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Her hips rolled as weight pressed deliciously into her body. Teasing fingers loosened her clothes, trembling with haste and planting warm kisses on every unveiled inch of flesh.
“Hurry,” she begged, as cool evening air sent shivers over her skin. Her nipples hardened. She pulled his hand against her chest, cupping his fingers around her breast. “I need you.”
“I’m here.” Fingers skated up her bare legs, hooking over her panties and jerking them down.
She gasped as strong arms turned her to her belly. Heated skin, coarse with hair, scratched at the back of her thighs. Her body wept for his, begging for him to fill her, possess her. She’d waited so long.
“Adam, please.” His name came out as a plea, stroking her the air between them as his hands cupped her front, pulling her closer.
His hard arousal ground against, greedy and teasing. “Open for me. Surrender to everything I offer.”
Her body responded, singing like the fine strings of a violin responding to a bow. He played her like an instrument for his pleasure and he the master of her song. Sharp and achingly beautiful, she cried for his possession, each needy note drenched with desire, swollen with need.
“Adam...”
He jerked her hips back, hitching her body at an angle that would allow him entrance. “Not Adam.”
“Wait. Where’s Adam?” The press of his arousal stole her breath. She twisted in his grip, spinning to her back to face him. His head ducked, his mouth closing around her nipple. “Wait!”
Sharp pain, bit through her as his mouth tightened, pulling. Fire raced up her spine as he suckled her flesh. Hungry, wet kisses bathed her skin in damp heat as busy fingers spread her folds.
“Hush now. Adam isn’t here.” His arm banded around her, pulling her closer until her back bowed and searing pain knifed through her chest.
“No! Who are you? Where’s Adam? Please!”
Hot flesh pressed against her sex, thick with arousal. “Adam doesn’t matter anymore.”
“No! No! Adam!”
Annalise’s eyes flew open as her body nearly jackknifed off the bed. Where was she? Her already fast-beating heart doubled its pace as she scanned the unrecognizable room. Wallpaper. Heavy drapes. A dark television on a dresser. Adam. “Holy fuck!”
“You’re awake.”
She scrambled to the headboard and the blankets fell away revealing her naked body. “Oh, my God!” She wrenched a pillow over her chest and fell off the bed.
“Anna!” He reached for her and she sprung off the floor, backing away from him. “There’s no need to worry—”
“Where am I?” she yelled.
“You’re upset. I told you I won’t hurt you—”
“You kidnapped me!”
Was this one of those Hitchcock hotel situations? Was he preparing to harvest her organs? Was that why he brought her here? She whimpered and glanced at what she assumed was the bathroom door. Was there ice in the tub—waiting for her? “Please don’t kill me.”
“I just want to talk.”
Her gaze skittered around the room. She’d have to get past him to get to the door. He looked fast. Her attention snagged on the telephone and he followed her gaze. She was closer.
Deciding to go for it, she lifted her foot—
The phone yanked out of the wall and flung across the room and she gasped. How could he move that fast? Was she high? She should have never taken that cold medicine.
She hugged the pillow to her front. “I don’t know what you want, but please...” Her jaw trembled and tears pricked her eyes. “Please, don’t hurt me.”
“I could never hurt you. On the other hand, my life is in your hands.”
“What? I don’t know what you’re talking about. I don’t know anything! Please just let me go. You got the wrong girl. I’m just a waitress. If you let me go now I’ll never tell anyone you kidnapped me.” She should use his name. “Adam, please.”
“You have to do exactly as I say, Annalise. We’re running out of time and I need your help. Do you understand?”
No! She didn’t understand shit about this crazy fuck! She nodded.
“I brought you here last night.” He picked the phone up from the floor and raveled the cord around it before placing it in the drawer.
His motions were unhurried. She kept to the wall, mirroring his location in the room and sliding farther into the corner as he rounded the foot of the bed. Her heart jackhammered as he leaned into the closet, reaching for something.
“Put this on.” He held out a terrycloth robe.
“Where are my clothes?”
“In the closet.” The closet he was currently blocking.
“I want my clothes.”
How did he find her apartment? What happened to Kyle? Was it him all along?
Her mind was a jigsaw of confusion. “How did I get here?”
Was this a dream? Another nightmare?
She studied the room, noting too many details for it to be a dream—the NO SMOKING sign, the sprinkler system, and the emergency exit map. She pinched her arm anyway.
“Do not hurt yourself, Annalise.”
Why, because he wanted the pleasure? “Why am I here?” Where was her phone? Her purse?
“I think you’ll be more comfortable if you put on the robe.” He draped it over the corner of the bed closest to her then took a step back. Why wasn’t he wearing a shirt?
“T—t—turn around.”
His gaze lifted and the corner of his mouth twitched. Her eyes narrowed. Though he said nothing, that look said it all. She was naked and he got her that way.
Her jaw hardened and he closed his eyes, turning away from her. She snatched the robe and shoved her arms through tangled fabric. “I want to use the phone.”
Adam turned to face her. “No.”
Her jaw locked. “Can you at least put on a shirt? There are freezing people in Russia.”
“My apologies.” He reached into the closet and the hangers jangled as he pulled on a plain blue shirt. An Amish serial killer had abducted her.
He’s not Amish! “Shouldn’t you have a beard?”
“Our sect does not display facial hair.”
Excuses. He’d probably have an explanation for everything. “What were you doing at my apartment?”
“Watching you.”
She expected getting answers would make her feel better, but no. He admitted to watching her without batting an eye. Did they teach that sort of unflinching creepiness in Stalker 101?
“What happened last night? I don’t remember getting here. And don’t lie to me.”
“I do not lie, Anna. I brought you here last night after your friend paid you a visit.”
“My friend?” Oh, God. Kyle! “What did you do to him?”
“Your worry’s misplaced. I assure you he’s home sleeping soundly in his bed.”
“If you hurt him—”
“Do not shout. Your friend’s unharmed. But I was protecting you, Anna. I will not tolerate a threat to your safety.”
“Really? What about kidnappers and stalkers?”
“That’s not what this is.”
“Oh, I’m so convinced.”
“Have a seat.”
“I don’t want to sit. I want to go home.”
“I could make you sit.”
She stilled, her blood churning like ice in her veins. The air around her chilled. “You promised not to hurt me.”
“I’d keep my word. A compulsion doesn’t hurt.”
Her vision blurred with fearful tears as her chin violently trembled. “Please let me go.”
“You’ll be out of this room soon. But first we must discuss some things.”
At her wits’ end and scared for her life, she screamed and charged forward, shoving into him with all her might. The impact nearly knocked her on her ass, but he caught her before she had the chance to fall.
She slapped his hands away from her and he jerked her in front of him with startling force. “We do not hit.” Jaw firm and eyes wild, he gripped her wrists as she struggled. “Ruich! Be still!”
Her body froze the moment the command left his mouth, not by choice but by impulse. A soothing calm washed over her, and her vision blurred at the peripheral. Knees weak, her body sank into him and his grip on her wrists loosened.
“Good girl.”
He gentled her like an expert hunter might pacify a wild animal. Tension seeped from her clenched muscles and she sighed, surprised to hear her voice.
“Violence between us is unacceptable.”
“Let ... go.” Her slurred request lacked conviction, but inside she burned with determination to escape.
His gaze softened as he cocked his head to the side. He drew in a long breath. “You’re aroused.”
She tried to scowl but her face wouldn’t cooperate. “You’re disgusting.”
His chest expanded as he drew in a slow, audible breath. “I can scent it on you.”
Her eyes closed since her head couldn’t turn away. “You disgust me.”
“I’ll always be able to tell when you’re lying, Annalise.”
Her blood felt like hardening cement, sluggish and heavier with every passing second. “When whatever you gave me wears off...” Her tongue swept slowly over her dry mouth and she tried for a smile. “I’m going to murder you.”
Her heartbeat slowed, as a low growl—a sound only a wild animal should be able to make—cut through the air.
“Liar,” he hissed, and the world spun as he tossed her to the bed.
She couldn’t control where she landed or stop herself from bouncing off, but he caught her ankle and yanked her under him, the tails of the robe bunching at the base of her back and leaving her lower half exposed.
She gasped as his fingers swept over her bare folds. Screwing her eyes shut tight, she braced for whatever was to come, but he didn’t do more than touch her for a split second.
“Open your eyes.”
Trembling, she peeked through her lashes. His fingers, glistening and wet, held in front of her face.
“What do you call this, if not arousal?”
Not understanding how she could respond this way to a man who abducted her, drugged her, stripped her, and now violated her, she whimpered.
“What is it you want, Annalise? Be honest with yourself.”
Shaken, her mind whirled as a tear slipped from her eye. She’d had a dream. That’s all that was. It was hot until it wasn’t anymore. Sort of like Adam. “Who are you?”
“You know who I am.”
“I don’t. I don’t know anything. What’s happening? Why are you following me? I just want to go home.”
“My only intention is to get you home, but you have to trust me, Annalise.”
An unspoken sob quivered in her chest.
“Trust that I will not hurt you.” His fingers traced along her jaw, following the line of her fallen tear and gently tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. “There are a lot of things you need to understand, ainsicht. But you have to keep an open mind and listen.”
“I’m not ainsicht.”
“Yes, you are. It is a sacred term in my culture, which stems from the word aasicht, meaning feminine, eenich, meaning agreed, and eensich, which means only. You are my destined female, ‘my only one’.”
Nope. Her mind shot into instant rejection mode and she shook violently, her head telling him no.
“Yes. Convincing you is only a courtesy. It’s true whether you believe me or not.”
“Adam, I think you need help. There are people you can talk to. We can go together. I’ll take you.”
“I only wish to talk to you, ainsicht.”
Fury boiled inside of her like a teapot without a valve and she screamed, “I’m not your ainsicht! I’m not Amish! I don’t even believe in God!”
His eyes widened. It was all good and exciting that she’d found a way to scream through the haze, but she still couldn’t move.
“Ganoonk.” He stood. “No more objections.” He left her on the bed as hangers jangled in the closet. “We are running out of time. What do you need from your home?”
“I’m not going anywhere with you.”
“Fighting this is futile.”
“You said you wouldn’t hurt me. If that’s true, let me leave.”
“You’ll leave with me.”
She had no one to call for help. “Did you hurt Kyle?”
“I told you he’s unharmed and resting.”
How long until he realized she was missing? How many shifts and finals would she have to miss for someone to come searching for her?
“Why are you doing this to me?”
“I haven’t done anything to you.”
“You stole me out of my home and you’re keeping me here against my will.”
He sighed and approached the bed. Over the past few minutes he seemed to be avoiding eye contact with her, but now he looked directly at her.
“Your life’s going to change, ainsicht. The faster you accept that, the easier this will be. Your job, your schooling... None of that is relevant anymore.”
Her heart plummeted to her stomach. “It’s all relevant! You can’t hold me here forever. Whatever you gave me will eventually wear off and when it does, I’ll fight you with everything I’ve got every step of the way.”
“Genunk!” The command shattered the last of her calm. “Sleep!”
But before her eyes closed, she saw him. This was no dream. This was real. And those eyes were not the eyes of a person.