Captive

I sat beside Stephan in the car, wordlessly staring out the window by my side. I had made sure to keep a good distance between us to avoid talking to him, and thankfully, he did the same.

Silence reigned in the car as we drove out of the archaic looking estate crafted of stone into the bustling streets. The sight of people moving around was like a breath of fresh air to me. It reminded me that I was alive, and gave me hope that perhaps someday, I'll be free from whatever form of captivity this is.

The car stopped in front of the hotel and one of Stephan's men opened up the door for me to get down. Stephan came to stand beside me a moment later and stretched his hand towards me, but I refused to put my hand in his. I simply flipped my hair from my face and began walking towards the entrance of the hotel.

He quickly caught up with me and took my hand forcefully. I tried to yank my hand free from his grip, but he refused to let go.

"Get your hands off me," I said through clenched teeth.

The valet opened the door for us to get inside, bowing slightly as he watched us walk in with the questioning look on his face. We looked like a typical couple fighting, and had began to attract a few stares from visitors, but I didn't care. Everything about this man seemed to get on my nerves and I just couldn't help myself.

"Quit behaving like a baby and act your age," he retorted, pulling me closer to him.

"Why not try taking your own advice? A grown man like you doesn't know how to handle rejection from a lady," I spat back, trying to control my building anger.

He didn't listen to me. Instead, his grip got painfully tighter. We had already approached the receptionist deck, so I decided not to make to make a fuss about it any longer.

The receptionist raised his head to look at us, a small smile on his face.

"Welcome to Hotel Krasnaya. How may I be of service to you?"

"Stefan Perez. I booked a room here," he responded in a flat tone.

The man nodded. "Of course. Please, give me a minute."

He typed something on his desktop, then pulled out a key and handed it to Stephan.

"Thank you for choosing us."

Stephan didn't spare a second more after that. He pulled me along with himself into an elevator, two of his men on either side of us, and I followed wordlessly.

However, when we got to a door, I paused and refused to move a step further.

"Don't tell me we're going to pass the night in the same room."

He turned to face me, quietly looking at me with a blank expression. "Alright. I won't tell you."

He pushed open the door and pulled me in almost effortlessly. His men remained outside as he locked the door behind him.

"I believe there should be some clothes here for you to change into." He ticked the key into his pocket and began taking off his suit jacket.

"And please, don't make a fuss about it. I don't have the strength to deal with all that this evening."

"If you didn't have the strength, you'd have left me with—"

"Nikolai?" He scoffed and shook his head. "I'm only trying to help your pathetic ass, and you should be grateful."

"Grateful?! That you practically ruined my life?" I screamed, grabbing a handful of my hair in anger.

"Your life was already in shambles before I stepped in, Alina," he responded calmly as he loosened his shoes.

His statement made me pause for a second. Stepped in. Could he be...?

"You're the one that left the money in my closet, weren't you? You called Madame Caryn that night, didn't you?" I asked, pointing a finger at him.

"Oh! Aren't you a genius? Figuring that all by yourself," he said, shooting me a questionably sweet smile.

My jaw dropped slightly , and I was about to say something when the doorbell rang. He went to attend to whoever was at the door even though his belt was not clasped.

I watched him as he talked to the person. His back was riddled with tattoos, and I just couldn't help but notice how taut and defined his upper body was.

The person handed him two nylon bags and he closed the door as soon as he collected them. He placed them on the bed and continued removing his pants. I blinked at him, my eyes moving from his face to his pants. He wasn't really going to go nude in front of me, right?

"You sure like staring," he said, his voice breaking out of whatever daze I was in.

"You are really going to do what I think you're doing right?" I stuttered, my body going rigid.

He chuckled and completely took off his pants, revealing his pristine white underwear and his long appendage bulging unapologetically through it. I tore my eyes away and closed my eyes before I saw something that would give me nightmares.

"Quit acting like a virgin. I know you're not. I'm sure you've seen a good number of dicks in your lifetime."

He was right about the seeing part. Most men I entertain unashamedly took out their genitals to jerk off right in front of me. It was disgusting to say the least.

"Please, just wear something," I begged ignoring the urge to tell him I was still a virgin. He too might get obsessed with the deflowering me like Lord Ruslan did.

"Your wish is my command, principessa," he responded, his tone dripping with subtle teasing.

I waited for a few seconds before asking, "Is it safe now?"

"Not quite yet," he replied, his voice now closer to me.

I was tempted to turn to see him, but I fought the urge. What if he was naked and just wanted me to see him that way? Instead of giving him that satisfaction, I moved away, but it seemed like the farther I stepped, the closer he got.

Just when I took another step, I tripped, but his arm circled around my waist just before I could hit the floor and pulled me up till my chest met his. I was then forced to open my eyes.

His face was dangerously close to mine, his eyes boring into mine. A strange tingle ran through me when I realized how close we were right now.

"Just in case you forgot, you are mine now. And no amount of thrashing or dirty talking would change it," he whispered into my ear, his voice annoyingly sexy. Wait, why would I even think that? What’s wrong with me. There’s absolutely nothing sexy about me being stripped of my free will.

He pulled away from me after making sure I was steady on my feet. My eyes moved downwards towards his torso, and luckily for me, he wasn’t naked down there. He had a towel tied around his waist.

“If you’re done staring, I’d need you to use bathroom quickly. You need to sleep well before we board the flight tomorrow,” he stated, turning away from me.

My brows furrowed in curiosity. “Flight to where?”

He put a lighter at the edge of a cigarette. “You’ll find that out later.”

Hesitantly, I walked towards the bed to grab the clothes that I could wear. They were quite decent compared to what I thought they’d be. I grabbed them and hurried into the bathroom.

By the time I got out, Stephan was nowhere to be found. I went to check the door only to find it locked. Of course.

I climbed into the bed, pulled the sheets to my neck and snuggled into a comfortable position. Not too long afterwards, I found myself drifting into unconsciousness.

A tap drew me out of it a while later.

“Get up. We have just thirty minutes to get out of this shit trap.

Groggily, I stirred on the bed and turned to face him. He was dressed in a black shirt with its sleeves rolled up and a few buttons loosened at his chest.

“Up, Alina,” he ordered, but I defiantly didn’t move an inch.

He muttered something inaudible, rolled the sheets over my body and pulled me straight off the bed and into his arms in a very fluid move that I didn’t see coming. This man practically just carried me like I weighed next to nothing.

“Put me down. Message received,” I complained, but he didn’t listen to me. Instead, he proceeded to leave the room while carrying me bridal style. And yes, you guessed right, we got the attention of almost everyone within a mile radius.

When we got to the car, one of his men opened up the door for him to place me inside. He made sure to lock the door before we around the car to come sit beside me.

“That wasn’t necessary,” I chided, my arms crossed, but he didn’t spare me a response.

Not too long after, we arrived at an airport where a private jet was waiting for us. He has a private jet, I don’t know why that surprises me, but it does. I knew he was rich, but not this rich.

Once I got in, the air hostesses practically treated me like I was their boss’s wife or something with the way they were all over me.

After a few bone stiffening hours in the air, we finally landed. A host of people were waiting for us to get down from the plane amongst which was seductively dressed woman. She was all smile at first, but the moment she laid eyes on me, the smile fell flat in half a second, and I just knew by default that I was in for a very long ride.