Take Me (46 page)

She heard two voices now as she raced to hide behind the door. The door handle jiggled and her breath caught. This was it. He was coming in here.
She raised the little statue above her head, made sure the door would hide her when it opened, and then she waited.

She did not have to wait long.

The door unlocked with a metal click and then the door swung open. No light entered which meant they were keeping her from seeing whoever came. A heavy footstep, then another, then the weight settled as whoever came stopped.

He must be wearing boots or be very fat because he sounded heavy.

A thick shadow stood in the door like a black mass. She couldn’t discern much in the few seconds she saw him but she catalogued what she did see: heavyset shoulders, broad, tall, over six feet, feet braced apart, flannel shirt, sleeves rolled up, hair thick but not long. She could almost make out a spattering of gray though her eyes could be playing tricks on her.

She struck. Hard and fast, she yanked her arms down letting her muscles burn and connected with his head.

Then the consequence of what she just did struck her because, he did not topple to the ground as she’d seen people do in movies. Heck, he didn’t even make a sound, not so much as a peep or a grunt.

No, but he did turn around and not slowly but fast as a fox he grabbed the statue out of her hand and tossed it across the room. Before she could react, the big man grabbed her by the arms and pushed her away from the door.

“We’ll have to tie her up,” a new voice said.

Alicia stiffened for two different reasons. For one, another younger-sounding man came into the room, cursing as he bumped into something.

”Yeah.”

And two, the big man who spoke his one-word reply had a unique voice unlike anything she had ever heard.

The younger man came at her, grabbed her by the arms. Alicia didn’t hesitate to shove him away. The man was young, maybe in his twenties, maybe even around her age—an early thirty. He had a skinny body and when she pushed he stumbled back a few steps.

The man turned to the bigger, scarier man still shadowing the door. “She won’t let me.”

The air froze at his words. Alicia’s eyes bugged at his ridiculous statement. “Of course I won’t let you, you idiot.”

The man, whose skinny body felt more like that of a boy’s, grabbed her again, this time getting behind her and wrapping her in an impenetrable bear hug.

“Try not to hurt her,” said the man with the voice. What had happened to him to get a voice that sounded like that—like he’d had his windpipes crushed before?

As she fought in the boy’s hold, her eyes squinted to find focus on the man in charge, but she could no longer make out his impression.

“Please let me go.” She tried begging; it was worth a shot.

The one holding her didn’t say anything, but his grip did tighten around her with his answer—a resounding no.

Suddenly hard footsteps were coming straight for her as the big man came back into the room. She fought harder, pushing back and shoving her hips, anything, to find purchase.

“Hold her tight,” the man rasped.

“Don’t—” was all she got out before a screech then rip sound shut her up. Was that…? Cold, sticky tape was clamped over her mouth. Yes, yes it was. Duct tape.

Panic reared its ugly head; she bucked putting her whole body into it and knocked the boy off of her. She didn’t hesitate. She ran for the door in the pitch-black room, but didn’t make it far as her shoe caught the edge of a table and sent it tumbling over with a crash. She lurched through the air her arms flailing, feeling nothing but empty air for bottomless moments, then her fingers trailed over a hard, flat wall and she flung herself towards it.

A moment later, he caught her. The big man, the man in charge. He did not say a word as he jerked her arms behind her back and began tying them. The material was scratchy and firm and she closed her eyes with the realization that she was now bound by rope and gagged with tape. A hollow, cold sensation settled in her chest and spread out to encase her limbs in a heavy, drugging feeling.

With a jerk on the ropes, he walked her backwards. Even close up she couldn’t make out his features. Just a tall, strong looking man. He pushed her back and she fumbled as her knees hit the chaise. She knew what he wanted and this time she gave in and sat.

He moved away from her. The room was so dark that even with her eyes as adjusted as they could be, she only knew he moved because the air around her became less stifling.

Her nostrils flared as she breathed in quick breaths through her nose.

The boy came back and she could no longer feel the bigger man’s presence. Had he gone away or was he lurking in the shadows? The boy fidgeted with the lamp on the table by her. She heard a distinct metallic sound and glared at the boy in the darkness. It sounded very much like he was screwing in a light bulb. So that’s what they’d done, but why?

He turned the switch. At once, her eyes blinked fast to adjust to the new light. Then she took in everything about the boy and the room. He was about twenty-one, so younger than she was. He had an easy, mischievous smile, golden brown eyes, and shaggy blonde hair.

“Mmmmm!” At her failed attempt to speak through the tape, he laughed at her.

“I’m Jakob in case you’re wondering. Don’t worry he’ll be back soon. I was just supposed to put the bulb back in the socket to give you some light.”

Her eyes flared. Why remove the bulbs? To scare her, Sarah, and any others like them? What kind of freak was this alpha? What a deranged creep he must be.

He looked back at the door. “Good, I hear him coming. Now, if I can give you some advice—” He looked at her expectantly, waiting for her to respond. When she could only glare, he continued. “Just answer his questions in all honestly. He hates liars. Oh, and give him a chance, will ya? He’s not that bad, I promise.”

She glared so hard she could feel her eyeballs squishing.

Boot steps sounded. The light was so dim and the room so large that it barely reached the doorway leaving it mostly in shadows. She could just make out an outline outside the door of a hallway which looked like a house.

Jakob gave her a funny little mock bow then headed to the door to meet the Strange Man.

“Holler if you need anything.” This he said to the Strange Man who seemed to stand perfectly in the shadows so she couldn’t see his face.

However, she could see the flannel of his shirt more clearly—red, green, and brown lines and boxes. He also wore a pair of torn, worn looking dark blue jeans with brown boots caked in dry, crusty mud.

He took a step into the room and closed the door behind him. Alicia fidgeted in her seat then scanned the room for any possible means of escape but saw none. No windows, only one door which he blocked, the Strange Man with the raspy voice.

He walked towards her carrying something in his hands, it rattled. Sucking in a sharp breath, she jerked backwards nearly falling off the chaise as he approached.

Only, he never came close enough for her to make out anything about his face let alone close enough for him to touch her. From what she could see he had to be older than her, maybe late thirties or early forties with dark hair, but he moved out of the light so fast she couldn’t be sure whether it was long or short, black or brown.

He set a tray on the low-sitting coffee table in front of her but stayed on the other side of it, away from her. She thanked god for the small miracle. Peering at what he brought, she frowned. The motion pinched the skin around her lips, pulling the tape tighter at what she saw. He’d brought her a glass of water, a cup of hot tea, and a sandwich.

Really?

She tried to meet the Strange Man’s eyes but failed to as he started moving around the coffee table towards her. At once her eyes darted for his face but he kept it averted, the light never quite catching it. He moved behind her chair and when she tried to turn to keep him in her sights, he touched her shoulder to keep her facing forward. With that one, firm touch she froze.

Warm fingers trailed across her cheek and her blood ran to ice. With a quick snap, he ripped the tape from her mouth.

“Ow!”

Relief at having the tape gone was met with the fiery burn around her mouth. She could feel a layer of skin go with the tape. Immediately, heat rose where the tape had been making her feel like she had a strange sunburn. She licked her dry lips, wetting them.

“Eat.”

One word and it made her stiffen. What was wrong with his voice? It was too scratchy, too deep. Not entirely unpleasant but seeing as it came from someone who practically kidnapped her, she wasn’t searching for positive qualities.

“Who are you?”

He moved back to the door. In the light she confirmed he was tall, broad framed, and probably quite muscular. She had an eye for seeing such things since she made clothes. Proportions, dimensions, and sizes were how she saw clothes. With some fabric, a little thread, and needle, she could make him a better-fitted flannel. The one he wore was too long on him, dangling too far down his thighs, and the collar was too big around his neck as if it was meant for a bigger man.

“Just eat.”

She didn’t spare the food another glance. “No.”

When he turned around she wished he’d come close enough to show her his face. It was too disconcerting not being able to see the person she was talking too. Besides, what game was he at with all the theatrics?

“I want you to eat it.”

“Why, so you can drug me and make it easier on you to do your thing?”

Breathing grew faster. Oh god, how little control she had here. Face it, she told herself, you have none. He holds all the cards and right now he’s only showing you a few of them. She rolled her shoulders back to try to ease the tension in them.

A long, eerily quiet minute passed, followed by another before he deigned to speak.

“You think you’re here to get hurt?”

She could not keep her jaw from falling open. “Why else did my alpha tell me I’m so pretty and send me here to be the new alpha’s…his, your, whatever. Josiah didn’t offer me up to do the alpha’s dishes. How do you think that sounds to me?” Anger made her words sharp like little, snap-fire gunshots.

He stayed silent as if contemplating her words—or how best to kill her and dispose of the body. Her family was dead and her alpha had given her up so she’d bet easily.

“No one here will hurt you. Now eat. It was a long trip.”

Seriously, that’s all he had to say? He took a seat in the chair behind the closed door. She sent him another of one of her glares. They must have told him they hadn’t fed her since Arizona, several states ago. She was hungry, the food look downright delicious and smelled even better, but it was his food and damned if she’d eat it.

“You’re going to watch me eat?”

“Yes.”

She blinked. That voice…it was so unsettling but warm and interesting at the same time. He had a voice that raised questions.

She sniffed the hot tea finding that it smelled like tea so she sipped it, found it slightly sweetened with sugar. She set it down then waited a few minutes to see if anything felt odd. She had no idea what she would or wouldn’t feel if she were drugged but this was her only option.

She repeated the process with the water and sandwich.

A rough sound, something like a grunt, filled the empty space after several minutes. “I told you it’s fine.”

“And I don’t trust you.”

Another weighted pause. “I need to ask you some questions.”

What? She chewed on a bite of the sandwich. This whole situation was getting more curious by the minute.

“Like what?”

“Do you have a mate?”

Her eyebrows shot up at that. “Excuse me?”

Something that sounded very much like a growl came from him. It was a deep, rattling noise came from deep in his chest. The hair on her arms stood on end.

“Listen, I don’t much like the situation we’re in and I don’t like having to ask a lot of questions. Why don’t you just answer my questions?”

Food forgotten, she could only stare at the shadow of the strange man. An even odder sensation came over her. With a start, she recognized the feeling—security. He’d just made her feel some measure of safety and he did it without offering any promises while she still had her wrists bound.