Loraine frantically looked around the dimly lit room as she tugged at her hands, tied above her head on the bed post.
Where am I? What the hell’s going on? How did I get here?
Loraine wiggled her legs and was relieved that they weren’t bound. That was an advantage to her—she didn’t know how she was going to get out yet, but it was a good thing to have her legs free. She just had to believe that she was going to get out. She needed to stay positive if she had any luck of making it out of here alive.
She struggled to control her labored breathing, pushing the fear at bay. She needed to be calm if she was going to think of a way out of here. First things first, she needed to see if anything around her was familiar and figure out what the hell happened before she landed in this predicament. She looked around and took account of what she knew so far.
I’m tied to the bed but my legs are free. I’m in a hotel room… She sucked in a breath, startled when she recognized the room. I’m in my hotel room!
Her laptop sat on the desk, her screen saver—pictures of her happy and smiling at different parts of the world flushed one by one. She could see her Linea red luggage in the open closet next to the bathroom. And even though her room wasn’t how she left it in the morning—with a little disorder because it was easier for her to find things that way—she recognized her things even her favorite teddy bear, one she’d had from the cradle, which she left on her pillows that now sat on her desk chair facing her. The way his black button eyes stared at her made her skin crawl! There was no way she was touching it ever again!
She was being held hostage, in her own room! She fought to swallow a sob as she batted back tears.
I can’t panic. She took in a deep breath. Don’t panic, just stay calm and figure a way out.
The last thing she remembered was walking down the hallway, and then there was a burst of light in her eyes, accompanied by excruciating pain in the back of her head before everything went black.
Then I woke up here with nothing but my underwear on. God he stripped me. And she could just imagine how excited taking her clothes off had made him.
She sobbed again, but this time she let her tears fall free. Yes, her legs were free, yes she had her bra and panties on. But what’s to say whomever was holding her here had not violated her already?
No! Don’t think like that! Maybe he hasn’t already…maybe he’s just waiting for me to wake up before he…
Why else was she tied to the bed? And she didn’t feel sore in the apex of her thighs, so she still had time to hope for a way out, as little as it might be before the sadist came back.
The semester in Paris was supposed to be fun, not this nightmare. She thought she was running away from her problems on the home front. Who knew she was running toward something even worse? She snorted at the irony.
She looked down at her partially nude body again and cursed herself. She shouldn’t have bought the sexy lace underwear that was now her only remaining clothing. It would only tempt him further to defile her. She bought the expensive things because she wanted her parents to see the bill and get pissed off—it was the only time they acknowledged that they had a daughter. Now her juvenile victory had come round to bite her in the ass.
Loraine admitted that she was no saint—head strong, defiant, and stubborn and an everyday pain in the ass were all her middle names. But she wasn’t a bad person. She didn’t deserve this!
Why did he pick her to torment? What did she do and out of millions of people in Paris, why did she catch the psycho’s attention? Belonging to one of the rich families in New York, she always knew she was at risk of getting kidnapped to be ransomed off, but this…no. She never knew this could happen.
There were no tutorials on what to do if she were taken by a sexual psycho because no one anticipated it!
Things like this don’t happen to people like me!
She turned her head to the side, pressing her mouth to her shoulder to muffle the sounds of her crying.
“Loraine, mon coeur, my heart…”
Loraine jumped at the sing song French accent that came from behind the bathroom door.
Unable to keep the panic at bay, she cried out as she struggled with her restraints, chaffing her wrists with the silk ties.
“What the hell do you want?” she yelled at the dark figure that now stood at the foot of the bed, staring down at her.
Just his gaze made her feel exposed and dirty. She turned her head away as she continued to struggle when he pulled his shirt over his head and reached down to undo his pants. She felt the bed dip at the foot and she cried out tagging harder.
“There is nowhere to go, my sweet Loraine. Vous êtes tous les miens.”
“No! Let me go. I don’t belong to you! Please! I’ll pay you whatever you want,” she begged, her sobs now coming heavily.
The stranger shushed her with a soothing tone as he climbed over her. Loraine screamed again, using her legs to try and kick him off her. He fell hard on her, knocking the wind out of her and trapping her under him.
“Get off me! Please get off me!”
The stranger grabbed her chin and turned her face toward him. She shut her eyes tight, sucking her lips into her mouth. She wasn’t going to look at him and he was not going to kiss her!
“Loraine, open your beautiful eyes mon bonbon. Come on mon amour, let me taste your sweet lips.”
She shook her head, struggling to pull her chin out of his grip.
“Loraine, wake up.”
Loraine paused, shocked by the sudden change of his voice. She knew that voice.
“Loraine!”
She slowly opened her eyes and her heart jumped when her eyes stared right into his evil grey ones.
“What do you want?” she cried.
“Joli, those sweet red lips.” Then his lips came down on hers.
“No!”
Loraine vaulted up on her bed breathing heavily, rubbing her wrists. She quickly came awake looking around the sun lit room and inspecting her surroundings to make sure she wasn’t back in that horrid place again.“Loraine, are you okay?”“What?” She blinked repeatedly then settled her gaze on Riana, who stood at her bedroom door.Riana’s thin dark brows knitted together as she stared at her. “Are you alright? I’ve been calling you, trying to wake you for the past five minutes.”Loraine pulled her lips in a tight smile, drawing slow deep breathes through her nose. Was she alright? Hell no, but she wasn’t going to tell Riana that. The woman had gone through enough nightmares for Loraine to add her own onto her pile.She nodded, pushing her hair out of her face. “Fine,” she answered breathlessly. “Why?”Riana’s head reared back. She looked at Loraine with the ‘you’re kidding me’ look and Loraine knew she was forgetting something important.Riana gave her a sarcastic smile and Loraine was
“Infine, finally,” Guliana exclaimed pulling Loraine forward and pushing her down into the chair in front of the mirror. “Quick, fix her hair and makeup. There is not time, hurry, fretta!” She barked at the two ladies who stood behind her and they jumped into action like soldiers at a drill. Guliana had been Riana’s stylist in Venice almost three years ago. She was the one who put Riana in a golden dress for dinner that apparently had all the men’s jaws dragging the ground and women glaring daggers the entire night, or so Riana says. Her best friend didn’t exactly do over the top sexy so Loraine had a hard time believing her but the disappearance of that dress did convince her some. She’d only seen that dress once when she was helping Riana arrange her closet and Allan was the chief suspect for its vanishing into thin air. Loraine never took him as a magician but he was the jealous type. So it was probably cut up into little pieces then burned or buried. “Do something about the bags
Reno walked up the aisle toward the groom and the best man. Most men would be nervous about signing away their freedom but Allan looked completely relaxed. In fact, he looked like the ceremony of thirty of their friends, family, and Allan’s business associates was nothing but a formal party. He had no fears of the bride bolting or the nervousness that came with signing away a man’s bachelorhood for the responsibilities of a family. He looked quite ready to get the entire thing over with, without the least bit hurry to say the ‘I dos’ so that he could start breathing again. Reno remembered feeling that same way on his wedding day. It had been a small affair with a pastor and two of his resort managers standing in as witnesses. Neither of them had family in New Providence nor could he afford the plane ticket out for Riana. He’d felt like his life was about to take the next step to a wonderful journey. Like finally things were starting to go right in his life. How wrong he’d been. The o
They had spoken the night before about Ruiz. Allan hadn’t met him yet but he’d invited Ruiz to be one of his groomsmen to even the number out. Reno had been roped into being a groomsman too, though he preferred to act as the father of the bride for the night and nothing else. He’d helped raise Riana and he wanted to watch her live her special day and not risk ruining it.The pit of his stomach still churned knowing she was about to be married. He was scared that her marriage wouldn’t work out and he didn’t want to watch her heart break for another two and a half years over the same man. His stomach churned for another reason too—he didn’t want to share his sister. He hadn’t realized how much he missed having her around until she left Bahamas for the States.His little sister was getting married, and it made him as nervous as hell!“Reno, how are you?” Allan greeted them with a smile.Reno smiled back. “Great, but this guy is so nervous he’s beginning to annoy me,” Reno stood to the si
Loraine watched the couples’ first dance with mixed emotions. She was truly happy for them, but yet again she was envious. Riana stared up at her husband like a gold digger would stare at a fifteen carat diamond; like he was complete perfection and the best thing in the world. And Allan—this is where the envy came in—looked down at her like there was no one else in the world but her. Like she was his center and his life line and nothing else existed but her. God, why can’t I find a guy who looks at me like that, with so much love? This was one of the things that she always knew, wished she could teach her parents and grandparents: that true love and happiness didn’t come from money. Considering how fake and sad her grandparents’ marriages were, one would think it was self-explanatory. She wrapped her arms around her mid, hugging herself tightly. Between the nightmares about the psycho and lacking that special someone since, she felt so alone. The feeling drowned her. She chuckled t
Are you kidding me! She thought feeling the corded muscle under her hand. A resort owner should not be this buff! What reason does he have to keep his body so perfect!“True, but the only reason for that was because we were both worried about Riana.”His shoulder flexed under her hand and the grip on her hand tightened, swallowing her hand completely.She held back a groan, from pure sexual agony. He keeps this up, and I’m going to be like a bitch in heat!When he went silent, she gave in and looked up at him. He was staring to the side, a shy smile playing on his lips, and when she followed his gaze it was settled on Riana. She was cuddled in Allan’s arms, her head on his chest, her eyes closed and a sweet smile on her lips. She looked content and at peace, happy to be in his arms.“She doesn’t resemble the lost girl she was two months ago.”Reno grunted his response.
Reno was ready to kill Loraine for laughing but the confused stare Riana gave him had him frozen. What exactly could he say? ‘I didn’t want you to know him so I didn’t tell you his race?’Reno knew Riana was only following his lead when he’d asked their mother never to speak of that man. That day, he’d walked in on their mother trying to explain things to Riana and he heard the loving way she’d said his name and that was all it took for Reno to lose his temper and forbid their mother from ever mentioning him in their home again. She’d tried to reason with him, but Reno had just come from an all night shift at a textile factory and had only four hours before he had to be at his other weekend job. He was bone tired and his patience was shot worrying about everything, including wondering how he was going to finish high school, if the bills kept piling up. The last thing he needed to hear was the reason as to why he had to work to h
Loraine dropped her bags at the door, feeling every minute of the long and uncomfortable seven hour flight in her body. And of course the guilt of taking off and leaving Reno sound asleep in her bed. She pressed the heel of her palms against her closed eyes. Damn, she really thought she could do it this time. She’d felt it—the lust, the desire. She’d even felt safe in his arms… it was Reno, Riana’s big brother. He would never hurt her. And I know that! Her thoughts screamed. But the moment all their clothes were gone and his large body crawled over hers… her muscles stiffened and her joints locked in place. Suddenly she couldn’t breathe. She felt suffocated and held down, completely trapped by his huge body. The panic rose, tears flooded her eyes and she began to cry. Reno launched off her so fast he tripped but stayed on his feet after clumsily backing away from her. She sat up, pulled her knees to her chest and hid her shame filled face in them as she cried. It had taken seeing t