He dragged me over to where Neco still stood and grabbed my shoulders. “You wanna tell me what the fuck that was?”
“We were dancing. It was no big deal,” I said lamely.
“What did you just say?” he gritted out.
“We were dancing.”
He let me go and his hands went to his hips. He tipped his head back and stared at the ceiling of the club like he was looking for divine guidance. Then his chin dropped and he aimed his furious stare on me, hands going back to my shoulders. “You didn’t think I’d have a problem with that?”
Okay, now I was getting pissed off. “I would never cheat on you!” I jerked back, trying to break his hold on me, but he wouldn’t let go. “If you think that, you don’t know me at all.”
“Are you shitting me?”
“No, I am not shitting you.” I was starting to lose track of the conversation.
He clenched his jaw. “I fucking know you wouldn’t cheat on me, Lulu. Doesn’t mean I want some other guy putting his filthy hands on you.”
“However you spin it, it sounds like you don’t trust me.”
“I trust you. I don’t trust them.” He jerked his chin to the dance floor. “And you’re sure as hell not thinking straight right now.”
Whoa, whoa. What?
“I don’t like what you’re implying,” I said, not loud, but his eyes were on my mouth and I knew he read my lips.
“I’m not implying any-damn-thing.”
I planted my hands on my hips. This argument had nothing to do with what just happened and we both knew it. “You think I’m being stupid. That I’m some overly emotional female. That I left you without thinking it through, admit it?”
He jerked back. “Left me?”
Shit. “I didn’t mean . . . I . . .”
The muscle in his jaw jumped. “Right now isn’t the time for this discussion.”
“Agreed. Which is why you two should leave,” I said motioning to Neco.
Ruby tried to move closer, but Neco snaked a hand around her waist stopping her. “Stay out of it,” he growled.
The expression on Hunter’s face went from wanting to shake me to wanting to strangle me with his bare hands. “I’m not going anywhere. No fucking way am I leaving you alone here like this. Woman, you’re drunk off your ass.”
I was too stubborn and too angry to back down. The cocktails weren’t helping either. So I shrugged. “Fine. I’ll leave.”
“Like hell,” he gritted out.
God, I hated fighting with Hunter. I hated being separated from him. Seeing him here tonight had just made it worse.
My eyes and nose started stinging. Shit. I was going to start crying, and not just a few tears. I was on the verge of extreme ugly crying and there was no way to stop it. I needed to get away, clear my fuzzy head. With that the only thought in my mind, I spun on my heels, shoved through the crowd, and ran in the opposite direction. People closed around me and I pushed through, hitting the hall to the bathrooms and sprinting to the door at the end with “Exit” above it.
That’s when it happened. One minute I was running, hand lifted to shove through the door, the next . . .
Nothing.
* * *
I woke up in the dark.
The first thing I became aware of was the fact that I was not alone. The second was that I couldn’t move. At all. My body felt weighted down by something—by someone.
I froze, every muscle locking up tight while my mind scrambled for answers. Images, conversations, flashed through my mind. The last thing I remembered was running though the club after my confrontation with Hunter. Then nothing.
Whatever had been used to knock me out made my limbs weak, like soggy noodles. Had someone stunned me? Fear fired through me, sending spikes of pain along every nerve ending.
Wherever I was, it did not smell great. The mattress underneath me felt damp and cold, the musty scent of mold so strong I could taste it. Whoever was on top of me didn’t smell great either. I sucked a panicked breath in through my nose, biting my lips together to stop from screaming. I wanted to shove him off and run, but his weight was almost fully on top of me, unmoving, and unfortunately for me, still breathing. His mouth was close to my cheek, and every exhale sent a wave of rancid, stale breath across my face.
I had to move, do something, get the hell out of there. I tried to ease my arms free, and realized they were tied together, tight. Oh dear God. My leg had some wiggle room, so I reached out with my foot for the edge of the bed. He still hadn’t moved, so when I felt the lip of the mattress, I hooked my heel over the side and tried to drag myself out from under my kidnapper.
I managed to get my right hip and half of my torso out from under him, but my hair pulled painfully when I tried to move my head. He was lying on it. Shit. Shit. Shit. I winced, then lightly and carefully tried to yank it free. As soon as I did this, his arm over my belly tightened. Hard fingers curled into my side.