Chapter 25 Reese
REESE
Breaking News! Empress's brother stands us up for a follow-up interview. Did the pop star sic her watchdog on him?
My mouth is dry, and my head is groggy as I slowly wake from my unwanted sleep.
I wince as a pounding in my head grows in intensity.
I rub my eyes, trying to wake myself fully.
The events right before I lost consciousness come back to me and hit me like a bucket of ice water.
I stiffen, head slowly lolling around to take in everything.
Based on the metal flooring and the plating on the walls, I'm likely aboard a spaceship.
It could be one of the ugly buildings downtown that attempts to mimic the appearance of a spaceship, appealing to those who want to live on a spaceship but don't actually want to leave Earth.
Still, chances are good that we're up in the spaceport.
My head feels awful. I go to rub my temples, my fingers touching something warm and metallic that is stuck to one side. I try to pull it off, but something sticky has it clinging to my skin. I get a fingernail underneath and am just about to try to pry it off when a door opens behind me.
"Oh, good, you're awake," a masculine voice calls as the door slides shut.
I whip around, looking for the man who kidnapped me. I'm not tied down to the chair I'm in, so when I see him, I bolt to my feet, stepping away from him. Of course, I'm moving now that there's less of a chance for me to get away. Thanks, body, so glad we're absolutely useless when it matters.
"Don't act so scared, Empress, I'm not going to hurt you," the man says, stepping closer to me as I take another step back.
His nostrils flare at my retreat, something dangerous sparking to life in his cold, dead eyes.
I stop moving, very clearly realizing that I am the prey in this situation and he is every bit the predator.
I need to get away, but if he's angry, I have no doubt that my freedom of movement will be taken away.
"Where are we?" I ask, wrapping my arms around my stomach and holding myself tightly. I can't hear Zill at all, and I don't think it's because he's keeping his thoughts from me.
Zill, are you there?
I don't get a response from Zill, but the stranger, my stalker, moves closer to me. He's slow, almost like he knows I'm one wrong move from running. I want to bolt for the door right this second, but with him between me and the exit, I need to wait until I have a better chance to get away.
"We're on my ship," he says, a smile on his lips that feels anything but happy.
I try to slow my breathing because I'm huffing and puffing like I'm having a panic attack, and I need to calm way down so I can think properly.
Zill can't hear me for some reason, and my best guess is that it's the device stuck to my temple.
The stranger is wearing one as well, and since Isha said she couldn't hear anything before she collapsed, I'm assuming they're blocking out Sombran's mind-reading abilities.
"Uh, who are you?" I ask.
He takes another step toward me, and now only a few feet separate us, and it's taking everything in me not to dart away. "My name is Leo, but seeing as you're to be my wife, I'd prefer it if you called me husband."
My stomach cramps, but I manage to keep the disgust from my features.
I don't respond to him. I don't move either, which is enough for him to think he should take another step closer to me.
A whimper builds in my throat, but I stuff it back down.
Leo could reach out and touch me if he wants, but he's just standing there.
A slight smile remains on his face that unsettles more than comforts me.
"I've been watching you for so long, and now here you are," he tells me, an awe in his voice that sends a chill down my spine.
"What happened to my friend?" I ask. "Isha, the Sombran who was with me. Did you…"
My words trail off. If he killed her, I'm going to hate myself for the rest of my life. Sure, she was doing her job, and that meant there was a risk to her safety because we all knew I had a stalker who was getting more and more unhinged. But I never wanted anyone to die while protecting me.
"She's fine," Leo says, his fingers brushing across my cheek.
I jerk away from his touch, startled by it since I'd been lost in my own thoughts of losing my friend.
His smile falls, but his hand doesn't. If anything, he grabs my face harder than the soft stroke he was going to give me.
His thumb is under my chin, his fingers splayed across my cheek and around my jaw.
"I don't want to hurt you."
"Please," I whimper, tears pricking at my lower lashes. It's the right thing to say, because his grip softens, his anger fading into something akin to what might be sympathy if it were given by anyone other than the man who kidnapped me.
"It's okay," he murmurs, his fingers gently wiping away my tears. "You're still learning. You've been allowed to do whatever you've wanted for so long, but we'll fix that." His smile is genuine as he pats my cheek. "Give you some structure and you'll be the perfect woman."
I swallow hard, tears still slowly falling down my face. If he expects an answer, he doesn't push for it. No, he just strokes my cheek once more while staring at me, and then drops his hand from my face before turning and walking to the ship's navigation dashboard.
I look around again, realizing that this ship is small, almost as small as the private ship Zill has attached to the much larger one. If that's true, then the door Leo came in from could lead right back out onto the port docking area.
A plan is slowly starting to form. If I can get close enough to the door with him, hopefully, the ship will see his biometrics and open. He doesn't seem stupid, which means he's probably locked it to anyone but himself.
"Where are we going?" I ask, hesitating to move towards him even though I know I need to be closer to him to make this work.
He looks over his shoulder toward me, and I freeze. There's still a strange happiness about him, but it's terrifying. I might want to move toward him for the plan to succeed, but the animal part of me is screaming danger and willing me to stay rooted in place.
"Well, we'll need to hide out in deep space for a little while until the Sombrans stop looking for you," Leo says, turning back around.
I let out a long breath, his eyes leaving me, making me feel like I can breathe again. With his attention off of me, I manage to lift my foot and slide it a few inches forward, forcing my body to shuffle closer to him even though it feels like I'm moving through mud.
"Were you and the Sombran actually together?" Leo asks, all of a sudden, facing me again. His smile is gone, his arms are now crossed over his chest, and he's looking at me as if there is one correct answer and a lot of answers that will end with me not liking the outcome.
I shake my head immediately, the self-protection instinct strong enough to override the pride I have in calling Zill mine. "Fake. It was fake. Mauve, my agent, she said. Fake. I promise, it was fake." I'm stammering and blubbering, and there are more tears.
Leo, thinking he's the one I need comfort from, abandons whatever it is he's doing at the navigation controls and is in front of me in the blink of an eye, his arms banding around me.
They feel like chains, but I do my best to let him hold me as more tears fall and my shoulders shake.
I'm stiff, I know I'm stiff, but he doesn't seem to take that as a rejection.
"Shh, it's okay," Leo says in a whisper. "I knew you wouldn't ever betray me like that. I know."
I cry harder because he's so going to kill me if he finds out.
Granted, he's probably going to end up killing me at some point if he does get me off Earth.
And that thought seems to be what breaks my scared animal brain mind out of being frozen.
I wrap my arms around him, stumbling us backward a few feet toward the door.
Leo curses under his breath, but when he realizes I'm clinging to him as if for comfort, he settles back into cooing and trying to soothe me.
"I'm so glad I have you now," Leo says to the top of my head. His breath is warm in stark contrast to the overwhelming ice that feels like it's filling my veins. "I'll keep you safe and sound with me forever. Doesn't that sound nice?"
I shake some more, but he either thinks I'm still just emotional from before or he thinks I'm nodding my head in acceptance. It doesn't matter to me as long as he thinks I'm not a threat or flight risk.
"When are we leaving?" I ask.
He loosens his hold first, and I cling to him for a moment longer, letting him think I'm still in need of his comfort. Guys like that kind of thing, right? He stalked me, so I think he wants me to be clingy. He smiles down at me as though I'm a plaything rather than a person.
"As soon as I get approval to leave, we'll be gone," he tells me, cupping my face again, and this time I force myself not to pull away.
Much to my own disgust, I nuzzle into his hand. He narrows his eyes on me almost suspiciously, but his own delusions are working in my favor because he pulls me to him and presses a kiss to my forehead. It's vile, but at least it's just on my forehead and not on my lips.
"It won't be long, and then you don't have to worry about any of this Earth stuff anymore. It'll just be the two of us."
I can think of nothing I want less than to be trapped in the middle of nowhere space with this man. Which is what leads me to do the only thing I can think of doing to get him the few more feet over to the door. Something I was just grateful to get out of when he pressed his lips to my forehead.