She scowled at him, trying to put her foot down so he would know she wasn’t willingly going anywhere with him. Maybe it was a stupid idea, but she’d rather try to stand up for herself than quietly and stupidly follow him to her death.
“No. That’s what people who murder other people say. Do you hear yourself? I’m not going anywhere with you.” She shook her head. “You can’t make me.”
Ray glared at her. “Augusta, I’m only going to ask nicely once. After that, I won’t be nice.” His eyes were hard. Cold. Like the harshest winter in the Northeast.
Her heart pounded in her ears and her temper took the best of her. “You’re being nice? Sneaking into my hotel room is nice?” Maybe if she matched his tone, he would back off.
Or maybe she was moving her death date up.
“Get up and get your shoes on,” he barked.
“No. Now what happens?” she asked. Her hands stayed clenched at her side as they trembled, and she was glad her voice didn’t portray how much of an act this was. “Are you going to force me to go?”
Ray narrowed his eyes at her, and she realized that her act wasn’t getting her anywhere. She didn’t even mean to let her voice sink back into that quiet desperation, but as she realized he was going to literally drag her out of here, fear gripped her too hard.
“Just let me go. I told you what I know, and I have nothing else to offer. So, just leave me alone. Please.”
Ray pushed himself up and pulled twine out of his pocket. Augusta’s eyes grew large. Was he going to strangle her? Was this how it all ended for her? In a hotel with some stranger?
Murdered.
“If you’re not coming with me, I need to make sure you don’t leave.”
Augusta’s stomach jumped into her throat. She knew if she was going to scream, now would be the time to do it.
Chapter6
Ray
“Augusta, don’t fight me,” he said with a calm that was unnatural to him. It was the animal side arguing for him to stop upsetting her. Would his animal turn on him in order to keep this woman calm? He knew she hadn’t lied. He would have known otherwise. His senses would’ve picked it up. She was just at the wrong place at the wrong time. She didn’t do anything to land herself in this situation. It was just the luck of the draw.
“What are you doing?” she asked, pushing herself off the bed. She glanced at the twine then back up to Ray. She rounded the bed, putting some distance between them.
Ray didn’t want to hurt her or make her uncomfortable, which was odd because he normally didn’t care what people thought. He knew he couldn’t hurt her. And that pissed him off a little. Even when her towel fell, and she was completely naked, he normally wouldn’t have cared. But he felt guilty for witnessing that. And that pissed him off a lot.
“I’ll bite you,” she said, and he worried she was being truthful for a second. It wouldn’t be the first time someone used that as a reason to leave them alone.
“Don’t,” he said, taking two steps toward her. “The more you fight me, the rougher I’ll need to be to detain you.”
She backed up to the wall, her back pressing flat against it. She pulled her hands up like she was going to hit Ray. A natural reaction to being cornered.
He didn’t want to tie her up. He wanted to protect her. The savage, animal side of him demanded it. But he also couldn’t have her running off. He’d chased her through the entire town for hours before he finally caught her. He wasn’t willing to do that again.
“I can’t trust you to obey me, and I need to make sure you don’t go anywhere, so …” He pulled the twine up. “We’re going to keep you here.”
Augusta took a step to the right, and Ray followed. She took a step to the left, and he followed. It didn’t surprise him when Augusta tried to run for it, and Ray caught her by her arm easily, pulling her back.
He shoved her roughly down onto the bed. He expected her to scream, but she didn’t. She begged instead.
“Please! Just let me go. I already told you what I knew, so just let me go home! I don’t have anything you want.” Augusta tried to get free, but Ray pushed on her hard. He made sure to wrap the twine just tight enough to keep her captive.
He was only keeping her here to protect her, another thing he usually didn’t give two shits about. He argued his animal side.Mine and you are hurting her..No. She wasn’t meant for him, his panther was just going to have to accept this crappy deal he got in life. He didn’t know where the idea came from, but shifters like him, they didn’t get a happily ever after. They didn’t get a mate and a forever. They got the job. The kill. That was all he had.
Ray didn’t care about protecting people. He only needed to care about himself. Anyone else was on their own, yet he wanted to keep her safe for some reason. No, not some reason. The aggressive pull of his animal was almost more than he could control.
Wrapping the twine around her arms several times, Ray yanked a chair up to the bed. He pulled her forward, seating her on the chair, and wrapped the twine around it three times before he tied it off.
Augusta tried to wiggle herself free, but it was no use. He was well adept at tying people up … in more ways than one. He tossed the twine aside and took a deep breath, knowing that detaining her was the hardest part.