Ominous Love (11 page)

On my way down the hall towards the bathroom,
I hear someone moaning. It seems to be coming from one of the bedrooms. Though
I know Francesca's been drinking, I'm sure she wouldn't go in there with
somebody she just met. Would she? My stomach turns with a horrible feeling of
impending doom. I look under the door. There's no light coming from under it,
but I can clearly hear a bed squeaking. Sod it. There must be someone in there,
but I know it can't be Richie's parents because they're overseas. It might not
be Francesca and Devlin, but if I don't check and something awful happens to
her, I will never forgive myself. Holding my breath, I grip the knob and slowly
turn it,
then
I push it open and peek in.

There's no lamp on, but the luminous numbers
on the clock radio, and the video player, light the room enough for me to see there's
a couple in the bed. They’re beneath the sheets, but it’s obvious they are
having sex and enjoying each other's company, so as quiet as a mouse, I tiptoe backwards.
Shit. If they see me, they’ll think I'm a perv. As I reach the door to leave, a
familiar voice says, “Ooh, don't stop now! Keep going.”

Frowning, I turn on the light and yank the
covers back.

Just as I thought, Tom is lying on his back,
and he’s stark naked.

“Elle?”
His jaw drops and he reaches for
the sheets to hide his sorry ass. “I … I thought she was you, honest. Crap. I'm
so freakin' wasted.” Then he wiggles his hips and grins. “Do I look as hot as
your naked cousin?”

I roll my eyes. “You don't even come close,
you bozo.”

Francesca's blonde head emerges from under
the quilt. “Elle has a naked cousin?”

“Yeah,” says Tom, scowling at me. “And I
think she's banging him.”

“Really?” she says, giggling her head off. “Are
they first or second cousins? It's okay if they're second.”

My cheeks burning, I pick up a pillow and
clobber them both with it. “Don't talk about me like I'm not here,” I yell,
then
I turn and run out the room and into the bathroom.
After locking the door, I lean against it and try to get my breath back. I shouldn't
have hit them. I can't really blame them for anything. Tom may be a rat, but I
can't complain. After all, I did tell Francesca I was breaking up with him. And
she probably told him I was chasing Devlin. Eww, what an awful thought. His
black eyes are way too sinister for me. I suddenly feel nauseous and want to go
home, but I can't ask Tom to drive me. Deciding to call a cab, I head out to
look for Ruby and Brooke. Where the hell are they anyway?

Holding my phone, I walk through the house
and dial the number for a taxi, and as I turn into the kitchen, I bump into
Tom.

Clutching two beers in his hands, he gawks at
me. “Elle, you know I love you, and all that.”

I roll my eyes. “Excuse me,” I say
sarcastically. “Can I get past please?”

“Um, I’m sorry, babe.” He pouts and puts on
his stupid hound-dog face. “We didn't have full on sex. We were just fooling.”

I glance at the ceiling,
then
back at him. “Too much information, Tom, and
I'm
not
even bothered.” I march passed him and run down the three steps to the garden.
When I look in the marquee, everyone is bopping to the great beat of
Ricki-Lee’s
song,
Do It Like That
. Ruby and Brooke are dancing with the two surfie
guys, so there’s no way I’m spoiling their fun. As I walk down the path to wait
for my cab, I send them both a text message to let them know I've gone home.

Standing alone in front of the picket fence,
I look up and down the low-lying street. A mist has settled in the valley and I
can’t even see across the road. I gaze up at the sky, but the fog is so thick, I
can't see the moon or the stars. Shivering, I pull my jacket tight around my
chest and stamp my feet, then as I blow on my hands to warm them, little puffs
of white air shoot from my mouth. Glancing at my watch, I see it’s nearly
midnight. Crap. Now Seal will be even angrier with me and I know he’ll start to
worry. Clasping my hands together, I pray for my cab to arrive. If only I’d
listened to Seal and stayed home tonight. He was right about Tom never being around
when I need him. He may have picked me up and driven me here, but he obviously had
no intentions of taking me home, or maybe he was hoping I'd stay all night, the
jerk. He just planned on getting drunk and having sex, and he didn't care who
with.

A rustling noise comes from across the street,
startling me from my thoughts. Then, just as I decide to go back inside to
wait, I see the headlights of a car beaming through the fog. Great, hopefully it's
my cab. But instead of stopping, it keeps going up the road.

Darn it
.
I'll get a chill if I stay out here much longer. I grab my phone from my pocket
and start walking back to the house, but as I dial the number to the cab
company, somebody grabs me from behind. My eyes wide with terror, I try to
scream, but my mouth is held shut by the powerful hand of a man. Something smells
familiar, something from my childhood. Holy crap, no! It's the brain-numbing
scent of a drug used for anaesthesia, and the last thing I smelt before doctors
ripped out my tonsils. I struggle and kick and scratch at his hand, but he
grabs me around the waist and lifts me into his arms. Staring into his face, I
lose consciousness.

Chapter Thirteen

My eyes flicker open and I glance around.
Where the hell am I? Adrenalin rushes through me and I bolt upright. My wrists
are handcuffed and my feet are tied to the bottom of a four-poster bed.
Holy shit.
I've been kidnapped.

Though I'm wearing my clothes, my boots are
gone. I swallow a big lump in my throat and try to pull my feet free, but
they’re tied too tightly. The only light in the room is from two candles
burning on the dresser and a fire blazing in the hearth. There's a dark carved
door in the corner and the window is covered with full-length crimson curtains.
I've never seen this place before and I don't know why I'm here.

Then I suddenly remember being dragged away
from the party by a stranger and my world drops out from under me. Bloody hell,
I have to get out of here.

As I franticly rip at the rope around my
ankles, a floorboard creaks outside the door. Oh no, someone's coming. I want
to scream, but it wouldn't help. My heart is in my throat and adrenalin is
rushing through me. As I take short raspy breaths, the doorknob turns.
Terrified, I hold my breath.

A dark-haired man dressed like a lifeguard
walks in. All he's wearing is budgie smugglers, sunglasses and a towel around
his shoulders. As he closes the door, I bite my lip and tremble. He's over six-feet
tall and built like an athlete. As he walks towards me, he takes his sunglasses
off and tosses them on the dresser. He smirks, his coal-black eyes gleaming
with menace.

Crap. Now, I'm in big trouble. It's Devlin
Sulphurous, the sleaze from the party.

Sitting on the bed, he smiles, his white
teeth gleaming in the candle light. “So, you finally woke up, Eloise.”

I grab a pillow and hold it in front of me. “Why
have you brought me here?” I ask, trying to keep my voice calm. “What do you
want from me?”

He caresses my cheek with his long slender
fingers.
“So many questions, my love.
Be patient, you'll
find out soon enough.”

The little hairs on the back of my neck stand
up, making me shiver. “I'm not your love. Let me go home.”

His eyes flash. “Oh, yes you are. You're the only
one for me, and you'll learn to love me back. You'll see.”

I shake my head. “No, I won't. I don't even
know you. Please, take me home. My parents will worry about me.”

“Oh? Your parents will worry?”

“Of course they will, so let me go.”

He moves further onto the bed. “What about
your boyfriend, will he worry?”

I chew my lip. “I guess.”

“Hmm, you guess, do you?” He strokes his chin.
“Didn't he go off to make love to the beautiful Francesca?”

My stomach churns. How did he know that?

“Well?”

I gulp.
“Maybe.”

He narrows his eyes. “And is he
still
your
boyfriend?”

“No, but he's still my friend.”

“Don’t you care that he went off with one of
your friends?”

I shrug. “Not really.”

“You don't love him, then?”

“No.”

“Did you sleep with him?”

“No,” I yell. “And why are you asking me all
these questions. Just let me out of here.” I hold my wrists out. “And please
undo these handcuffs. They hurt.”

“Will you attempt to escape?”

I shake my head. “Uh-uh.”

“Say it.”

“I won’t attempt to escape.”

He walks around to the bottom of the bed and unties
the rope around my ankles. Then he stares at me through thick dark lashes as he
kisses my toes and massages my feet.

Eww, he may be good-looking, but all I want
to do is kick him in the head.

“Stop scowling, Eloise. You know you like
it.”

I move my feet away. I'm tempted to poke him
in the eye with my big toe, but I'm still handcuffed, so I tell a lie. “I'm
just ticklish, that’s all.”

Still holding my gaze, he unlocks the
handcuffs and caresses my fingers. As I watch him, I wonder how anyone so
handsome can be so evil. And I shudder, just thinking about what he will do
next. Something cruel and horrible no doubt, but I can't let him know how
terrified I am. Closing my eyes for a moment, I take deep breath and try to
relax.

“See how happy I make you when you let me.”

I open my eyes.
Far out.
He thinks I like it. Yuck. I pull my hands away.

He throws the rope on the rug,
then
looks back at me. As he swallows, his Adam's apple
moves in his throat. Shoot. I don't like where this is going and there's no way
I can escape, but I'll have to try. I glance at the door and wonder if it's
locked.

Leaning closer, he whispers, “If you try to
escape, you'll pay the consequences, and believe me, you won't like them.”

I flinch. “W … what do you mean?”

His eyes glint with menace. “I will kill your
precious Seal.”

My stomach drops and all the blood drains from
my face.
“My seal?
I don't have a seal. They’re
protected animals.”

“Don't play stupid games with me, Eloise,
it's unbecoming. Do you prefer I kill him now?”

“No!” I swallow a big lump in my throat. How
does he know about Seal?

“Did you sleep with him?”

I shake my head.

“So you're innocent?”

Ignoring him, I fidget with my fingers.

He grips my chin. “Answer me!”

“Um … I guess.”

“You guess?” he growls. “What the hell does
that mean?”

I flinch. “I guess I’m innocent.”

He runs his thumb along my lips. “I told you
not to lie to me, and you know what the punishment entails. But this time, I'll
give you a chance to redeem yourself. Answer me again. You're not innocent, are
you?”

I tremble. “I don't know what you mean.”

“You're shameless and wanton, aren’t you?”

Staring at him, I blink.
“Am
not.”

He strokes my cheek. “Are you a virgin?”

I jerk away from him. “Yes, I am, as if it's
any of your damn business.”

He inhales, his nostrils flaring. “That's
good, Eloise, it's important to me, and don't worry; I'll make it my business. You're
not Seal's, you're not Tom's. You're mine.”

Crap. I should have told a lie and said I
wasn't. I'm so not his. My stomach churns and I start to feel sick. Hopefully
I'll throw up all over him. Poor Seal. Why would he want to hurt him? After
all, he doesn't even want me. He's already taken. I breathe deeply and search
for some strength. I think about the stranger in my dreams—the mystery man. If
only I could escape to one of my fantasy dreams and wake up back in my bed, back
in my rickety old house, the one that I'll never complain about, ever again. I
don't want to be ravished by a good-looking monster.

Then I remember the strange silhouette in the
storm and wonder if it was Devlin sneaking around our house and spying on me.
He must have seen Seal and me kissing. Maybe if I tell him Seal already has a
girlfriend, he won't hurt him. I couldn't bare anything happening to him.

“What are you up to, Eloise? Are you scheming
and planning to escape?”

“No, but I don't know why you're interested in
Seal. He doesn't want me. He has a girlfriend he loves.”

Devlin steeples his fingers and smirks at me.
“Does he now? And what is the dear girl's name?”

I shrug. “I don't know. He never told me.
He's a very private person.”

“Really?”