She glanced down, looked at the tattoos that had been hidden all those years ago by his expensive suit. She wiped away the tears that fell and finally drew her gaze away from his muscular body, inked up forearms, and looked in his dark, bottomless eyes.

  “What are you thinking right now?”

  She swallowed, not afraid of Alex, even if she should be. She didn’t worry about the fact he might hurt her—that he could—but she was afraid of the situation she was in, and how she’d handle it when it was all said and done. Holly shook her head, but she wasn’t sure what she was saying no to.

  “Tell me what you’re thinking,” he said with a little push in his voice, that hardness having chills race up her spine.

  “You had no right to take me away.”

  “You were running,” he said without apology. “I didn’t take you away from anything.” He stood and walked over to the kitchen, opened the freezer, and grabbed a bottle of alcohol out. He took two glasses next and came back to the table. Nothing was said as he poured clear liquid into those glasses. He pushed one to her, took the other for himself, and while looking at her, tossed it back, drinking it in one swallow.

  She looked down at the alcohol, and without thinking, because this was so fucked up, she grabbed the glass and drank it, as well. It burned going down, and made her already teary eyes water even more, but she welcomed the flash of heat it caused in her veins.

  “I may have been running, but you had no right to take me, to think you knew what I wanted.” She was the one to hold her ground now. “You took me to satisfy things on your end.”

  Where is this strength coming from? He’s dangerous. Just look at him, and you can see it.

  She saw the way his jaw clenched, the tightness of his body, and knew she might have crossed the line with her words. Holly knew nothing about him, or what he was capable of.

  He’s capable of stalking me, of taking me away. He’s capable of hurting people and clearly having no remorse. I have no doubts he would have no trouble killing someone that crossed his path.

  “Watch it, Holly.” His voice had gone cold, steely.

  She swallowed, a shiver working its way throughout her whole body. She wanted to say “or what,” but kept her mouth shut, being smart.

  “Or I might throw you over my knee and spank that pretty ass until it’s purple and your pussy is wet.”

  She felt her mouth go slack at his words. But the most surprising, if not traitorous thing her body did, was react to his words by heating, her pussy becoming wet, and her nipples hardening.

  “You’re insane,” she said and stood. She glanced around the room, but didn’t know if she was running from him or what she felt. She turned and saw the front door, ran toward it, but realized it had some state of the art lock on it that was activated by fingerprints. He had his hands on her waist only seconds later, the hold unforgiving. There was a little bit of pain associated with his touch, but she found it arousing.

  She hated that fact, loathed herself for getting turned on by this man when she should be screaming.

  “You can scream, but no one can hear you, Holly.” He let those words sink in before continuing. She heard him inhale right by her hair, and she found herself closing her eyes.

  She was still breathing hard, but the need to pass out had subsided. He turned her around but kept his body pressed right up against hers. The feel of his erection against her belly was clear, and her fear heightened that he may rape her.

  But would it be rape if you want it, if your body is aroused right now?

  Shut up.

  He leaned in close and she held her breath, waiting to see what he would do. When their lips were only an inch apart she turned her head, but he must have anticipated the move because he gripped her chin and forced her to look at him.

  “I’m not going to rape you. I don’t forcefully take from an unwilling woman.” He was silent for a second. “But then again you’re not so unwilling, are you?”

  She didn’t answer; her throat closed tight, her emotions turbulent.

  He ground his erection into her, and she hated that her body started to warm, that this small sound left her. Why did she have this reaction to him?

  “You did take an unwilling woman.”

  He shook his head and pulled back so inches separated their faces.

  Before she knew what she was doing she had her hand up and brought her palm across his cheek. The sound of skin slapping skin was loud, and her whole body tensed, her heart beating faster. His head was to the side, and she could see how clenched his jaw was. He slowly turned his head toward her, grabbed her wrist in a slightly painful, firm hold, and stared at her right in the eyes.

  “Don’t fucking do that again, Holly.”

  She felt her eyes widen at the tone of his voice.

  “Just listen to me, and understand what I’m saying.”

  She shook her head but didn’t speak.

  “You know what’s moving between us is what’s supposed to happen, the chemistry, the fact it feels right.” He still sounded angry, still looked intense. His cock was still a hard rod between them, pressed right to her belly.

  What the hell is happening?

  Even with layers of clothing separating them she could feel how big and long his erection was.

  “I don’t want this. I don’t want you,” she whispered.

  He ground himself harder into her. Hot tears spilled out of her eyes, and rolled down her cheeks. “A part of you wants me. I saw it when you looked at me at the club, when I nearly killed that fucker in the alley for touching you.” He leaned in an inch closer. “You were scared, but you were also turned on.”

  She hated he was right.

  He pulled back just enough to look down at her chest. Her nipples stabbed through the thin material of her bra and top. She was humiliated, horrified, and started crying harder because her pussy grew wetter at the gentle yet persistent pressure of his cock against her belly.

  “I don’t know you.” She swallowed. “You drugged and kidnapped me.” Holly sucked in a lungful of air. “I don’t want this. I don’t want you.”

  “You’re a fucking liar.” He leaned in another inch so that their lips were almost touching. “How can I take you away from what you don’t have?” He was stoic in his expression. “How can I take you away when you were running, Holly?”

  His reasoning was fucked up.

  “Where did you plan on going when you left?”

  She couldn’t answer because she didn’t have a plan when she left her father’s house. She didn’t know where she was going to go, just that she was going to leave. She had no friends aside from Rachel and Darra. But she planned on keeping in contact with Rachel, and Darra was older, had her own life, and had been a lot of help while Holly’s mom had been sick.

  “You had nowhere to run. You left because you wanted to get away from everything, because you were done living the life you were dealt.”

  She shook her head even though he was right.

  “I can give you that escape, that nothingness, Holly.”

  She stared into his dark eyes.

  “All you have to do is give yourself to me. All you have to do is be mine, and I can give you as much or as little of the world as you want.”

  “I can’t do this,” she whispered, but he was right; she’d been running, escaping into the nothingness.

  “I know if I touched your cunt right now you’d be so damn wet for me.” He slowly lifted his gaze from her breasts to her face again.

  She opened her mouth to say something, anything, but instead a small escaped her instead. He pulled away from her, taking several steps back, and she finally sucked in a lungful of air.

  “I can’t let you leave, not until you realize you belong with me, to me.”

  He’s insane, a psychopath. How can he think a person belongs to him?

  “I’m not a piece of property. I can’t be owned.”

  “How is it owning you when you want me as much as I want you?” He smoothed his hand over her cheek, and she couldn’t deny the warmth that filled her despite the darkness of this situation.

  “I’ve wanted you, craved you for a long fucking time.”

  Shock resonated through her.

  And then just like that, he stepped away, breaking contact. “You need to eat what I made you. Once you’re done you can shower and rest. I’ll give you the time you need to understand what’s happening, but I can’t let you go, Holly.” He’d gone from intense to concerned, and she felt whiplash from it all. “I’ve been waiting a long fucking time for this moment, and I won’t let anything or anyone, not even you, ruin this for us.”

  Before she could say anything he turned, leaving her pressed up against the door, shaking, aroused, and even more confused than she’d ever been.

  Chapter Five

  Two days later

  Forty-eight hours had passed with Holly being in Alex’s apartment. He’d given her clothing, all the necessities for her stay, and that made this even more insane. He’d planned for this, clearly.

  He had a balcony off the living room, and she’d gone out there to think, to get fresh air, to just escape the lavish surroundings that were also a prison. The thing that confused her most, the part she hated the most, was the fact she didn’t feel trapped, despite the fact she was.

  She stood on the balcony, her hands on the banister, her focus down below. They were twenty stories up, the wind sometimes vicious as it whipped by, as if trying to carry her away. She did a lot of thinking these last few days, and although Alex keeping her here was wrong on so many levels, this strange part of her felt … alive because of it. She felt free, in a sense, and it was fucking crazy. She hadn’t seen Alex since the night he’d pressed her to the door, and told her that she did want him. He’d frozen her out, maybe as a mental thing, or to make her see, feel, what was going on?

  But there was no phone, not that she could find, and she couldn’t leave the apartment because of the locked front door. She was trapped in the most elemental of senses, but for the first time in her life, she didn’t feel like she was living in a constrained hellhole.

  Even when her mother had been alive Holly had felt like she was detached, living in a life that wasn’t meant to be hers. It had only gotten worse once her mom had died, and that darkness crept up, like an old friend waiting to suck her back into the world of pain and emptiness.

  Can you do this? Can you see what he has to offer?

  She closed her eyes as the wind moved her hair along her shoulders.

  Can you even imagine a life where you give in to the man that drugged and kidnapped you?

  She opened her eyes and stared at the twinkling lights of the city.

  What is out there for you?

  She had a shitty waitressing job, well, had being the word since she didn’t call off and it had been two days. But it didn’t matter because she’d been planning on running anyway, just taking the minuscule amount of money she had to her name, that she’d saved, and leave everything behind.

  What’s the worse that could happen if you saw where this went?

  That was a loaded question, and she knew that giving into Alex, to his twisted way of thinking, might very well put her in the same box she’d been in her whole life. But then there were the “what ifs.” She did feel something strong when she looked at him. It had been instant when she’d seen him in his fancy three-piece suit all those years ago, but he was much older than her, easily in his late thirties or early forties. She’d pushed him out of her mind, forgot about the man that made her feel things she’d never experienced before with just a look. And then she’d felt that connection, that pull, again at the club.

  She turned from the city view and looked into the apartment. The lights were on, and there, standing right on the other side of the glass, was Alex in the same three-piece-suit she’d just been envisioning him in. He stood there like a dangerous man, controlled, powerful, not showing how he felt. What kind of man could go to these kinds of lengths to make a woman his? Surely he didn’t need help in that department, not with his looks and money. Fear and disgust should have been the only things she felt when she looked at him, but maybe she was just as damaged and twisted as he clearly was?

  She left the patio, and once the sliding door was shut behind her she took in a deep breath. He didn’t move, didn’t speak, and she was afraid to say anything.

  “Have you eaten?” he asked, his voice gruff. He started to undo the button of his jacket as he looked at her.

  She nodded.

  He took it off and slung it over the dining room chair, and then went for his vest. Once that was done, he undid the buttons of his shirt, rolled up the sleeves, and loosened his tie. She couldn’t help but appreciate the view. His forearms were covered in tattoos, the ink hidden behind his businessman persona.

  This is crazy. You’re crazy.

  And she was, but her life had already been so out of control, that she didn’t know if she was coming or going most of the time. No, she couldn’t do this with him, couldn’t allow herself to get sucked into some twisted fairytale where the “hero” told her this was what was right, that he was her Prince Charming.

  He’s the anti-hero.

  “I’m ready to go, to leave,” she managed to say and swallowed when this dark look crossed his face. Before he could react, she was moving around him and to the bedroom. She had her purse on the edge of the bed, and although she didn’t know what she’d do when she left—if she left—she knew she had to figure this out on her own.

  She grabbed her purse, turned around, and a cry of surprise left her when she saw Alex standing a front from her, his expression turbulent. This was the first time she’d seen a sliver of emotion cross his face.

  It frightened her.

  “Where do you plan on going, Holly?” He took another step toward her.

  “I don’t know, but I have to go, have to make my own way.” She moved back a step as well, but the bed stopped her retreat.

  “Your way? And how do you plan on doing that?” he crossed his big arms over his chest, his muscles bulging, his strength evident. You have a couple thousand to your name. Going back to your piece of shit father’s house isn’t an option, and the only thing you want to do is escape.” He moved another inch closer, and the scent of his cologne engulfed her. “I can help you escape. I can help your pain about losing your mother and get rid of the memories of your abusive father. I want to be the man that helps you, that brings you to the surface.”

  Her throat tightened at the mention of her mom.

  “This is fucking insane,” she whispered, not meaning to say the words out loud.

  “No, it’s fucking right, and you know it.”

  She shook her head. “I don’t know it.” And she didn’t. It didn’t matter that her body was aroused, that she wanted Alex, remembered him. This was wrong. What he’d done was wrong.

  Holly noticed he glanced at her breasts. She looked down and saw how hard her nipples were, her body revealing what she wanted. Covering her chest with her forearm, trying to hide herself from him, even though she was aroused, she knew it was pointless.

  “You don’t hide yourself from me. Never from me.” He pulled her arm away, and she gasped out, not just from the shock that he’d done so, but because the electricity she felt from his touch consumed her. He then lifted her arm, turning her forearm up, and while holding her gaze with his, ran his tongue over the scars. It was a passionate act, one that had her heart skipping a beat.

  “You said you wouldn’t force yourself on me,” she whispered, pulling her arm away.

  “And I won’t.” He smirked, the first time she’d ever seen him do the act. But it was far from pleasant. “You’re mine, and I’d never touch you if you didn’t want me to, but Holly, tell me your pussy isn’t wet for me. Tell me you don’t want me. Lie to me, if you dare.”

  Her chest heaved, but could never quite get enough into her lungs. Every erogenous zone in her body tingled as he looked at her. When he took a step toward her the heat in her body intensified, her pussy became wetter, and her nipples ached for how hard they were.

  “Tell me you’re not wet, Holly.” There was a challenge in his voice, and she physically shivered from it.

  “I am,” she whispered again, knowing she should have lied, but couldn’t help the truth that came out.

  He clenched his hands at his sides; his nostrils flared, and he looked down at her breasts again. “Take the shirt off. Let me see you.”

  She should have said no, should have screamed, fought him, and told him to fuck off. But something in her shifted, snapped … changed. Instead of being smart about this she gave into her desires, seeing where this took her, where the darkness led. Holly gripped the edge of her shirt and pulled it up and off her head. The air was cool, and her skin puckered with goose bumps. She was scared, of course, but the way he looked at her as if he truly did own her, as if he wanted to possess every inch of her, had a drugged feeling consuming her.

  Holly felt intoxicated, as if her need, arousal, was a living, breathing entity inside of her. His gaze was penetrating, like he reached out and stroked her skin, touched every part of her until she was a shaking, needy mess. There had to be something wrong with her that she desired this—desired him.

  “The bra, and then the rest, Holly. Take it all off.”

  “And if I said no?” She didn’t know why she was pushing this, testing him, but something rose up in her, this desire that was unlike anything she’d ever experienced.

  “Then I’ll take them off of you, and I won’t be gentle about it.” His voice dropped an octave, and a chill raced up her spine.

  But she found herself getting undressed, and when she stood totally naked, letting him see every part of her, she knew what she was doing would forever change her.

  “So fucking hot.” Holly could tell in his voice alone that he was barely holding on. She was so cold all of a sudden, but then a blast of heat filled her at the way he looked at her, at the sight of him running his hand over his mouth, as if he was starved for her. Beads of sweat covered her flesh, and only got worse when he took that last step toward her.