I had to make a break for it tonight before the simmer in my veins became a searing need like last time.
Time to play nice.
I sat back and wiped my mouth with the neatly folded napkin he’d placed by my plate. I even paused to take a sip of water, but not before sniffing it to make sure it wasn’t drugged.
He chuckled softly. “I have no intention of drugging you, Fee. I want you coherent and obliging when I fuck you.”
Good to know. “You own this place?”
His eyes narrowed as if he was trying to suss out why I’d changed the topic.
I sighed deliberately. “Look, if I’m going to be stuck here with you, we might as well make conversation.”
He sipped his water. “I don’t believe for one minute you’re interested in casual conversation, Fee, but I’ll play along. Yes, I own this cabin and most of the woodland surrounding it.”
Right, so there probably wouldn’t be any residences nearby, which meant rural location. It had been morning when I’d left Azazel, and when I’d woken up here, it was mid-afternoon. I’d been out for at least five hours. But how much of that time had been spent unconscious in this cabin? If I could find that out, I could work out how far from Necro we’d traveled.
I rubbed my temple and fabricated a wince.
“Headache?” Hunter asked coolly. “You shouldn’t have one. The drug I used to put you under shouldn’t leave any ill effects.”
Yes, the drug… “Dominus are immune to being drugged.”
He shrugged. “But you’re not full demon, are you, Fee. And Loup can most certainly be drugged, using the right combination of herbs. You shouldn’t have a headache.”
Fuck. “No headache, just fizzy.” I made a show of frowning, as if the thought had just occurred to me. “How long was I out once we got here?”
He opened his mouth to reply and then snapped it shut, his eyes lighting up with triumph at having caught me out. “Clever, Seraphina. I get why fate put us together. You’re smart and cunning.”
Fucksake. “Just tell me where we are.”
“I’m not an idiot, Fee. And neither are you, so stay put. You won’t make it out there. Not in this weather. We’re miles from civilization and a storm’s about to hit in a few hours. It’ll be a whiteout. If you run, you won’t make it to civilization before the storm descends.”
Maybe not in human form, but my wolf could totally make it.
He studied me as if reading my thoughts. “Yes, you could make it as a wolf, but that shackle on your wrist won’t allow you to shift. I need you in human form, Fee.” He took another sip of water. “You can’t take the Rover either. It’s locked up tight in the garage, and I have the only keys. They’re in the safe behind the painting in the lounge along with your pretty daggers, and only I know the code.” He spoke calmly, deliberately, spilling all the information because he knew there was nothing I would do with it. “There is no escape from this, Fee.” He put down his glass and speared me with a penetrating glare. “If you run, I’ll have to chase you.” His throat bobbed and his mouth tightened, as if there was more to say, as if he was holding back, and then he picked up his glass again. “Don’t make me chase you.”
He’d thought of everything. Every way to keep me penned in here. But he didn’t know me. He didn’t know the lengths I’d go to for my freedom.
A storm could lock us into the cabin for days. Days I didn’t have. I needed to get out before the storm hit.
I had to take the risk.
He banked on my survival instinct, my so-called lack of stupidity, but he didn’t bank on how much I’d risk to avoid being mated to him. It might be stupid, but I had to take the shot.
Now I just needed the right moment.
The meal was over, thank goodness. Hunter cleaned up, and I didn’t offer to help. Fuck the fake camaraderie. I was his prisoner, and I wasn’t about to pretend otherwise. I stood stiffly and lifted my chin. “I’m going to my room.”
“Our room,” he said.
Had I heard him right? “Excuse me?”
He glanced over his shoulder but didn’t bother to stop washing up. “There is only one bedroom in this cabin.”
Not happening. “Then you can take the fucking sofa.”
He shut off the water and dried his hands before turning to face me. “This cabin and everything in it belongs to me.”
There was no doubt what he was insinuating. “I don’t belong to anyone. The heat might addle my mind, and you might get away with claiming my body, but you’ll never claim my heart or my respect.” I strode away. “I’ll take the fucking sofa.”
Hunter didn’t speak to me as I made my bed on the sofa with pillows and blankets stolen from his room. I was tucking myself in when he appeared in the lounge. I tensed, ready to fight him off if he tried anything, and he sighed heavily.
“Can’t you relax?” he asked. “Just for a little while? We could talk. Get to know each other.”
Was he taking the piss? “I don’t want to talk to you, Hunter. I don’t want to spend any time with you. This isn’t a fucking getaway. You. Kidnapped. Me.”
He rubbed his temples. “You left me no choice.”
“Bullshit.”
“You can’t fight fate, Fee.” He sounded almost resigned about that.
But resignation was the last thing in my mind. “Watch me.”
His expression hardened, and he nodded curtly. “Have it your way.” He locked the front door, pocketed the key, and headed to his bedroom.
I waited several long minutes until I heard the distant sound of a shower, and then I slipped out of my makeshift bed and headed for the nearest window. It didn’t take long to figure out the fucker had nailed them all down from the outside. Breaking one would do the trick, but the noise would also alert him that I was trying to escape. There was only one thing to do.
I needed to get that front door key.
Chapter Five
The door to the bedroom was slightly ajar. I held my breath and gave it a push, opening it enough to slip into the gloom. Light spilled out from the crack in the bathroom door, and the sound of the water hitting tile drifted out.
The jeans and the sweater Hunter had been wearing were folded and placed neatly on the chair I’d almost used to break the window. I tiptoed over and searched his pants pockets.
No key.
Fuck. It had to be here somewhere. I was running out of time. I scanned the room in the dim lamplight, grateful for my Loup vision.
No key.
Had he taken it into the bathroom with him? Shit, if I were a kidnapper, where would I keep the front door key?
Somewhere close…
He was about to go to sleep.
I strode across the room and lifted a pillow. Bingo. Hope surged in my chest as I crept past the bathroom, headed for the door, and then the scent of lemon grass hit me. My step faltered and my gaze flitted to the bathroom door, to the gap where a mirror was visible. It was partially steamed up but not enough to block out the image of Hunter’s powerful back. His arms were raised, soaping his hair, so his lateral dorsi muscles popped and the muscles between his neck and shoulders bunched, showcasing power. Rivulets of froth skated down his spine and along the ridges of the V shape of his back. His skin was bronze and smooth and fucking perfect, and I needed to get the hell out of here before I lost my mind.