Willing Captive (17 page)

I shrug. “I’m
Irish.” I say that as if that should explain my drinking
ability.

Boo cringes and
hisses, “Ssshhhhhh!”

I chuckle quietly. I
hadn’t even spoken loudly. Nox grins at her. “You better get your
shit together today, Boo. I won’t let you sleep in tomorrow. You’re
lucky I let Rock look after you today. He should be on ground
patrol.”

Boo snorts. “Look after
me
?
The ass is asleep, Nox. Didn’t lift a finger when I rushed myself
to the bathroom to throw up, just snored and turned
over.”

Nox scowls, “That
fucker. He’s pulling a double this afternoon.”

Boo grins in
victory. I love the relationship she and Rock have. It’s unlike any
relationship I’ve seen or read about. It’s almost like they’re in
constant competition with each other but never drastically, only
playfully. It’s a sweet rivalry. I smile wistfully.

They must have a lot
of fun together. Lucky them.

I’ll be lucky if I ever get a boyfriend. Knowing my luck,
it’ll never happen. I’ll be the old, plump, spinster that knits
covers for everything I own. Throw in a few cats for companionship
and
that
will be my life. I mean,
I can’t even remember my first kiss and it only happened last
night.

Nox and Boo chat
while she pours herself a cup of Joe. Unintentionally, I find
myself looking over at Nox’s full lips and my brain wanders.

What would they have
felt like? Rough or soft? Maybe he uses chap-stick.

I
fight the urge to scoff out loud. Nox does
not
use freakin’ chap-stick, brain!

Okay, scratch the
chap-stick. Did he kiss me back? Would his kisses have been sweet
and gentle, or demanding and possessive?

Holy shit, I’m
making myself antsy.

Well, he did say he
stopped you after a few seconds. Why didn’t he stop you
immediately?

Well…because…that…that is actually a good point.
Why
didn’t he stop me
immediately?

Because he wanted
you to lay one on him, of course!

No
way, brain. You’re crazy. Which means
I’m
crazy.

Well, I
am
having a
conversation with my brain. I’ve officially lost it. Bravo, Nox.
You win. I need to stop reading erotic romance. It obviously fills
my head with sexual thoughts…all the
freakin’
time.

“
Lily?”

I shake my head and
look up to see Nox and Boo both staring at me and looking
concerned. “How long was I out of it?”

Boo grins. “A while.
Been callin’ you for a solid minute, hon.”

Nox’s lip twitches
and I glare at him as if this is all his fault. I tell him
pointedly. “I am never drinking again,” then throw my head down on
the table with a bang.

Chapter
Thirteen
Your
knife. My back.

Lily

It’s been weeks
since I slept in my own bed, but every day I stop in at my old room
to get a change of clothes. And today is no exception. Walking into
my room, I stop dead in my tracks when I see a small white box on
my bed. It’s pretty damn small, so I’m ninety-nine percent sure
it’s not a bomb.

Sigh.

Shaking my head, I
mentally chastise myself for being stupidly ridiculous. That’s the
problem though. When you find out someone’s trying to kill you, you
become suspicious of everything. And what with my dad’s paranoia
rubbing off on me, suspicion plus paranoia equals cray-cray.

I walk closer to it
and scrawled on the top in chicken-scratch writing is ‘Lily’.

Lowering my hand, I
pick up the box when someone clears their throat behind me. I drop
the box like it’s hot and spin on my heel to face the intruder. Nox
stands in the doorway dressed in his regular uniform of black cargo
pants, army boots, a tight, black ribbed tank, and a black leather
belt.

All black for the
dark and sinister man.

His hands grip the
top of the doorframe making his muscular arms look veined and angry
hot. He leans into my room, his face void of any emotion. His blue
eyes look into mine, “Open it.”

Narrowing my eyes at
him, then the box, I ask suspiciously, “What is it? And more
importantly why did you get me something?”

He sighs, suddenly
looking tired and drawls, “Well, it was your birthday and I didn’t
say a thing…”

I cut him off, not
wanting him to know that it did kinda hurt, “You forgot. It’s cool.
It happens. You’ve got a lot on your mind, and I’m sure my birthday
wasn’t nearly as important as the other things you’ve got going
on.”

He nods in
admission, “I did forget.” He jerks his chin to the box on my bed
and says quietly, “That’s something you can use so open it.
Please.”

Sitting on the bed,
I put the small box on my lap and lift the lid. I gasp wide-eyed
and whisper, “Is this for real?”

I look up at him
with my stunned expression and his lip twitches, “Yep.” He runs a
hand down his face and says softly, “How did I know you were going
to be excited about it, princess?”

Lifting the small
three inch marble handled switchblade into my hand, I’m suddenly
confused. My brow furrows and I ask, “Why this?”

Nox nods as if he’s
mentally asking himself the same question, then explains, “That was
mine. One of the first I bought. It’s light and easy to conceal.
It’s one of my favorites.” Taking a step into my room, he utters,
“I can’t be there all the time. In fact, I probably won’t see you
again after this is all over. It would give me piece of mind
knowing you have it. Just promise me something.”

Listening to his
explanation has taken any fight I had out of me. I nod and he says,
“You have to keep it on you all the time, even here at the house,
and that if you ever feel you’re in danger, you use it. On whoever.
No questions. Just do what you need to do to keep safe.”

I shrug and say
quietly, “I don’t know how to use this, Nox.”

Smirking at me as if he was expecting me to say that, he tells
me, “I’m going to teach you how to use it. You’ll have lessons with
me. Every day.”

A small smile
crosses my face and I tell him, “Okay. Cool.” I take him in a
moment before I drawl teasingly, “You know, this is actually really
sweet.”

Nox scowls and says,
“Sweet? I just gave a twenty-three year old woman a weapon. A
weapon that could kill a person. Not only that, but I’m going to
teach her how to use it to kill a person, and how to harm someone
well enough to escape a bad situation.” Shaking his head, he goes
on, “Sweet? No, princess. I don’t think that’s very sweet.”

Smirking, I turn my
back on him and whisper loudly, “Whatever you say.”

Totally sweet.

***

“
Oh my God. I think I’m gonna be sick.” Blocking my nose with
my forearm, I begin to sweat. This is my reaction to seeing a pig
carcass hanging from the rafters.

Outside. In broad
daylight. As if it is normal.

“
Don’t sweat it, Lily. This is the best way to teach you.
You’ll be able to see the wounds you inflict and I can show you
where to use little force to create maximum damage.”

I open my mouth to
speak, but only a high pitched squeak escapes me.

Finding my voice, I
whisper, “I think I changed my mind. I don’t want to do this.”

Game over.

A firm and
cautionary, “Lily,” comes from Nox.

Turning to look at
him, he offers, “You feel like you need to puke, we’ll stop.”

Okay.

I can do this.

Okay. I’m good.

Nodding, I tell him,
“I’m good now. Where do we start?”

Looking relieved, he
takes the small knife from my hand, opens it in record time then,
lightning fast, he plunges the blade into the belly of the pig.

The carcass swings from side to side with my switchblade
embedded in its belly and I’m surprised that it doesn’t bother me
as much as I thought it would. I guess I thought there would be
more blood. And there’s, like,
zero
blood.

“
What was that?” I’m proud of myself for the steadiness in my
voice.

“
Kill shot.”

Holy shit.

Nox comes up behind
me, raises my hand and repeats the motion over and over again,
bladeless. I’m confident in myself. I feel like I know what I’m
doing now.

He places the blade
into my hand and jerks his chin to the piggie. Clearly hesitating,
he asks seriously, “You’re thinking about it all wrong. What if
this carcass was a bad guy? A person who was trying to hurt
you?”

It’s not very
motivating but I get what he’s saying.

Then he utters,
“What if it was someone trying to hurt Terah?”

And without
thinking, I grit my teeth and attack.

Perfectly.

My blade sticks out
of the swinging pig’s belly and Nox’s hand lands on my shoulder,
squeezing. Pulling me back a little, his lips hit my temple. I feel
his smile there. The hand on my shoulder moves up to my neck and
with another quick squeeze, he separates himself.

“
Again,” he demands.

And I smile.

Yeah.

I can do this.

***

Today was a good
day.

I learned to protect
myself in a way I hope I never have to use, but the simple fact is,
knowing what I now know could save my life.

Nox is
(surprisingly) a very patient teacher. Even when I almost stabbed
him in the eye.

I told him! I warned
him! I said, “You sure you want me to come at you with something
sharp in my hand?”

He grinned. “Lily.”
He said this while shaking his head…like it was cute.

Alright, mister. You
asked for it.

What Nox was
not
expecting
was for me to incorporate the defensive and attack skills that he,
Rock, and Boo had been teaching me for a month. So when he lunged
at me and I feinted then jabbed, he didn’t see it coming. My hand
with the switchblade jerked back as soon as I realized
this.

What actually happened was I got him. I
got
Nox.

Insert shit eating
grin here.

The sharp blade
pressed against his cheek bone for not even a second, but it was
enough to draw blood.

So, of course, I
shit myself.

Dropping the blade
as if it was burning a hole in my hand, I stepped back and waited
for the yelling and arguments to start.

But they never
came.

Instead, I got
another neck squeeze and smiling lips at my temple. Still with his
lips against me, he muttered thoughtfully, “Maybe I wasn’t the only
one born for this life.”

My
heart clenched for a full ten
seconds before it released when I whispered my reply,
“Maybe it’s because we’re lonely.”

His arms wrapped
around my waist and he held me close, my side tucked into his hard
stomach and chest. I closed my eyes, savoring the rare sessions of
closeness he allows. When he kissed the top of my head and
murmured, “Yeah. Maybe,” I did something that stunned even me.

Turning my head, I
stood on my tiptoes and brushed my lips against his.

Lightly.

Whisper soft.

Pulling back, I told
him, “I don’t feel lonely when I’m with you.”

His eyes met mine,
searching for something. When he found whatever it was he was
looking for, I lost his deep blues. With a squeeze of my waist, he
let me go, and walked away.

I stood there
thinking about what just happened, and I knew it changed things.
Yet again.

Why was I feeling
like this?

What was it about
this man that made my brain stupid and irrational?

Why did I never want
this threat against me to end?

Nox.

I wanted to stay
with him.

And tonight would
help me make my decision.

***

Already sitting on
the blue sheets of Nox’s bed, I wait for him to undress and get
comfortable.

Dressed in a
spaghetti strapped tank and white cotton panties, I’m sure I’m far
from sexy right now, but I made sure to shave my legs and
underarms. I even blow-dried my thick reddish locks and applied a
little gloss to my lips. I don’t have perfume here at the safe
house so I had to make do with deodorant.

Isn’t that how one
becomes sexy?

My brain slaps a
hand to its forehead, shaking its head in despair.

Removing shoes and
socks first, he undoes his leather belt and he narrows his eyes at
me. “You ‘kay?”

Shit! Play it cool,
Lil.

Rolling my eyes, I
scoff, “Uh, yeah. Why wouldn’t I be?”

The zipper to his
cargo’s come down and I swallow hard. His lips purse. “I don’t
know. You’re too quiet tonight. Normally talkin’ my ear off before
bed.”

This was true.

I always had
something to say and Nox was a good listener. He never once fell
asleep while I was talking. He would always answer when asked. And
he always made me feel like what I was saying was worth listening
to, just by providing the attention.

That’s one of the
things I love about him. Just one. There are too many things to
name, and right now, looking at Nox undress, I can spot a few good
ones.

I should make a
list.

His tight black tee
comes off next revealing his sculpted abs and broad chest.

Sigh.

Throwing it on the
chair next to the bathroom, he places both hands on his hips and he
watches me. His eyes become slits as he mutters, “Something’s fucky
here.”

Shit! Busted.

Heart racing, I ask,
“Will you sit, please?”