Leah sat in the passenger’s seat of her date’s car, nervously fidgeting with the hem of her dress. His hands gripped the steering wheel loosely and she noticed how smooth they were for a carpenter. They had exhausted all subjects for small talk over dinner and now sat in an awkward silence. She was psyching herself up to ask him to come inside for coffee, but didn’t want to come off too desperate. It was their fourth date and it had been ages since she’d had sex, but the last thing she wanted was to screw this up.
Her mind drifted back to the first day she’d met Adam. She didn’t believe in love at first sight, and of course she wasn’t in love with him, but she’d never felt that level of attraction before. It was like a lightening bolt. They were at a bar, a place that Leah never liked to look for men, but it was yet another friend’s bachelorette party, so she was obligated to go. She noticed him immediately as he walked in the door, alone, standing taller than any man she’d ever seen. Their eyes locked right away and Leah felt like she was going to fall out of her heels. As the night went on, they exchanged glances from across the room and she did her best to look confident, but she could feel her cheeks blushing every time he looked at her. Eventually he came over to ask for her number and called her the next week.
There was obvious sexual chemistry between them, but something was a little off. He seemed almost distant and asked her a lot of questions but offered little information about himself. He didn’t seem to be as nearly enthralled with her as she was with him, and sometimes he acted downright distracted. Yet he kept calling her to set up another date, always giving a time and place, more like a demand than a request. Tonight she had plans but cancelled them because she was just so excited to see him again.
They pulled up to her apartment building and Leah waited for him to come around and open her door. Offering a hand to help her out of the SUV, their eyes met and she studied the contours of his gorgeous face. Dark, nearly expressionless eyes stood that out against his light skin were framed by even darker, perfectly manicured eyebrows. His incredibly square jaw was her favorite feature and she ached to feel his stubble against her face.
He led her up the stairs and she started to fumble through her purse. His gaze was distracting as she searched for her keys and the right way to ask him to come up. Finally, with keys in hand, she looked up at him, ready to speak. A crooked smile crossed his face and she paused, getting the distinct feeling that making the first move was a bad idea.
“Um, I had a nice time,” she stuttered, biting her lip. “Thank you for dinner.”
Adam simply smiled at her, his face looking friendlier than it ever had before. Then the smile dropped and he stared at her intensely, moving closer and placing his hand on the small of her back. Leah started to feel lightheaded and weak in the knees as she brought his face closer, his warm breath parting her lips. Slowly, his hand traveled up her back, grazing her neck before he grabbed a handful of her hair and pulled her head backwards firmly. She let out a gasp as his lips locked with hers and his other hand found her round behind. Reaching out to grab his hard shoulders for balance, she went all but limp in his grasp as his tongue circled hers. He pulled her bottom lip with his own as he broke away and gave her rump one last grab as he released her. Breathless, she stared at him and did her best not to fall over.
“I’ll see you soon, Leah.” Taking her hands, he raised them to his lips and kissed one, then the other.
Once inside her apartment, Leah leaned against the door took a deep breath. They had never kissed before and that was not what she pictured. She could still feel his hand in her hair and his lips on hers as she walked into the kitchen to get some water.
A strange reflection looked back at her as she closed the door to her stainless steel refrigerator. Startled, she dropped her glass and it shattered on the floor, sending ice cubes sliding across the tiles. A black-gloved hand reached from behind and covered her mouth before she could scream. Leah kicked at the masked man that held her, but he was too strong. Her muffled cries echoed in her head as she was dragged her out of the kitchen, struggling fiercely to free herself. He turned her toward the door and she saw another intruder coming at her with a length of black rope. Heart pounding, Leah stomped on the foot of the man holding her with her pointy heel, causing him to loosen his grip enough for her to slither free. Since the door was blocked, she ran towards her bedroom in hopes to make her way to the fire escape.
One of the men tackled her after she took a few steps, knocking the wind out of her and breaking a lamp against a wall. Rough carpet dragged across her face as they fell to the floor and she let out a breathless silent scream. He wrestled her to her back and shoved a round ball into her mouth as the other tied her kicking feet together. Flipping her over, they tied her hands together behind her back and fastened the gag behind her head.