Page 46 of Captured Obsession

I look back up at the window, appreciating my efforts to not kill myself in the process of my escape. Then I hear the banging and rattling against the door.

Run.Like now.

My legs pick up speed, and I’m running into the line of trees. My heart is pounding, my breathing heavy as I hear shouting behind me. Fuck, what will Nikolai do to me if he catches me?

I push the thought out of my mind. No, I can’t think like that. I didn’t come this far, only to run back to my kidnapper with my tail between my legs.

It’s a reality check remembering that Nikolai is mykidnapper.

I run for what feels like forever but is probably only a few minutes, a cold sweat breaking over my skin.

My gaze darts back and forth, trying to make out shapes in the shadows. I raise my hand as a branch hits me in the face, slapping its tiny, finger-like leaves across my skin.

“Hey!” I hear someone yell, and my entire body shifts into survival mode.Run like you’ve never run before.

The men shout in Russian, but I don’t focus on that.

Just run, Sienna. Use these long-fucking legs you were born with.

There’s movement in my periphery, and my heart stutters as I’m tackled from the side. It knocks the breath out of me as we roll down a hill, scratches carving up my exposed arms, and a heavy body falls on top of me.

I try to wriggle free, and when my eyes open, I’m terrified. The man on top of me is snarling. And I know he hates me.

I fight against him, but his weight pins me to the ground, and a growing fear clogs in my throat.

“Pretty things are only useful when they’re obedient,” he snarls in Russian.

Another man runs over, his breath coming out sharp as he says, “We should take her back toUdav. How did she even get out?” He looks back toward the manor.

“Or we can be done with this bullshit job. We can say she fell and snapped her neck.”

My heart sinks when I realize Nikolai really was protecting me from these men. It was never about keeping me locked in but keeping them locked out.

I bring my knee up between his legs, smashing his balls, and he curls into himself as I push him off. I go to run, but the other man yells, “Halt!” I skid to a stop, then slowly turn to face him, looking down the barrel of his gun.

Everything stings, and that fear I’ve been trying to push down and control comes creeping back in.

“You stupid bitch!” the one on the ground says, then pulls out a knife, his face twisted into a vicious snarl.

Bang!

I flinch at the sound, expecting to feel pain, but instead, the man with the knife jolts to the side,dropping dead. My eyes grow wide as I see the glisten of blood quickly seep into the ground. My gaze flashes back to the man who was holding the gun, but he’s no longer looking at me. His gun is pointed toward the trees, as if searching for the predator.

I freeze the moment I see the flash of angry green eyes.

“Udav, the prisoner?—”

Nikolai is behind him in a blink, the man not hearing his approach. I can’t look away as I watch the man drop the gun, grappling with Nikolai’s forearm that wraps around his throat and severs his breath. My mouth opens and closes, and my stomach turns with terror as the man’s eyes roll into the back of his head, his sounds barely audible, until he goes completely limp.

Nikolai maintains a terrifying calm as he releases the man and watches him fall forward and roll down the small hill. Then his gaze slides to me, and I feel the terror constricting my lungs. I understand now why they call himUdav.

This is not the Nikolai I’ve come to know over the past few weeks. The man who protected me, taught me to throw a knife, and fucked me better than anyone ever has. No, the man who stands before me now is nothing but a lethal, soulless shell.

“You made a mistake tonight, little doll.” His voice is distant and cold. My entire body burns, and I foldforward, bile rising from my stomach. The buttery taste of popcorn burns as it comes back up.

I heave again, my lack of athleticism along with what just happened catching up to me.

“Udav,” Andrei calls as he appears with another two men. When he spots the dead bodies, he asks in Russian, “What happened?”