This Blood (5 page)

“Keep it.” she purred.

I stared mutely at the fifty. Damn! I hate karma. I leaned forward, “Uh,” I began as the woman scooted to the edge of her seat. Any closer to him and she’d fall off.  I leaned forward a little more and asked, “I’m sorry, but are you aware you just handed me a fifty?”  She shot an irritated glance in my direction. Well, that was all I needed to clear my conscience. I guess I was getting lucky tonight too!
 

By the time I turned back to spy on Seth, Debbie was there. I couldn’t believe her!  Not only for the too small halter dress she had miraculously squeezed her butt into, but the horny woman was working my station!  I was annoyed; however, in all honesty, I was also a little relieved. I had pretty much decided from the second my body reacted to the sight of him, that I would not be revealing myself tonight. Ignoring him was the only possible solution.

The night progressed at a steady pace. Debbie seemed quite content to work my side of the bar, ogling Seth at every opportunity. After a long time, she finally sauntered over, stood beside me, and said into my ear, “Don’t you go gettin’ any ideas.” Then she pointed towards Seth. Yeah, like I’d suddenly been stricken blind. “He’s mine, I saw him first,” she sneered as she strolled back the way she came.

I shook my head and laughed at the little sway of her hips. I guess she wasn’t working my station, she was working Seth. I spared him another look and our eyes met. I thought I saw a small smile curve his full lips, but it was gone as quickly as it came.

As Debbie approached him, he glanced away, obviously ignoring her. Sadly, he didn’t know Debbie - she was tenacious. She flipped her fuzzy, bleached-blond hair behind her shoulder and turned, giving him a view of her back. Oh, man. I smiled. Showing him her behind was the worst thing she could have done.

She looked over her shoulder at him. I almost laughed as her little show had zero effect. She turned, obviously irritated, and stalked back toward me. I tried to keep my pleasure with her failure at bay, but it was just too good not to enjoy.

“He must be gay.” The look in her eyes said she knew better. I kept my mouth shut as she passed me by. I thought a little better of him for not falling for her feminine wiles. Not that I was worried. He wasn’t here for her.

I snuck another quick glance at him, noticing that his drink was again untouched. Dang! Didn’t that man ever get thirsty? I walked a little closer to collect my tips and wipe the empty area down. I got that funny feeling again so I quickly vacated the spot. Moving farther down the bar, I decided to hustle booze to safer souls. His drink would probably stay full. I wouldn’t need to visit him. My possible tip just wasn’t worth it.

The night picked up as the weekend crowd got heavier.  A few fraternities stopped by on the party chain, thankfully,
without incident; as well as (much to my horror) a bachelorette party with your typical, beautiful bride-to-be and her horde of cackling bridesmaids. I always steer clear of the bachelorette parties. Too much drama and estrogen, even for me.

It was about three am when the crowds began to trickle out.  When the last group staggered for the door, Debbie followed, and rapidly flipped the locks behind them.

I grabbed a washcloth and cleanser and began to scrub every surface available. Debbie collected the glasses and ashtrays and swept the floor. The cleaning crew would be by later to get the rest. Our owner liked to professionally disinfect only once every couple of weeks. We had to do it the rest of the time.

After we finished, I grabbed my purse off the chair, only then realizing I never saw Seth leave. How strange. I wondered how long he waited.

“Ready doll?” Debbie sighed in a weary voice. “Let’s get our butts on the road.” She placed a hand on her back and rubbed as she walked. “I’m dead tired,” she continued.

I followed close behind her. “Well, at least now you can get some rest,” I offered to her retreating back as she unlocked her car door. Nodding, she got in and slammed the door. Her engine roared to life and she sped out of the drive. I barely had time to wave goodbye to her fading taillights.

My head hurt and my neck felt like a spring, twisted too tightly. I walked slowly to my car, my feet heavy. Damn, I really needed to reconsider my choice of footwear. I was so tired, both mentally and physically and I needed a bath and a bed.

I got into my car and turned the key. “Oh, man,
no!
Do
not
do this!” I yelled, and bouncing the back of my head off the seat behind me. “No, no, no!… Come on!” I turned it again. All I got was a click, click, click and then, silence. Oh, God! I had a bad feeling that my car would never start again. I usually get a few whines and sputtering sounds, never complete silence.

This was bad. I hated to admit it, but I knew my car’s death was now permanent.

 “Damn-it! Can’t I catch a goddamned break?” I yelled and slammed my fists onto the steering wheel, throwing the door open. Stumbling out on exhausted legs, I slammed the heavy door shut with as much force as I could muster, which, at this time of day, wasn’t much. I always knew this would happen. I could be so stupid sometimes! A whole lot of good that money was doing sitting in the bank, while I’m sitting on my ass! I should have bought a new car ages ago.

Thoroughly disgusted with myself and the heap of shit sitting uselessly in front of me, I kicked the door.  I was exhausted. My feet weighed a ton and I really didn’t want to hike all the way to the bus stop and wait forever, not tonight! I was seconds from tears. I did not want to walk!

I turned, ready to trudge to my fate when I was immediately clotheslined by a muscular arm. It was strong! Pushing hard into my throat, I tried to suck in a breath of air. I struggled and kicked wildly, while warring with my mounting terror. The arm squeezed tighter. Plainly I wasn’t supposed to breathe! I thrashed, and twisted, sending my purse to the asphalt. Before he could restrain my arms, I tried to scratch and grab at any part of him I could reach. His grip was like a python. Absolutely relentless!

My brain was spiraling into hysteria. When they say your life flashes in front of your eyes, they aren’t exaggerating!  My struggles seemed to go on forever when an idea shot into my brain like gunfire. I made a “choking” sound and started to relax, pretending to faint. I was hoping this thug would then loosen his grip allowing me to make a break for it. I thought it was actually working when he started to shift a little, but I soon realized my victory was short-lived. A smelly cloth was brutally pressed over my mouth and nose, and for the second time in as many days; someone turned my lights out.

SEVEN

Darkness is never more complete than when it’s accompanied by fear. It enveloped me, wrapping itself around me like a suffocating glove.

I was petrified. This was pure blackness! For a few full minutes, I could have sworn I was blind, but somehow I knew it wasn’t my vision. I tried to sit up and noticed my hands were bound over my head and I was lying on a bed.

Panic, like Ice water, shot through my body. I gathered my thoughts and tried to calm down. My legs were free, but without the use of my hands, I was still pretty helpless. I stretched my left leg to the side as far as I could, but it never reached the edge. The movement caused my dress to ride up my thighs. The feeling of the fabric was wrong. “Oh, God,” I whimpered, as I wiggled and discovered that the dress I was wearing, was not the one I put on earlier.  “What the hell had happened to me?” I sobbed dejectedly. My head sagged onto my shoulder. It was then that I discovered I was clean. The bar stink was gone. My hair had been taken down and was now draped, soft and heavy on my right shoulder.

I sniffed. A strange scent filled my nostrils. It was spicy, like incense, but better. It was coming from me! I shook my head. What kind of kidnapper bathed a person and then sprayed them with perfume?  My mind was racing. Every horrible scenario hit me all at once.

Oh God. I had to get out of here! I pulled and twisted on the ropes as hard as I could. I concentrated on yanking with all I had, over and over. It was agony. My shoulders shook as my sobs took over. My efforts to ignore the pain were pointless. After several long minutes, I realized it was no use. Whoever tied these knots, knew what they were doing. My wrists were on fire. I’d rubbed them raw.

Panic was getting me nowhere fast. Tears ran freely from my eyes as I tried to orient myself. I listened, but there was nothing, like the room was soundproof. I couldn’t even hear crickets outside or the hum of a furnace- nothing.

I yanked and twisted again, frenzied. Twisting and pulling again and again. Then, I froze. I felt several warm trickles flow down my arms. I was bleeding. This just got better and better.  

The ropes burned my torn flesh and my eyes were flooding from the pain. I had to get the hell out of here! Then, just as visions of a trapped wolf, chewing off his own leg slipped into my head, I heard the door open. The light level remained the same.

Whoever it was struck a match and touched it expertly to a lamp by the door.

“This soft light will help you adjust to the more harsh luminosity in a moment.”  That voice was awfully familiar! Alarm bells sounded like sirens in my head and all of Lucian’s warnings came screaming back to me in a rush of blind fury.

Seth.

Son-of-a-bitch, Seth!

 I was fuming.  Rage quickly took the place of fear with the realization that this cocky bastard had the balls to snatch me! Talk about pushy!

The brightness increased as he lit several more lamps in the room. It seemed this place lacked standard electricity. My eyes reluctantly adjusted to the glow.

I pushed the pain in my wrists to the back of my mind. I wasn’t giving him the satisfaction of seeing it. I tried to fill my eyes with all the anger and fury I could, letting him know right away just how totally pissed off I was.

He finished practically setting the room on fire and turned to me. Damn, it was amazing. Even filled with such total fury, I still had to catch my breath at the sight of him. He was breathtaking. The shirt he wore at the bar was gone, replaced with a much richer looking version in dark blue silk. My heart rate sped up.

 I watched him, his eyes gripping mine and his nostrils flaring as he pulled the air in from his nose.  He took a step toward the bed, with eyes still fastened to mine.

“You are even more beautiful than I imagined,” he spoke, while clenching his fists at his sides. “I was quite eager to get you out of that ridiculous costume you seem so fond of.”   He took another small step closer. His face tilted at an angle and a strange look appeared on it. His eyes focused on my wrists. “You have injured yourself.  What were you thinking?”

My jaw dropped.  Did he really believe that I would just lie here like a wimpy damsel in distress? I was insulted. If he assumed I was weak-minded, he had another think coming.

“Are you insane?” I shrieked. “I was kidnapped, you ass! I wanted to get away. How was I to know you were behind this stupidity? Couldn’t you just approach me like a normal person? My God
,
what is wrong with you?”  I immediately realized how silly I must look. I was chewing him out, my mouth running away with me, yet my body language told another story. I was curled into a little ball, pressed close to the headboard, so I turned and tried to straighten my legs out. I had to convince him I wasn’t as scared as he wanted me to be.

The bed I was tied to was huge. Soft sheets, as black as the room had been twisted around my legs. A black coverlet was folded at the foot of the bed some inches from my feet.  

Just as I had feared, my old clothing was gone, replaced with a much softer and much nicer black slip. “Who bathed me, by the way?” I demanded harshly. “Was it you?”  

“No, Grace. I’m not that crass.  Although, I must admit, seeing the result makes me wish I was.” I could feel heat rush to my cheeks. He was looking at me like a wolf that just spotted a fluffy bunny.  “My assistant was kind enough to tend to you,” he continued.

“That still doesn’t make it okay!”  I yelled, as I looked wildly around the room.  It was straight out of a romance novel, complete with a canopy bed dressed with long black curtains that hung down on all four sides. I glared at him and realized that I really wasn’t scared anymore. Well, not
much
anyway. He would soon learn that I would not be cooperating.

 He listened to me rant.  An elegant eyebrow rose and he regarded me for a moment, then he smiled. The effect chilled me. “First, Miss Allen,” he began, leaning closer to the bed. “I am perfectly aware that you had absolutely no intention of meeting with me.” His lip curled as he sneered. “I am also aware of your little meeting with Lucian. Hear me now,
sweet
,” he placed his balled fists onto the bed and leaned closer, “because I am only going to say this once.” I couldn’t look away from his penetrating stare, his cool eyes blazing at me. “
Nothing,
Lucian could have done would have kept me away from you, and, nothing he will ever do can take you away from me!” He straightened, folding his arms, with a look that warned me not to argue.

I was trying to come up with a retort, when my wrists began burning again. All of my small movements caused the sores on my wrists to bleed in earnest. Blood trickled slowly down my inner arms and I cried out as a rough section of rope rubbed into my wounds.  I wanted out. I looked up at him, prepared to give him anything,
just get this rope off
!  That was when he moved.  In a blink, he was straddling my hips.  

I jerked with shock, sucking in a huge gulp of air, slamming backward into the bed. My brain was racing, trying to make sense of what was happening.

He placed his hands on my arms. Bending low, I held my breath as he brought his face close to my neck. He smelled his way up, past my ear until he was sitting straight up again. I couldn’t speak. My brain was too busy deciding how it should react. I was still pissed, but sadly, that emotion was warring for dominance with my mounting arousal.  He gently placed his hands on the ropes at my wrists. He looked down at me. I thought he was going to untie the rope, until I felt his warm tongue sliding down my arm, following the ribbons of fresh blood.