The hand clamping over Harlee's
mouth took her instantly from dream to reality, from pleasure
to mind-numbing panic. Gone was the dreamy, post-orgasmic euphoria,
replaced by abject terror as strong hands pinned her to the
bed.
"Shhh, no one's going to hurt you," a
harsh male voice whispered.
Her heart thundered, swelling in her
chest and mashing her lungs until she couldn't manage an
inhalation. Her pulse rushed
through her veins and she fought for breath as her throat suddenly
constricted. When he yanked the covers off, her brain cells
finally kicked in. She struggled, fighting against him with
all she had. She'd been trained for hand to hand combat for
God's sake…where the hell were her skills right now?
If only she could reach the gun in her nightstand. At least
she had the advantage of knowing the layout of her bedroom.
She pushed with all her might against the hands holding her,
inching her fingers toward the nightstand drawer. But she was
slammed back against the mattress and a hard body straddled
her, driving the air back out of her lungs again. He used his
body weight to keep her still and his hands to hold her arms
above her head. She let out a shriek in hopes a neighbor would
hear her, but a hand clamped down over her mouth again.
How many hands did this guy have? Dammit!
"Should we keep her mouth covered?"
That was a different voice than the first. There were two
of them? How did they get in? She always locked the doors and
windows and any breaking glass would have woken her since she
was a light sleeper. She tried to make out their features but
it was too dark. How they hell could they see when she couldn't?
She sent the command to her brain to move, but terror and
the weight of the man sitting on her held her immobile.
Do something! Don't just lie there like a statue! Fight, dumbass,
fight!
Brain cells once again engaged, she struggled, kicking upward
and trying to scratch his hands with her fingernails, but it
was like a fly trying to fight a bull elephant. He was simply
too strong. And his position on her diaphragm had her air cut
off, rendering her too weak to struggle.
She was not going to let this happen!
"I'm not going to take a chance on her waking the neighbors
by screaming," the one sitting on her said.
"Ach. Then hurry," the other said. "Maybe
we should blindfold her or knock her out."
Knock her out? Dammit, she couldn't let that happen.
"Blindfold. And gag. Find something
to wrap around her eyes and mouth."
Frustrated tears stung her eyes and she blinked them back,
trying to gather her wits. She was a trained government employee.
She wasn't supposed to be in this position. And why the hell
were these men here anyway?
She heard one of them rummaging through her dresser, and in
moments her eyes were blindfolded and something covered her
mouth, making her gag. Nausea rose up, causing her stomach
to convulse. She forced herself to calm down enough that she
wouldn't throw up and choke to death.
No matter how hard she struggled, she couldn't fight off the
sizeable man who abruptly hoisted her into his arms.
"Grab that blanket and cover her
and let's the get the hell out of here!"
She offered up a fervent prayer of thanks when the blanket
was thrown over her naked body. At least she was covered now.
"Don't fight me or I swear I'll knock you out," the
voice snapped. "We don't want to hurt you, but we have
to get you out of here fast. You're in danger."
Danger? What the hell was he talking about? She was in no
danger. Or, she wasn't until these two broke into her house.
They were trying to save her? From what? From whom?
This was all bullshit. And if he thought she'd lie compliant
in his arms while he kidnapped her, then he was one can short
of a six pack. She wriggled against him, arching her back and
kicking her feet in the hopes he'd drop her and she could run.
Because if he let loose of her, she knew this area well and
she could damn well outrun just about anyone.
If she could get loose.
"Sonofabitch! It's like trying to hold a slippery eel
in my arms!" he hissed to his companion. "Hurry the
hell up and get the fucking door open."
Once out the front door, the one holding her sprinted, jostling
her up and down and slamming her against his hard chest. His
grip on her was like being bound in steel and despite her struggles,
she didn't budge. She heard the sound of a car door, and soon
she was being pushed across cold leather seats and belted in.
One of them slid next to her and held her still, wrapping one
leg over hers and gripping her arms so she couldn't move. The
doors shut, the engine fired to life and they peeled away.
Harlee shook so hard her teeth chattered. Nausea built in
her stomach as adrenaline surged through her system. She couldn't
throw up now. It was time to force her body to relax despite
her predicament. She needed to think rationally and the only
way to do that was with a clear head. She wasn't dead yet,
they hadn't raped her in her house, so she still had a chance
to escape unharmed.
Focus on your surroundings. You can't see, but you can still
hear.
She tried to memorize each turn they made, but there were
too many. She listened for any unusual sounds but the roar
of blood in her ears blocked out anything but her own jackhammering
heartbeat. Her mind was a jumbled mess of panic and what ifs,
making it difficult to concentrate.
She lost track of time, of turns, unable to guess how long
it had been since she'd been taken. It felt like hours, and
then again only moments before as the terror rose within her.
The gag made her mouth dry, she was dying of thirst and even
worse, she had to pee. Sweat poured off her body, no doubt
due to the rush of adrenaline from being so harshly awakened.
And her entire body trembled.
Why did they take her? Yes, she worked for the government,
but she was only a psychiatrist. Was this about the vampires
and lycans? Hell, no one outside the government knew they existed.
Then again, maybe this had nothing to do with her work. But
if not, then what?
God, none of this made any sense.
The only good thing out of all of this was that they hadn't
hurt her yet.
Yet.
