He chuckles. “You,” he pauses, “are in a lot of trouble, blondie.” His hand shoots forward, pressing flat against my chest, and my skin tingles under my shirt.
I should scream. I should slap his hand away and bolt. I should do a lot of things, but everything happens so fast. Black dots swim across my vision, and my ears ring over the pounding of my heart. Then my legs give out, and I collapse onto the hardwood floor.
Opening my eyes for what feels like the first time in days, I squint at a chandelier hanging from the ceiling. I blink until I can see clearly, and the sharp, heavy sound of metal chains startles me when I try to move. I take a deep breath to keep myself from panicking. It doesn’t do much good. My hands are bound and attached to the chair I’m in. Cursing under my breath, I tug on them, but the cold chains bite into my skin; I wince before letting them go slack. I sniff a few times. I can’t have been here too long, considering I don’t smell particularly bad.
Am I still at the house where the party was held? The room looks more like a luxury hotel suite. It even has a fireplace surrounded by a seating area. But one thing’s missing: a window. If this place is a hotel, I doubt they have guests staying in this room.
The door swings open, and my entire body goes rigid. It’s the guy from the party—Max. Being stuck in a sitting position isn’t ideal when I want to kick his ass. He swaggers into the room, with his hair messily framing his face as if he hasn’t brushed it in a while.
“You’re awake,” he says with a menacing smile, and I fear the worst. Did he spike my drink at the party? Would I know if I were drugged? Oh god . . . Did he touch me?
“Observant. Well done,” I shoot back, my hands clenching into fists. Don’t show him weakness, I chant to myself as my fists shake.
“You’ve got a mouth on you, blondie.” He walks closer, leaving the door open as he pulls on heavy gloves. He yanks the chains off the chair and forces me into a standing position, leaving my arms chained together.
I glance past him, but all there is to see beyond the doorway is a long, dimly lit hallway. “Who are you? Where am I? Why did you bring me here?”
Max rolls his eyes. “You ask a lot of questions.”
I swallow the lump in my throat, blinking back hot tears. “What the hell do you expect?” Each word is laced with a combination of fear and anger, making my tone sharp and lower than normal.
He ignores what I said and inhales as he did at the party, grinning in a twisted way that turns my stomach. “Your fear . . . it’s delicious.”
My lip curls in disgust. “Excuse me?”
“I’m hungry.” He sighs. “There’s never much to eat around here. Nothing I’m allowed to, anyway.”
“I suggest a McDonald’s drive thru,” I remark, bitterness heavy in my tone.
He laughs. “You’re funny, too. Good to know.” He reaches out and grasps my chin in his gloved hand.
Panic floods through me, and I react without thinking, kneeing him in the stomach.
He reels back a step, growling, and his eyes darken. “You stupid girl.”
“I like my personal space,” I say in a defensive tone.
Without a word, his hand shoots forward, and his fingers wrap around my throat. “Forgive me,” he mutters with fake sincerity. “I tend to get a bit irritable”—he pauses and tightens his grip on my neck—“when I’m hungry.”
Black dots dance across my vision, my heart slamming against my chest as I struggle to breathe. My eyes roll back, but Max scoffs and releases his grip on my throat before I pass out. When I cough and wheeze, he takes a step back, his face contorted with disgust. I suck in a breath, greedily filling my lungs with air as he removes the chains from my wrists.
“Please,” I force out as the chains hit the floor. “I want to go home.” I fold my arms over my chest, staring at the wall to avoid looking at my captor.
“What? No ‘thank you’?” he bites back. Max throws the gloves off and places a hand on my collarbone, backing me against the wall before shoving his leg between my thighs.
I scream at the top of my lungs, aiming my knee a little lower this time to catch him hard in the groin. When he doubles over, clutching himself, I bolt for the door.
The hallway beyond the door is longer than I thought. I make it to the end, my flat shoes slapping against the marble floor as I run, too afraid to look behind me. As I round the corner, I’m grabbed from behind by impossibly strong arms and thrown against the wall. My head throbs, and I reach up and touch my forehead with a shaky hand. I’m unsurprised to find blood when I pull it away. A trail of warmth trickles down my face, dripping blood onto the floor at my feet.
“I’ve decided that I don’t like you,” Max hisses in my ear, and I shudder. “I did a nice thing for you, taking the chains off, and this is how you thank me?” He barks out a laugh and grabs my face, forcing me to look at him. “Your fear . . .” He slams me back into the wall again, and I cry out. “It’s stronger now. Lucky me.” He grins, but all I can focus on is the darkness in his eyes as he leans in.
“Seriously?” A sharp, female voice says. “You can’t follow the simplest directions, can you?”
Max scowls, turning his face to look at the tall Asian woman approaching us with brows raised. She stops off to the side, radiating elegance in a dark purple dress. The woman is wearing heels, but I didn’t hear her approach. Her black hair falls almost to her waist.
“Back off, Sky, this has nothing to do with you.”
She rolls her eyes, sparing me a brief glance. “I’m looking out for you, asshat.”
Max pulls his hand away from my face, shifting his body away from mine to face the woman. “What would you have me do? Let her go?”
“That’s not your call,” she says.
I flick my eyes back and forth between them, and then I bolt again. I have no idea where I am or where I’m going, but when an elevator comes into view, I sprint toward it, slamming my fist against the button.
“You’re going to let her get away?” Max hollers, making the panic in my chest dig its claws deeper.
“Let her try.” The woman seems uninterested whether I escape or not.
The elevator slides open, and I throw myself forward—right into a solid wall of muscle. The force knocks the air out of my lungs, but I still open my mouth to scream. I reel back as my eyes snap upward to meet a pair of brilliant lapis lazuli irises.They’re like the darkest parts of the ocean woven with lighter, softer hues, and surrounded by dark, thick lashes.
Max grabs me again, pulling me away from the new arrival as he steps off the elevator.
“Max,” Blue Eyes says in a calm, measured voice. “Remove your hands from the girl. Now.”
My kidnapper hesitates, growling low in his throat before he lets go. My face stings like a bitch where blood continues to trickle from the gash on my forehead. I touch it again and wince at the sharp pain that follows.
The stranger in front of me is tall—at least a foot taller than I am—and built. I think he’s a bit older than me, considering the expensive-looking dark gray suit he’s wearing.