Illusion (Swept Away Book 1) (6 page)

“W
ake up.”

A voice in my dreams was getting louder and louder. I groaned as I tried to block it out. My head was aching, and I didn’t want to open my eyes. My whole body felt stiff, and all I wanted to do was sleep off all the pains in my body.

“Wake up, Bianca.” The voice was more insistent this time, and I froze as I realized that I wasn’t dreaming.

My eyes flew open, and my body stilled as I stared at a large expanse of turquoise water in front of me. Then I remembered what had happened before I’d blacked out.

“Jakob?” I whispered hurriedly, feeling panicked.

“That’s me,” he answered me quickly, and I made a face at the water at his slightly snide tone. All my worries and concerns for him quickly fled.

“What’s your problem?” I asked him softly, feeling out of it and sweaty.

“Besides from being kidnapped and tied up?” he responded back to me snappily, and I wondered what had happened to the caring man in the back of the car.

“Hey, don’t take it out on me.” I knew he could hear the confusion in my voice. “I didn’t kidnap you.”

“I know.” His voice was less stressed sounding. “Sorry, I’m just being irritable.”

“I understand.” I nodded slightly. And I did. This situation would infuriate anyone. “It’s so hot,” I moaned as I felt the hot sun beating down on me. Sweat was trickling down my face and making me even more uncomfortable. “I’m sure that’s not helping to make you feel better.”

“We’re not in New York anymore.”

“You don’t say.” I shifted and fell back against him slightly. The ropes were chafing my wrists, and I was starting to feel claustrophobic, tied to him. I blinked a couple of times, trying to adjust my eyes to the bright sunlight and trying to forget that we were constrained so close together. “Where do you think we are?”

“No idea.”

“Do you remember me?” I asked inquisitively.

“Remember you?” He sounded confused.

“From the coffee shop?” I continued. “We were sitting at the same table and I dropped my bag.” I wanted to tell him that I’d been a bitch only because I’d been in the middle of a deadline, but kept my mouth shut.

“Oh, yeah. You’re the girl that thought someone was watching you.” He spoke slowly. “I guess you were right.”

“I guess so.” I sighed. “Though, that wouldn’t explain why you are here as well.”

“A man came up to me when you left the coffee shop.” His voice was stiff. “He asked me what we’d been talking about and how I knew you.”

“He did?” I gasped.

“I told him to mind his own business.” He sounded irritated. “Perhaps that wasn’t the smartest thing to do. I should have told him I had no idea who you were. Maybe I’d be at work now instead of tied up with you.”

“I’d much rather be in my small apartment with the window fan that barely works than tied up here with you,” I retorted, feeling irrationally hurt by his words.

“Aren’t you a pleasant one to be around.” Jakob’s tone was smooth behind me, and I was irritated that I had allowed him to make me lose my cool already.

“I’m just saying how I feel,” I retorted again, and we were both silent. I wasn’t sure what it was about him, but he rattled me. Especially now that I had seen him properly. I swallowed hard as I thought about the salty taste of his skin against my tongue. He’d tasted good, but he looked even better. His eyes had been so vividly blue and discerning. We’d made eye contact for only a few seconds, but I’d felt like he was looking into my soul. Something about him had me off-kilter. I knew it was because I was attracted to him, but I wanted to ignore the fact that my body already had designs on him.

“I know.” His back stiffened against mine. “Let’s try not
to take this out on each other. We’re going to have to work together to get out of this mess.”

“How long do you think we’ve been here?” I felt a drop of sweat running down my face, tickling my cheek, and I tried to ignore it.

“I’m not sure.” He sighed. “I just woke up a few minutes ago myself.”

“I can’t believe they injected us.” My voice rose in panic. “I didn’t expect this.” I looked around at the desolate beach and shuddered. I hadn’t expected this at all.

“I didn’t have any expectations when I realized I’d been kidnapped.” His voice was dry.

“What do you think they’re going to do to us?” I whispered. “Do you think those two men are still here?”

“I don’t know.” He sighed again. “I don’t remember much after they injected us.”

“What are we going to do?” I deliberately kept my tone calm. “And where do you think we are?”

“I have no idea where we are,” he replied. “I smell the ocean though. We have sand beneath us and I’m hearing the sound of trees in the wind.”

“Yeah, I can see the ocean.” I shook my head in an attempt to shake off the drops from my face. “I don’t know what ocean though.” I sighed as I stared at the large expanse of water in front of me. “Or what beach we’re on. For some reason I don’t think we’re in South Beach.” I attempted a joke and heard Jakob chuckle.

“I guess all the spring-breakers decided to leave when they
saw us,” he responded, and I smiled. At least he had a sense of humor. That was something. I shifted on the ground and tried to move forward, but I didn’t get far. I’d almost forgotten that we were still tied together.

“The sand feels harder than I remember it feeling when I’ve gone sunbathing.” I spoke again as I wiggled my ass, trying to get more comfortable.

“Yeah, this isn’t the most comfortable position I’ve ever been in.” He sighed. “Maybe we should try to stand up and figure out a way to get out of these ropes.”

“That sounds like a good idea.” I agreed and then froze. “Hold on.” I gasped as I saw something white out of the corner of my eye. “I think someone left us a note.” I moved my head as far right as I could, but I still couldn’t read it. There was a small white shell holding the piece of paper down, and it was obstructing my view of the words.

“What does it say?”

“We need to shift slightly so I can read it.” I tried to shuffle in the sand, but my body and his together were too heavy for me move. “Please try to move with me.”

“Okay.”

“Okay. One, two, three—move right!” I shouted out, and we scooted our butts to the right about an inch, bumping back against each other as we moved. I twisted my head as far right as I could and still couldn’t read it. “One more time!” I called out again, and we moved together in sync.

“I need to try to brush the shell off of the paper.” I spoke
determinedly. “Try to relax your body as I attempt to move forward and shift it, okay?”

“Okay,” he answered quickly, and I leaned forward, moving my arms to the right, attempting to shift the shell.

A part of me was pleased that we seemed to be working so well together. I almost yelled out loud in happiness as the shell rolled off the paper, but then I read the note. I read it silently at first and then aloud, my ears alert to hear how he responded.

“ ‘Without the truth, there is no answer,’ ” I said softly.

“That’s it?” He sounded as perplexed as I felt.

“No.” My voice was low. “There’s another line.”

“What does it say?”

“ ‘In pain, there is darkness. In light, there is nothing.’ ”

The words seemed to carry in the wind, and we sat there in silence. I watched as the wind picked up the piece of paper and carried it down the shore. I closed my eyes as I thought about what the third line had said—the line I had been too scared to read aloud. My body felt tense, and I no longer trusted Jakob as much as I had earlier. The line flashed again in my mind.
Your bodies are now one, but not as united as they will be by the time I’m done.

“I don’t really know what that means. What do you think?”

“I don’t know.” I chewed on my lower lip. “I can’t figure it out. Obviously, it’s some sort of clue, but I have no idea what it means. Maybe something will happen in the dark?” Maybe Jakob was going to try to do something to me? I tried not to panic.

“I guess, though that doesn’t make sense.
In pain, there is darkness
isn’t the same as if the note had read
In darkness, there is pain
.” His tone was odd. “Though, the day is still young.”

“What do you mean by that?” I asked quietly, but he didn’t answer.

“We’re going to have to work together to get untied.” He spoke up suddenly and then paused. When he spoke again, his voice was lower, almost seductive. “Unless you want to stay tied together, of course.”

“Why would I want to be tied with my back to a man?” I retorted, and shivered with suspicion.

“I agree. If I’m going to be tied to someone, I very much want us to be facing each other, or preferably, I’d like to be tied on top of her.” He chuckled slightly as I gasped, and I was glad he couldn’t see my red face. “Come on, Bianca. Look around and see if you see anything sharp.”

“Sharp?”

“Like scissors?”

“Oh, you think those two bozos dumped us here and left us with scissors?” I retorted, and looked around, suddenly wishing I were here by myself after all.

“Look for anything sharp, like a rock or a tree stump—anything that might help us saw through the rope.”

“All I can see is the ocean.” I paused. “Or the sea. Or whatever this body of water is that I’m facing.” I could hear the shrill of terror emanating from my voice as I stumbled over my words.

“Calm down, Bianca.”

“How am I supposed to keep calm?” I shouted, and tried to move.

I could feel my body starting to shake. I wanted to be away from him. His body pressed against mine was no longer comforting. It was ominous and foreboding, and I needed my space.

“Stop.” His voice was strong. “You need to look for something sharp.”

“Why don’t you look?”

“I can’t see right now.”

“What?” I stilled. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, I can’t see.”

“Oh my God, did they do something to your eyes? Are you blind?” My heart started racing as I realized that things would be a lot harder if Jakob couldn’t see. I felt guilty for feeling slightly relieved as well. If he couldn’t see, it would be a lot harder for him to do something to me.

“They blindfolded me,” he said patiently, and I felt like a bit of a fool for jumping to conclusions.

“Oh, okay.” I turned my head as much as I could. “We’re going to have to try to stand up.”

“We’ll have to lean back into each other and use each other as support,” he agreed, and I felt him push his back into mine. He felt hot against me, and I yelped as I felt a slight shock at the added pressure of his body against mine.

“Are you going to act like this all day?”

“Are you going to annoy me all day?”

“Bianca, what do you want me to do?”

“Have you tried wiggling your nose and forehead?” I asked softly, slightly embarrassed at my tip.

“Sorry, what?”

“Wiggle your nose around. It might shift the blindfold on your face.”

“And you know this how?”

“Just do it!”

“I knew you were a closet freak.” He laughed, and his body moved up and down against mine.

“What are you doing?” I snapped, way too aware of how close we were.

My mind ran back to the third line in the note. What had the writer meant by saying our bodies were now one? Had they known how annoying and exhilarating it would be to be tied to someone? Or were they trying to warn me about Jakob? My thoughts were running through my mind a million miles a minute, and I knew that the note on the beach was related to the letter that I’d received. They were both too cryptic to not have been related. My mind flashed to the note I’d received in my apartment and the man who had been looking through my father’s box. For a brief second, I wondered if Jakob had been the same man, but then I remembered they looked nothing alike.

“Jakob.” My voice was light. “What’s going on?” I spoke again, trying to ignore my thoughts as he bounced around behind me.

“I’m wiggling my nose like you said.”

“And you need to move your whole body to do that?” I snapped, unable to hide my tension any more.

“My God, you are a bitch, aren’t you?”

“You’re not exactly Prince Charming.”

“It seems to me that you’d be happier with the Marquis de Sade,” he snapped back, but then he laughed and confused me.

“What’s so funny?”

“I was just laughing because really I should be flattered.”

“Flattered about what? Being kidnapped?” My voice rose, and I was incredulous about his words. Was he a psycho? I had dismissed that thought earlier, but now I wasn’t quite sure. Maybe this was part of the plan. Maybe I had trusted the wrong person.

“No, silly. I’m flattered that I turn you on.”

“Excuse me?” I squeaked out as he continued to wiggle against me.

“That’s the only reason I can think of for you acting so tense and irritable.”

“Really? That’s the only reason you can think of?” I banged back against him hard, hoping to wind him but really only hurting myself. I could feel anger building up in my stomach, joined by a certain and sudden irrepressible thrill. “Just wiggle your nose, your eyebrows, and your cheeks, and try to get that thing off.” I sighed in exasperation. My body was on high alert, and my mind was already working overtime.

There had to be a reason why we were here together. We couldn’t have been randomly kidnapped. Maybe the man that
had been following me thought Jakob was some sort of contact of mine. Maybe my kidnappers thought he knew something about my investigations. Or maybe not. Maybe he had his own story. If I could figure out his story and background, maybe I could figure out why we were both here. There was, of course, the possibility that he had more sinister aspirations, but I couldn’t allow my mind to focus on that.

“Yes, ma’am,” he responded, and continued his erratic body movements against me for the next few minutes.

“So, can I ask you a few questions?” I said, and then took a deep breath and waited for him to respond.

“Yes, my name is Jakob; yes, I’m single; yes, I like sex; no, I’m not a freak; and no, I don’t do drugs; though I do like a drink every now and then.” He spoke matter-of-factly, and I giggled.