C1
Adrenaline pumped through my veins as I pushed my way through the sticky, sweaty bodies surrounding me. Unsurprisingly my entire body trembled as a mixture of fear and excitement swelled in my chest and, not for the first time, I found myself anxiously anticipating the moment I'd find my target.
I easily ignored every obscene comment thrown my way as I buried my little body further into the booming, overcrowded nightclub; my eyes anxiously and relentlessly searching the sea of frustratingly unrecognisable faces.
An eruption of butterflies exploded in my stomach when I finally found her. I hurried to dip my hand into the bag gently bumping against my thigh, my fingers immediately curling around the hard, cold object I needed to complete my mission.
For a brief moment I silently studied the girl sitting at the bar, rolling my eyes when she gently placed her small hand on the bulging forearm of the man sitting across from her. While his large, muscular back was all I could see of him, it became obvious that, as she batted her eyelashes and twirled her dyed blonde hair around the index finger of her free hand, she found him attractive.
When her amber eyes flickered to meet my gaze, I hesitated but eventually let out the breath I didn't know I'd been holding and prepared to move forward.
Just as I took that step, someone stumbled into me, prompting me to stagger backwards into someone else. The person I'd fallen into immediately caught me in their strong arms and as soon as my bare skin touched theirs, a shiver of pleasure, excitement and expectancy raced down my spine like a speeding train.
"Shit," as soon as the word left the strangers lips, the thrill I felt from being in his arms increased ten-fold. I almost melted in the spot from the sound of his deep, smooth voice and I immediately wished I could listen to him forever. As soon as I straightened up and the stranger released me, I whipped around, expecting to find and thank my saviour. When I realised that the spot he'd been in was now empty, a dejected sigh unconsciously slipped out.
Why on earth did my hopes just skyrocket?
Once more I turned back to the girl and my heart dropped when I noticed she'd moved from her place. I internally cursed myself for being so stupid and again started hunting for her, pushing a hand into my bag to grab at the familiar object once again. I eventually reached the back of the club, directing my gaze to one of the many dark booths along the wall before a relieved grin spread across my lips when, finally, I found the girl I'd been searching for. Without hesitation this time, I stalked over to the two seated there and withdrew the item from my bag, slamming it down on the table.
The girl rolled her amber eyes as she looked at the object and without any sign of wavering she stood, looped her arm through my own and grabbed the lipstick I'd placed down moments ago. She then dragged me away from the bulky, perplexed man and rested her head on my shoulder, pulling me to the bathrooms.
As soon as the door banged shut behind us, she let go of me and hoisted her body up onto the bench, withdrawing a compact mirror from her bag before she needlessly reapplied the coral coloured lipstick I'd just given her.
"What was wrong with him?" she curiously asked, her molten coloured eyes suddenly meeting mine. A small smile crept onto my face and I shrugged
"Married. I think he's even got two kids and a dog," Althea groaned at the sound of my soft, unused voice, resting her head against the mirror as her eyes fluttered shut in disappointment.
"How do you do that, Jules? He seemed perfectly single to me."
"Dog hair on his jacket and a tan line on his ring finger. Besides -the ring was in his back pocket."
"What kind of guy brings along his wedding ring when he's trying to pick up?" Althea shook her head in disgust but shrugged anyway, cocking an eyebrow as she sceptically scrutinised me. "And what about the kids?"
"Tired. Poor posture. It's pretty obvious that they're only young."
"You're amazing," Althea wistfully murmured, her eyes fluttering shut as her drunken body began to shut down. "Well what about you? Did you at least get a number?" at her words my expression hardened and her eyes flashed open again -now alert. "I've told you a thousand times -you don't need words to communicate," she slid her body off the sink and fluffed her hair once she'd turned to the mirror. "Besides, it's all in your head, remember? The doctor said your inability to speak in social situations is purely psychological."
"That doesn't exactly help me when I need to talk to someone other than you, Althea," I softly deadpanned. For a split second, her expression softened but, like always, she covered her feelings up with a scowl.
"All you have to do is meet a guy. So what if you can't talk to him? I'll talk to him for you."
"I don't need a guy. I'm here to look out for you."
"Yeah, yeah," she waved me off. "I'm going back out there to get me some action. You do you," she turned and planted a chaste kiss on my cheek before practically skipping from the bathroom.
God she's impossible.
I ventured over to the sink and ran my fingers through my short blonde hair. When I saw that her kiss had left a faint pink outline on my pale skin, I licked my thumb, distractedly rubbing the rogue makeup away before dismally slapping my palms on the sink, dejectedly gazing back at my reflection.
So what if the only person you can actually talk to is Althea? I don't need a guy, I mentally repeated, pushing away from the sink before I also returned to the loud nightclub.
After a few minutes of lurking in the corner and watching the people exasperatingly dance around me, I eventually decided that by now Althea surely would've caught herself another guy -meaning it was about time I looked for her to figure him out. For a while I searched the club in the same manner that I've done a thousand times and quickly realised that she definitely wasn't in here anymore.
Calmly, I made my way to the back entrance, and once I'd cast a fleeting glance to those around me, I swiftly exited into the darkened alley. I heard the echoed sounds of familiar giggles and heels clicking on the cemented ground and immediately I whipped around, trying to at least get a glimpse of the man Althea was leaving with. The second my eyes found her pressed against the wall at the other end of the alley by yet another muscular man, I frowned.
Something about him wasn't right.
Despite the fact that their lips were locked and it was disgustingly obvious that Althea was enjoying herself, I still felt uneasy about his actions. When his lips ventured down to her neck, she started to writhe and struggle against him and I immediately hurried forward, my own heels rapidly clacking loudly against the ground. Once I was only a few meters away, the man froze and seemed to sniff the air before suddenly whipping around to stare at me just as Althea's body sagged in his arms.
I froze mid-step and all air left my lungs with one swift gasp as I stared, wide-eyed with horror at the man metres standing a few feet away.
Although the alley was dimly lit, I could clearly tell that his face was coated in crimson blood and with little effort I could see that his eyes were blacker than a cloudy night sky.
As the scent of metallic blood invaded my nostrils, my worried gaze flickered to Althea and, the moment I saw that blood was pouring from a fresh wound on her neck, I staggered backwards towards the club, finally realising just how much danger I was in.
Did he just bite her?
Before I could react, someone grabbed me around the waist and pulled me towards the wall, their body pressing against mine in the same manner as the guy at the other end of the alley. Immediately, the man gently touched my cheek with his fingertips and the electrical pulse I felt in the nightclub when I was pushed into the stranger from before rushed through me.
"Stay still or he'll kill you," the vaguely familiar voice muttered. I looked up from his chest and my heart thumped erratically when I focused on his light blue eyes. Automatically, like I always did, I studied him, my own blue eyes trailing over his short, messy, dark hair down to his straight nose and further to his thin, pink lips.
As I quietly inspected his flawless face, I rapidly noticed that some areas of his seemingly unscathed skin were lighter than others -clear places battle scars should've been.
Despite his almost inhumanly beautiful features and calm expression, I knew the moment I felt something hard press into my ribcage through his leather jacket, that this man was disturbingly dangerous.
Let go of me, I wanted to order but because of the lump of fear settling in my throat, I settled for punching his chest. He rolled his eyes and grabbed my wrists, effortlessly holding my hands against him. He then cast a quick glance in Althea's direction and instantly let me go, turning away before stalking back towards the club like nothing happened. I anxiously whipped around to where Althea had been attacked and with a heavy heart, I noticed that the alley was now empty.
Oh no. What the hell am I supposed to do? He killed her. He-he-
With shaky hands I withdrew my mobile from my pocket, a sob rising in my throat when I realised there was absolutely nothing I could do. Who was I supposed to talk to when I couldn't say a word?
"Hey!" that familiar voice shouted and all of a sudden the phone was ripped away from me. "You can't call the police on this one, cara mia. They can't do anything."
I desperately looked up to him, blinking blankly at his words.
"What'd you see?"
I blinked again.
"Hello?" he frowned impatiently and waved the hand holding my phone in front of my face, trying to get me to speak up.
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," I whispered, more to myself than to him. A few seconds passed before I realised that I'd actually spoken out loud to someone other than my best friend and my eyes widened in surprise. Instinctively I looked away from the beautiful man standing over me and self-consciously tugged on the sleeves of my leather jacket, not sure why it was that I suddenly had a voice around a complete stranger.
"Try me. What'd you see?" he repeated without emotion, folding his sculptured arms across his chest.
"Blood," my voice trembled slightly. "His eyes-"
As usual, my sentences weren't particularly cohesive and I found myself trailing off as I desperately tried to think of the words to explain what I'd witnessed.
"His eyes?" the guy echoed, obviously waiting for me to finish.
"I-I don't know," I finally muttered, my gaze dropping to the filthy concrete floor. My entire body jolted when I felt two fingers touch the bottom of my chin -sending a pleasurable electrical current racing through my body. The stranger guided my face upwards so I finally met his piercing icy stare and when I did, he let go of me, his expression almost bored.
"This isn't a joke. Your friend is in danger. You need to tell me what you saw or she'll probably die," he emotionlessly stated -as though the fact didn't really bother him at all.
Me on the other hand? I felt the back of my eyes burn with unshed tears.
"What's your name?" he disinterestedly asked, his smooth voice practically music to my ears.
I obviously saw too much. What if he's here to kidnap me too?
Or worse?
"Your name," he repeated, his brows drawing together as he asked the question. When I didn't respond for a second time, he stepped forward and I instinctively shrunk back, feeling meek under his tall, intimidating athletic build.
"Bridget," I automatically lied, knowing that if he knew my real name, he'd probably be able to find out everything about me with a quick Google search.
I could've sworn that his lips twitched upwards and his eyes flashed with amusement.
"Liar." Another step forward.
"I-I'm not lying," I protested as my back hit the wall. I cast a fleeting glance at my surrounds, desperately looking for a way to escape.
"Juliet," he stated with certainty and at the sound of my name my body immediately quivered and jolts of pleasure raced down my spine.
What the hell was that?
"How the hell did you know?" I snapped back, surprised at the sudden fierceness in my tone. His lips curled upwards into a beautiful smirk and then, with nimble fingers, he reached into his jacket and held out my purse, flipping it so I could see my own driver's licence. With a gasp, I reached into my bag, angrily snatching the purse back with a dark glare when I realised it was definitely my purse he'd stolen.
"When did you?-"
"Back in the club when you practically bowled me over."
"So you're a thief?" I hesitated to ask the question -mostly because I wasn't sure I wanted to know the answer.
"No," he shook his head, his blue eyes focused completely on me. "Just curious."
"Well if you knew, you shouldn't have asked," I grumbled and he nonchalantly shrugged. "Who are you anyway?" I cautiously questioned, shoving my purse into my bag before zipping it up again.
"Doesn't matter. What matters is that you're coming with me," he seriously replied, his lips thinning as his smirk vanished.
I tried to look for any indicator that he was joking and when I found none, I thought about the gun that I knew was hidden in his jacket and unadulterated fear gripped my heart and soul. When his lips twisted into a taunting grin, the fear I felt doubled.
"In case you didn't realise -this is a kidnapping, cara mia."
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Hey guys!
Copyright © 2018 by Lillrah
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Credit to those who own the images you see on the cover.
-sarah