I keep my gaze focused on the gun in his hand. He promised me punishment for last night, and I can’t help but wonder if this is it. A bullet straight through the head just like I had intended for him. At least it’ll be quick that way. Though, if he’s about to kill me, I’m not about to make it easier for him.
I cross my arms over my chest and send a scathing glare his way. “No,” I demand, holding my ground.
Nic’s head snaps up, his glare cutting through me like a warm knife through butter. His eyes bore into me, and I swallow back fear. That’s not a stare I had ever hoped to have thrust upon me. It’s scary as hell and has me almost desperate to wet my pants. He stalks toward me, and I find myself shrinking back into the bed. “Excuse me?” he questions as though just the idea of me being difficult is too much for his small mind to bear.
I stupidly raise my chin despite the way my hands shake. “You heard me.”
With lightning-fast reflexes, Nic’s hand shoots out. He grabs the front of my shirt and hauls me toward him, my feet scrambling beneath me as the bed disappears from under my body. He pulls me right in front of his hard body, his eyes mere inches from mine.
Nic hovers over me, a heavy scowl resting on his lips as his stare bores down on me. His chest rises and falls with rapid movements, and it’s almost as though he needs a moment to gain control of himself.
He leans in, and I feel his breath brushing across the sensitive skin of my neck, his lips right beside my ear. “And you heard me,” he murmurs in a deep, baritone voice that sends shivers careening over my skin. His hand falls to my waist and squeezes tight enough to leave a bruise, yet all I can focus on is his closeness and the way my body seems to heat under his stare. His other hand comes around to my lower back and drops down over my ass, squeezing it tight. “Now get this sweet as fuck ass out of my bunker and into the warehouse.”
With that, he releases his hold on me and is gone in a flash, leaving me gasping for breath as he disappears through the small metal door.
I take a second to collect myself, but not risking a moment too long. I don't want to see what would happen if he had to come back for me. I play it smart and scramble after him, hoping to God that I'm not making a colossal mistake.
I hurry to the door, feeling as though I should be searching for that gun from last night, but I don’t doubt that Nic has put that away somewhere only he can find. I doubt he’s willing to risk something like that again.
I slip into my shoes—which have somehow made it to the top step—before grabbing the door handle and pausing. I take a shaky breath. Something tells me that whatever is about to happen on the other side of this door is going to mess with my head in the twisted, fucked-up way that only Nic knows how to do.
Finding the courage, I push open the door and slowly step out into the warehouse. The wide-open space is just as empty as I remember it from last night, only now, there’s a body curled into the fetal position in the middle of the floor. Nic stands close by, leaning against a metal pillar, impatiently waiting.
His eyes are on mine, and they’re heavy and intense but also filled with curiosity. Closing the door behind me, I face Nic front on and raise my chin before flicking my eyes down to the passed-out guy on the ground. “What is this?” I question, not wanting to get any closer.
Nic drops his gaze to a bucket that sits on the far wall. “Fill that with water,” he orders before flicking his gaze to a sink in the opposite corner.
My gaze narrows. “Why?” I ask, hesitating as I glance at the bucket and then the unconscious man.
“He has to wake up somehow,” Nic tells me, his voice calculating and terrifying. “It’s your call, Roni. We can either sit and wait or we can get it over and done with.”
I ball my hands into fists at my sides and clench my jaw, not liking this one bit, but I can’t deny that sitting around and waiting to get this over and done with is going to kill me, so without waiting another second, I start for the bucket.
A short moment later, the water is nearly at the top, and I haul it out of the sink before hesitantly making my way towards Nic and the unconscious man. Water splashes on the ground as I walk, but I don’t even notice it as Nic’s eyes rest on mine.