Through the Looking Glass (5 page)

“I have to go take a bath. Did you really expect me to leave
you lose in the room while I did so? Or perhaps, you would like to join me?” He ran a finger down her cheek.

“I’d rather die!” she spit back.

“We’ll see about that, little one. We will see. I am going to enjoy my bath and when I am done I will help you bathe.”

He didn’t give her time to response to his comment. There was no way in hell
she was going to let that man touch her, much less help her bathe. She would fight him all the way.

The sound of splashing water reached her ears. Her eyes were on the door, waiting for him to
come through it again. As she waited she tried to think of ways she might be able to escape and find her way back to the spot where he found her. She looked around the room for anything she might be able to use to cut the ropes binding her arms to the chair. He didn’t bother to tie her feet, so that meant she could still partially stand and move about the room. She felt ridiculous when she did it but it was her only hope for now.

The room was so big, it would take her a long time to search everything and she knew she didn’t have the time for that.
When she had first entered the room she hadn’t bothered to look around. Now, the first thing that caught her attention was the huge bed. It looked so inviting and warm but dangerous. The covers were a mess and the pillows thrown carelessly about and it took a lot of will power to rip her eyes away from the bed. The rest of the room was filled with pieces of furniture she had only seen in antique shops back home. A gigantic armoire stood against one wall and had to be nine feet tall. A desk made out of the same kind of wood as the armoire was pushed up to the large bay window that overlooked the courtyard. The fireplace was one of the largest she had ever seen with its mantle resting above it. She could see without a doubt if she went to stand in it, she would be able to stand straight and still have room above her head. It did its job though of warming the room. A table with four chairs sat on the opposite of the bed in the middle of the room and figured Jakar must eat a lot of his meals in his room. Distracted with her surroundings, she didn’t hear the door to the bathroom open up.

“I see you succeeded in moving yourself even while you are tied to a chair.”

His voice scared the crap out of her, making her jump. She turned to face him and wished she hadn’t when she saw him. He was bare chested and wore a pair of black tight pants that showed off the muscles in his legs. Droplets of water trailed down his chest to his stomach then disappear into his waistband. He was towel drying his hair that was now free from any dirt or mud. She had to admit, he cleaned up very nicely even if she did hate him.

“Your turn,” he told her and walked over to where she had scooted to.

“Oh hell no!” She struggled to scoot farther away, however she was stopped in her tracks.

“Isobel,” he said her name for the first time. “I am weary and ready to get in my bed. We can do this the hard way or the easy way. Which will it be?”

She saw the threat in his eyes but she couldn’t help to challenge him. He couldn’t be serious about bathing her. “I can bathe myself, thank you.” 

“It’s the hard way I guess!” H
e picked her up, chair and all then walked to the bathroom.

“Put me down, you big goon!” She kicked her legs.

He did put her down after they were in the bathroom. He untied her arms then turned around to run the water into the tub sitting in the middle of the room. A small fireplace heated the small the room, making it comfortable to take a bath.

“Strip,” he said.

“No.”

He let out an exasperated breath. “Strip or I will do it for you.”

By now she knew he was a man of his word. Just when she thought he wouldn’t possibly do something he threatened, he would do it.

“I will not take off my clothes in front of a strange man!” She folded her arms across her chest.

“Oh, so you take your clothes off for men you know? Well, you know my name so that means you know me. Strip!”

“N…” she went to reply then suddenly shut her mouth when he advance
d on her. “I’ll do it!” she squeaked to keep him away. She pulled off the wet socks and threw them at his bare feet. Next, she pulled her shirt up over her head and did the same thing with it. She stood there in her bra with her cheeks burning. She hesitated before removing her sweat pants. Once she removed those she would be totally exposed to his roaming eyes.

“The pants too.”

She rolled her eyes then jerked her sweats down to her ankles. The chair she had been tied to was a good support for her while she stepped out of the pants.

“Satisfied?” She glared at him.

“I will allow you to keep on those scraps of material only until you are in the water.” He nodded to the tub filling with steaming water.

The wooden floor was cold under
her feet as she walked slowly over to the tub. The side of the tub was too high for her to just climb over, but her dilemma was quickly resolved when he lifted her by the waist and put her in the water. This was going to be the most humiliating experience of her life.

Chapter 5

              Jakar was having a hard time controlling the lust he felt as he watched his prisoner disrobe in front of him. He should be ashamed of himself for making her do such an action in front of a total strange, but he had this gnawing need to see what was under the wet clothes that already revealed too much.

The flimsy material covering her breasts and the triangle between her legs didn’t hide very much, but it had left him with a wanting he hadn’t expected to feel. Something was trying to tell him this woman was not a spy as he insisted she was. The stories he had heard of a woman coming from far away to help destroy a powerful enemy
, had been nothing but a myth to him that he refused to believe. For so long now, the two halves of Aslog had been at war that no one hardly remembered a time when the two were united. It was equally hard to think that one woman would or could be the savior the people of Aslog had been waiting for.

She stood before him virtually naked and shivering as he stood there ogling the shape of her legs, waist and much more. He had to force himself to speak in a normal tone or he would give away the lust he was feeling
inside. When he saw her hesitate at the rim of the tub, he told himself it was a prime chance to feel her skin that looked so inviting to him.

Her gasp when he lifted her into t
he water made his cock jump and when she he sank down into the water with an audible sigh he wanted to join her.

“Are you going to stand there and watch me bathe?” Her sarcasm was beginning to wear on his nerves.

Why couldn’t she just do as she was told without opening that pretty little mouth?
He was very tempted to stay in the room with her and bathe her himself. He needed to at least give her decency of bathing alone without someone staring at her the entire time.

“I can stay if you would like.” He gave her a look that said he was deadly serious.

Her face paled with his statement. He chuckled out loud then left her to her bath. He closed the door behind him right before he heard a thud hit the door. If he wanted to be a complete ass to her, he should go back in there, pull her out the tub, and spank her shapely rear.

He gave her enough time to clean herself when h
e decided to go back in there and tell her time was up. Not bothering to knock, he pushed the door open and heard her shriek loudly. She stood there dripping with water, holding a large towel up to cover herself.

“You’ve had enough time. Get dressed!” He to
ssed her one of his shirts because he didn’t have anything else for her to wear. Nana would have to find her more appropriate clothing in the morning. For tonight, he would have her right where he wanted her in order to get the truth out of her.

He waited in the bedroom while she dressed, pouring himself a glass of wine. The first sip slid down his throat smoothly with a slight burn to it. Unable to help himself, he down the rest of the glass in one gulp
and hiss as the raw burn slid down to his stomach. He needed to be slightly numb before he started questioning her or he might not have the willpower to stay away from her.

The door to the bathroom creaked and he turned around to see her come out dressed only in his shirt. It fell below her knees while the sleeves covered her small hands. His thoughts tried to stray to the images he knew were underneath the same material he had worn against his own body. The sight of her standing there in his s
hirt with her wet hair hanging down with a large clump of it covering half of her face.

“Over here,” he said and pointed to the chairs in front of the fireplace. It wouldn’t do him any good if he continued to allow her to be cold.

Her feet were soundless as she moved across the room to sit in the chair he had directed her to. After pouring himself another glass of wine he went to sit in the chair across from her. He wasn’t about to give her any kind of advantage by allowing her to sit where he could not see her face in order to watch her expressions.

“What is your name?”

“I already told you that,” she snapped at him.

“Your entire name,” he said.

“Isobel Hyde.”

“Where are you from, Isobel? And do not lie to me!”

He saw her jump at the force of his last question.

“Do you really expect me to think that you are going to believe me?” She folded her arms over her breasts.

He was willing to play along with her game for a while, just to see how far she was willing to take it, but his patience was wearing thin. He wanted to see how creative she would be with the lies he knew she was going to spit out.

“Answer the question.”

She sighed before she finally answered him. “I am from Louisiana.”

He knew she was going to lie! “And where is this Louisiana?”

“Umm… it’s in the United States! Where else would it be?”

He wasn’t sure how much of her flip attitude he was going to be able to take. It was going to take a lot of patience
, which he didn’t possess, to get any information out of her. He would question her all night if he had to, even if he was exhausted.

“I would suggest you just answer the questions.” He leaned forward and put his elbows on his knees.

“Whatever,” she said so low he barely heard it.

He glared at her before he proceeded with his questions.
“How long have you been with Tuloch? And what were you doing out on that field?”

“Are you kidding me? I already told you all of this! Why do I have to repeat myself?” she shouted at him this time.

“You will answer my questions!” he roared at her.

She flinched at his words and sat back in the chair. He sensed that he was scaring her but right now he didn’t give a damn. He wanted answers!
Too many people depended upon him to keep them safe.

Through clenched teeth she answered him. “I don’t know who this Tuloch is and I don’t know how I got out there. I was in my hotel room one m
inute and the next, I’m lying flat on my back in a puddle of mud with you on top of me! Why don’t you tell me how I got here?”

She was challenging him. He had to give her some credit for at least sticking to her story.  Not one word of her story had changed. That gnawing feeling was back but this time it was in the pit of his stomach. Something just wasn’t right here and he needed to get to the bottom of.

“Believe me, Jakar or whatever your name is, I don’t want to be here anymore than you want me here. If you took me back to where you found me, maybe I will be able to get back home.”

Her green eyes, that were so dark earlier, were now a lighter shade of green. They pleaded with him. He saw the water that filled those gorgeous eyes and watched as one tear escaped and slid down her cheek.
Could she possibly be telling him the truth? He rubbed his hands over his tired eyes. This was going to have to wait until the morning. The wine was having more of an effect on him than normal and he was plain worn out from the day’s events.

“We’
ll talk more in the morning. I need to get some sleep.” He walked over to the bed and pulled back the covers then looked at her. “Well?” he asked her.

“Well what?” Her eyes were wide with confusion.

“Come get in the bed.”

“I will not! I am not sleeping in the same bed with you!”

“Are you going to fight me on this too? Come get in the bed,” he repeated. “If you don’t come get in the bed…” he didn’t have to finish because she got up and walked to the other side of the bed. He swallowed when he caught a glimpse of her secret place when she had to pull the edge of his shirt up over her knees in order to climb into the bed. Once in the bed she pulled the blankets over her legs then laid down, waiting for him to follow suit.

He did just that, but before he laid down he took out the metal cuffs he had slipped into his pocket while she had been taking her bath. She refused to look at him until she felt the cold metal ring snap closed around her wrist.

“What the…” she squealed. “You’re handcuffing me to you?”

He shook his head. “No. I’m cuffing you to the bed.” As he spoke he closed the other metal ring around the metal post of the head board. She wouldn’t have much room to move around or turn over but he would have peace of mind knowing that she would still be there in the morning and that she wouldn’t have access to anything in the room
she could use to kill him.

She flopped back down onto the
pillow. Her arm was raised slightly as she lay on her side facing him. A smile played across his face when he laid down next to her. He could hear her grunting and sighing as she fought to get comfortable in the big bed. Every move she made caused the bed to shake as she flopped around like a fish out of water until he had finally had enough.

Without thinking about what he was doing, he reached out and pulled her to him. He tucked her body close to his as he lay on his side. Her movements ceased immediately. “If this is the only way to keep you still so be it,” he whispered into her ear. He draped his arm over her waist while his hand came to rest on the
curve of her stomach.

The feel of her body pressed against his w
as going to be the death of him, he was sure of it. She felt so warm and soft, not to mention she fit perfectly into the curve of his own body. Yep, it was going to be a long night.