Chapter 20
Chapter Twenty
ANNIKA
There’s no dreaming. Sleep isn’t even real. The drugs just take over my body and make me numb. There’s no existence. I could understand why people would enjoy the feeling and even get addicted to it.
Personally, I hate the feeling. Even when consciousness washes over me, it’s a weird feeling. It’s like slowly turning on a light.
I can wiggle my toes first. My legs feel oozy but alive. The same feeling moves throughout my entire body. There comes a moment when I have the urge to stretch. My body feels stiff from being in the same position for so long. Only when I try to move my hands I realize they’re tied together. Again.
My eyes pop open and to my right sits Peri. He has a knife in his right hand. My blood runs cold and my teeth chatter. I’m still trying to come back to life, so the sudden rush of panic mixed with my body still gently being exhausted is a strange feeling.
“Peri,” I groan.
My voice is groggy. My eyes and my brain can’t figure out what’s going on.
His right hand grips the knife tight. He slowly stands up.
I kick my feet against the bed and sit up the best I can. My hands are tied in front of my body. The knife makes me incredibly uneasy. Unless Peri is going to untie me. If so, then why did he tie me up in the first place?
“Peri,” I whisper. “What…”
He places the knife against my right cheek. Even with just the tiniest bit of pressure I feel my skin open. That quick sting like a paper cut.
He’s… cut me…
He takes the knife away from my cheek and bends forward, placing his lips to my cheek. Kissing where he’s cut me. My body shivers with fear and warms up with desire. His mouth moves to my right ear.
“It’s time to talk, doll. It’s time to figure this all out. If you lie to me, I’ll kill you. If you fuck around, I’ll torture you. I promise though, at the end of this, there’s something waiting. I’m going to keep you alive. I’m going to keep you safe. But only if you tell the truth.”
“I’ve never lied to you once, Peri. I have no reason to lie.”
“Then why the fuck are you wanted dead?”
His voice growls and I jump.
“I don’t know,” I say.
“That feels like a lie.”
“It’s not,” I say. “I swear on my life. I’ve told you everything. I met up with my father to get his permission to leave. I was done with this place, Peri. Done with SA . Once and for all.”
“Why? What happened?”
“I hate it here. I told you that. I hate being in my father’s shadow. Okay?”
“It’s just you and your father?”
Now it feels like Peri has stabbed me in the heart. My eyes fill with tears.
Fuck me. I hate this fucking subject.
“Now we’re onto something, aren’t we?” Peri asks.
I look at his face. His sexy yet mangled face. He was drugged, kidnapped, and had the shit beat out of him because of me. Because he hasn’t killed me yet.
And do I really have the first fucking clue as to why anyone would want me dead? I don’t. I really, honestly don’t.
“I need to know,” Peri says.
“My mother… is dead.”
I fucking hate saying that.
I hate it!
“Dead,” Peri whispers.
“Yes, Peri. Dead. As in not alive.”
“When did it happen?”
“When I was young. Just before my twelfth birthday. Okay?”
He lowers the knife to my wrists. He grabs my hands and I gasp as the blade cuts near skin, but not touching skin. Peri frees me. My wrists are red and sore. I drop my hands to the bed.
“How did she die?” Peri asks.
“Car accident,” I say. “I was on the phone with a friend. She… she came into my room to tell me she loved me. She always said that. Even if she was going somewhere for a minute. I was so used to it I didn’t look up at her. Instead of responding to her, I just said… yeah …”
Tears fall from my eyes.
“Take your shirt off. And your bra.”
My breath is shaky. “What?”
He touches the dull edge of the blade under my chin. “We’re getting to know each other, doll.”
“You’ve seen me naked already,” I say. “You’ve fucked me.”
“Is this you telling me you want to die?”
I grab the bottom of my shirt and lift it up over my head. I reach back and unhook my bra and let it fall to my lap. Just like that I’m topless in front of Peri once again. My nipples are pebbled from too many emotions to count at once.
“Have you had any dealings with your father or his company or any businesses at all that involve him?” Peri asks.
“I am not going to sit here half naked and talk about my—”
The tip of the knife presses against my right nipple. I suck in a breath and look down.
“Rethink your answer,” Peri growls.
I swallow hard. I lick my lips.
“Peri, I have nothing to do with anything,” I say. “I have no idea what is going on or why.” I look up at him. “I swear on my life.”
“I hope you’re able to connect the dots here then, Annika,” he says.
Peri circles the knife around my areola. It’s the lightest of touches. It’s pointy and pokey, but he doesn’t break skin. Of course my body reacts, my skin getting goosebumps and my nipple somehow gets harder. Painfully erect actually, a mix of fear and enjoyment hitting at the same time.
Peri moves the knife away and he lowers his mouth down, taking my breast into his mouth. His left hand touches the middle of my back. He pulls me closer to him, suckling me so hard it starts to hurt. I cry out, whimpering, my eyes watering again.
His teeth clamp down and he pulls away, leaving me groaning until his mouth breaks free of my breast, his teeth releasing their hold on my nipple.
He touches the knife just above my breasts right at the middle of my chest. He makes a straight line up toward my throat. I tilt my head back. I know at any second he can add pressure and start cutting me open with ease.
“So your mother dies and you’re raised by your father,” he says. “All alone. You do what he says to do and when he says to do it. That’s why you’re a business genius, right? That’s why you ended up at SA . But then suddenly you decide you don’t want to be here anymore.”
“Not suddenly,” I manage to say. “I’ve said it many times.”
“Maybe Daddy dearest is mad at you, doll. Ever think of that? You pissed him off. He wants you returned. Someone else wants you dead. Could be one big setup. With me in the middle.”
Chills tease my spine.
“Why you, Peri?” I ask. “Did you think of that yet?”
His left hand grabs my hair and pulls. His mouth crashes down to mine, his tongue sweeping through my mouth.
“Don’t ever talk about me,” he says into my mouth. “Now take your fucking pants and panties off. We’re not done here yet.”
I don’t think about hesitating and reach down and do as I’m told. The knife is touching under my chin and I have to be careful how I move. Here’s the insane part of this interaction…
I like it.
I look into Peri’s eyes and I know he’s evil. He’s cruel. He’s mean. He’s violent. He’s dangerous. And he has a knife under my chin. Yet I’m turned on by it all.
It’s the ultimate offering of myself to him and his trust to me. He wants my pussy and I want him to not cut my throat and let me bleed out.
My heart is racing and I’m throbbing just as hard and fast between my legs. In fact, my panties cling against my body for a second as I peel them away. I stop as far as I can go without leaning forward and having the knife pierce under my chin.
“You do as you’re told,” Peri says. “That will serve you well next.”
Next?
He places the knife on the bed, right next to my left hand. He’s testing me. Tempting me. Toying with me. He knows I can grab the knife in a second and…
Kill him?
Thrust the sharp blade into one of his eyes? Stab him in the neck? Go for his chest, putting the blade into his heart?
Peri lowers down to one knee before me and tears my pants and panties off. His hands grab my legs and he puts my feet up on the bed. I’m spread wide for him. My face burns bright red. My pussy so dripping wet. My own scent filtering through the air.
I’m self-conscious yet… Peri licks his lips. He likes what he sees. He likes how I taste. He reaches for the knife again. I grab the sheets and tense up. I want to close my legs but I know better than to try.
Fuck.
“See, there’s something wrong with this whole situation,” Peri says.
His eyes move from my pussy to meet my eyes, for a second.
“Now we have to trust each other, Annika.”
“Okay,” I say.
He places the knife against my mound. He rubs it left to right against my pubic hair. A couple seconds later he lowers his mouth down and blows. Little pieces of pubic hair scatter up to my stomach.
“Trust,” he says. “Do you trust me with this knife, Annika? Do you trust I won’t slip up and hurt you? Kill you? Do you trust I won’t get a little crazy and slice off a lip…”
He lowers his mouth to my pussy and flickers his tongue against my soaked labia. Goosebumps tickle my skin again.
“Yes,” I manage to say.
“Yes? Yes to what, doll? Speak the fucking words loud and clear. This is the rest of your life we’re talking about. You’re never going to leave this country. You’re not going to Paris, London, or Rome. You’re not going to meet some tan skinned man with a sweet smile who will make love to you as he whispers into your ear, speaking one of the love languages.”
Tears fill my eyes again. Peri is being honest. And he has a knife between my legs.
I’m starting to realize that my life is over…