Devotion(5)

Finally his face changes, and he smirks, showing off his perfect white teeth and a dimple. He nods at me. I grab the chocolate milk and lock my lips around the straw, sucking it down. I moan at the taste. I didn’t know something could taste so good. I look to the man, feeling embarrassed once again. I’m making moaning sounds over a drink, and I notice his expression has turned predatory. I stop drinking and scoot back in my seat a little. I don’t think I’ve ever been alone with a man before. Something in the air has changed. I can feel it running over my skin, and the instincts I should have had the moment I got into the car finally seem to wake up.

“Who are you?” For some reason the words are hard to get past my lips. They feel heavy, and I don’t sound like myself.

He leans close to me, but I can’t seem to focus anymore. I try to shift away, but my body isn’t listening. My limbs are heavy, and now I can’t make them move. He takes the drink from my hand, putting it back next to the others.

He smiles softly this time as he leans against his seat and takes my hand in his. I look down as his big palm engulfs my dainty fingers.

“Soon, little star, all will be explained,” I hear him say as my eyes fall closed.





Chapter Four





Aurora





When I open my eyes, I sit up too fast and then feel dizzy. I push my legs over the edge of the bed and drop my head in my hands to make the room stop spinning. There’s soft light coming in all around me, and I sense a cool breeze on the back of my neck that makes me feel instantly better.

I don’t feel sick, I just sat up too quickly, and it passes almost as fast as it began. When I look up, I glance around the room and see that it’s a large bedroom that is almost the size of my living room back home. There is a bathroom on one side, and on the other there are French doors that are open and lead onto a patio. I stand up and move toward the open doors. The cool stone of the patio on my feet makes me glance down to see I’m still in the same clothes from this morning, but now I’m barefoot. The jeans and V-neck shirt I have on don’t feel warm enough as the breeze hits all of me now. Looking out I see white sand that spans as far as I can see and dark waters crashing against small rocks that shoot out at various points on the shoreline. The tall grass edging the sand is blown in the wind, and beyond that there is nothing.

“This can’t be Germany,” I whisper to myself as I look at the landscape in confusion.

“Oh, but it is,” I hear a deep voice from behind me say, and I turn to see the dark man from the limo.

“Who are you? What happened? Did you drug me? What’s going on?” All my questions fall from my mouth, and I bite my lip to hold back the hundred more I have behind it.

“I thought it might make travel easier for you. Since you haven’t been out of New York before.”

He’s leaning against the doorway of the bedroom in the most unthreatening position. But right now, I’m on guard. His suit jacket is long gone, and his feet are bare as well. He’s wearing a gray shirt with the top button undone, and his hands are casually tucked into his pockets. His hair is pushed back, and his dark eyes travel up and down my body as I do the same to him.

“You didn’t answer my other questions.” I cross my arms over my chest as the breeze becomes cooler. I look over my shoulder and realize the sun is setting. Has it been a whole day already?

He pushes away from the door, and I tense, but instead of walking to where I am, he walks past me and closes the French doors. The cold breeze disappears, and instantly I feel better.

I don’t turn around when I feel him walk up behind me. Instead I stand my ground and keep quiet, hoping he’ll answer me.

“We flew most of the night, and then when we arrived in Germany, we took a boat out to this island. My island. You wanted to come here didn’t you?”

He’s still behind me, and I swear I can feel his presence inches from my body. I want to turn around and lean into it. What is wrong with me?

“Yes, I just…this is a strange way to do things.” I finally get out. I don’t know how to put this into words. I guess it’s like when animals fly and they get stressed out so it’s best to give them a tranquilizer for their own good. Maybe that’s what he was doing for me.

“My name is Noah,” he says, and I feel his breath caress the skin on my neck.

The shock of heat that floods through me has me spinning around to face him. He’s impossibly large as he looms over me, but he isn’t as close as I had envisioned. I could reach my hand out and still not touch him, but for some reason it felt as if he was only an inch from pressing into my body. My mind is playing tricks on me. Maybe it’s the drugs wearing off.