Remy Carlson huddled against the cold bars of the human sized cage his captor placed him in. His kidnapper, who introduced himself as Raker (no last name), had been decent enough to toss his half naked form a blanket. Remy suspected that was the only kindness he would receive.
It was cold down here, wherever this place was. It was absurdly hard to pinpoint their exact location. Judging by the numerous crates and empty boxes had dwarfed his cage, the windowless room, and the single flickering light bulb, Remy presumed they were in some kind of abandoned storage facility, maybe some kind of basement.
Remy might be clueless when it came to such things, but he could easily guess Raker must be a highly paid professional to be able to waltz pass Ethan’s security. Not an easy feat, considering a man of Ethan’s standing was paranoid about protecting and keeping his personal space private from enemies and the media.
“Jesus. I’m going insane,” Remy murmured vehemently under his breath. Only reason he was here was because of that damn alpha werewolf. “Hell, if I hadn’t met Ethan, something like this would be unthinkable. For Christ’s sake, I’m a teacher. A nobody.”
The ultimate question still plagued him. Did Remy regret meeting Ethan Drake? After all, Ethan came with luggage. First, there was Ethan’s vindictive ex-wife. Then this.
Had Ethan’s enemies kidnapped him because they’d seen Ethan and him leaving together from the Artic Bar the night before? Was Lindsay O’ Connell involved? The she-wolf did threaten Remy she’d make sure he would regret getting in the way of her and Ethan. Remy refused to believe someone could be that petty though. Who else?
Did he wish Ethan had never come into his life?
“I don’t know,” Remy whispered, unsure of his conflicted emotions.
On the other hand, before Ethan, Remy never thought he could ever find a man capable of igniting his heart ablaze. Make his body come alive, and drive him to his knees. Coming from a small conservative town, Remy had quenched his dark fantasies all his life.
BDSM and bondage was something that existed in the dog-eared pages of a book he kept under his pillow. Pure filth. Exciting fantasy. All he had before Ethan was an ex who cheated on him and left him for another. Ethan though, had taught him there was nothing shameful about his desires. His needs.
God. Even stuffed in a cage, Remy thought of the wild night they had before. Under his boxers, his cock perked up. The way his restrained body practically begged and hungered for Ethan’s touch. He remembered Ethan’s merciless but amused eyes, raking him from top to bottom like he was something edible. Mine, Ethan had said. Mate. The arrogance and confidence in those two words blew Remy away.
How could a gorgeous, dominant alpha werewolf like Ethan want an average guy like him?
Remy didn’t believe in miracles or happy endings. Experience taught him happiness always came with a toll and finally, it looked like he was paying the price.
He ran a frustrated hand through his tangled hair. It hurt to think. At least Raker didn’t bind his hands or feet, but then, Raker had nothing to fear from a puny human. Remy couldn’t even begin to guess what sort of supernatural nasty the mercenary was. All he could do for now was calm the fuck down. Let his panic settle.
Remy might be conflicted about his feelings for Ethan, but he was certain Ethan wouldn’t take this lying down. A powerful man like him would want retribution. He’d do anything to take Remy back, wouldn’t he? But this kidnapping proved Ethan hadn’t been infallible despite his wealth and influence.
At the sound of footsteps, Remy’s back hit the bars of the cage. The huge mercenary peered down at him, dressed from head to toe in black military fatigues.
“Comfy there, human?” Raker’s tone and gaze was unreadable. Dead. The eyes of someone who didn’t give a fuck about anything else but the money the job promised. Appealing to his humanity wouldn’t help him, Remy realized with defeat.
He’d already wasted the first few hours of his captivity begging and pleading for Raker to let him go. Hell, he even let his pride take a fall and told Raker Ethan would pay him more generously than his employer, whoever he or she was. Remy noticed Raker had walked up the stairs to answer his cell phone a couple of times.
“How can anyone be comfortable after being treated like an animal?” Remy’s retort came out before he could stop himself. He bit his lip, but Raker only laughed.
“Bitch is going to have a wild time with a human with bite.”
“Bitch?” Remy asked, hungry for any information about Raker’s mysterious employer.
“Haven’t you figured it out already? Didn’t peg you for dumb,” Raker remarked.
The label ‘bitch’ only brought one face to Remy’s mind. Fear crawled down his spine. Panic threatened to rise up again. Remy had always believed some kind of good existed in everyone. That anyone, no matter how evil, could be redeemed. He wasn’t so sure anymore. Until he met Ethan, his world had been safe and sound. Easy to understand, but he hadn’t realized playing in Ethan’s world came with a set of complicated rules, rules that defied the conventional.
Remy clenched his fists. He tried to breathe in and out, and counted slowly to ten in his head. Remy refused to be daunted, to go out like some whimpering pathetic prey. Despite the integration of humans with the supernatural, cocky shifters like Lindsay still believed they existed on top of the food chain.
That mortal rules didn’t apply to them. If Lindsay thought he’d take this lying down, well, she had another thing coming. Remy would fight. He’d claw and screech, hopefully delay the inevitable long enough for Ethan to arrive, because he was absolutely certain Ethan could come back for him. Until Remy came along, Ethan had been a manwhore who dated anyone, man or woman, mortal or supernatural. Changed his lovers weekly even, but Ethan had promised Remy he would be his last conquest.
Remy was his mate afterall, the missing half of his soul he’d been searching for all his life. Funny how Remy didn’t believe Ethan when he poured out his heart and told Remy he was the one.
Now, Remy desperately wanted to believe. Dying was the last thing on his mind. Not because he wanted to save himself. No. He couldn’t go back to the dirt yet, after Ethan had given him a glimpse of the possibility of a wonderful future.
Remy squared his shoulders, glared at Raker, and hoped he sounded foolishly brave and demanding enough. “When will I see Lindsay?”
Raker chuckled. “Soon enough. I wonder human, how long will that fake resolve of yours last?”
Remy refused to answer him. Raker left to answer another call. Thank God he did, because Remy couldn’t keep his act for long. Raker’s question haunted him. What kind of hell, of torture had Lindsay planned? She certainly spared no expense in hiring a man with Raker’s expertise, and Remy suspected she wouldn’t stop there.
No. She’d go all the way. Lindsay had the means and money after all. She’d tried to kill him once too, without a second thought. Remembering the unexplainable inhuman rage in her eyes, and the way she almost broke his arm, probably could kill him too, if Ethan hadn’t intervened—Remy shuddered. This time round though, Remy was left to his own devices, up until Ethan found him.
The more the minutes passed, the more Remy began to doubt himself. Ethan would come for him wouldn’t he? What if Ethan couldn’t find him in time? What if all Ethan would find were pieces of him?
“Don’t scare yourself, idiot,” Remy whispered to himself.
Nothing in his life prepared him for this. He hadn’t given a thought to what it would be like, being the mate of an alpha werewolf. All he’d been attracted to was the palpable electricity between him and Ethan. The undeniable pull of their bodies.
Remy closed his eyes momentarily. “Ethan, don’t leave me here. You better come.”
It felt like an eternity before Raker returned to his cage.
“Time’s up, little human,” Raker announced. He fished out the keys to his cage, unlocked it, and swung the door open. For a second, Remy stared at the opening. Could he do it? Try to escape? He could dart out. Run up the stairs, find his way out and somehow call for help?Yeah right. Remy wouldn’t get that far. Raker would just drag him back and Remy would only worsen his fate.
Raker watched him carefully like a predator assessing his prey. The mercenary probably knew the thoughts crossing Remy’s mind. Raker only waited what he would do next. “You coming out, or do I have to drag you out?”
“I’m coming.” Remy swallowed, wiped his sweaty palms on the blanket, and took a deep breath. He crawled out to his doom.
“That’s a good boy.”