Claire
Chapter Nineteen
My legs tangled in the sheets, gently brushing up against Arik’s as he held me in the stillness. I tried my best to keep my thoughts steady, reminding myself of the resolution I had come to in the bath.
Act like you love him. Act as if you forgive him. Bury everything.
His body pressed into my back as his arms tightened around my waist. My body trembled as I focused on the feeling of his breath against my neck—letting the fear be smoked out by the sensation of his lips pressing against my neck.
Act, Claire. Forget everything else.
I let out a breathy moan as he caressed my neck with his lips, working his way to my shoulder, and biting me gently as his fingers dug into my waist. His hand moved down to my hip as he swiftly pulled me against him.
He whispered against the shell of my ear, “There you are.”
Warmth spread across my face as I pressed my teeth into my bottom lip. My voice came in low, laced with the hoarseness of sleep. “Good morning, Arik.”
“Did you sleep well, love?” he whispered gently into my neck as he began to kiss and bite again, his hips rolling toward my backside with hunger.
“Mm, so well.” I paused, chuckling as I continued, “But I desperately need to brush my teeth.”
Arik laughed. “Ah, yes. We cannot start our day without fresh breath.”
Get me out of this room.
STOP.
Fuck—put your arms around me again.
I wasn’t sure how his sense of my emotions worked, but I hoped I could compartmentalize so that only the ones I wanted him to feel would surface. I pulled myself from him and crawled out of the bed, his hand grazing my thigh as the separation grew between us.
“Okay, fine. Brush teeth. Cuddle time over.” He chuckled with amusement as he followed behind me and moved between me and the door. He turned his back to the door, facing me as he spoke slowly. “Are you sure we are okay? You feel…conflicted.”
My eyes widened, and I couldn’t seem to find my next breath. I stammered as my eyes scanned the floor. “I…I’m just.”
Make something up, for fuck’s sake.
I locked my eyes into his, trying my best to seem genuine. “I’m still having flashbacks.”
His eyes softened as he pulled me against his chest. “Oh, Claire. I am so sorry. Let us just focus on spending time together, and it will get easier. I promise you.”
The vibration of his voice against my cheek made my knees buckle as I nodded.
I watched as his hand reached for the handle of the door, pulling it slowly. The hallway beyond the room was dim with light from the living quarters above.
Sunlight.
Arik led me in the direction of his chamber at the far end of the hallway. As we walked, we passed closed door after closed door that lined the hall. I had never quite noticed them before or wondered where they led, but now my curiosity was piqued.
Is Jennifer behind one of these doors? The two other missing women?
STOP.
Arik’s hand settled on my shoulder as he opened the door to the chamber before us. It looked just as it had the night that I found out the truth about him. Even the security blinds in the window were still drawn down.
“Isn’t it daytime?” I questioned, not entirely sure of the exact day or time. I paused. “Wait, what day is it?”
Arik rested his back against the door, arms crossed as he spoke. “It is Thursday.”
I gasped, my eyes growing wide as my voice rose. “Thursday? How is it Thursday? You’re telling me my family hasn’t heard from me in three days?”
Arik walked toward me, resting his hands on my shoulders and walking me backward to the bedside.
He kept his voice low, an almost soothing calm.
“After the accident, you were in and out of sleep for the first day. Between the injury and the medication, it does not surprise me that you do not remember.”
He took a pause as I sat down on the bed, steadying myself. “And your family has heard from you. And work, as well.”
My eyes shot to him, an expression of what the fuck plastered across my face.
“Sam went to the hotel and used your laptop to iMessage your family.” The tone in his voice was fearful, as if he were afraid that I would be more angry than appreciative.
I shook my head and closed my eyes, my brows growing tightly together in confusion. “Wait…how did you get into my laptop? Where is my phone?” I scanned the room, unable to remember where I had last put it before the bath.
Arik took to his knee before me, resting his hand on my thigh. He was trying so hard to be calm that much was obvious. His eyes drilled into mine as he spoke slowly, almost as if he was trying to convince me.
“We found your phone at the bottom of the tub. I had put it under your robe for you, and you must have knocked it into the water when you put your robe on. It has been sitting in rice since we found it, but I am not sure it will make it. I have already had Sam order you a new one, just in case.”
His hand reached up to my face, brushing a strand of hair behind my ear as I steadied myself. He continued, a smirk crossing his lips as his voice dropped, “Now, your laptop…the password…”
He looked toward the ceiling, taking his bottom lip between his teeth and exhaling sharply from his nose. “You really should not make your password your ex-boyfriend’s birthday.”
My eyes narrowed. “Oh, don’t look so amused. He wasn’t my ex when I made it that. I just haven’t…” I stopped. “How do you know Alex’s birthday?”
Arik stood, towering over me as he cocked his eyebrow. “Oh, come on, Claire. You think I do not know everything about you?”
My eyes widened as I sat there, jaw dropped, unable to speak. Every question that raced through my mind—I already knew the answers to.
I’m never getting out of here.
If I ran, he would find me.
STOP.
I have to try—for Mom—to see her again.
A tear slipped down my cheek as Arik kneeled again, his hands taking my face between them as he spoke. “Claire? Why? Why tears?”
I inhaled, my chest rising as I calmed myself. “I just…” I shook my head. “I just wish the other night never happened.”
Arik’s eyes sank as he brushed the tears off my cheeks, his sorrowful eyes focused on my quivering lip. “Trust me, I know. But we will be okay, love. I promise you.”
He stared at me, waiting for a sign of acceptance, smiling wide when I nodded. I lifted myself from the bed and walked past him, trying my best to act natural.
I’m not a prisoner. I’m just a woman walking around her home.
I flicked the bathroom light on, illuminating the space as my mind flashed with memories of the last time that we were together in this room.
The shower. The counter. How badly my body had craved him.
I let my mind wander as I brushed my teeth.
Eyes closed, thighs clenched.
Good, Claire. Act just like this. Perfect.
The mechanical whir of blinds raising filled the room as a smile took over my face.
“I can feel that, you know?” Arik’s voice chuckled from behind me.
I opened my eyes to see him leaning against the wall. Blush crept across my cheeks as I cleared my throat and put the toothbrush away. I smirked as I pushed past him and walked into the bedroom.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Just as my hand reached for the door handle, Arik lifted me from the ground.
A shriek escaped from my throat as he growled, “Where do you think you’re going?”
My body froze as soon as my back hit the mattress. Arik stood before me, chest heaving, jaw tight—scanning my body with the same intensity that he did that night.
His dark hair fell into his face as his knee settled into the bed.
I closed my eyes as the fear paralyzed me. I felt his hand grip my hip as the other slowly slid up my inner thigh, like he was savoring the feeling of the delicate skin against his fingertips. The bed shifted as he squared his frame between my legs.
Oh fuck.
My head flew back as his mouth pressed hungry kisses into my thighs, pushing my sleep shirt up as his hands wrapped around my skin.
I could feel fingertips digging into my inner thighs where his lips had just been.
I reached down and dug my fingers into his arm.
I needed to grip something, anything, to keep myself grounded.
“Arik,” I moaned as my head raised, my eyes meeting his.
His dark eyes darted up, meeting mine as his tongue lazily grazed my inner thigh. My gaps echoed in the room as he lifted my sleep shirt, licking his lips as he stared down. I could feel his hot breath against my skin as he tilted his head, his mouth closing in on…
“Stop!” I screamed. “Too soon. I can’t.” My shoulders shuddered as I stared at his face.
He crawled back from me slowly, standing from the bed and backing up into the open bathroom door. His eyes never looked away from between my thighs.
“Holy fucking shit,” I muttered to myself as I pulled my sleep shirt to cover myself.
My mind raced, juggling the heat my body had for him and the fear that permeated my mind.
His face—stone cold and jaw tight with a restraint that rattled my core—flashed in my mind.
My thighs squeezed together as I wondered what would happen if I just called him back into the room, parted my legs slowly, and bit my lip.
I opened my eyes to see Arik standing at the end of the bed again, arms crossed. He spoke low as he stared down at his feet. “You have to stop doing that…please.”
My eyes widened. “Doing what?”
Arik’s arms lowered, knuckles white as his tight fists fell to his side. He took a deep breath, his head low. “I feel…everything. I need you to get a handle on yourself…” His eyes shot up to me. “Before I do.”
“I’m sorry…I didn’t mean to,” I stammered as I sat up in bed.
Arik walked out of the room quietly as his footsteps echoed down the long hallway.
My vision fixed on the ocean just beyond the glass doors.
An exit.
My eyes darted between the open wooden door to the rest of the villa and the glass slider that led to the terrace. The waves of the ocean lapped at the shore in the distance as the shadow of the villa stretched across the beach.
And before I could stop myself.
I ran.