“Ethan, you need to wake up.”
The voice was wrong and he was being way too gentle. The weight of his hand on my shoulder was too light.
Why wasn’t he digging his fingers into my skin? Why didn’t it feel like he was trying to snap the bone in two?
“Lucy’s really worried about you.”
That was enough to have me fighting the pain and exhaustion that were keeping my eyes sealed shut. It felt like there was sand scraping beneath my lids every time I tried to force them open and I couldn’t stop a tear that escaped my eye.
God, I just wanted to fucking sleep.
But even as a tidal wave of darkness began to welcome me, I remembered Lucy’s terrified scream as she’d been knocked to the ground.
Shock reverberated through me as everything became clear. That moment hadn’t been a nightmare. I bolted upright. “Lucy!” I yelled as light flooded my eyes like little shards of glass. Pain shot through my head and a violent wave of nausea went through me. I tried to contain the bile that crept up the back of my throat, but it was impossible and I could do nothing but lean over and expel what little was in my stomach.
“Easy,” came a deep voice that was much too smooth and filled with worry to be Eric’s. Not to mention the fact that Eric would have been more likely to slap me for throwing up in his immediate proximity instead of resting his hand on my back.
On my very naked back.
What the hell?
“Ethan?”
Lucy’s voice was like a balm and, despite my messed-up vision, I managed to focus on her as she came tearing into the room. I bit back a moan of pain when she threw her arms around me and she instantly tried to step back. “Oh my God, I’m sorry.”
But I held onto her and managed to shake my head. Just knowing she was safe made the agonizing pain searing my ribs worth it. “It’s okay,” I rasped as I held onto her, hoping she’d get the message that she was fine where she was. Her hold on me eased considerably, but she didn’t release me entirely. I finally realized I was sitting in a bed and that it wasn’t just me and Lucy in the room. My grip on Lucy tightened when my eyes connected with icy blue ones that were studying me intently…well, my one eye because I was coming to realize my other eye was swollen shut. That or I’d gone blind in that one.
I felt the need to put Lucy behind me to keep her safe, but not only did my position not allow it, there was little I could do to protect her from the huge man.
Story of my fucking life.
The man who had to be several inches taller than me wasn’t quite as heavyset as Eric, but his body looked rock hard and unforgiving. His blond hair was short and streaked with hints of gold, contrasting his pale blue eyes. The set of his jaw was tight and hiseyes were inscrutable as he unfolded what looked like a hand towel in his hands.
Big hands that had held me down and put a gun to my head…that had held Lucy…
I ignored the fact that I was both too weak to put up any kind of defense as well as the knowledge that I was very much naked beneath the blanket and tried to maneuver myself so that I was between the man and Lucy. The man’s eyes narrowed just a little bit and then he was moving towards us. Panic clawed at me and I began searching for anything I could use as a weapon, but all I saw was a glass of water on the nightstand. I grabbed it, not caring that the contents spilled onto me and the bedding. I used one arm to keep Lucy back as I raised the glass in what I hoped was a threatening manner, but more likely just showed I didn’t have a clue what I was doing.
Maybe if I broke it, I could use it to cut something vital.
I didn’t have strength for shit, but one well-placed swipe of the glass was all it would take. With that thought in mind, I slammed the glass down on the side of the nightstand. The top of it cracked and broke into several pieces, leaving me a huge chunk to work with.
“Stay back!” I ordered the guy.
Frustration went through me when he didn’t even hesitate for a second and just kept coming at us.
“Ethan,” Lucy interjected, but I shook my head which caused a blinding pain to shoot through it, so much so that I had to close my eyes. Another bout of nausea ripped through me and a double dose of humiliation swamped me as I felt the glass being calmly plucked from my fingers just before I leaned over and threw up again. This time all I did was dry heave which caused my ribs to scream out in agony.
“Ethan,” Lucy whispered and I could hear the tears in her voice.
“Lucy,” the man said. “Ask him the questions. I’ll be right back.”
I managed to look up long enough to see the man drop the handtowel over the small puddle of puke on the floor next to the bed and then he was grabbing the few large pieces of glass up and carrying them out of the room.
My last line of defense…
“Ethan,” Lucy said again, her voice still tinged with panic. “What’s my name?”
“Lucy, we need to get out of here,” I mumbled as I began searching the room for my clothes. Confusion took over as I tried to remember where I was and then a moment later, the memory would return. It kept coming like that, flash after flash, until I was sure I was going to be sick again. “Not safe,” I managed to get out right before my body gave up the fight and I slumped back against the pillow. “I’m sorry…should have kept you safe.”
