She was about to kiss him when she came back to her senses and jerked away. “Sorry.”
Julian buried his disappointment. “Never apologize for trying to kiss me, Aida. I’ll welcome your kiss at any time.”
He’d only been back in her life for two days, and she was already seeking comfort in him. Her gaze drifted past him, and she felt the inexplicable urge to flee. “I have to go to the bathroom.”
Before he could reply, she released his hand, jumped up from her seat, grabbed her purse, and hurried toward the hallway where the bathrooms were located. She dodged a couple of people on her way and stepped around the wall separating the hall from the bar. Once she was out of sight and away from the noise, she inhaled a deep breath as her shoulders sagged forward. She was ready to go home.
She pushed open the door to the women’s room and stepped inside the soft pink room with pictures of flowers on the walls. As far as public restrooms went, it was one of the cleaner ones she’d ever used. There were two stalls, and she used the one closest to the door before emerging to wash her hands.
She lifted her eyes to stare at her reflection in the mirror. The shadows under her eyes had darkened, and the frantic look in her eyes reminded her of a mouse before a prowling cat. She splashed water on her face and patted it dry with a paper towel before tossing it in the trash can.
She left the bathroom and was walking down the hall when a man emerged from the men’s room. There was nothing unusual about him, but a trickle of apprehension ran down her spine. Before her kidnapping, she never would have considered the possibility he might attack her, but now she looked at everyone like they were the enemy, until they proved otherwise.
She pushed open the latch on her purse and dipped her hand inside. He probably assumed she was looking for some lip gloss or something, but her fingers curled around her pepper spray as she sidestepped to avoid walking into him. The fact he remained standing there set off alarm bells in her head, and she slowed her step.
He was three feet away from her, but she never saw him move before a hand enveloped her throat and he lifted her off the ground. His fingers tightening around her throat choked off the startled scream she started to issue.
Clawing at his fingers, she shredded the skin from them. They dug deeper into her throat, cutting off her air supply and her strangled cries. The strength he exhibited made her blood run cold. She was small, but no normal man could lift her and handle her the way this one was.
Vampire! She didn’t have to see his fangs or reddened eyes to know it was true. He was a vampire and a monster.
Instead of dragging her into the men’s room, he hauled her down the hallway and into the employee’s room. He stalked toward the metal back door leading into the alley between the buildings. Despite the fact she couldn’t breathe and her blood pounded in her temples until she thought they might explode, she thrashed more.
If he got her outside, he would kill her.
She pulled the pepper spray from her purse as she gripped the door handle. Turning her wrist, she aimed it at his face, ducked her head, and closed her eyes as she unleashed a torrent of spray. At least she didn’t have to worry about holding her breath, his death grip on her throat took care of that.
She wasn’t sure she hit him until he released a strangled howl. His hand fell away from the knob, and slapping sounds filled the air as she imagined him beating at his face and eyes. His fingers tightened on her throat, and warm blood trickled down the side of her neck as his fingers pierced her flesh.
She was afraid he would crush her windpipe, but she couldn’t stop fighting. Keeping her head turned away and her eyes closed, she slammed her elbow into his ribs. He grunted and jerked her forward as she swung her leg to the side and caught the back of his knee with her calf.
It wasn’t the most graceful of defensive moves, but it caused his knee to buckle, and her feet finally hit the ground again. She drove one of her feet into the front of his other knee, causing it to bend back as the vamp howled again. Throwing herself backward, Aida managed to tear herself free of his hold.
She kept her eyes closed as she staggered back, tripped over something, and sprawled across the floor. The breath burst out of her, and her tailbone felt as if someone had taken a hammer to it, but she didn’t dare stop moving.
On her hands and knees, Aida scampered in the direction of the door, or at least she assumed the door was in that direction. Fire burned her lungs, and white light burst behind her closed lids as her oxygen-deprived body begged for air. If she could make it to the hall, she might not breathe in the pepper spray, and the longer she held out, the more it would disperse on the air.
Convinced she was heading for the door, she wasn’t expecting to crash into something. Without intending for it to happen, her eyes flew open, and she involuntarily sucked in a breath. Her lungs and eyes burned, tears spilled down her face as snot poured from her nose, but she refused to give in to the pain trying to encompass her.
Rubbing at her eyes, she realized she’d crawled into the table Cassidy and some of the others used to fix their makeup and clean themselves up during their shifts. When she chanced a glance over her shoulder, she spotted the man five feet away and scrubbing at his eyes. Her heart sank; she thought she’d made it a lot further away from him.
She was about to leap to her feet and flee the room when he lowered his hands to expose his tearstained face. The wrath in his bloodshot eyes made her throat go dry. When he charged at her, she knew she didn’t have enough time to get away from him.
Releasing her purse, she grasped the table, lifted it, and flipped it over as he lunged at her. The table nearly smashed into her face when he threw his weight on top of it. Her arms screamed in protest as his hands swung for her.
She wasn’t ready to die. There was still so much she wanted to experience; she still had so many unfinished things to do. Yet, as the vamp’s red eyes filled her vision, she sensed her life coming to an end.