Ten more minutes and I can see the file slip between the links. I tug hard and feel it give just a little. I grit my teeth and yank so hard that blood wells in the cuffs and rubs onto the metal. I wrap my hands around one spot and yank and tug until I feel it snap.
I jump to my feet and then fall to the ground, moaning. My legs are numb. I stretch them out and shakily rub at my calves and feet. I feel the tingles build up and radiate out until I can’t stop moaning. My eyes close as shooting pain lances through my awakening limbs. It’s like the worst charlie horse ever!
Finally I open my watering eyes and carefully put one foot under me. Wincing but not falling down I stand and then wait for the room to stop spinning. My stomach roils and I feel nausea rise up my throat. I stagger to a wall and lean into it, breathing deeply. After I woke up my stomach kept trying to expel whatever I had in it. Now there’s nothing and dry heaves shake my stomach. Cold sweat covers my arms and legs and my head spins.
After a minute it all straightens out and I take one shaky step in front of the other until I reach the door. I reach out and my hand closes around the doorknob and twists. I sob when nothing happens. Jerking at it desperately, there’s still nothing. Locked.
I lean into the wall and my shoulders shake. Exhaustion drags at me, fogging my mind. Then I sigh and stand up straight, pushing my shoulders back. I’m so close.
Searching the room I notice the window over to the side. Half a dozen quick steps and I’m standing in front of them, heart beating hard. I unlock the window and push it open, surprised when it moves easily. I glance out and groan. I’m on the fourth floor so it’s a steep drop. But I can see a tree relatively close. I pull myself up to the window and then force myself out onto the ledge. It’s narrow and when I look down, my vision whirls. I gasp and throw myself back onto the side of the building.
“Oh god,” I moan. I hate fucking heights.
I start to move down the ledge, one faltering step at a time, feeling with my toes to keep myself from falling.
“Holy shit! What the hell are you doing, Aspen?” I jerk and squeal when Carlos’s rough, anxious voice screams at me.
“Don’t yell at me!” I holler.
“Don’t move. I’ll be there in a minute. Do not move.” Fear colors his voice and I smile wryly. At least I’m not the only one that’s afraid!
Less than five minutes later, I hear shouting in the hall and then a gunshot. I scream and turn into the brick exterior of the house.
Carlos pops his head out within seconds. “Baby, don’t look down. I’ll get you. Just hold out your hand.”
“Did you shoot someone?” I ask breathlessly, my eyes locked on his worried chocolate eyes while I hold out my shaking hand.
“Yes.”
“Good,” I say. “I hope it was the guy that drugged me. Or Carmine,” I say venomously.
He smiles. “There’s my sassy girl. Come on. Give me your hand. I’ve got you, baby girl.”
I slide my toes along the narrow ledge, feeling the rough texture cutting my feet. As soon as I hold my hand out to Carlos he grabs it and jerks me back in the window.
“Oh!” I shriek. I land on his broad chest and wrap my arms around him like an anaconda. He pulls me up higher and his big hands rest on my barely-covered ass. My legs wrap around his hips and he sighs into my hair. Tears roll down my cheeks when I realize I’m safe. I’m home. Even here in this hellhole I’m home. Because of Carlos.
I lift my head and smile shakily. His eyes devour my face like he can’t believe he’s seeing me.
“Oh my god, baby girl. I was so fucking worried that I wouldn’t be able to find you. His hand lifts and wraps around the back of my neck pulling me in until our foreheads rest together. I breathe in the spicy scent of him and it clears my head. Soothes my heart.
“I missed you so much. I couldn’t sleep without knowing if you were safe. If they’d hurt you. Or even if…” his deep voice trembles and I can see the love shining in his dark eyes.
“I love you,” I whisper softly.
“I love you too, baby girl. So damn much. Not knowing where you were the last two days almost killed me. But I need to get you out of here. Johnny’s watching the door for us but it’s too dangerous to stay here too long.”
I drop my toes and he growls, “you stay right where you’re at. I’m gonna take care of you from now on. I’ll be damned if you touch any part of this filthy place.” He hefts me up in his arms and carries me bridal-style and I wrap my arms around his neck, leaning into his throat and just breathing him in.
Johnny pops his head in the door. “We ready to go, boss.”
Carlos nods. “You go ahead of me. I’ve got Aspen.” His eyes shift to mine and the light in them warms my heart. “And I’m never letting you go.”
Without much fuss and fanfare we manage to sneak our way out of the building and into Carlos’s dark SUV. Then we’re zooming away from Carmine’s house. My body sinks into Carlos and he wraps his arms around me, holding me so tightly that I can’t catch my breath for a minute.
“Totally worth it,” I hiss.
“What?” he asks me.
“Nothing.” I shift on his lap feeling something poking my backside.
Carlos grins. “I’m sorry, baby. But I’m pretty damn excited to see you.”
I giggle and shift on his lap, loving it when he hisses out a tortured breath and pretends to glare at me.
“Settle yourself down, sweetheart. I’m not touching you until the doctor okays it. And then we’re getting married. Tonight. I know some people who can move this along quickly. We’ll have to take the plane to Vegas but we can be married and on our honeymoon by morning.”
I frown. “What about Angel?”
“What about her?” He shrugs. “From what I understand, the reason her father is trying to marry her off so quickly is that he’s about to go to jail. One of his guys turned informant and although he’s tried to kill him, he’s in witness protection now.”
“So he’s just trying to keep his daughter safe? That’s actually really nice. I feel bad for messing up his plan now.”
Carlos groans and shoots me an incredulous look. “Baby, let’s not forget he was willing to kill you to get me to marry his daughter! It’s not like the guy’s blameless.”
“Yeah. Sometimes parents don’t make the right choices for their kids. Or themselves really.”
Carlos runs his hand up and down my back and I feel tingles along my spine. His fingers create zings of electricity that practically light up the darkened car.
“I wish I could fucking take you now. I need to feel you all around me. But I refuse to have our first time be in a car.”
I slide over and straddle his lap, smirking when he shivers and moans, closing his eyes. “What if I want it to be right here and right now?”
“No. Not gonna happen.”
“The partition is up.” I sneak my hand down and cover his crotch, smiling at his sharp intake of breath. I pout and moan, “don’t you want me?”
“Jesus, so damn bad. My dick is hard as a fucking steel pipe. But I don’t want to hurt you. I want to make you feel good.”
“You will. Please,” I whimper. My hand caresses the bulge in his jeans as my other hand caresses down his chest.
“Dammit!” he grunts and then his lips slam down on mine and I’m lost in the swirling tides of lust that consume me every time he’s near me. Every time his big hands caress me.
His hand drifts up my spine and then locks onto the back of my neck, pulling me closer until you can’t even fit a sliver of paper between us. His hard chest conforms to my own softer one, his rapid breaths driving my need higher. I try to suck in air but it’s like breathing through a straw. My harsh, staccato breaths mingle with his while his soft lips caress mine, sliding along them until he pushes my lips open and his tongue slides inside to twist with mine in a sexy mating dance.
Overwhelmed I moan and slide down further in the seat, feeling his fingers run along my aching slit. My juices trail down my leg and I finally realize that I’m dirty. And sore. And I don’t want our first time to be when I’m a smelly wreck.
“Wait!”