Chapter 3 #4
Seeing all of that happen without any clothing involved was that much more jarring. The bullet looked just as the other did, mangled and distorted beyond recognition.
If I hadn’t seen it happen right in front of my eyes, I wouldn’t have believed it.
I didn’t wait for him to come at me again this time. I whirled toward the bar, shoving my guns back into their respective holsters before I reached out and grabbed the knife on top of the counter. I wrapped my fingers around the handle and spun back around, ready for him.
“I must admit, you are an even better prize than I’d ever thought you’d be,” he said softly and there was a strange glimmer of pride behind his eyes that caught me off guard.
I licked my lips and lifted my chin defiantly. I didn’t even give him the satisfaction of an answer, just staring and waiting for him to make a move. He didn’t take long.
He rushed at me with unnatural speed, and I pivoted out of his reach to just barely avoid his touch.
I wasted no time in turning one way, only to fake him out and go in the opposite direction.
His grin widened, his expression one of open glee and I started to focus on his movements rather than anything else.
When he took a step toward me, I leapt back.
When he left his guard down, I played up my advantage.
As we fought, I soon recognized that he wasn’t punching or maneuvering in a way that would truly hurt me.
He didn’t try to elbow me in the face or take me down with a hard blow to the stomach.
There was no attempt to trip me or anything like that.
In fact, the longer we fought, the more convinced I became that he was just humoring me. His movements were fast. He seemed inhumanly strong and soon enough, it almost appeared that he could predict my reactions before I even made them.
Most men slowed after a period of time. He fought faster.
He moved in toward me and made a quick grab at my waist as I slashed downward with the knife. It glanced off his forearm, leaving nothing more than a white scratch that was gone almost as quickly as it had appeared.
Fuck.
That wasn’t good.
In my momentary shock, he was able to grasp my arm and squeeze my hand backwards enough to cause a flash of pain to spike up all the way to my shoulder. In most instances, I would refuse to drop my weapon, but I was at a loss.
The gun had no effect on him. The knife was equally as useless.
Against all of my instincts, I let the blade go and jerked when it clattered on the floor below. My chest was rising and falling with the need to draw in air. Adrenaline made the blood in my veins surge. My head pounded with the drumbeat of my own heart as his strong fingers wound around my wrist.
Our eyes met and a look of victory radiated from his.
I wasn’t ready to give up yet. With my other arm, I pulled my fist back and swung at him as hard as I could. He caught my hand in his as though it was child’s play.
The first real frisson of fear flickered deep inside me.
Firmly, he twisted both of my arms backwards. I had to turn away from him as a volley of pain tore through my shoulders. If I hadn’t, they would have surely been dislocated. Swiftly, he pinned my arms behind my back.
He let me stand there for a moment, allowing the fact that he’d thoroughly overpowered me to really sink in.
Nothing like this had ever happened to me before. I was trained in the ways of a fight. I knew how to use my small size to my advantage, and I did it well. No man or woman had ever bested me.
Until him.
“Release me at once,” I demanded, but my voice shook enough to reveal my uneasiness at what had just occurred.
“No. I don’t think I will,” he answered.
He propelled me forward with the sheer mass of his body. I had to go along with him so that I didn’t fall flat on my face. My heart quickened as he led me out of the sitting room and away from the escape that was the elevator.
Together, we marched down a short hallway.
The floor-to-ceiling windows to my left let in the light of the setting sun.
I glanced down at the ground far below, watching the people walk the sidewalk of the strip.
They were probably just heading to dinner or out to a show at one of the nearby casinos.
Maybe they were just going to grab drinks with their friends at a bar.
None of them were going to come up here and stop whatever this was. No one was coming for me. I had to save myself somehow. I had to be my own salvation.
I dug my heels into the floor and tried to fight once again. He stopped along with me, released my wrists and quickly tossed me over his shoulder like a ragdoll.
He carried me down the rest of the hall into a bedroom.
“You don’t have to do this,” I whispered.
“I do, Natalia,” he replied, and I shook hard.
His fingers brushed the back of my thighs, slipping just beneath the hem of my dress.
“You need to be conquered and I want to be the man to do it,” he added. His hand squeezed the back of my leg, and I felt my nipples harden against his back.
I prayed to God that he couldn’t feel them.