He pulled back ever so slightly and slowly ran his eyes from her face to her toes and back again. Kat felt like she needed a shower with lye soap and a Brillo pad. As if that wasn't enough, he ran the tips of his fingers across the thin strip of her stomach that showed from where her sweater had ridden up.
Kat held her breath, refusing to squirm. She absolutely would not let him know how much he repulsed her. The bastard was playing a game. He wanted her to react. He needed her to fear him for his plan to work. But she needed him to believe he had no effect on her, needed him to keep talking. It was the only way she was going to figure out what was happening.
"I'm sorry if Aldo hurt you when he was carrying you to the car. Sometimes he doesn't know his own strength." Another swipe across her skin. Then, in a dreamy voice her captor added, "Viktoras truly is a lucky man." Smiling an evil smile, he maliciously chuckled, "Or should I say he was almost a lucky man."
Now he was baiting her. It was a trap. There was no other explanation. He wanted her off kilter. On some level, she knew he was more than simply mean; he was sadistic. He wanted her scared. It fed his need for control, made him feel powerful. Too bad for him, Kat wasn't playing. She had no clue who this Viktoras character was or what tall, dark, and psycho wanted with him, but she knew if she kept him talking, he would tell her.
Taking as deep a breath as she could with her sore ribs, Kat used the voice her father had taught her for her debate competitions in high school. Calm and clear was the mantra going through her head. "I'm not sure who Viktoras is or what he has to do with me, but I am willing to help you get whatever it is you're looking for."
"Oh, I know you will." Her abductor spoke with a confidence that said he believed there was no way he could lose. He thought he had it all figured out. "First, let's get you out of those restraints. Then we can eat and talk. I have waited for you for a very long time, longer than you can ever imagine."
Before she could say anything, he was gone. From the sound of his footsteps, Kat was able to figure out that he'd gone down twenty-one stairs before walking thirty steps on carpet then stepping onto tile. There was the clatter of dishes and the sound of running water before he started back. Kat recounted the same number of steps as before until he was once again at her door. Her unease grew as she assumed they were alone. He hadn't spoken to anyone, but then they could just be screwing with her.
Cause they're not the most forthcoming guys in the world.
Walking into the room without a word, her kidnapper set a huge silver tray covered with what smelled like tea and dessert on the long antique dresser across the room from where she lay. Kat thought about the biscuits she'd had the night before and wished to go back in time.
As promised, her captor moved to release her hands. Unfortunately, he took full advantage of her prone position, all but laying across her as he unlocked her cuffs. Looking up, Kat saw him leering at her with the corner of his mouth upturned in a sadistic smirk. Just another trick to disarm and intimidate her. This wasn't his first abduction; he'd perfected his technique. The bastard was toying with her.
First one and then the other of her wrists were freed but...instead of letting them fall, he held them in his hands, lifted them to his lips, and lightly kissed the raw, irritated skin. His touch burned. Sucking her breath through gritted teeth, Kat jerked her hands away.
Feigning sympathy, the man cooed, "I'm very sorry for your pain. I did, however, bring you an ice pack and some pain relievers. Now, go ahead and visit the ladies' room." He pointed to a door in the far corner. "When you get back you can eat while I talk. As soon as you've heard what I have to say, I believe you will understand why this is the only real course of action I had."
Shooing her away, Kat almost ran to the bathroom. She could feel his eyes on her with every step she took and breathed a sigh of relief when the lock on the old wooden door clicked shut. Flipping on the light, she looked in the mirror. All she could do was groan.
I'm a sight and not a good one.
She resembled a sad clown who'd gotten caught in the rain. Her mascara was everywhere but on her lashes. The red she'd lined her lips with before heading out with Viktor was still on her mouth but was spread and smeared until she looked like a five-year-old playing in Mom's makeup. Her hair was flat on one side, sticking out on the other, and a quick reach behind her head let her know it was absolutely no better in the back.
Thankful for the respite from her captor but sure it wouldn't last long, Kat took a washcloth from the shelf over the toilet. After smelling it to make sure it was clean, she did her best to remove the cosmetics from her face.
Tackling her wayward locks was another story. Reaching into her pocket, Kat retrieved the hair tie she'd worn the night before. The one Viktor had pulled from her hair during their dance. Visions of his arms around her came rushing back. Followed almost immediately by images of their kiss. Her lips, although still slightly swollen, tingled at the memory.
Kat wasn't even sure she could call it a kiss because it had been so much more. One of those amazing, all encompassing, earth-shattering, life changing events that strip you bare and leave you wanting more. Viktor had made her feel things she wasn't even sure how to describe.
In retrospect, Kat knew she'd started falling for Viktor from the first time her name had crossed his lips. It didn't matter that she couldn't see his face. Didn't matter that they were separated by thirty-five hundred miles and an ocean. And it was of absolutely no consequence that they'd never met. It was simply there. She felt it between them. Heard it in his voice.
That elusive something that people spend their entire lives searching for, praying to find and more often than not, leave this earth without. The something that defied explanation but was brilliantly beautiful and endlessly priceless.
It had been called love...infatuation...passion. She'd heard it referred to as devotion and more often than not-soul mates. But those were just words. Letters put together in a predetermined order to convey information. They were nothing when compared to the feelings that filled her very soul as his eyes met hers.
There was no mistake, no going back, life would never be the same. It had been there all along and she'd almost missed it. Almost missed the chance to experience something so perfect, so monumental, that Kat would be rendered completely transformed, better than her original self. Now, all she had to do was reach out and hold tight because everything was about to change.
Regrettably, she'd put her work ahead of all else. Had been unwilling or afraid to acknowledge the mystical existence of the connection she could have if she just took a chance. In all actuality, Kat had thought she had all the time in the world to come to terms with her dreams, her feelings...with Viktor.
Now, she was sitting in a bathroom in what she figured was an abandoned house with a mad man, praying for a miracle. Kat wondered if she would ever see Viktor again. She squeezed the hair tie in her fist. If she concentrated hard enough she could feel Viktor's arms around her. Feel their hearts beating as one.
A whisper floated across her mind, "Katarina...Kata..."
A loud knock at the door broke the spell then came her kidnapper's arrogant voice. "You can't hide in there all day, Katarina. Nor can you contact your mate with your bond. I have wards placed all over this home. Come out. Let's have a chat."
My mate? Wards? Yeah, this guy's ducks don't waddle in a row.
One deep breath later, Kat opened the door and marched right past the bastard without so much as a glance. Ignoring him wouldn't change her situation but it made her feel better, and that was all that mattered. He'd turned on the lights to make it easy for her to see the food on the small table under the window. It looked like a tea party instead of a last meal. Maybe the psycho was telling the truth. Maybe she would live to see another day. Stranger things had happened. She was living that fact right now.
"Stop thinking so hard, Katarina. I promised no harm would come to you and I meant it. Now, sit down and eat. You have to be famished after sleeping an entire day away."
Kat froze. A whole day? She'd lost a whole day? How was that even possible? Those must've been some good drugs they knocked her out with. Sitting down in the chair her captor was holding out for her, Kat wondered exactly what rabbit hole she'd fallen down. Nothing was as it appeared.