Dragon Song (10 page)

Stone didn’t answer. He kept moving. He needed to be ready when the next call came in and maybe contact his father to report this issue. The kidnapper had demanded a ransom knowing who Stone was and nothing else, but it was better to be safe than sorry on all counts. Any incident regarding his people had to be reported.

Stone left the apartment complex and jumped into his car. He sped through light traffic and roared into the underground parking lot at his place. By the time, he reached his floor in the elevator, all plans were set. This issue would be on its way to being resolved before midnight.

Chapter Fourteen

Tielle became aware that time had passed. The room was dimmer, and the light that had been shining through a crack in the curtains had all but disappeared. She must have fallen asleep. She tried stretching out the kinks in her muscles. Her shoulders ached like nobody’s business being forced to remain in one position too long. Scanning the room, she thought to see the kidnapper, but he was nowhere in sight. She strained to hear if he had gone into the bathroom again, but no sounds emitted from that direction. While she considered working at the ropes holding her, she stiffened. A key slipped into the door’s lock.

The door opened an inch but stopped. A woman called out a greeting, and Tielle recognized the kidnapper’s response. How many times had she said hello in passing to someone and not known that somewhere nearby they had another person held captive or they’d just committed a crime. She closed her eyes, pushing those thoughts away. If she worried that every person she met was a criminal, she’d go crazy. Again, she thought the man had shown his face to her. He couldn’t afford to let her live.

Tears pricked Tielle’s eyes as the man entered the room. He glanced at her, but she blinked the wetness away. She would never again give him the satisfaction of seeing her lose control. As it was, the lump he’d given her on top of her head still ached. He could have easily killed her right then. She needed to think of a plan to escape.

A muscle in her hip spasming, Tielle wiggled around on the bed trying to work it out. When she did, the kidnapper’s eyes shifted to her hips, then to the vee between them and on up her belly to her breasts. The lust in his ogle made her want to vomit, but it gave her an idea.

She cleared her throat a few times, and he came over to remove the gag.

“Um, mister, my mouth is dry. Is there any way I can have some water?” She widened her eyes at him, hoping he thought she was pretty and, above all, innocent. She added a small pout. Too much, and it was just silly, although she’d seen plenty of women bring men to their knees with that kind of thing.

The man said nothing. He continued to stare, his bulging eyes shifting from her mouth to her eyes, to her body. At last he went over to the table where a pitcher and cups sat. He poured ice water into one of the cups and returned to the bed.

Tielle wiggled her hands with a small plea. “I can’t hold it like this.”

He smirked. “Nice try.” He sat down on the bed and hoisted her up a little. Tielle had known that’s what he would do. She arched her back, pushing her breasts forward and gave him a smile like he was her hero. Making small satisfied
mewls,
she drank from the cup and then leaned back, running the tip of her tongue over her lips.

“Thank you so much,” she said with a breathless quality to her voice.

“Oh hell!” the man grunted. “The boss can’t blame me, right? I’ve never had a black woman before.
Might be interesting.
Just a small sample, huh?
I got condoms and everything.
Always prepared.”

Tielle tried not to make a snide remark about hell freezing over before she’d let a dirty loser like him touch her body. “I-I don’t know,” she said. Better not to seem too
eager,
or he’d know she was trying to seduce him. She cast her eyes downward to hide how grossed out she was, and breathed deep enough to make her breasts rise and fall. The man almost salivated.

“I do.” He leaped to his feet and pulled his T-shirt over his head to reveal a narrow chest. The gun was tucked at his waist. Tielle had a moment of panic, but he took the piece off and laid it on the nightstand. In two seconds he was down to his boxers and hopping on the bed. He positioned Tielle on her back and straddled her. This wasn’t going how she thought it should.

Searching her mind for a solution, she noted he was either not fully hard to cursed with a small dick. Inspiration hit. “How am I going to stroke you to get you hard like this?” To back up her words so he wouldn’t catch on, she raised her knee a little intending to push it against his privates, but she couldn’t do it. The thought alone was disgusting. Instead, she brushed his thigh. That was enough.

He lurched for the ties at her hands and undid them. Now that she was free, she had to think of what to do to disable him. The man might be scrawny, but he was wiry. He had greater strength than she did. Unless she caught him by surprise, she was not getting out of here. An idea came to mind.

With a sensual grin on her lips, she ran her hands down his chest to relax and loosen him up.

“Oh, baby,” he groaned. “I should have done this sooner.” He leaned forward, hanging above her. “Get your hands down there and make me ready.’

She nodded, swallowed, and drove her knee up as hard as she could into his nuts. He bellowed in pain and slumped down on her. With all her strength she shoved him to the side, scrambled to the end of the bed, and reached toward the nightstand. The choice between the gun and the small lamp was no choice at all. She snatched up the lamp, spun around, and cracked the man over the head with it.

“That’s for hitting me, you asshole.”

The lamp shattered, and she tossed away the remains when the kidnapper fell unconscious. Running toward the door, she realized she didn’t have shoes on, but she was not going back to search for them. The man also had her phone, but taking the time to get it could mean being recaptured. That was
so
not happening if she could help it. On bare feet, Tielle sprinted down the walkway past several closed doors. Somewhere nearby people laughed, and a machine released ice into someone’s bucket. A TV out of sight
blared
the ten o’clock news. For some reason, all the normal sounds of life at a motel frightened her.

She darted around a corner and rested with her back pressed to the wall while she caught her breath. In both directions were more rooms but no sign of the motel’s office. Fear tightened her chest with pain.

A click caught her attention, and she jerked, opening her eyes. A woman had just opened her car door and was leaning into it. Tielle took a chance to approach her. “Excuse me, can you help me?”

She tried to sound calm so she wouldn’t scare the woman. Still, wariness filled the woman’s eyes. “Yes?”

Not wanting to reveal just what she’d faced, she said, “I had a fight with my boyfriend, and I need to call someone to come get me. Can I borrow your cell phone?” The woman looked doubtful. Tielle thought fast. If she didn’t get help now, that man might come along and get both her and this woman. They couldn’t fight a gun even if there were two of them. She raised her hand to her head to feel the bump and winced. “He had the nerve to hit me, and then he threw me out of the room without my shoes, purse, or my cell phone. Please, just one call.”

“You poor thing.
That asshole.
Of course you can use it.” She dug it out of her purse and handed it to Tielle. “I’m glad you’re not one of those weak women who put up with being abused just to keep a man.”

Tielle rolled her eyes as she dialed. “Girl, please. I am so not the one, okay?”

The woman laughed and moved to sit inside her car while she waited for Tielle to finish. Turning her back for more privacy, Tielle willed Stone to answer. Only after she’d called him did she realize who she should have phoned was the police, but it was too late. Stone barked hello into the phone. His voice gravelly and deeper than she remembered, she jumped in surprise.

“Stone?
It’s me,” she said.

“Tielle, where are you?” he almost shouted, still that freakish voice.

Embarrassed like she’d just taken back the woman’s high view of her, she asked where she was, what motel and what street. The woman probably thought she’d been high when her boyfriend brought her there, but Tielle relayed the information to Stone.

“Go to the office, and don’t leave it for anyone. Don’t talk to anyone else. I will be there in two minutes.”

Two minutes? She wanted to argue and to question him about why he didn’t want her talking to anyone, but he hung up. Once again, she felt like he didn’t give a crap. He only wanted to resolve this issue because her being out here, snatched by some creep, meant his money was threatened. She thanked the woman for the use of her phone, asked which way the office was. By the time she rounded another corner, the place came into view along with the complex’s pool. She realized she’d been on the back of the layout, toward the trees. Of course so no one would see the man drag in an unconscious woman. These people needed to know what kind of mess was going on at their place of business.

Then she remembered Stone didn’t want her talking to anyone else. She considered ignoring that clipped command, but was too shaken up to go into much detail anyway. This place was a dive. Even the pool looked like it hadn’t been cleaned in a while, she thought as she passed by. That didn’t stop the teenagers from jumping into it over and over, showing off. One of them whistled and called out a suggestive comment to Tielle. She shivered and picked up her step.

“Come on, Stone,
please
,” she muttered.

Arms came around her before she could step into the office, and someone spun her around. She shrieked but Stone said, “Shh, it’s me. It’s okay.”

Tielle threw herself into his arms. She buried her face in his chest, dragging his familiar scent into her nostrils like it was a drug. The tears she’d thought she quelled sprung up and wet her face and his shirt. Thinking she might never stop sobbing, Tielle clung to Stone. He lifted her in his arms and touched his lips to her ear. The sing song tone of his voice lulled her.

“Sleep, baby.
I will take you to a safe place. Sleep,” he sung.

Tielle could not resist him. Her mind grew cloudy, and her eyelids heavy. The tears slowed. She yawned and curled tighter into Stone’s hold. Soon, she dropped off into a deep, dreamless sleep.

* * * *

Tielle woke to the sound of people speaking outside of the room she occupied. Her ordeal came back in a flash, and she fell out of bed to scramble around on the floor. Covers tangled about her legs as she tried to find a way out. The door opened, and Stone stood silhouetted in the entry. She backpedaled away from him, still confused with sleep. “Don’t,” she whispered and held her hand out as if to ward him off.

He crossed the room faster than her eyes could perceive him moving. One minute he stood across the room, and the next he was gathering her in his arms and holding her close. “
It’s
okay, Tielle. You’re safe here, at my house.”

She shook her head.
“No, the man.
He tried to…” She trailed off and sobbed. “He wanted me to…to touch…”

A guttural roar burst from Stone’s chest. “I will find him and kill him.”

Tielle screamed. She struggled in his arms, but Stone wouldn’t let her go. He moved to the bed and laid her down. When he stretched his bulky length beside her, Tielle quivered in his arms. Her mind was full of thoughts of what could have happened, how much worse it could have been
had she
not escaped. She pressed the heels of her palms to her eyes, feeling her stomach roil.

“I can’t believe how scared I am. I can’t make it go away,” she cried. “This isn’t me.”

Stone’s arms tightened. He ran his cheek alongside hers and tugged her deep into the cocoon of his embrace. “I will calm you. I….”

“Please,” she begged. “Not with that thing you do. I don’t want you to take control of me. I want to decide what I do. You don’t know what it felt like when my hands were tied.”

Stone’s eyes widened. He seemed about to say something but stopped and looked down at her wrists. He appeared to notice the rope burns she’d sustained, and the rage clear in his eyes warmed her, even calmed her down a little. He lifted one of her hands to his lips and kissed it, allowing the caress to trail to her wrist and around to the sensitive inner flesh. A pleasurable zing went through Tielle’s system. The irrational terror began to fade and be replaced by desire for her lover.

Stone sensing that she wouldn’t fight him and run away, eased his hold, and Tielle rolled to her back. Stone hovered above her, stroking her face and staring into her eyes. The tenderness she saw in his made her heartbeat increase, but she dared not believe it was anything more than lust. He never stopped wanting her, and she’d denied them both.

She reached up to pull his head down so she could kiss him. Their lips met and parted with Tielle pushing her tongue into his mouth. Stone’s invaded hers, and she moaned as he sampled her lower lip before twirling his tongue with hers. She arched up to his chest, her nipples pebbled and all the more sensitive as they grazed his hardness. Someone had removed her clothing and dressed her in a nightgown. From the way the thin material moved about her body, she knew she was naked underneath.

Tielle took Stone’s hand and guided it over her hip. He didn’t need any more encouragement but pulled from her grasp and slipped his hand around to her ass. Her legs parted of their own accord to encircle his waist, but Stone reared back. While she watched with desperate hunger, he stripped out of his clothing. She didn’t miss one inch of delectable flesh, one ripple of taut muscle as it was exposed. Not soon enough, he shrunk the space between them, and Tielle welcomed him back in her arms.

Capturing her mouth again in a rough kiss, he lifted her head with a hand at her nape. Tielle surrendered herself to him. The fear and what she’d gone through earlier was a memory for the moment. All that could occupy her mind at this precise time was how quickly she could be filled with Stone and how long she could lose herself in him.

He raised her nightgown and pushed her legs wider. He immersed his fingers in her pussy, and Tielle came up off the bed crying out. She was so wet, Stone could pump in and out of her with no problem, but he withdrew right away to replace his hand with his thick cock. Like it was their first time, his size shocked Tielle. She whimpered and grasped his shoulders, tugging and pushing him away at the same time. Stone didn’t let her get away. He dislodged her nails from his skin and laced his fingers with hers. Holding onto each other for dear life, they thrust together.