First Chapters - Dark Captive

The next in my First Chapters series is from ‘Dark Captive’

LUMINOSITY PUBLISHING LLP

DARK CAPTIVE

Copyright © June 2016 Jennifer Denys

ISBN: 978-1-910899-89-2

Chapter One

Ding dong.

Laura jumped at the sound of the doorbell and frowned.

It’s rather early for the pizza delivery man.

At least, she thought so, without checking the time. Laura shrugged. Well, it made a change from him being late as often happened.

She stood up from the desk where she was working and made her way to the front door, opening it with a smile, expecting the smell of hot cheese and pepperoni to waft toward her. Her mouth watered in anticipation. She’d only had some chocolate a little while before. Not enough to fill her up.

“Hello, you’re—”

Her comment was cut off as a strong arm wrapped around her waist, pulling her back against a hard, masculine body—someone who was much taller than she was.

Laura’s heart leaped through her chest.

“Don’t move an inch or I’ll see red.”

See red…? What? His gruff demand surprised her so much, she didn’t react as the man started to restrain her from head to foot. Unable to see, it wasn’t until he pulled her hands behind her back and bound them tightly that the realization of the situation penetrated her confusion, and she started to scream. The gag in her mouth, however, prevented this. It tasted of fresh laundry. Whatever it was had been recently washed, thankfully.

Her assailant spoke again, his voice dominant. “Oh no. I’m not having you yell. You are going to be a good girl or I’ll punish you.”

Punishment? The statement startled her so much she barely resisted when he bundled her down the corridor, still holding her securely. The bizarre thought that went through her bewildered head was whether her attacker had closed her front door, and if not, whether people would steal her precious belongings.

There was a sound of a door opening followed by a rush of cold air and the smell of exhaust. Laura became aware that he was taking her down the stairwell that led to the parking lot underneath her building. She tried to struggle but stumbled on the stairs, being unable to see where she was going. She was doubly vulnerable having her hands restrained in this way and didn’t like it.

In a trice, her captor lifted her in his arms. He had no problems carrying her easily, holding her safely, but firmly, as he continued down the steps.

“Can’t have you tripping up and getting bruises.”

Laura nearly giggled, slightly hysterical. Since when do kidnappers worry about their captives getting hurt?

He hadn’t finished.

“The only bruises I want on your body are the ones I am going to put on you.”

She gasped behind the gag and went stiff. What sort of things was he going to do to her?

Close to him as she was, she could smell his scent—sandalwood. Such a pleasant odor shouldn’t be used by a kidnapper, she thought wryly. It reminded of her good times with her lover, when they made delicious love, her head buried into his neck.

Wondering if anyone was in the parking lot to see her, she listened intently, ready to struggle in the hope it would attract their attention. If that happened, he might stop what he was doing—

There was nothing. All was still. The only noise came from him, his heavy breathing as he carried her, and his footsteps that sounded loud and echoing around the bare walls.

Where is he going to take me? Her next out-of-place thought was her captor was lucky she lived in a building with no cameras in it.

He stopped and let her down, and she breathed a sigh of relief, being back on her feet. Despite being bound as she was, she felt more in control, but it was an illusion as he swiftly wrapped a hand around her upper arm so she couldn’t escape. Not that she’d try. Without sight, she’d probably run into an oncoming car, or at the least, crash into parked ones, and he’d easily catch her.

There was a jingle of keys. Aware that he must be opening a car door, Laura started to pull away in vague panic, not sure what she could achieve. His fingers held her tightly and pushed her into the back seat of a car, keeping a hand on top of her head until she was safely inside.

Struggling in earnest now, being out of her comfort zone and not knowing where they were going, she kicked out with her feet and connected with his leg.

He yelped.

Good! I’m not going to make this easy for him.

Unfortunately, he didn’t let go of her. Pressing her down roughly, he gave her a hard slap on her backside, which she hadn’t been expecting. He wasn’t gentle, and she gave a muffled cry.

“I warned you! Next time I’m using my belt.”

She lay down on the seat curling her legs up quickly. This was partly to turn her body away from him, and partly because, for some bizarre reason, she found his words arousing. Well, she had always been one to enjoy kinky sex with her boyfriend. However, this was something else entirely.

When he got in and started the engine, she felt a range of emotions too many to identify, as her heart accelerated along with the car. She’d never been in a situation like this, and it scared her.

As they made their way out of the building, she listened to the sounds outside, trying to work out where they were going by the turns he made.

Okay, we’ve just turned into Seller’s Street. Laura knew it was a short road, but which way would he go at the end? He turned left. Priestley Avenue. He was driving toward the heart of the city. But where to? What was his destination?

After a while, she gave up as he made too many turns for her to follow and she took a deep calming breath.

“I hope you are looking forward to the end of our drive.”

Oh, sure.

“If you are good, you get a reward.”

Laura swallowed nervously. But what do I have to do to get the promised reward, she wondered?

As she contemplated this, he turned the radio on, and it played, “There’s a dog in the building.” She giggled. Too right. A mangy mongrel.

Slightly more relaxed, she turned her head, trying to identify any scents from the car—he had eaten a hamburger not too long ago. Her stomach rumbled, reminding her of the delivery she had been expecting and gasped.

Oh God. My pizza! Will the delivery man have taken it back to the shop and cursed her for having missed out on a payment or will he have contacted the police? She chuckled inwardly. It would serve her kidnapper right if he had left her door open and that led to a state-wide alert. She liked the idea of police searching for her.

Laura sighed. The chances are he wasn’t that careless, though. He seemed to have thought this through, having a car available, and waiting for a quiet time when none of her neighbors were around.

Putting the thought out of her head, she concentrated on the knots in the rope he had tied her hands with, and swore. He had secured them so well, there was no way she could undo them, particularly from that angle.

When the car finally stopped, what seemed like hours later, but was probably only fifteen minutes or so, she listened attentively. They were clearly still in the city—the sounds of cars and pedestrians were not far off but were not close either, so they were in a side road, most likely. Still, he would be getting her out of the car in a moment. Would they attract anyone’s notice, gagged and bound as she was?

However, her captor seemed to have no problems removing her from the vehicle even though she was kicking for her life. He grunted and shoved her onto his shoulder fireman-like. A steely arm held her legs tight.

Instead, she tried wiggling—anything to thwart his nefarious plans.

Ouch! A sharp slap on her thighs upset that idea.

He grunted and shifted her on his shoulder alarming her mightily. “Do any more of that and you will end up on the floor on your head.”

She harrumphed silently and instantly lay rigid, her long hair tangled between them. Probably not the best idea she’d ever had. What else could she do, though, to show her kidnapper she wasn’t going to take this easily?

As they moved through the building, she tried to get a hint of where they might be. His muffled footsteps told her the floor was carpeted—so, a reasonably posh building, then. However, it didn’t smell new, so it was a place that was well used.

It only took him ten steps before he stopped. Was he going into a room? No, there were sounds of elevator doors opening. When it started to go up, she tried counting the floors by the bleeps as they passed.

One.

Two.

Three.

She silently pleaded for it to stop, signifying someone would want to get in and see what was happening. What would they think? Would they call for help?

Four.

Five.

Where is everyone?

From what she could tell, they stopped on the eighth floor. There had to be someone around in a building with that many floors! Surely, he hadn’t taken her to a totally abandoned building—or had he?

However, she could hear no sounds of people either walking or talking. No doors opening. No phones.

No cavalry to her rescue.