Chapter 6
Chapter Six
F ear stole my voice, and only a shaky shriek left me as the hand tightening on my throat pushed me against the wall. Not hard but enough to get their point across.
I froze, thinking if I struggled it would make things worse. I wasn’t sure it was the right tactic, but it wasn’t as if I was skilled in being a victim. Or surviving.
My breath returned but came out heavier and quicker.
Through wet strands of dark hair, I lifted my gaze, finding the courage to look at my attacker. He had a foot on me, forcing my neck to crane back, a difficult task with someone’s fingers enclosed around my throat. I swore his grip loosened just to make it easier for me to move.
Familiar sharp cheekbones and a perfectly slanted nose came into focus.
What the ? —
I didn’t want to believe it.
“Cole?” I whispered, staring at the face of the man who had driven me home not long ago.
His eyes narrowed as if he didn’t recognize me. Then he blinked, the hardness of his features softening ever so slightly.
“What the fuck are you doing? Why did you attack me? Or is this your MO with g irls? You scare the crap out of them for fucks and giggles.” Why was it that whenever I was in his presence, my reactions went from pissing-my-pants fear to pulse-pounding fury in a matter of seconds?
It was maddening.
“It’s shits and giggles,” he corrected, intensifying my blood’s heat.
“Do I look like I care about semantics right now?”
His gaze roamed over my face, lingering on my frowning mouth. Intense. It was the first word that came to mind. Everything about Cole tonight was fierce and serious. The edge of darkness I’d sensed in him seemed bolder and more profound. I could feel the chill of his eyes, my arms prickling with goosebumps, activating my fight-or-flight response as it whispered in my ear telling me I had to get out of this house—that it was a bad idea to be alone with him.
“Shouldn’t I be asking the questions?” he asked, his eyes flinty.
“You have two seconds to unhand me before my knee finds out just how small your dick is.”
The smile curling on his lips didn’t come immediately, but when it did appear, my breath caught, and not entirely because he was gorgeous. Some of the fear I’d first felt when we met in the pool the other night returned. And I again realized how dangerous it was for me to sneak into a stranger’s house. I knew nothing about Cole. Nothing other than his name and he liked to scare the shit out of girls. Or perhaps it was only me he enjoyed making my heart stop and my blood pump with frightful adrenaline.
“Neighbor?” he replied, the inflection in his voice indicating a question. His free hand flipped on the light switch only inches from my head, a soft glow chasing the darkness from the room.
“Don’t tell me you forgot me already?” I retorted. He was crazy, and it reinforced what a bad idea it had been coming back, an argument I’d had with myself last night, and yet here I was, standing in the dark hallway with the lunatic.
Perhaps that spoke more about my character than his.
I couldn’t decide.
Or maybe crazy called to crazy.
“Highly unlike I could forget a face like yours. Especially since you left s uch a lasting impression, but…it still poses the question…what are you doing here?” he asked, mercifully icy.
“I’m returning your shirt,” I hissed through gritted teeth, confused by his cold exterior when he was usually so damn flirty.
He said nothing, glaring at me with gold eyes that had no heat behind them, only coldness. His body still trapped me against the wall, but at least the fingers at my throat were no longer threatening but more of a caress, which was ludicrous. It had to be my mind reading more into the situation, and that said a lot about the state of my mind.
“You mean the one you stole?”
“Borrowed,” I amended. How could someone get so hung up on a freaking shirt? Did it have sentimental meaning or something? Was it worth a week of my pay? I couldn’t figure him out. The lights flickered, but in my haze of anger, I thought little about them. “A thank-you wouldn’t be difficult to muster.”
His fingers glided down the column of my neck. “You want me to thank you for returning what was taken without my permission?” The pad of his thumb brushed over my collarbone.
Little electric currents sparked where he touched, and I cursed my traitorous body. Why is he still touching me? “Get your fingers off my throat before I whack your dick off with a dull kitchen knife.”
Cole leaned in closer, his breath like an invisible kiss on my cheek. “Hmm. Surprising. I think I like this side of you, Killer.”
He smelled slightly different. Perhaps a new cologne. Still a tantalizing scent. “I’m pretty sure I loathe you.”
His mouth twitched, the most emotion he’d shown. “We’ll see.”
“No, we won’t.” I needed to leave. Now. This wasn’t the Cole I’d been in the car with not even an hour ago. What happened between now and then that caused him to get this upset? Who had he gone to see? And where was his SUV?
I lifted my hands pressed into the back of the wall, running them up his chest, trying not to get distracted by the muscles I felt there. Taking my bottom lip between my teeth, I watched his eyes warm, an emotion I recognized well flashing in them.
That’s when I struck. Palms flattening just below his pecs, I shoved, gaining enough space I could breathe easier. A grin curved on his lips. I dragge d my gaze away from him, glancing at the kitchen and searching for something sharp.
Before I could dart to the side, Cole moved into my path as if he read my mind. I scowled, my fists clenching at my sides. I should put one into his rock-hard abs, and I considered it before discarding the thought. As much as I wanted to hurt him, I didn’t want to hurt my hand.
I glared.
He chuckled under his breath. “I might have underestimated you, Killer.”
“Most do. Now get out of my?—”
A series of beeps echoed from down the hall. Cole stiffened, his eyes flashing toward the double doors I’d snuck through. Click. Click. Click. Stupefied, I watched as automatic shutters locked into place over all the doors and windows, but they weren’t like the ones we had. These were advanced and looked a hell of a lot sturdier. They reminded me of something a person would use if the world was ending—indestructible and impenetrable, which gave me a disturbing thought.
If nothing could get in, did that also mean nothing could get out?
Cole and I shared a glance, and I didn’t like what I saw in his features. The frown deepened on his lips.
“What just happened?” I demanded.
“The security system triggered,” he replied, his voice like a cold winter.
The lights flickered again. “Did you do whatever that was?” My hands flung out toward the double doors now completely sealed off.
Cole shook his head, shoving a hand into his hair. “No. I was on my way to activate it but found you instead.”
“Then how did it get turned on?” I complained.
“How should I know,” he retorted and moved to check the door. His hand went for the handle, twisting it, but nothing happened, except for a sharp frown curving on his lips. “It set itself into hurricane mode.”
“That’s a thing?” I tossed over my shoulder, moving to the window above the kitchen. The damn thing wouldn’t budge, but it didn’t stop me from trying.
Cole watched me with pinched brows. “Yeah. One of many safety features my father had installed. ”
Giving up, I leaned against the counter. “Who the hell are you people?”
This time when the lights quivered, they extinguished, along with everything that ran on electricity. The power went out, and we were suddenly submerged in total darkness.
“Fuck,” I cursed, my fingers moving to the edge of the sink so I could keep my bearings.
“Don’t move,” Cole ordered in his deep voice.
I rolled my eyes, but he couldn’t see it. “Where do you think I’m going? I can’t see a foot in front of me.”
“Give me just a—” A small beam of light speared from Cole’s hand. Not his hand, I realized, but his phone. He’d turned on the flashlight function. “There.”
“Just wonderful,” I mumbled dryly.
I couldn’t see perfectly, but I swore a smirk touched the corner of Cole’s lips before he said, “If you prefer the darkness, I can?—”
“Don’t think about it,” I cut in, the light flashing in my face, forcing me to squint. “Besides, I need to leave. Deactivate the security.”
He lowered the damn light so it hovered between us, casting shadows on our faces. “I can’t.”
“Don’t toy with me.”
“I’m not. It’s electronic. It runs on power, which, in case you haven’t noticed, we no longer have.”
A sinking feeling dropped in my gut. “You’re saying I’m stuck in here with you until the power comes back?” If I took half a second to think this through, his reasoning made sense. I just didn’t want it to be true.
Outside, a gust of wind battered against the house, wailing like a damn banshee predicting death and doom. Cole’s gaze shifted to the window behind me. “It appears that way.”
My outrage became a palpable thing inside me, pulsing. “Hell no. Override it or something.”
He didn’t balk. “It doesn’t work like that, Killer. Trust me, I’m about as thrilled as you are. I didn’t ask for you to come over and get trapped inside with me during the biggest storm this town’s had in over thirty years. ”
This isn’t good. What am I going to do? I’d left without telling anyone. No one knew where I was.
I had to call my dad.
I reached into my back pocket for my phone, but it wasn’t there. I checked the other pocket and groaned, remembering I’d left my phone sitting in my bedroom, completely useless to me right now. I rubbed at my temples, and the dull ache that had been pestering me most of the day grew insistent.
The light from Cole’s phone beamed up to the ceiling between us. “Let me use your phone. I need to call my dad.”
Cole spun his phone around and swiped a finger up to unlock the screen. His brows bunched together. “I don’t have a signal.”
My stomach twisted into knots. “Cole, you don’t understand. I need to get home. My dad is there…” I swallowed the lump in my throat.
“See for yourself.” He held out his phone.
I snatched the device, feeling sick when I glanced at the screen shining over my face in the dark. The no-signal symbol popped out at me from the corner. No. No. No. I tapped on the phone icon and quickly punched in my dad’s number, knowing it wouldn’t work, but I had to try. I just had to.
Nothing happened. No busy tone. No endless ringing. No voicemail.
My shoulders sagged as I handed him back his phone, my mind whirling.
“Neither of us might like it, but you’re stuck here, Killer.” The words hung in the air, so heavy, so dismal.
I swallowed. “This can’t be happening.”
His jaw flexed, and I suspected he was about as pleased as I was with the situation. “The best thing we can do is wait it out. I’m sure the power will be back on soon.”
“You’ve never been through a hurricane before, have you?” I snorted when he said nothing. “It could be a week or more before the power is restored. It depends on how hard we’re hit, and if their prediction is accurate, we’re in for the long haul. This is all your fault,” I hissed, desperate to blame someone other than me. I had all these unspent emotions.
Cole went to the fridge, the flashlight on his phone whirling over t he room. “I fail to see how you getting stuck at my house has anything to do with me . You’re the one who broke in. A matter we still have yet to discuss.”
I grabbed the stupid shirt off the table where I’d left it and hurled it at him. “This. If you hadn’t insisted on me returning your shirt, I wouldn’t be here right now. And I washed it,” I included as if adding salt to a wound.
He caught the wadded material, the fridge door closing on its own. “A shirt you wouldn’t have had to borrow if you hadn’t been skinny-dipping in my pool.”
My mouth tightened. “You’re an asshole.”
“Something we can finally agree on.”
I needed something to break or hurl at his head. Throwing the flimsy tee had done nothing to alleviate the frustration mounting within me. “So, what do we do now? Other than try not to kill each other?”
He unscrewed the top of the bottle he had grabbed from the fridge. “What a feisty little kitty. I think I like you.”
“The same can’t be said for me.”
He chuckled a smoky, deep sound. “I’ll round up some candles. My mom has them scattered all over the damn house. Stay here.”
As if I could go anywhere. Cole took his phone and the light with him, leaving me alone in the kitchen. I shed my coat, my fingers fumbling in the dark as I hooked it on the back of a chair.
Ten seconds went by, my fingers tapping on the wood.
That was all I could stand. I had to do something. I couldn’t just stay here.
Using the table as I guide, I shuffled to the double doors, feeling my way around until my fingers collided with the handle, but try as I might, the damn thing wouldn’t budge, regardless of how much I shook it. And I shook the shit out of it.
Tears pricked the back of my eyes, a product of anger and distress. I didn’t want my dad to worry. Not being able to tell him I was okay would drive us both mad. And really, was I okay? Cole could murder me, and no one would suspect him.
Crying wouldn’t make the situation better.
I rubbed my eyes with the end of my sleeve. I had no makeup to worry about. The rain on my way to work had erased all traces. Taking a breath, I used my hands to follow the wall, remembering there was a trio of windows just off the dining nook. Nothing about my movements was graceful, but eventually, I got there, my fingers once again searching for the clasps. No matter which way I flipped the lock, the glass wouldn’t lift, but it did wobble. The fierce wind beat harder against the house, groaning and moaning like thousands of ghosts haunted the beach. The crashing of waves was harder to hear over the wild winds, but it was there, punishing the sand.
I couldn’t help but think of Dad and Sadie. They’d sheltered through many storms, and I tried to let that comfort me.
My back sunk against the wall, my head dropping back, feeling the vibrations of the wind.
What the fuck am I going to do locked inside a house for hours, days even, with Cole Riley?
Frankie would think this situation was a dream come true. I could hear her voice in my head. Holy shit, Arie. Imagine the opportunities to have sex with a Riley. You’ve been given a gift, bitch. You have to unwrap and open it.”
It would be just like my best friend to take a shitty condition and turn it into a sexual experiment. The idea of Cole being a gift for me to unwrap… yeah, it was a thought I needed to banish from my mind.
I wished I could call her, if only for her to make me laugh and distract me from the problem at hand.
I’d rather take my chances in a hurricane than be stuck inside this house with him .
What was I so afraid of?
A question I didn’t want to answer. It involved looking too deeply into myself, and I’d avoided doing that for years. Burying feelings worked for me. I had to keep it together. I needed to be strong—tough. That’s who I was.
My fists hit the wall at my sides. “Son of a bitch,” I muttered under my breath.