you in any way.”

“I want you to leave, Nate. This is all too much for me,” she cried.

“I’m not going anywhere while you’re like this,” he said, wrapping his arms around her.

Skylar pushed him away, needing space right now. “Please, I need time to think.”

“Fine. I’ll go for a walk, but I won’t be gone long,” he replied.

Skylar watched as Nate opened the door and walked out on her. She fell to the floor.
Why couldn’t she believe what he told her?
She never had any trouble believing people before, so why couldn’t she do it now? She sat there thinking about what they said to each other.

After what felt like forever, she reached for her bag and pulled out a T-shirt and shorts, not worrying about underwear. As she was zipping up her shorts, there was a light tap at the door and she smiled.

She was glad he was back. Pulling her shirt on, she ran towards the door and yanked it opened.

“I’m so sorry for what I…” She lost her breath at the sight in the doorway.

“Hello, darling.” Lucas was standing there with two of his friends.

Shaking her head, she backed away from the door.

“What’s the rush?” he laughed, grabbing her around the waist.

That laugh gave her the chills.

Skylar tried to push him away, but it didn’t work. “What are you doing here, Lucas?”

He pushed her onto the bed, “I’ve come to get what belongs to me,” he snarled.

“I don’t belong to you and I never will,” she growled back at him. Skylar launched herself off the bed at him, but one of his goons grabbed her. “Get your filthy hands off me,” she screamed.

“Sorry, sweetheart, that’s not going to happen,” he said, running his tongue over her ear.

“I’m not your sweetheart,” she growled. All three of them laughed at her.

“When you calm down, all three of us are going to go for a drive.”

“I’m not going anywhere with you!”

Walking up to her, he said, “Yes, you are. We’re going to finish what we started last time.”

She could feel the bile rising in her throat. Turning around, she kneed the goon holding her in the balls and watched him fall to the ground.

“
Fuck
,” he hissed.

Skylar ran for the door, pulled it open, and was halfway out, when someone grabbed her by the hair and covered her mouth with their hand. Lucas picked her up and threw her back into the room. “You’re not going anywhere,” he growled.

Skylar picked herself up and launched herself at him, throwing a punch that connected with his jaw. Lucas’s head spun back around and he growled at her.
Oh God,
she thought.

“You got more fight in you this time,” he said. He raised his hand and backhanded her so hard she flew across the room, hitting the wall with a loud thud. He watched as her limp body slid down the wall and into a heap on the floor.

“Pick her up and put her in the car, but do not touch her. She’s mine,” he growled. Lucas watched as one of his men carried her to their car. He couldn’t wait to have fun with her, but this time no one was going to stop him. He followed behind them as they left the room, leaving the door half open. He jumped in the SUV and drove off to where the fun was going to take place.

Chapter 24

Nate kicked a rock along the side of the path. How much more of the truth could he tell her? Jesus, he thought she’d be happy about him not being the father of William. What more did she want from him? He would give her anything she wanted, all she had to do was ask. He turned around and walked back to the motel. If she still wanted him to leave, he would. Looking up, he watched as a large SUV drove down the road, speeding past him.
Maybe he had women trouble as well,
he laughed to himself.

Making his way across the parking lot, he noticed Skylar’s door ajar. He quickened his steps towards the door and pushing it open slowly. “
Skylar
,” he yelled out. Looking around the room, she was nowhere in sight. Nate caught sight of something in the corner of his eye. Looking closer, he saw blood on the wall
. Why the hell was blood there
? Scowling, he looked around and noticed that all her stuff was still there, and so was her car. Then he thought back too the black SUV that was driving way to fast on the road.

“
Shit
,” he growled reaching for his phone.

“Hey, Nate,” Alex answered.

“We have a problem.”

“What?”

“Skylar’s not in her room. I left for only ten minutes, and when I got back she’s nowhere in sight.”

“Fuck,” Alex yelled.

Craig took the phone from Alex. “What’s going on
?”
Craig asked.

“She’s missing, and I don’t think she left by herself, there’s blood on the wall, Craig.”

“Anything else that is strange in the room, Nate?”

He let out a breath, “Besides us having sex before I left, it looks like she put up a fight with whoever has her.”

“Jesus, I think Lucas found her, Nate.”

“How the fuck did that happen, Craig?”

“I don’t know, but we have to work quickly on this. If he really has her, it’s only for revenge.”

“Do you have any idea where he would have taken her?” Nate asked.

“I have a couple of ideas, but I’ll check them out. Give me five and I’ll ring you back.”

“Okay.” Hanging up, he then hit Dom’s number.

“Why are you ringing me now? You should be with Skylar.” He laughed.

“I was. I went for a walk to let her cool down, and then someone took her. I need you to get a hold of Greg and Joey and meet them over at Skylar’s house with the boys.”

“Jesus Christ. Okay, I will. Talk to you soon, man.”

“Fuck.” Nate punched the wall. He knew he shouldn’t have left the bloody room, no matter what she said to him. Nate raced around the room, grabbing all their stuff and throwing it into a bag. He reached for his ringing phone. “Where is she?”

“I rang up a couple of places. Someone has seen a car heading towards his old family ranch at Yarraman. The address is 1607 Green Valley Drive. That’s only twenty-five minutes from where you are,” Craig told him.

“Dom, Greg and Joey are meeting you there,” he told him.

“They just arrived; we’ll be heading out in two minutes.
”

“Okay, I’m heading that way now.”

“Be careful, Nate. Lucas plays really dirty and he is never alone.”

       “Will do.”

“
You’ll have to do it on your own until we get there, buddy. We’re forty minutes away, but we’ll get there as fast as we can.”

“Sure thing.” Throwing his phone in the bag, he quickly fixed the room as much as he could and ran for his truck. Slamming it into gear he screeched out of the parking lot and drove for Yarraman. If that asshole hurt a single hair on her head he’d kill him for sure.

* * *

Skylar groaned and immediately knew she was being carried by someone. She opened her eyes slightly. Whoever was carrying her was walking down a hallway.
Where the hell was she?
She looked around and determined she didn’t recognize anything. She could hear voices coming from a room, and closed her eyes again.

“What are your plans for her?” she heard one say.

“Finish what I started last time and no one is going to stop me this time.” Lucas snarled.

As they walked into a room, the guy carrying her slowly placed her on her feet. That was her move. Pushing the guy away, she made a run for it towards the door, but pulled up short as another one of his goons was standing there with a gun pointed at her head.

“Nice try, sweetheart,” he said.

“What are you going to do, shoot me?” she asked.

“Not yet. We’re going to have some fun first before that happens,” he told her.

Skylar went pale. This couldn’t be happening. “What is wrong with all of you? You’re all sick in the head,” she growled.

“You fucking whore.” His guy backhanded her, hard. Stars exploded in her eyes as she fell to the floor. The pain screamed from the side of her face, along the rest of her body, and into her head. She tried to breathe through the pain, tasting blood in her mouth.
Great
. Opening her eyes, she glared up at the guy. She was getting damned sick of men backhanding her. She cried out in pain as the asshole reached down, grabbed her arm, and hauled her to her feet.

She couldn’t help but open her mouth, “Is this how you treat all the women that won’t sleep with you?” He threw her against the small table in the room. She caught its corner as it dug into her side and brought an anguished cry from her lips.

“Pull the trigger, asshole,” she screamed. “You’re not getting anything from me.” She gripped the side of the table, aware of the tears that fell from her eyes and the pain that raced through her. The guy smiled at her. And that just pissed her off even more. She ran at him, ignoring his gun, and grabbed his arm as he stared at her in shock. She tried to slap the gun from his hand, but it only resulted in getting hit again.

“You stupid bitch!” Her head bounced off the wall and she cried out. She could feel blood beginning to run from a cut as she shook her head, trying to find her bearings. Skylar was sliding down the wall; she scrambled to find a hold on something as her legs were going out from under her.

“James isn’t here to save you again, sweetheart,” Lucas said, walking into the room. Moving over towards her, he yanked her off the floor and into his arms. His fingertips slid over her cheek and moved to tangle into her hair. Lucas moved his other hand to her throat and held her with gripping force. Skylar squirmed in the bruising hold he had around her neck. Lucas yanked her arms to her sides and crushed her to his chest. She whimpered. “You thought I wouldn’t find you, didn’t you, baby?” he chuckled. “You did a good job at hiding, I have to admit,” he whispered eerily against her ear.

“How did you find me?” she asked.

“I have my ways, darling.” She tried to think of who would have told him where she was, but no one came to mind. “Trying to think of who told me, huh?” He rubbed his finger along her cheek, “Don’t worry that sweet head of yours, sweetheart.”
Why would somebody want to ruin someone else’s life?
She really couldn’t think of who would do this to her, let alone Nate.