“What?” I whisper harshly, making my way over.
“Nothing. You locked it,” he smirks as he nods in the direction of the door.
“I always do, but you already knew that,” I snap.
“Not when I’m here, you don’t,” he snaps back.
I tilt my head back and let out something that sounds like a growl of frustration. Cole laughs.
“What now?”
“You’re cute when you’re frustrated,” he says as his green eyes dance in amusement.
“Give me space, please,” I say as I push his chest with both hands. His chuckle vibrates against my arms, sending a shiver through my body. The sound of his laugh is one of the sexiest things I’ve heard—aside from Russell’s accent, of course.
I roll my eyes. “Cole, just hurry up in here. I need to pee and shower.”
“So do it. You’ve done worse things in front of me,” he counters with a raised eyebrow.
“Will you hurry up? We can’t both be in here at the same time; it’ll look bad.”
He closes the gap between us and examines me slowly, from my feet to my face, making me feel naked. His tongue coaxes his bottom lip, slowly soothing it, and I feel it affecting the aching parts of my body. If I could form coherent words, I would ask him why he’s doing this, but I can only focus on his shirtless chest.
“We can both be in here,” he says inching closer to me until I can feel his breath on the side of my face. “I’m still sleeping. Need help undressing?” he murmurs as he runs the pads of his fingers down the sides of my arms, making my breath quicken.
I try my best to keep my composure as the air between us crackles with desire.
“Cole, please,” I whimper.
“Please what, baby?” he asks huskily as he pushes a strand of hair behind my left ear and caresses my earlobe. His smoldering eyes dart from mine to my lips when I bite down on it, trying to contain a lustful sound from escaping my lips. He moans softly at the sight of it, and his own breathing becomes labored. I throw my head back with a frustrated groan and let out a gasp when I feel his lips press softly against my neck.
“Cole,” I plead, panting. “Please don’t. Please.”
He stills and exhales sharply against my neck, giving me chills. “Fine. I’ll go back to my room,” he says gruffly, his blazing eyes boring into mine. “Just know that I’ll be thinking very naughty thoughts and doing very naughty things to myself while I picture you naked and wet.”
I squeeze my eyes shut and clamp my legs together tightly as he laughs and walks back to the guest bedroom. Damn him.
As I take a very cold shower, I begin to recall my nightmare and the day that my mind has been willing me to forget for the past twenty-one years.
Chapter 2
Past
“Mommy!” I screamed. “Mommy!”
But she didn’t look up.
I knelt down in the pool of blood that surrounded her and started shaking her. I was still shaking and calling her name when a man walked in. He had one blue eye and one dark shiny eye that looked as though it could have been made out of glass. As much as I hated looking at his glass eye—because it was taunting me, looking everywhere but at me—I couldn’t seem to stop staring. The eye was brown; his real eye was blue. He was bald, had a thick blond beard on his face, and was very big. I thought he looked like a monster in a scary movie. He walked into the kitchen and looked around, screaming something that I didn’t understand. I trembled at the thought of what it might be. I looked around while he paced and saw the bloodied party hats and the cupcakes I had helped Mommy frost before bedtime.
When he turned around to go back outside, I saw Nathan hovering by the kitchen door. He was the little boy that I used to play with on the farm, and he looked like he’d been crying. I wanted to blink my tears away and ask him what he was doing in my house, but I was frozen. Nathan and I stared at each other until the man with the glass eye yanked him by the arm and yelled something. I wished I could have stopped the drumming in my ears so that I could make out what he was saying. When Nathan left, I wanted to get my knees off the floor and run to him; he made me feel safe.
I remembered the time at the farm when I fell out of a tree we loved to climb, and Nathan jumped off to help me. He kissed my scraped knees and elbows and walked me to my dad.
A familiar looking man stepped into the kitchen. He was young and had sky-blue eyes that looked tired. His eyes looked tired like daddy’s did when he came home from work. He had short blond hair. I’d seen him on the farm, too, I think. He reminded me of somebody, but I was too frazzled to think about it.
He held on to his chest and tears formed in his eyes when he noticed my mom. He walked out after a minute of staring at her. He was wiping his face when he walked back in and turned to me saying, “Close your eyes, baby girl.”
I saw another man walk in—a dark man. He looked around the kitchen and I noticed his eyes widen when he saw my mother. He looked scared, which made me feel even more scared. This man was a grown up. How could he be scared, too?
I did as I was told, and Blue Eyes pinched me with something before lifting me in his arms. I tried to open my eyes again, but I couldn’t. Suddenly, I felt very tired.
I crinkled my nose at the foul odor around me, it smelled like a mix of blood and gasoline station. I wanted to look around, but my eyes didn’t want to open, even though I was begging them to. I needed to see Mommy. I needed to see Daddy. I needed to see Nathan. I needed to wake up from the terrible nightmare. I had something in my dry mouth that was keeping it open yet closed. I stuck my tongue out and tasted it. It was hard and stiff; it was fabric. When my eyes finally cooperated, I saw the black floor before I was jerked abruptly against a hard wall. I whimpered at the impact.
“Shit. Slow the fuck down. You’re going to get them hurt,” a man yelled, I recognized his voice as Blue Eyes.
“What does it matter? We’re going to kill them anyway,” the other man replied.
“Fine. Pull over right up there,” the young man said.
We’re in a car? I’m in a car? I started breathing heavily as I looked around. It was dark, but as the car slowed we passed a street light, so I could make things out. I was in a van, like the one Daddy used to move boxes in. I twisted my body so I wasn’t facing the wall, but my sticky clothes didn’t let me move much. When I turned, I saw Nathan facing me. He was wrapped up in rope and had fabric in his mouth, too. His green eyes were wide, and he looked as scared as I felt. He had tears running down his face, and I heard myself sniffle back my own. My heart started beating faster when I heard the men step out of the car and slam their doors. I couldn’t see anything beyond Nathan. I didn’t want to see anything beyond Nathan. I heard the men screaming outside the doors open again, then I felt the van sink when they got into their seats and slammed the doors.
“Okay, so where are you taking them?” one man asked.
“Don’t worry about it. I told you—you don’t need to know.”
“Like hell, what if Jamie asks me? I can’t lie,” he replied, sounding desperate.
“You will, though. Remember, I’m getting you that plane ticket tonight. You’ll leave with your family. Just stay the fuck away. I’ll have people watching you. If you step near Jamie or any of his guys, I’ll start stripping off your family one by one.”