Shards: Book One of the Anderian Series

Chapter 8: A Mess

"You don't?"

Cian rubbed a broad finger up and down his straight nose. "What?"

I scooted backward. The chair legs squealed as they scraped across the hardwood floor, and he tensed, preparing to spring after me if I dare tried to escape.

"Want to kill me? Because that's not really the vibe you're setting."

Think Bria. How many horror films had I watched with this exact plot? Girl held hostage in the woods with a homicidal maniac. There was that movie last month... I recalled the ending with a scowl. It had been one of those depressing endings where the killer won and added her to his collection in the backyard. Not helpful at all, right now.

"You could make this easier on yourself by telling me everything you know, and then we can reassess the need to silence you."

"I know you think you're helping, but you're not."

A cold sweat broke out across my forehead, and I dropped my head between my knees. Why hadn't I grabbed my gun this morning? When did I ever work without my gun? Perhaps, I could cut myself some slack considering my body went nuclear on itself in the shower, but they had trained me to be alert in any situation—injuries included. This was a rookie mistake, and it was going to cost me my life.

"Just," I panted, wishing I could remove my gloves and air out my hands, "Out of curiosity. Do bullets hurt you?

His phone rang, and he answered it without taking his eyes of me, but whatever the caller said on the other end had to have been important. He jumped to his feet, raised a brow at me in a silent command to remain where I was, and went into the bedroom, leaving the door open so he could still see me.

Deciding I no longer gave a flying fuck if he knew I was looking for a way out, I gave him a finger wave that turned into the bird before I grabbed the windowsill and lifted. Stuck. On closer inspection, it was nailed shut. How often did this sick asshole use this cabin to hold people hostage?

"You're not going to get out of here," Cian said, coming back in the room. He slid his phone into the front pocket of his dark wash jeans. "Come into the bedroom."

All the blood rushed to my lady parts, but I managed to shake my head no. I might not be able to control my body's strange desire for him, but at least my brain hadn't completely abandoned me.

"I'm not sleeping with you, so unless you want to add rape to your laundry list of sins, assuming it's not already on there, you're just going to have to go ahead and kill me." The horrified look on his face should have clued me in on the fact he was offended; instead, I was offended that he looked so appalled at the idea of sleeping with me. "Which really sucks for you because I'm great in bed."

Turning red all the way to his slightly pointed ears, he hooked his thumb toward the room and said through gritted teeth, "Get in that room now."

"I shouldn't have added the last part, right? It made it too tempting," I mumbled, skirting around him and running into the room. I had one hand on the windowsill when he jerked me backwards and pinned me to the bed. Thrashing, I brought my knee up, hoping to hit any sensitive part of him. "What don't you get about no, buddy?"

Cian grunted when my knee went into his ribcage. He straddled me, pressing his pelvis against mine as he grabbed both my wrists with a single hand and dragged my arms over my head. Instinct kicked in, and I bucked against him, hoping it would dislodge him, but it was an epic mistake. All it did was reveal the man didn't have a single flaw. Like how fair was it to look like that and have a giant dick. That was hard and growing harder as he looked down my body, his eyes caressing my breasts and lingering on the gentle swell of my now exposed stomach.