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

Still, when Leah comes home from the University of Michigan, we get together to hang out. After a few hugs, most of the initial awkwardness dissipates, and she's again the same girl who was my best friend all through middle school and beyond.


"I like your place," she says, walking around my studio and examining the paintings I have hanging on the walls. "That's some pretty cool art you've got there. Where did you get these from?"


"I painted them," I tell her, pulling on my boots. We're going out to a local Italian restaurant for dinner. I'm dressed in a pair of skinny jeans and a black top, and it feels just like old times.


"You did?" Leah gives me an astonished look. "Since when do you paint?"


"It's a recent development," I say, grabbing my trench coat. It's already fall, and it's starting to get chilly. I had gotten used to the tropical climate of the island, and even sixty degrees feels cold to me.


"Well, shit, Nora, this is really good stuff," she says, coming up to one of the explosion paintings to take a closer look. Those are the only ones I have up—my Julian portraits are private. "I didn't know you had it in you."


"Thanks." I grin at her. "Ready to go?"


We have a great dinner. Leah tells me about going to college at Michigan and about Jason, her new boyfriend. I listen attentively, and we joke about boys and their inexplicable need to do keg stands.


"When are you applying to college?" she asks when we're mid-way through dessert. "You were going to go local at first. Are you still planning to do that?"


I nod. "Yes, I think I'm going to apply for the spring semester." Although I can now afford to go to any university, I have no desire to change my plans. The money sitting in my bank account doesn't seem quite real to me, and I'm strangely reluctant to spend it.


"That's awesome," Leah says, grinning. She seems a little hyper, like she's overly excited about something.


"Hey, Nora," a familiar voice says behind me, just as we're getting ready to pay our bill.


I jump up, startled. Turning, I stare at Jake—the boy I had been on the date with that fateful night when Julian took me.


The boy Julian had hurt to keep me in line.


Chapter 63