Illusion (Swept Away Book 1) (5 page)

“Don’t scream.” His hand flew to my mouth again. “If they realize we’re awake, they might do something drastic.” His fingers pressed against my mouth, and my body stilled as I wondered if he was trying to cut off my oxygen supply.

“Drastic like what?” I mumbled against his palm as he pulled it back.

My tongue accidentally tasted his skin, and I swallowed hard as I realized just how close together we were. His skin was salty and sweet and reminded me of honey-roasted peanuts. I wanted to laugh at the absurdity of my thoughts. I shifted as his smell overwhelmed my senses again. I felt a slight chill run down my spine as I waited for his response. Goose bumps were popping up on my arms and chest, and my whole body was awakened in the most instinctual sense possible.

“What do you think?” He sounded annoyed, and I felt an urge to slap him. “Lean into me,” he whispered into my ear.

“What?” My eyes widened at his words. My body jerked back at the breath of air that filled my eardrum. I felt tense and aware of every inch of his body next to mine as my skin tingled from the contact. I was mad that I was oddly turned on by this crazy situation. I didn’t even know who this man was or what he was going to do to me.

“Lean into me. My body will provide warmth and will help to calm you down,” he repeated slowly, as if speaking to a fifth grader. “You’ll go into a panic if you don’t.”

“You don’t know me.” I glared at him. My eyes had adjusted slightly to the dark, and I could make out the outline of his face. He was definitely not anyone I remembered seeing before.

“Listen, lady, I’m trying to help you so your body doesn’t go into shock.”

“What are you? A doctor?”

“Just shut up for a minute.” He pulled me toward him and pushed my face into his shoulder.

At first, I panicked and tried to pull away, but then I realized that he was right. It was oddly comforting to be held in his arms. His body was warm and hard, and I felt protected. I closed my eyes as I snuggled next to him and tried to pretend that he was someone I cared about. Someone I actually knew. For a moment, he was actually someone I wanted to be snuggled next to.

It had been so long since I’d actually been intimate with someone. All the guys I’d been talking to recently had seemed obnoxious and annoying, aside from David, who hadn’t been someone I’d had thoughts of being with for a long time. Though, of course, he hadn’t known that in the beginning. We had broken up because he hadn’t been a fan of my making him wait for sex. And as a result, he hadn’t been a fan of mine. We’d argued so much toward the end of our six-month relationship that I had just ended it to be done with him. I’d
been happy that I didn’t have to pretend anymore, yet I’d been scared to trust him with part of the truth. Sometimes I wondered if that hadn’t been a mistake. Maybe telling him part of the truth and asking for his help in getting to the bottom of my mother’s death hadn’t been the right way to go. I’d gone with my gut, but I had wondered many times if he could be trusted. Especially in moments like these when I was scared and lonely in the back of a truck. Being kidnapped with a strange man made me doubt that I’d made the right decision.

“I’m not going to hurt you,” he whispered softly. “We’re in the same position here. We need to support each other.” His tone had changed, and I felt my body relax slightly. His tone was soothing, as opposed to sinister. I didn’t feel like this man was going to harm me. At least not now.

“What’s your name?” I whispered against the man’s shoulder. “I feel like we should at least know each other’s names, now that we’re being intimate.” I attempted a joke and groaned inwardly as I heard how stupid I sounded.

“Intimate?” He sounded surprised.

“Intimate doesn’t mean sex, you know.” I was irritated again. “We are crowded together in a small space. Your arms are around me. My body is pressed against yours. We’re being intimate.” I bit my lower lip after I spoke.
Shut up, Bianca
.

“Trust me. I know.” He groaned and shifted, and I could feel something hard pressing against my stomach.
Oh boy
.

I stilled as I realized what it was. I swallowed quickly as my body reacted swiftly, my skin heating up and my stomach
churning. Part of me was delighted that he was excited by me. The other part was disgusted and made me want to slap myself and him. Rationally, I knew that his member was reacting to our being in such close quarters in the only way it knew how.

“Jakob,” he said gruffly, and I turned my face up to his.

“What?” I whispered, then pulled back quickly as my lips lightly grazed his. “I didn’t realize we were so close.” My heart was beating fast now, and my tongue darted out and gently licked my lips.

“My name is Jakob,” he whispered again, and I could hear a hint of humor in his tone.

“I’m Bianca.”

“Nice to meet you, Bianca. It’s a pity it had to be in such circumstances.” He tried to shift again, and in doing so, my head slipped from his arm, bumping into the floor.

“Ow!” I cried out loudly and instinctively.

“Shh.” His hand flew to my mouth, but it was too late. The vehicle stopped abruptly, and I heard doors slamming. He kept his fingers pressed against my lips, and his skin felt slightly rough against my lips. My body stilled as I lay there, and I resisted the urge to reach out and bite his fingers.

The waiting was the hardest part. It felt like hours went by as we lay there in the silence, only the sounds of our breathing letting us know we were both still alive. Then I heard the sound of footsteps and wished that I were still in that unknown void. My body tensed up and then started shaking in fear.

“It’s okay, Bianca. It’s okay.” Jakob’s voice sounded worried, and in that moment I decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. I found myself wanting to trust him, even though my brain was screaming at me to trust no one.

There was a loud banging above us, and I looked upward, wanting to see what was going to happen next, even if that meant coming face-to-face with death. I swallowed hard with fear but kept my eyes peeled upward.

“So you’re awake?” a deep, menacing voice yelled at us as the trunk opened. A stocky man stood there, his deep blue eyes cold as they stared directly into mine. He had on a ski mask, and all I could think was that his lips looked odd.

I’d always thought that lips were the most sensuous and sexy part of the face, but now I realized that they were sexy only when seen with other parts. Lips by themselves were not sexy at all. I started giggling hysterically as I stared at his mouth.

“What the fuck?” The man glared at me as if I were crazy. “You think that’s funny?”

“No . . .” I swallowed again, wanting to throw up. My hand moved to my face to stifle my laughter as fear overtook me. It was then that I felt Jakob move behind me.

“Let us out.” His voice was demanding as he tried to get out of the trunk.

“Stay still.” The man pushed Jakob back into the trunk with such force that I heard him hit the back of the trunk hard. His hand fell down on my hip as he fell back, and I jumped slightly.

“Sorry,” he whispered as he fell back.

I nodded my understanding. I was too scared to talk or even turn to see if he was okay.

“Let us out,” Jakob demanded again, this time less forcefully.

“We sure will.” The man grimaced. “Hey, Billy. Hurry up.”

“I’m coming!” another voice called back to him. “I’m just getting the shots ready.”

“What shots?” I screeched, and attempted to straighten my legs.

“Don’t move, lady.” The man pulled out a gun and pointed it at me. “Make one more move, and you’re dead.”

Jakob spoke up. “Is that really necessary?”

“Is that necessary?”
the man echoed mockingly, then laughed evilly. “What do you think?”

“I think you’re enjoying this too much,” Jakob continued, his voice harsh. “Have some humanity. You’ve got a scared woman in front of you.”

“Be quiet.” The man stood there and stared at us for a second before continuing. “When my boss gave me this job, I was delighted. I don’t get enough fun in my life.”

“You’re sick.” Jakob’s arms circled my waist to calm me as we lay there. “You’re very sick.”

“I listen to my boss’s orders. If anyone’s sick, it’s him.” The man shrugged.

I stared at his fingers on the gun. They were short and grubby, and his nails were full of dark grease. I wondered if I
should attempt to knock the gun out of his grasp, but I knew it was unlikely that I’d succeed.

“Okay, where are they?” The other man approached the man with the gun. He looked young—younger than I imagined. And he didn’t have on a mask.

I tried to take a mental photograph of his young, handsome face. He had light brown hair and brown eyes. He was dressed nicely in khaki pants and a white shirt. He looked to be the complete antithesis to the scruffy man in front of us.

“Billy, go put your mask on!” the first guy shouted.

“Oh, yeah.” The other guy looked at me for a second, and I could see fear and concern in his eyes. I had a feeling he knew now that I’d be able to identify him if I ever got the chance.

“What an idiot,” Jakob whispered in my ear, and I nodded in agreement. “Should we try to make a run for it?” His fingers gripped my waist tightly.

His body tensed behind mine, and I knew that he was just as anxious as I was. For some reason, it made me feel more connected to him. He was no longer just the strange man I’d been sharing the back of a car trunk with. He was no longer someone I believed to be involved in the kidnapping. I could tell from the fear in his voice and the slight trembling of his muscular body that this man, this Jakob, was a fellow kidnapping victim. He was someone like me, who was worried for his life. I could hear it in his voice. He was anxious but also angry.

I shook my head slightly, still unable to look at him. My face just wouldn’t turn, even though I was really curious to
see what he looked like. “I don’t think we should risk it,” I mumbled under my breath. I was pretty sure he couldn’t hear me, but the talk was for me as much as it was for him.

“What did you say?” The guy in front of me took a step toward me, and pushed the gun closer to my face. My heart stopped. This was it, then. I was going to die.

I shook my head quickly and furiously. “Nothing.” I squeaked out. “I didn’t say anything.”

“That’s what I thought,” he growled, and reached in and grabbed my arm. “Get out.” He pulled me out of the car, and I stumbled to the ground, feeling disoriented.

I thought about making a run for it, but then I remembered Jakob. I didn’t want to leave him by himself. I had to make sure that he was all right as well. I stood there and peered into the trunk. My breath caught as I finally got a glimpse of Jakob in proper light. I swallowed hard and tried not to stare. “You.” I gasped as I stared at him. It was the man who had been sitting at my table at the coffee shop.

He was incredibly handsome. He had a very low crop of dark brown hair, big, serious blue eyes, and a sexy scrawl of stubble around his chin and jawbone. He looked back at me, and I saw his eyes narrow as he took in my appearance. I wanted to smoothe my hair and wipe the grime from my cheeks. I wished I had some lipstick. I felt like an idiot for worrying about what I looked like when I was in such a scary situation. A small, hysterical laugh wanted to burst out of me again, but this time I was able to control it. I wanted to ask him if he recognized me, but I knew this was not the right time.

“Get out.” The man grabbed Jakob and pulled him out. “And don’t try no funny business, or I’ll shoot you.” He pushed Jakob next to me and pointed the gun at both of us. “Hurry up, Billy!” he shouted to his cohort, sounding stressed.

I looked around me then. I had no idea where we were, but I knew we were no longer in New York. At least, not in the city. We appeared to be in an old empty warehouse of some sort.

I looked to my right and tried not to gaze at Jakob. He was taller than he’d seemed in the car. And more muscular. His body looked very fit and very strong. Part of me thought he’d be able to take out the guy in front of us easily, but then I remembered the gun. The gun changed the whole equation.

“What you looking for, lady?” the man hissed.

“Nothing,” I whispered as I stared into his menacing eyes.

“Good.” He seemed to sigh in relief when Billy walked back to us with his mask on. He had rope in his hands—and two needles. I grabbed Jakob’s arm as they approached. I was starting to feel light-headed.

“What do you want?” Jakob’s voice was commanding, and he looked down at me briefly as I held on to him. “If it’s money you’re after, I can—”

“Shut up.” The man pointed the gun at him, and I screamed. The man froze for a second and gave me another look. “Be quiet.”

“Sorry,” I whispered.

“Billy, tie them up.” Billy paused for a second, and the other man pushed him toward us. “Tie them up.”

“How?” Billy asked, and I wondered if he was new to the kidnapping business.

“With the rope.” The other guy sounded really annoyed.

“But facing each other or away from each other?” Billy muttered.

“I don’t know, and I don’t care.”

“Imbeciles,” Jakob muttered, and I looked up at him. I could see anger in his eyes.

“Don’t make a run for it,” I whispered. “I don’t want them to shoot you.”

He looked down at me and there was a glint of surprise in his expression.

“Are you talking again, bitch?” The guy pointed the gun at me, and I shuddered.

“Hey, watch your mouth!” Jakob shouted, and I saw the man flinch.

“Please don’t shoot him,” I pleaded. “I’ll be quiet.”

“Put your backs to each other,” the guy commanded, and then nodded at Billy. “Tie them up like this. Wrap the rope around their stomachs and then tie up their wrists.”

“I won’t run.” I looked at him. “You don’t have to do this.”

“Shut up!” he shouted. “Inject them, Billy.”

“Inject us with what?” My eyes widened, and before I knew what was happening, I felt a needle in my arm. My eyes immediately felt drowsy, and I felt myself falling into oblivion. I could hear Jakob shouting at them as everything went black, but I passed out before I could comprehend what he’d said.