Horror Case

Chapter 8

NATALIA

I hated him.

He made me feel like nothing like
I was only desirable to myself.
I'd had guys want to be with me,
but there was something always
holding me back.

"Why did you throw yourself at
me? Do you not remember why
you're here?" he snarled, scaring
the crap out of me. I was in my
room now, but I'd just come from
his bedroom where I had been
staring out the window and
overheard his conversation with
the Russian on the other end of
the line who told him to kill me.

I hadn't even heard him come back
into the house.

"I never did. I just..."

"What?" he barked as he drew
closer to the bed. His footsteps
were heavy as if he wanted me to
be scared. But I was the complete
opposite; I was turned on by
him.

This was the missing piece of the
puzzle. I never realized this was
what I craved until now. Not some
horny teen boy who wanted to get
off, but a guy who desired me so
badly he couldn't breathe.

"I want to be made to feel like a woman. Not some little girl," I
whispered, too embarrassed to say
it out loud. I don't know what
was wrong with me. This man was
supposed to be my enemy. One who
had kidnapped me based on someone
else's orders, and who now had
the command to kill me. I should
be screaming. I should be running
and fighting for my life. Instead,
I felt a magnet deep inside me,
drawing me to him. It didn't make
any sense. Yet I couldn't ignore
it anymore.

"Say it louder."

This time he was on the bed
beside me. I could feel the
mattress move gently up and down and he breathed. The heat that we
were making between us held back
the chill of the night. And it
grew hotter as he drew closer.

He was shirtless, and as I turned
to face him, with the moonlight
reflected in the room, I could
see the beauty of every curve of
his body as I had done earlier
today.

I chuckled as the tension in the
room had completely changed until
he put his hand against my throat
and then my head tilted back.
This situation was so fucked-up,
because instead of being scared,
it just turned me on.

"I said, say it again." His voice
was hoarser like he was as turned
on as I was by his actions.

"I said that I want you to make
me feel like a woman."

"Be careful what you wish for... it
might fucking come true."

He said it slowly, as though he
were pacing his every word as he
said it, and one hand roughly
shifted down the side of my arm,
from my shoulder to my spine, as
he turned me to face the wall.

"This is what you want!"

He didn't give me a chance to answer as he spun me around so
quickly that I nearly lost my
breath with the thrill and
excitement of it all. so he could
never display to me.

I didn't want or need to know if
he felt anything but lust and
desire for me.

Yes.

There was only one way that I
could do that and it was to get out of here, fast, and that meant
only one thing. I had to run.
That was the only solution, even
if Tomas didn't want to kill me,
whoever he was speaking to clearly
did and he could come here and
do the job if Tomas didn't. There
had to be a way off this fucking
island, and I intended to find
it. Or as the guy on the other
end of the radio had said, I
should be dead.

BEAST.

I'd never fmhated my job as
much as I did now. They really
wanted Natalia dead? A pain
twisted in my chest. Not happening,
and I would kill them all to
keep her safe. I left her
sleeping in bed and leapt off the
balcony to clear my head. I had
to fucking get some air. I hiked
down to the ocean, away from the
beach house.

How long would it take before
they requested proof? Or until
they discovered where we were and
came for her themselves? I stared
out at the waves, throwing broken
shells out into the water and trying to figure out how to fix
this.

I clenched my fists, not caring
that the nails bit into my palms.
They wouldn't touch her.

She was mine!

With the desire to press her into
my chest and wrap my arms around
her, I hustled inside. At the
kitchen sink, I splashed water on
my face and took out a beer. I
downed the alcohol before I set
the bottle into the trash.

trying to figure out how to fix
this.

Careful not to wake her, I took
my time going back to the
bedroom. Inside, I paused, not
hearing her breathing. I gently
tossed back the covers. Empty?

Strange.

She was on the bed sleeping a few
minutes ago. I moved through the
h
ouse looking for her. The silence
rang through my place like
someone had struck a gong and the
vibration of it pulsed in the
air.

"Natalia," I bellowed.

Nthing.

I didn't get it. She was dead
asleep a few minutes ago. Where
would she go without trying to
find me?

She must have overheard me on the
radio.

A weight sank into my gut and I
went to the front window, looking
out across half the island. There!
Her figure raced across the dune
straight to my boat.

One of my men must have brought
it there. I didn't see it earlier
when I was on the balcony.
They've started to put things in

place already so that I could
dispose of her. The call was clear,
but they were putting it all
into action now.

Slamming the radio down on the
windowsill, I threw open the
drawer and took out my binoculars.
I zmed in and she raced
straight toward the water.

Then I spotted a huge shadow
circle between the shore and the
boat. My heart froze in my chest
and I squinted, trying to make
out what it was, and adjusted the
lenses. A fin popped up from t he
waves. It was a shark. And a bastardly big one. From where she
was, she wouldn't be able to see
it.

There was no way I could reach
her in time. Not on two legs.

I threw open the door and
shifted, letting my clothes rip
and fall off as I dove outside.
My paws hit the sand. I raced as
fast as I could. My breaths
pierced my sides, but I didn't
dare stop.

The ocean called, the sound of
the waves taunting me. I was only
a few feet away, but it felt like
miles.

I Couldn't lose her