25. Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Five
O akley tensed as his whole body seemed to tip, sucking in air as he tugged at his bound wrists. His mind was fuzzy and there was a sensation in his mouth like he’d been chewing on cotton balls. Looking around he realized his vision was black because he was blindfolded.
“This is a bit excessive, Ray.” He managed to sound much calmer than he was, but panicking wouldn’t get him anywhere. “I know who you are.”
Steady footsteps sounded behind him, stopping as a warm breath stirred the hair at the back of his neck. “Maybe, but I don’t want you to look too comfortable.”
“Why, because that won’t play as well to your fans in the forum?”
Ray chuckled, walking around Oakley to stand in front of him. “He was right about you. I thought slipping my location into the thread was unlikely to bring you to me, but he said you’d show up. You’re determined to be a good tour manager and you’re too noble and stupid to take the necessary precautions.” He tapped the side of Oakley’s head. “Being in that coma left you a little slow, didn’t it? Such a shame.”
Throat tightening, Oakley tamped down the urge to react to the petty insults. Ray was a man who liked to believe he was always in control. Granted, he was in control now, but Oakley refused to give him the satisfaction of knowing he was getting to him.
“What did you think was going to happen, Oakley? Honestly, I’m curious.” Ray’s hand settled on his knee and Oakley turned his head as the man’s lips brushed his cheek. “Did you think we would have a civil discussion? You’d use some of the money you can get from your rich mommy and pay me to go away?”
Clenching his jaw, Oakley jerked away as Ray licked up the side of his neck. “No. And leave my family out of this.”
“Why should I?” Ray’s hand moved further up to his thigh, his fingers digging into the muscles until Oakley had to bite into his tongue to keep from crying out. “If Tate doesn’t think saving you is worth coming back to me for, you’re not a horrible trade in. Imagine how much fun we could have until Mommy sends me a sweet amount of cash to buy your freedom. I posted a picture of you in the new forum and you’re already quite popular. You hacking the forum also revealed some vulnerable areas that have been repaired. We really should be thanking you.”
“You have a strange way of doing that.”
“Be patient. We’re just getting warmed up.” This time, Ray’s fingers brushed up and down his thigh, bringing with them a tingling heat that made Oakley hiss. “There we go. It shouldn’t be long now.”
This was part of Oakley’s plan that he hadn’t anticipated. He’d expected Ray might come after him as he approached the café, and he’d taken several steps to make sure he could be found if he was somehow immobilized. People could say what they wanted about computer games, but some of them had trained him to think up possible outcomes and ways around them. His skills also helped when he wanted to use codes to change the scenarios.
But bad guys in games couldn’t come up behind him and inject real drugs into his real veins. Drugs that were messing with his senses and making it hard to focus. All he needed was to buy some time. Keep Ray distracted.
Preferably not the way the man was suggesting, though his body wasn’t entirely in agreement.
“Beats09 told me you watched a few of my videos of Tate. Tell me, did you enjoy them?” Ray began to stroke him through the material of his pants. “He’s a hot little twink, just like you. You must have wondered what it was like, losing all control and being that helpless.”
The drugs were definitely messing with Oakley’s head. Because he spat out a laugh. “And you must wonder what it’s like not to have to drug people to get laid.”
A fist connected with his jaw. Blood filled his mouth as his teeth cut into his inner cheek. He cried out as Ray reached down and gripped his balls, digging his heels into the carpet beneath his feet to try to put space between them. The chair wouldn’t move.
Ray clucked his tongue. “Now you’re trying to piss me off. That’s fine, Oakley. Keep it up. I won’t be nice when you start begging me to fuck you.”
Wiping his bloody lips on his shoulder, Oakley snorted. “That will never happen.”
“No?” Ray moved away from him. Then there was the sharp prick of a needle in the side of Oakley’s neck. “We’ll see about that.”
Fuck, how had Tate managed to deal with this for months? Oakley couldn’t have been here more than an hour and already the man had drugged him twice and was finding every possible way to mess with his head. He’d figured he’d need to keep Ray occupied for an hour. Maybe two.
If this kept up, he wasn’t sure he’d survive that long.
Vanessa would be looking for him by now. She was smart, so she was probably trying to locate him using his phone, which he’d kept tracible for only her. But knowing Ray would get his phone off of him and likely destroy it the first chance he had, Oakley had made sure there was another way.
He could’ve made sure she knew how to find it, but instead he’d sent everything to someone else. Someone who she’d listen to. Who she’d accept help from, whether she wanted to or not. Because no matter how much Oakley wished she’d show up and end this…
There was no way he’d let her do it alone.