Though Kate had finished moments ago, she stood behind the stall door, frozen in place and listening intently to the outcome of her fate.
“This one is mine,” Alex barked.
“Alex, you know how it fucking works. Besides, I’ve put in a lot more miserable time here than you have. Seniority rules, you know?”
“Then I guess I’ll have to slit your fucking throat.” Alex’s tone was coated in venom. The light in the room seemed to darken as a dizziness clouded Kate’s vision. She was not a man’s property. Being claimed by the person who had possibly snuffed out the man she loved felt like drawing the short straw in some sick game the universe was constantly playing with her.
“Hey, relax, man. If you want her that bad, I guess there’s plenty of others to go around,” Travis relented in a high-pitched voice that reeked of fear. “You done in there, sweet cheeks?”
Travis pulled on the stall door, the lock catching and preventing an entrance.
“Open this fucking door!” Travis pulled again. Finally, Kate slid the lock out of place. The door flung open, and Travis reached a hand inside, entangling with a lock of Kate’s hair. Gripping it with force, he pulled her out, and Kate’s skull ignited with pain.
Alex caught Travis’s hand in the air and squeezed until he let go of her.
“Mine,” Alex grunted, then wrapped a hand around the back of Kate’s neck, guiding her out of the locker room.
“Sure, whatever, man. Have fun, I guess,” Travis called after him.
Alex kept a firm grip on Kate’s nape until they were back in her cell. When he let go, Kate spun around and glared at him with a fiery, piercing stare.
“I told you not to fucking touch me!” Kate raged. She was playing with fire. This man could crush her with one hand. Yet, his grip sent an anger through her that she could not control.
“How are you supposed to have your way with me if we don’t touch?” Alex asked, taking on a lighter tone than his previous, one-word demands.
Kate’s brows furrowed, and her anger steeped.
“I’m not going to doanythingwith you!” Kate spat. She took a few steps toward Alex and shoved him with both hands. His feet remained rooted in place.
“Sorry, I’m still getting used to this bad guy role.” Alex placed his fingers beneath his helmet and slid it over his head. Kate gasped as he set the helmet on the floor.
“Nick! How did—”
“Shh,” Nick put a finger to his lips, which were curled into a grin. Kate’s hands covered her mouth, and she nearly collapsedat the sight of him. “They think I’m one of their guys, and I definitely don’t want them to find out we know each other.”
“What the hell are you doing?” Kate’s eyes danced around from Nick to the cell and beyond the room to the warehouse.
“I’m going to get you the fuck out of here, obviously,” Nick answered, approaching Kate toward the back wall.
“And what did you do with the real Alex?” Kate asked.
“I, umm,relocatedhim. To a very nice ditch down the road somewhere.”
Kate’s eyes widened just as Travis’s laugh traveled down the hall, bouncing around the metal walls and into the room.
“Maybe we should be a little closer, just in case he comes down here. We don’t want him to forget who I belong to.” Kate smirked up at Nick, her eyes glinting with playfulness.
“Closer,” Nick repeated. “Like this?” Nick backed Kate against the wall, placing one of his hands above her head and pressing his chest into hers. Cupping her chin, he tilted Kate’s head up to face him. A gasp passed across her lips, letting her smile fall away. Kate’s eyes widened at his proximity.
Nick’s features faltered, and he began to pull away.
“Shit, sorry. I shouldn’t have—”
Kate grasped at the center of Nick’s shirt and pulled him back to her. “Exactly like that.” She pressed her lips to his and slid a hand up his chest and around the back of his neck. Nick settled against her once more, leaning into their kiss.
Flames engulfed their bodies in a ravenous heat, and the doomed chaos around them fell away. The concrete crumbled, and the metal rusted and cracked. The shackles disintegrated, and the sounds of the warehouse—vile men and abused captives—quieted until there was nothing. Nothing except Nick holding Kate and kissing her as though she was the one thing he had been striving for all his life.
Footsteps thumping down the corridor broke apart their reunion, and the pieces of the warehouse emerged in place once more. Nick picked the helmet up off the floor and pulled it down over his face. Kate forced her jovial features to appear angry and frightened.
