Chapter Seventeen #3
He wouldn’t let that happen. “I’m coming, Nina,” he said. Then he repeated. “I’m coming to get you, Nina.” Over and over, with each slide forward into the darkness.
* * *
The fire blazed and drove back the worst of the cold, though the drafty cabin could never be called warm.
Nina drank the hot chocolate Nicholson gave her and began to feel more alert.
She had to persuade him to unfasten this manacle.
Then she had to find a way to disable him.
If she could get to the snowmobile, she could follow his tracks back to the hut and search for Liam and the dogs.
She wouldn’t allow herself to believe that Nicholson had harmed Liam. Not yet.
Nicholson pulled a second stump close to her own. “We’ll spend the night here, and tomorrow morning we’ll go the airport,” he said.
Did he really think he was going to get her onto a plane, with no ID? Surely she could pull airport security aside and explain what was going on. Maybe if she acted bizarrely they would take her away from Nicholson for questioning.
“I already have a rental car reserved at the airport,” he continued. “We’ll drive to Mexico and can be married there.”
“M…married?” The idea was so absurd she almost laughed, but managed to turn the laughter into a cough. She was too vulnerable, held by this chain, to risk upsetting him now. “You’ve really thought this out,” she said.
“I’ve had years to think about it.” He leaned toward her.
“When I first saw you all those years ago on television, I felt the connection between us. When I finally got to see you in person I knew we were destined to be together. We’ve been together in at least six past lives that I can determine.
The problem back in Lake Placid was that I was too eager and I tried to rush things.
I promised myself I wouldn’t make that mistake again.
All I needed was to get you alone somewhere and help you remember what I already know—that we’re already one in our hearts. ”
She stared, struggling to keep her emotions from her face. He truly believed what he was saying, and somehow that made him more dangerous. She wasn’t going to be able to convince him he was wrong. He was never going to willingly let her go.
She realized he was waiting for her to say something. “That’s a lot for me to take in,” she said. “It’s, uh…a reality I hadn’t considered before.”
“But you’re considering it now, right?” His eyes held a manic brightness. “You see how much sense it makes.”
“I’m too tired to make sense of anything right now,” she said. “I’d really like to go to sleep. We…we can talk more tomorrow.” As long as they were talking, he wasn’t hurting her. At least, for now.
“I’m pretty worn out myself,” he said. “You haven’t made it easy for me, but I knew if I kept after you, we would be together eventually.
” He stood and retrieved a plastic garbage bag from the corner.
From this he pulled sleeping bags and blankets.
“We can sleep together,” he said. “We can keep each other warm. And once we have sex, you’ll remember how closely we’re bonded, I’m sure of it. ”
She forced herself not to shrink from him, to adopt a coy expression. “I really think it would be better to wait for that, don’t you?”
“I’ve waited years for you.” Some of the hardness returned to his voice.
“Yes, but if we’re going to be married—shouldn’t we wait for our wedding night?”
“You didn’t wait with that Irishman. You were sleeping with him, weren’t you?” His face flushed, anger flaring in his eyes.
“Yes, but he wasn’t the person I’m destined to be with.” She struggled to keep her expression soft and a little dreamy. “The kind of relationship you and I will share needs to be special. Sacred.”
Even saying the words made her feel sick, but she was trying everything she could think of to win this man over.
And it seemed to be working. The anger went out of his expression. “You’re right. What we’ll have will be special. It needs to be consummated someplace special, too.”
“Yes. Someplace very special,” she agreed.
He spread one of the sleeping bags on the floor in front of the fire. “You can sleep here,” he said. “And I’ll be right next to you.”
She lifted her manacled wrist. “Will you unchain me? Please?”
He shook his head. “Not yet. You need more time to accept our fate, and I’ll sleep better knowing you’re secure.”
The chain had enough slack she could stand and possibly lie down. But she was desperate to get him to unlock it. “I really have to go to the bathroom after that hot chocolate,” she said.
He scowled. She waited.
“All right,” he relented. “But I’ll go with you. And don’t try anything.”
“I’d be really stupid to try to go anywhere in this dark and cold,” she said, as he unlocked her restraint.
And it was cold. The below-freezing air hit her like a blow to the chest, and she gasped. “Hurry up,” he said. “I want to get back to the fire.”
He led her to the shadowy area behind the cabin. She moved a couple of feet away and fumbled with the fly of the insulated pants. He looked away, being polite, she supposed. She took her chance and raced into the darkness.