thecutedara

Kidnapped, Taken to a private island. I never thought this could happen to me. I never imagined one chance meeting on the eve of my eighteenth birthday could change my life so completely.

Now I belong to him. To Julian. To a man who is as ruthless as he is beautiful - a man whose touch makes me burn. A man whose tenderness I find more devastating than his cruelty.

My captor is an enigma. I don't know who he is or why he took me. There is a darkness inside him - a darkness that scares me even as it draws me in.

My name is Nora Leston, and this is my story.

Two Heart

I don't want to leave the man who kidnapped me.


I should be rejoicing at the thought of the police coming to arrest him, but I feel horrified instead. I don't want Julian behind bars. I don't want to be separated from him, not even for a minute.


Closing my eyes, I tell myself that I'm a fool, a brainwashed idiot, but it doesn't matter.


As I lie there in that hospital bed, I come to terms with the fact that I'm no longer an unwilling captive. Instead, I am simply a woman who belongs to Julian—just as he now belongs to me.


I recuperate in the clinic for the next week. Julian visits me every day, spending several hours by my side, and so does Beth. Angela takes care of me most of the time, although a couple of doctors have dropped by to view my charts and adjust my painkiller dosage.


I still have not told anyone about being a victim of kidnapping, nor am I planning to do so anymore. For one thing, I get the sense that the clinic staff is paid to be discreet. Nobody seems the least bit curious about what an American girl is doing in the Philippines, nor are they inclined to question me in any way. The only thing Angela wants to know is whether I'm in pain, thirsty, hungry, or need to use the bathroom. I'm pretty sure that if I ask her to call the police for me, she would just smile and give me more painkillers.


I have also seen a number of guards stationed in the hallway outside the room. I catch glimpses of them when the door opens. They're armed to the teeth and look like scary sons of bitches, reminding me of the thug who beat up Jake.


When I ask Julian about them, he freely admits that they're his employees. "They're there for your protection," he explains, sitting down on the side of my bed. "I told you I have enemies, right?"


He did tell me, but I hadn't grasped the full extent of the danger before. According to Beth, there is a small army of bodyguards stationed at and around the clinic, all protecting us from whatever threat Julian is concerned about.


"What enemies?" I ask curiously, looking at him. "Who is after you?"


He smiles at me. "That's none of your concern, my pet," he says gently, but there is something cold and deadly lurking beneath the warmth of his smile. "I will deal with them soon."


I shudder a little, and hope that Julian doesn't notice. Sometimes my lover can be very, very scary.


"We're going home tomorrow," he says, changing the topic. "The doctors said you'll need to take it easy for the next few weeks, but there is no need for you to stay here. You can recover at home just as well."


I nod, my stomach tightening with a mixture of dread and anticipation. Home . . . Home on the island. This strange interlude at the clinic—so close to freedom—is almost over.


Chapter 52