Taken by the Beast (2 page)

Hoisting her back up, he leapt the distance and landed on his feet. Slinging the bag back onto his shoulder, he made his way around and down. He’d mapped out his escape route when he’d moved here. He always had a plan, was always ready to run if they ever found him. And truly, he’d always planned on taking the girl with him anyway. Just didn’t expect it to happen like this.

Taking the last of the stairs three at a time, he disappeared into the night, making his way into the woods at the edge of the forgotten neighborhood.

* * *

Kayla was cold, her head hurt, and she was pretty sure she was going to throw up. They were outside and he was running. Fast. She reached her hands to grip the waistband of his jeans to steady herself. He must have realized she was conscious, because he slowed to a stop and eased her off his shoulder. He set her down, but held on to her, because it seemed her legs were made of Jell-O and she couldn’t stand on her own.

Her stomach heaved. “I’m going to be sick,” she said, unable to take her eyes from her captor.

In the next moment, she was on all fours on the ground. He was on his knees, holding her hair, keeping it out of her face as she vomited. She hadn’t eaten much all day, thank goodness, and the episode was over fast.

She sat back when he let her go. He stood and she looked up at him. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. Shivering, she wrapped her arms around herself, unable to take her eyes off of him. He was tall, a good 6′ 6″. She stood 5′ 4″, so although she wasn’t too short, he still towered over her. Messy, dark blond hair framed his face, the features of which were sharp: a broad forehead and a narrow nose led to full lips and white teeth. Under other circumstances, she’d have looked twice, especially at his eyes. They were strange, fierce, and wild. Thick eyebrows framed them, but what surprised her was the tenderness there that blended with the carnal.

“You’re cold,” he said. “And I’m guessing you have a headache. I’m sorry I had to do that.”

She hugged herself tighter, still staring at him. It was spring, but the nights were still cold and she was only wearing her yoga pants and tank top with a pair of flip-flops. But even given that, it wasn’t the cold that made her shiver.

He knelt and dug through the duffel bag, handing her a hoodie. She took it. It was his, obviously, because it was huge. She slid her arms into the sleeves and zipped it, then folded the cuffs up to free her hands.

“What did you do exactly? To make me faint?”

“I manipulated your vagus nerve. No permanent damage, but the vomiting and weakness are a side effect. I’ve got some water, but I won’t have anything for your headache until we get to the hut, I’m afraid.”

Until we get to the hut?

Her head throbbed, but that was the least of her concerns right now.

“What happened in my apartment?” she asked, narrowing her eyes, wanting to keep the tears at bay but knowing she couldn’t. “Are they dead?”

“You’re not going to cry over that loser of a boyfriend, are you?” he asked, no remorse. “He was going to rape you, then pass you on to his friends, Kayla.”

She knew he was right and no, the tears were not over Todd or any of the others. They were just the only reaction her body had left in response to the violence she’d witnessed. Todd had been verbally abusive in the past, but he’d never hit her. He was usually coked up when he was at his worst and she just made sure to stay out of his way when he was. She didn’t love Todd, never really had. It was a stupid situation, he was a jerk, but he hadn’t deserved to die like that.

“I’ve seen you before. You live in my building,” she said, suddenly realizing why he was so familiar.

The man nodded.

“What’s your name?”

“Elijah.”

He handed over a bottle of water and she took it. “I need to brush my teeth,” she said. The taste of vomit lingered in her mouth.

“I didn’t have time to collect your things before we left,” he said, handing her what she assumed was his toothbrush along with a tube of toothpaste.

She took it, but her eyes remained on his.

“What I saw in my apartment…” A shiver rocked her body. “Was that…” She was shaking her head even as she asked the question. “There was an animal.” She needed him to deny what she’d seen.

“I’m what you might know as a shifter. Last of my kind, at least as far as I know.”

“A shifter?” she asked, raising her eyebrows.

He just looked at her and all she could do was laugh. She just opened her mouth into a hysterical laugh that ended as quickly as it began and left her trembling. “Like Jacob.
Twilight
.” She laughed again while tears streamed down her face.

He smiled, exhaling. “Not quite, but I suppose that’s easier for your mind to understand right now. You’re in shock, Kayla.”

She stopped crying and laughing and just remained trembling with her arms tight around herself. “Stop saying my name,” she said, her expression suddenly very serious.

He didn’t react. “Can you stand?” he asked, rising to his feet and holding out his hand.

She ignored it and slowly stood on her own.

“Brush your teeth so we can go. We have some ground to cover before we reach the hut.”

She rinsed the toothbrush with some water, then opened the tube of toothpaste and smeared some onto it. Turning away, she brushed her teeth and rinsed. She felt better, even if she had just brushed her teeth with a stranger’s toothbrush.

She handed everything back to him and straightened her spine, trying to look more courageous than she felt. “Elijah,” she began, his name sounding strange to her ears.

He waited.

“I’m not going anywhere with you,” she said matter-of-factly.

“We don’t have time for this,” he said. He zipped up the bag after putting the water and toothbrush away.

“There is no we,” she corrected. “And I didn’t have time for what happened in my apartment either.”

“Are you walking or am I carrying you?” he asked, ignoring her completely.

She simply raised her eyebrows and folded her arms across her chest. “I’m not going.”

He exhaled, shook his head, then walked toward her, and before she could put any space between them, had her once again over his shoulder. She screamed and pounded on his back and when she felt the flat of his hand smack her square on her butt, she stiffened, caught momentarily off guard.

“That hurt, you jerk!” she said, pounding harder, but realizing he barely felt her fist falls on his thickly muscled body. She kicked her legs and wriggled to get free of him and he muttered a curse before finally setting her down. As soon as he did, she took off. She didn’t know where she was going, but the only thing she could think to do was run.

She heard something like a growl and turned to look behind her, suddenly afraid the wolf had returned. But it was the man and he had her on the ground in an instant. Straddling her hips but keeping his weight on his knees, he took her wrists and held them up over her head in one of his hands.

“Listen to me, Kayla; we don’t have a lot of time. I will explain everything when we get to our destination, but you
will
be coming with me. There are some people who will be hunting us soon and as the sole survivor of the attack in your apartment, they’ll know what you will have witnessed. If I leave you behind, they will take you and they will hurt you. I’ve inadvertently placed you in some danger and as sorry as I am for that, you have to accept it as your reality right now. That said, I’ll warn you only once. If you scream, I will gag you. If you fight me, I will spank you. Am I clear?”

Spank?
“You’ve lost your mind!” she spat, struggling beneath him.

He shook his head and flipped her onto her stomach, bringing her hands behind her back.

“Let me go,” she screamed.

She heard him unbuckle his belt and pull it fast through the loops. She fought him when he wrapped it around and between her wrists again and again. “How tight do you want it?” he asked. “Huh? How tight?” Now he sounded pissed.

“Ow!” she whined when he pulled, securing it. “It’s too tight, it hurts.”

“Learn a lesson for next time then,” he said.

Next thing she felt was a strip of cloth at her mouth.

“Open,” he said.

“No!”

But that was all it took for him to slip the gag into her mouth before hoisting her to her feet so quickly, she felt dizzy.

“If you want, I can add a blindfold. I owe you a spanking. You’ve wasted enough time and we’ll cover more ground if I carry you. Behave and I’ll be lenient on that punishment. Fight me and you won’t enjoy sitting for a few days.”

She stomped her foot and looked at him, trying to talk through her gag, but her words sounding jumbled. Fury radiated from her eyes even though she didn’t doubt for one moment he meant what he said, and when he lifted her over his shoulder for the umpteenth time, she allowed him to carry her, wondering if it was normal that she was feeling as aroused as she was anxious.

* * *

Elijah carried her for a good while until they came to the small hut. She’d stopped struggling and he would have let her walk, but it would have slowed them down too much. He set her down and caught her when she stumbled. With her hands bound behind her back, her balance was off. But looking at her expression, he was fairly certain she hadn’t truly learned a lesson. The base part of him hoped she hadn’t, actually.

When he’d moved into the apartment building a year ago, it had been to keep an eye on her from a distance. Until she met the abusive jerk she’d called a boyfriend. The first time Elijah had interacted with her had been early one morning when she’d been on her way out and someone had bumped into her, knocking her papers to the floor. Elijah still remembered what it had taken to check his anger when the man had just walked by without so much as an apology. Although he’d intended to keep to the background, he’d helped her pick everything up and when he’d handed her her things, the look on her face had made his heart tighten. Her pale blue eyes were reddened, either because she had been crying or was about to cry. She’d looked so young, so innocent, and in need of protection. His protection. He still remembered how she’d had to gasp when his fingertips brushed hers and how her pale face had taken on the slightest blush. From that moment, some part of him had known he wouldn’t be in the background for long. She didn’t belong in that neighborhood or in that building any more than he did, but at least he could take care of himself. Although of average height, she was quite petite. He determined she weighed all of 110 pounds. At least the way she’d tried to stand her ground and pounded on his back while he’d carried her showed she had some fire in her and wouldn’t back down too easily.

“Turn around,” he said.

Her eyes grew wide and she shook her head.

“I want to take your gag off. No one will hear you if you scream here, but you
will
irritate me if you do it. Turn around unless you want to wear it all night. I don’t normally like to repeat myself.”

She looked at him warily but turned. He gathered her thick, white-blond hair and moved it over her shoulder. Untying the knot carefully so as not to pull any stray strands, he took the gag out of her mouth and slipped it into his pocket. She turned slowly to face him.

“What about my hands?” she asked. At least she hadn’t screamed yet.

“Once we get inside.”

He walked to a rock that looked no different from any of the other rocks, and from beneath it he removed the key to the hut. Unlocking it, he opened the door and gestured for her to go ahead of him. She did, but with caution; there was no electricity to switch on and it was pitch black. Although he could still see well enough in the dark, he imagined she’d be blind.

He closed the door and moved to where he kept candles and matches and lit one. Setting it down, he found several others and lit them as well, illuminating the space in a soft, golden glow. Although he’d taken into consideration she’d be with him when he’d constructed it, the cabin was basic. It was purely to be used in an emergency. For a case just as this. Inside were some food stores, canned goods mostly, and bottled water. There was a long, narrow table set against the wall with a box on top and a mattress supported on crates for a bed with a sleeping bag for a blanket. The cabin had no windows but for the small holes drilled into each of the walls so he could look out, but no one could see in. Although he didn’t need the holes, really. His hearing was more than sufficient.

He rummaged through the box and found the bottle of Advil he kept.

“Does your head still hurt?”

“Yes.” She sounded indignant. “I don’t think bouncing around upside down helped any,” she added. She had a smart mouth. He’d expected her to be more afraid of him. This was better than that, at least. And more fun.

He took out two pills and retrieved a bottle of water. “Open,” he said, holding the pills for her to see.

He could have untied her and knew she was wondering why he hadn’t done that already, but some part of him wanted her helpless.

“Open,” he repeated. “I’ll keep you safe, but you need to learn to obey.”

“Obey?” she asked, both eyebrows raised once again in disbelief. “I don’t need you to keep me safe. Besides,
you’re
the one who’s kidnapped me.”

“I’ll appreciate a little respect. Open.”

She sealed her lips and shook her head.

He slapped the pills on the counter, making her jump. “All right, let’s get this over with,” he said, dragging her with him toward the bed.

“Get what over with?” she asked, resisting.

“I always keep my promises and I promised you a spanking earlier. Everything will go easier if you learn your lesson the first time around, but I’m guessing it’s not going to go easy with you, is it?” he asked, not really expecting an answer. “I need your complete obedience, Kayla. But I have no problem teaching you.”

He sat on the edge of the bed and, before she could process what was about to happen, pulled her across his lap, supporting her torso on his thighs.