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 can hear doors opening, and I know they're looking for something . . . or someone. Hardly daring to breathe, I try to meld into the wall, to make myself so small I would be invisible to the gunmen prowling out in the hallway.


"Where is she?" a harsh male voice demands in strongly accented English. "She's supposed to be here, on this floor."


"No, she's not." The voice answering him is Beth's, and I stifle a terrified gasp, realizing that the men have somehow captured her. She sounds defiant, but I catch an undertone of fear in her voice. "I told you, Julian already took her away—"


"Don't fucking lie to me," the man roars, his accent getting thicker. The sound of a slap is followed by Beth's pained cry. "Where the fuck is she?"


"I don't know," Beth sobs hysterically. "She's gone, I told you, gone—"


The man barks out something in his own language, and I hear more doors opening. They're coming closer to the room where I'm hiding, and I know it's only a matter of time before they find me. I don't know why they're looking for me, but I know I'm the 'she' in question. They want to find me, and they're willing to hurt Beth to do it.


I hesitate for only a moment before stepping out of the room. On the other side of the hallway, I see Beth huddling on the floor, her arm held tightly by a black-garbed man. A dozen more men are standing around them, holding assault rifles and machine guns—which they point at me as soon as I come out.


"Are you looking for me?" I ask calmly. I've never been more terrified in my life, but my voice comes out steady, almost amused. I didn't know it was possible to be numb with fear, but that's how I feel right now—so terrified that I don't actually feel afraid anymore.


My mind is strangely clear, and I register several things at once. The men look Middle Eastern, with their olive-toned skin and dark hair. While a couple of them are clean-shaven, the majority seem to have thick black beards. At least two of them are wounded and bleeding. And for all their weapons, they seem quite anxious, as though they're expecting to be attacked any minute.


Chapter 53