Chapter Eight
Nixie
He walks out and locks the door behind him. Finally alone, I let out the breath I have been holding since he caged me with his arms.
He is fucking insane. Insanely beautiful. But I can”t get distracted by that.
I take the alone time now to finally have a look around the room. At least he decorated it nicely. You wouldn”t want a shabby room for the woman you kidnap, I suppose.
Rolling my eyes, I walk over to the tall set of drawers on the opposite side of the room. I try to make a mental note of any more creaky floorboards, because he got to the room way too fast when I went over to the window. Knowing my luck, he has probably got the whole room rigged, so he knows where I am at all times.
I open one of the drawers to find it full of clothes. Shock runs through me. I pull open all the other drawers to find them all full of clothes, underwear, and pajamas. All in my sizes, which just adds to the insanity. He has thought of everything. A shiver runs right down the entire length of my spine. How long does he plan on fucking keeping me here? Has he really thought this through? People are going to be looking for me. I mean, not many people exactly. Come to think of it, it will probably just be Darcy looking for me, and maybe Bert. Wow, that’s quite depressing.
My eyes are getting tired from the lack of sleep. I don’t know how long I’ve been in the room, but I have fought the urge to fall asleep. The boredom is very much setting in, and I’m going to go insane any minute now. I hate being left alone with just my thoughts. Stuff from the past starts to creep back through the wall I put up a long time ago.
I notice the sun is starting to come up, meaning I’ve been awake all night. I just want to close my eyes and wake up in my bed. I wish that what happened last night was just a dream. But I know that is just wishful thinking. There is a part of me that thinks this guy isn’t actually that bad. I mean, he did save me from Malcolm, in a way. God knows what he would have done. He’s been acting crazy with me for a while now. But on the same page, how can this guy be any better? He kidnapped me himself.
I can feel my eyes starting to get heavier and heavier. I try my best to stay awake, laying on the bed facing the door. I close my eyes, just to rest them for a few minutes. A little bit of sleep will help keep me alert around him.
The feeling of someone sitting on the bed has me jumping up. My eyes slowly open to find another unfamiliar man sitting at the end of the bed. Keeping my eyes on him, I move further up the bed to get away. He turns his head to the side, letting out a small chuckle.
“Well, I’m glad you find me being taken against my will fucking amusing,” I scoff, folding my arms across my chest.
I take a minute to take in his features. His hair is the same shade of brown, just slightly longer than the guy that put me in this room. He has some stubble just poking through, and I can see some tattoos etching up his neck. He turns to me and I’m suddenly staring into a pair of emerald green eyes very similar to ones I’ve already seen. The realization makes me gasp. Is he in on it too?
“I assure you, little one, I am not in on what my brother does.” His voice is stern.
“Well, if you”re not in on it, maybe you could let me go?” I beg him as I grasp his forearm. He looks down at my hand on him, smiles and shakes his head at my words. He is about to reply to me when my whole body is alerted to the feeling of me being watched again. I glance towards the door to find my actual kidnapper there, leaning his tall built frame against the doorframe in gray suit pants and crisp white button down shirt. Given the circumstances, he is extremely good looking. I continue to look at him as he starts to roll up his shirt sleeves whilst keeping his eyes locked on my hands, still currently on his brother’s arm. I see his eyes glaze over, turning a dark shade of brown to the point that they are almost black.
Clearing his throat, he stays in his position against the door. “My brother is one of a handful of people I can tolerate in this fucked up world. Please don’t make me kill my own flesh and blood.” He starts to take a few steps towards the bed. “Remove your hands from my brother, darlin’.” I look at his face and get ready to challenge him, but just as I go to open my mouth, his stupid, strong hand grasps my chin. “Now, don’t make me ask again.”
I drop my hand and move back to the headboard, away from both of them.
“Good girl,” he smirks.
His brother gets up from the bed and chuckles, smacking him on the shoulder. “Flesh and blood? Never stopped you before, Calvin. Don’t be getting all soft now.”
Hmm…Calvin. Only took me this long to find out his name—wait, he’s killed before? How lovely.
I stand from the bed very slowly whilst the brothers are having a square off with each other.
I take small steps around the bed. “Well, it’s been lovely to meet you guys. I really must be getting back to my own apartment. I’m sure my roommate is wondering where I am.”
“Yeah, no. That’s not happening just yet, darlin’,” Calvin replies. His strong, built body blocks my path to the door.
“Oh, come on.” My voice is shaky with him being this close to me.
His brother cuts in before he can reply. “Cal, you have to let her go. It’s bad enough with that dick, Malcolm. Let’s not add more shit to the pile. I’m willing to let her slide and go back to her life.”
I’m sorry, what? He’s willing to let me go back to my life? Who the fuck does this guy think he is, with his stupid bald head and grumpy fucking face? Asshole.
“I’m sorry, am I an inconvenience to you?”
“Nixie.” Goosebumps trail along my body as Calvin says my actual name. My body should not react like this to the guy who kidnapped me, but Jesus Christ, my body is on overdrive with him around me.
Calvin’s brother gets in my space. “Oh, little one, be careful. Just because I’m willing to let you slide out this once doesn’t mean you get a free pass to speak to me like that. I can truly make it look like you never existed on this planet.”
My mouth goes to say some smartass remark back, but my brain quickly jumps in and I shut my mouth and sit back down on the edge of the bed. I see Calvin smirking at me, like he’s praising me for not saying anything back. Ass.
A throat clears the very intense atmosphere in the room. The sound comes from Calvin. He walks up to his brother and they start whispering among themselves. Well, that’s just rude. I watch them and can physically see his brother’s shoulders getting more and more tense as Calvin talks to him. I wonder who they are. I get the feeling that there could be people out there that genuinely fear these men—and one of them has kidnapped me. Fabulous.
They seem to be engrossed in deep conversation, so of course, I take this opportunity again and slowly stand from the bed, making slow movements towards the door. Slow and steady, Nix, slow and steady, I say to myself as I get toward the door. I turn my head slightly to peek at them still huddled together, having a hushed shouting match.
Once my feet are over the threshold of the door, I run as fast I can, down the hallway and the stairs. Once I hit the bottom step, I run to the front door, praying to all the gods that it is unlocked. I reach it and yank the handle down, pulling it wide open. I bolt down the gravel driveway, and only then do I realize that I haven’t got anything on my feet; I can feel the stones digging their way into my feet. Ignoring the pain, I continue to run into the field of grass at the side of the house, relieved that it’s softer on my feet now.
I look around to see if there are any neighboring houses I can go to to get some help, but my luck seems to have run out, because there is absolutely fuck all around this house apart from grass and fences.
Standing in the middle of the field, I let out a loud scream, not caring if they hear me, and sink to the ground. To carry on the bad luck, the heavens open, and I just sit in the grass, getting soaked to the bone. The feeling of deflation comes over me. How am I supposed to get out of this situation? By now, they have definitely realized I made my escape from the room, and will no doubt come and find me very soon. There doesn’t seem to be many hiding spaces on the property.
I get up and walk around. I get to the backyard to find a very large swimming pool. Hmmm. I wonder how long I could hold my breath under there before all this is over. I shake my head to get rid of the thought. I haven’t had thoughts like that for a very long time. I have fought so hard to keep them at bay, and now they are all starting to creep back in.
I edge to the side of the pool, in the direction of what I can only guess is the pool house, cold from the rain that has soaked me through. Praying that the door is unlocked, I am thankful that it is. The rain has definitely picked up; it has even brought thunder and lighting with it.
Walking into the pool house, there is a light shining in from outside that illuminates the room every so slightly. Looking around the room, there is a large U-shaped couch that takes up the middle of the room, with a TV screen on the wall that looks as thin as a piece of paper, and bigger than I could ever imagine it could be. What a waste of money. Rolling my eyes, I close the door behind me and climb into the corner of the huge couch, not caring that I’m soaking wet and that I might ruin the material. I’m sure he can easily replace it if I do, anyway. Closing my eyes, I let the sounds of thunder and rain help drift me off to sleep.
The sounds of the thunder crashing above wakes me. Opening my eyes, I can see nothing but darkness in front of me. It’s still dark outside, so clearly, I haven’t been asleep long, but hey, at least no one came to find me. I go to stand to find the lights and the hairs on the back of my neck stand up, making a shiver run down my entire back. Shaking my head, I go about finding the light switch. After a few minutes of tracing my hand along the wall, I finally find it.
The room is lit up a bit better now. I turn to make my way back to the couch. As I do, I see Calvin, sitting on the opposite side to where I was laying, nursing what looks to be whiskey in his glass.
I pick up a blanket from the edge of the couch and make my way back to the corner. I wrap it around me and wait for him to say something. But he just sits there, still in his suit, with a few more buttons undone on his shirt. I can just about make out some chest hair peeking out at the top. He has one ankle on top of his knee, his eyes are brooding, and he is swirling his whiskey in his glass. He honestly looks like he has just stepped out of one of my smut books. The thought makes me drool.
Come on, Nix, get a grip on yourself. He kidnapped you!I mean, my brain’s right, I suppose. But then again, isn’t this like every book girl’s dream? To be whisked away by some breathtakingly handsome, rich man?
He sits forward and looks up at me. Oh, fuck me, those eyes. They should be illegal. He smirks at me like he knows what I’m thinking.
“How are you feeling, darlin?” He sips his whiskey whilst looking at me.
Is he being serious?
“You suddenly care about my feelings?” I scoff at him.
He shakes his head. “Of course I care about your feelings. You wouldn’t be here if I didn’t. You’d probably be in a ditch somewhere, thanks to your fucking pal, Malcolm.”
The bastard has a point, I suppose. I roll my eyes at him.
“Still trying to decide if I’d rather be in that ditch right now, or be here with some random, delusional guy who took me against my will. At least I would’ve known who the other kidnapper was!”
We continue to stare off. At this point my stubborn ass will not let me look away from his stupidly gorgeous brown eyes. Ugh, the book girly inside me is loving this situation right now, can’t let her show, otherwise I’ll never leave. He shakes his head again and looks down to his now-empty glass. He stands and walks over to the bar in the corner of the room. God, even his walk is sexy. Broad shoulders, dark hair, stubble and a suit?? My goddamn weakness in a man. I need to come up with a plan to get out of here.
While he’s still at the bar, I quietly get up from the couch and tip toe over to the door to try and escape again.
“I mean, you can run out the door again, but you will find that you don’t have any new places to run. It was quite the picture, watching you run about in fields and rain,” he says with a chuckle.
I huff out a frustrated groan and stomp back to the couch like a goddamn child that’s been told off. He really is an ass. I chuckle to myself as I sit back down and watch him sit back down with a topped up drink.
He looks at me questionably. “What’s funny?”
“That you really are an asshole.” I smile back at him.
He lets out a small chuckle that makes me feel all kinds of funny down there.
“Listen, darlin, I may be an asshole, but I did what was safe for you. And I have a feeling I will be doing this for the rest of my life, whether you like it or not. You may not realize it yet, but you will soon enough; you are mine and I am yours.” The firmness in his voice makes me think that he is being very serious. I should be scared, given the situation, but part of me knows that I’m safe with him. He just has a bizarre way of showing it. My body tingles in response to his assertiveness.
I really wish my body didn’t react this way to him. I mean, what kind of woman gets turned on by their kidnapper?
That would be me.