“How many have there been? Will you pretend to be concerned when Rena cries over my dead body?”
He growled and came to tower over her as she lay on the bed. “You get one chance, Dee. You get that beautiful body in the bathroom and wash that fuck me scent off you, the one that is coming from between those sexy legs and driving me crazy or I plunge into you. Believe me, you don’t want it like that the first time.”
He backed up, giving her room to escape. She jumped off the bed and ran towards the door he had motioned her to.
She slumped against the door she was so messed up that even when she thought she could trust someone, her nasty paranoia raised its head. Shaking her head she focused on the bathroom.
If someone wanted to get to her, all they needed to do was promise her a bathroom like this one. It was an escape within an escape. On one wall lay a big tub, big enough for two or three to sink deep within it.
She walked over and saw the jets. Had she died and gone to heaven? On the other wall stood a beautiful shower, nice and big. He liked things big, everything except her.
Double sinks and a color scheme of green and blues like she was lost in the sea. She walked over and turned on the spigots over the tub. He wanted her clean? Well, she wanted to sink in that tub and forget this night ever happened.
There was a knock on the door before he entered, his long legged stride eating up the distance between them.
“I could have been naked.” She wanted her voice to be indignant, hot with displeasure, but all she could manage was tiredness.
“I was hoping. Here’s a suitcase with some of your things.”
“Where did you get this?”
He just stared at her.
“This is the bag I left at Rena’s.”
“Guess I won’t rape you then dismember your helpless body so I can cry at Rena’s side after all.” He walked out laughing at her.
She jerked her clothes off fuming. He had the nerve to laugh at her. If she was honest, she would be laughing at herself in his position too. She knew all along he wouldn’t hurt her. Call it a sixth sense.
Her paranoia helped to keep her safe. She had a strong sense of who would hurt her. It was never Niko. She felt safe with him. No, all he ever did was piss her off.
She found a nice thick towel and opened her bag to find her favorite shower gel. She looked at herself in the full length mirror. What are you doing with yourself Dee? Her eyes were gaunt and she saw ribs. This was not who she had been four months ago.
Niko still thought she was beautiful. Another glance in the mirror confirmed it had nothing to do with looks. She slid into the big tub and sighed. She reached over and turned those jets on. Heaven.
Her body relaxed and she smiled at the pleasure that was making her feel so good. She leaned her head back and closed her eyes. She dreamed.
“What are you most afraid of little human?”
She had been kidnapped. In the beginning she had been scared, but not terrified. She had recognized the person behind the mask. He was one of the people who was in charge where Rena worked. All she needed was a chance. She would drop kick him into the middle of next week.
She hadn’t gotten that chance. She had been taken to some abandoned house. She hadn’t seen her surroundings, but her nose didn’t lie. She had walked up the stairs like an obedient little girl, still waiting for her chance.
He had bound her to a chair, wrist and ankles, taken the blind fold off and left her. She thought she had been alone at first, until the shadow of that man had fallen on the walls.
“Are you afraid of the ones on your planet that are supposed to protect you, but instead look at you as easy prey?”
His shadow had stretched, grown and her eyes had bulged, not believing what she was seeing.
“Do you fear the animals more? The ones you put behind cages in the zoo and go to stare at? Do you fear them getting loose and coming for you?”
She followed his face as he lowered it to stare at his fingers. One after another they became claws. She shook the chair, trying to get away. Her heart beat faster and sweat poured off her brow. He was crazy. In that moment she knew she was going to die.
“Which do you fear more little human? The man or the animal?”
He reached for her.
Chapter Nine
The sound of her voice screaming woke her up. She floundered in the big tub, looking for something to grab onto, a piece of reality to keep her a float. She looked up to see Niko there grabbing for her with one hand, a thick towel in the other.
She didn’t even blink an eye when he pulled her from the bath and wrapped her tight in the towel. He picked her up and carried her to his bedroom.
His voice was rough when he spoke. “Dry off and get some clothes on. Bad dream?”