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Book: His Captive, The Unabridged Collection: Billionaire Dark Romance by Meg Watson
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Authors: Meg Watson
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far too close for comfort. I turned to him, staring up, the fear obvious on my face now. I think he liked that. The last thing I saw of him was his tongue, thick and curling over his open bottom lip as he grabbed me by the hair.
He spun me around, one of his arms tucking beneath my chin.
Oh, god, he's going to strangle me.
I kicked wildly, thrashed, tried to headbutt him, but nothing seemed to loosen his grip on me at all. His arms clamped around me like a vise as I clawed pointlessly as his sleeves. My mouth opened wide and I desperately tried to call for help, but nothing came. There was no one else around, and if the tenants above saw us, they didn't care.
The world was fading quickly around me, and my head throbbed like it was about to burst. I went limp just as much from resignation as exhaustion.
This is it.
Spirals twirled in front of my vision, setting the edges to fire and then black ash. I couldn't believe how cavalier he was about it, as if he'd done it a million times. Expert, quick, efficient.
I knew I couldn't have been his first; he was too brazen. That thought was simultaneously comforting and terrifying. I’d found someone truly dangerous, and I hadn’t seen it coming at all. But at least I wasn't the only woman he'd singled out. At least I wasn’t unique.
As soon as that thought drifted through my mind, I was gone.
CHAPTER 1
I had been turned into stone. Some loud machine throbbed rhythmically, its hydraulic chugging relentless in my ears like a semi truck’s air brakes. I couldn’t even think, it was so loud. The sound beat at me, pulverizing my blood into pellets, splintering every thought before it had completely formed.
My eyes wouldn’t open. I felt like I had been dipped in amber and frozen. A thick shell covering my whole body. Nothing worked. I couldn’t even piece together a command to move any part of me that I could remember.
But that sound, that fucking sound . Goddamn. Why wouldn’t it stop? If I could just have a moment away from it to clear my head, to get my bearings… I desperately wanted silence so I could understand what was going on.
A red haze seemed to seep behind my closed eyes, buzzing with a threatening swarm of tiny lights. Panic. Was I dead? Did he kill me?
Stay calm. Stay calm. You can figure this out.
I tried to feel something. Color. Pressure. Cold. If I concentrated, I was almost sure I felt light settling on my face. There was a light above me. I was lying down. The light was so bright that I didn’t really want to open my eyes, but didn’t think I could anyway. Or could I? If only that throb would stop, I could try to think straight. What was that?
I know that sound.
That’s me. That’s my heart beat.
I’m still alive.
That awareness came with others: pain, panic, fury. I was alive, but paralyzed? Why couldn’t I open my eyes? Why couldn’t I move? I centered all my thoughts on my eyes, feeling the seam where they were closed, the weight of the light that fell on my lids. With an absurd amount of effort, my lashes gradually began to tear away from where they were stuck to my cheeks.
At first it was like a sharp, jagged shard. The light was crazy, pounding down in blocks that shifted and bleared in starbursts and random colors. My nerves jangled out a painful objection. I blinked, half-afraid that allowing my lids to close again would mean they would never reopen. It was so bright it was practically sound, a shout. I couldn’t make sense of it.
You’re doing great. Now breathe.
But breathing hurt, bad. I wanted to whimper. The air sawed at my throat as it passed and I fought to swallow the pain. But at least I was certain I was alive now. Every second, the white light shifted to a slightly better focus. With each blink, I could make out a little bit more.
Still I was trapped in stone. Nothing was moving. I mustered all the energy I could to sit or roll, but either I didn’t remember how or something was preventing me.
He spun me around, one of his arms tucking beneath my chin.
Oh, god, he's going to strangle me.
I kicked wildly, thrashed, tried to headbutt him, but nothing seemed to loosen his grip on me at all. His arms clamped around me like a vise as I clawed pointlessly as his sleeves. My mouth opened wide and I desperately tried to call for help, but nothing came. There was no one else around, and if the tenants above saw us, they didn't care.
The world was fading quickly around me, and my head throbbed like it was about to burst. I went limp just as much from resignation as exhaustion.
This is it.
Spirals twirled in front of my vision, setting the edges to fire and then black ash. I couldn't believe how cavalier he was about it, as if he'd done it a million times. Expert, quick, efficient.
I knew I couldn't have been his first; he was too brazen. That thought was simultaneously comforting and terrifying. I’d found someone truly dangerous, and I hadn’t seen it coming at all. But at least I wasn't the only woman he'd singled out. At least I wasn’t unique.
As soon as that thought drifted through my mind, I was gone.
CHAPTER 1
I had been turned into stone. Some loud machine throbbed rhythmically, its hydraulic chugging relentless in my ears like a semi truck’s air brakes. I couldn’t even think, it was so loud. The sound beat at me, pulverizing my blood into pellets, splintering every thought before it had completely formed.
My eyes wouldn’t open. I felt like I had been dipped in amber and frozen. A thick shell covering my whole body. Nothing worked. I couldn’t even piece together a command to move any part of me that I could remember.
But that sound, that fucking sound . Goddamn. Why wouldn’t it stop? If I could just have a moment away from it to clear my head, to get my bearings… I desperately wanted silence so I could understand what was going on.
A red haze seemed to seep behind my closed eyes, buzzing with a threatening swarm of tiny lights. Panic. Was I dead? Did he kill me?
Stay calm. Stay calm. You can figure this out.
I tried to feel something. Color. Pressure. Cold. If I concentrated, I was almost sure I felt light settling on my face. There was a light above me. I was lying down. The light was so bright that I didn’t really want to open my eyes, but didn’t think I could anyway. Or could I? If only that throb would stop, I could try to think straight. What was that?
I know that sound.
That’s me. That’s my heart beat.
I’m still alive.
That awareness came with others: pain, panic, fury. I was alive, but paralyzed? Why couldn’t I open my eyes? Why couldn’t I move? I centered all my thoughts on my eyes, feeling the seam where they were closed, the weight of the light that fell on my lids. With an absurd amount of effort, my lashes gradually began to tear away from where they were stuck to my cheeks.
At first it was like a sharp, jagged shard. The light was crazy, pounding down in blocks that shifted and bleared in starbursts and random colors. My nerves jangled out a painful objection. I blinked, half-afraid that allowing my lids to close again would mean they would never reopen. It was so bright it was practically sound, a shout. I couldn’t make sense of it.
You’re doing great. Now breathe.
But breathing hurt, bad. I wanted to whimper. The air sawed at my throat as it passed and I fought to swallow the pain. But at least I was certain I was alive now. Every second, the white light shifted to a slightly better focus. With each blink, I could make out a little bit more.
Still I was trapped in stone. Nothing was moving. I mustered all the energy I could to sit or roll, but either I didn’t remember how or something was preventing me.
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