I shifted my restless legs and the horrible thought pierced my brain: was I trying to wake them up so I could run or was I attempting to get myself off?
“Paralytics are fun, aren’t they?” Guy asked from the doorway. “A little goes a long way. I don’t need to tie you to the bed but I unfortunately have to wait. I don’t fuck dead fish.”
Oh. God.
Guy moved closer, holding a bottle of water.
“Here, drink this.”
He leaned over me bringing the bottle to my face. The bastard knew I couldn’t lift my arms to fight him off or poke his eyeballs out with my fingernails.
“No.”
“Yes, Lauren. Drink.”
I pinched my lips and turned my head away from him.
“Fuckin’ drink.”
Pain once again exploded when his fingers dug into my cheeks to force my head in his direction. I gasped and cried out.
Why did that hurt so freaking bad?
Guy took advantage and poured the water into my mouth until I was choking and sputtering. I thrashed my head but couldn’t stop swallowing. Logan’s t-shirt I’d worn to bed was soaked. Freezing cold water dripped off my chin and down my cheeks, cooling my overheated skin.
Why am I so hot?
I felt like I was in the middle of Death Valley in the dead of summer. I’d never been so hot in all my life and I grew up in the desert.
“You always were a difficult bitch,” Guy spat. “If I didn’t need you to get close to those assholes I never would’ve put up with your shit.”
What?
“Yeah, I see you’re starting to understand.” Guy smiled.
But he was wrong, I didn’t understand. I couldn’t think clearly enough to comprehend much of anything. The need I felt before was nothing compared to now. A wave of desire washed over me. The kind that only Logan could create. The kind that only Logan could tease out of me.
So wrong.
All wrong.
Lust shot through me and a moan slipped past my lips even though I begged it not to.
“Works fast, doesn’t it?”
Shit. The water was drugged.
Drugged with more of his date rape drug. The one that women had overdosed on. The one that would make me beg for relief.
“I hate you.”
“But your body’s gonna love me.”
Guy lifted my useless arm and handcuffed my wrist to what looked like a metal cupholder.
“Can’t have you getting away before the fun starts. I’m gonna weigh anchor.” Guy straightened and started for the door but stopped and looked back at me. “This isn’t gonna be fast, Lauren. I’m taking everything I’m owed for all those months you held out.”
I closed my eyes so tight tiny bursts of light bloomed behind my lids.
Logan.
I would think of Logan. Only him. Guy could take me but I’d only ever want Logan.
A long time passed before Guy came back into the cabin. Long enough for the paralytic to wear off and for me to be able to move. One moment I was mostly paralyzed, the next I was jittery. My pulse pounded in my neck, my sex throbbed, my nipples tingled, and my skin was electrified.
I needed to move, run a marathon, jump, do something.
My mind raced so fast I couldn’t keep a rational thought. The confusion made me growl. The desire made me moan. The fear made me wish for death.
Through it all, I kept chanting one person’s name—Logan.
Just Logan.
“Playtime,” Guy announced.
I bit my lip until I tasted blood.
I would not beg. I would not plead.
Logan.
30
“That’s him,” Drake confirmed and lowered his binoculars.
The Lucky 1 bobbed a thousand yards away from our boat. Three-thousand feet. If I had my McMillian Tac-50 I could place a bullet between Guy’s eyes. From trigger pull to impact it would be one second, then lights out and it’d all be over.
But I didn’t have my McMillian, and besides, a bullet was painless; the motherfucker would never know I had a lock on him. He wouldn’t feel fear and he wouldn’t feel the pain of his death.
“He dropped anchor,” Luke unnecessarily announced.
Through my field glasses, I watched Guy go below deck and I felt the burn of violence blossom in my chest.
“Take us five hundred yards off the port side,” Drake ordered his wife. “We need a slow crawl.”
“Copy.”
Liberty pulled back the throttle and slowed the boat.
“Ready?” Trey asked, zipping up his wetsuit.
Wordlessly I dropped my binos and did the same.
Trey, Drake, Luke, and Matt moved into place, getting ready to roll overboard as soon as we were close enough. We could, of course, have swum from a thousand yards but it would be faster to cut the distance in half, getting us to the Lucky 1 in seven minutes instead of fifteen.
I felt the boat slow even more. Drake jerked his chin at his wife. Liberty swung her AR around and clutched it to her chest.
“I got your back. Enjoy your swim.”
As a unit, we rolled into the water.
“Go time.”
Seeing as Drake was our team leader when we were in the teams it was natural for him to take the lead. Something I didn’t mind and actually needed. I was intent on getting Lauren and couldn’t be bothered with logistics. If I had my way, Liberty would’ve pulled up beside the Lucky 1 and I would’ve simply shot Guy in the face. Unfortunately, there were laws that prohibited me from doing so. Laws that I would ignore depending on Lauren’s state.
I inhaled fully, exhaled, then filled my lungs with as much oxygen as I could. As if we were one, we disappeared under the water, diving down four feet where we wouldn’t have to fight the current. Muscle memory took over, my heart rate lowered, and the tranquil, quiet of sea belayed my tumultuous thoughts.
A few minutes later I felt a tap on my ankle. Time to rise. I tapped Drake and as one we slowly ascended. We surfaced just enough to fill our lungs to capacity then we dove back under. Like the well-trained SEALs we were we sliced through the ocean.
Freediving was an art. You had to be comfortable in the water, find peace in the murky silence, keep your mind clear and pulse steady. There was no room for error when you were pushing yourself until you heard the buzzing in your ears reminding you that you were not a fish and needed air to breathe.
We resurfaced and descended several times before I finally saw the chain of Lucky 1’s anchor. Drake made an exaggerated hand signal indicating he was changing directions, leading us to the stern. Then he held out two fingers and motioned up. I was his second in command, Drake was telling me to exit the water first.
Thank fuck.
The swim ladder came into view and I waited for Matt to come up beside me. Once he sabotaged the two outboard motors, cutting any lines he could find, uncaring what he cut, only needing to render the boat inoperable, he flashed the “okay” sign. I popped my head out of the water and slowly climbed far enough to see over the transom to confirm Guy wasn’t at the helm.
Then I heard a guttural groan. All of the emotions I’d crammed aside during the swim sprang to life.
All of the fury.
All of the malice.
I shot over the side.
“Logan!” Lauren growled.
The sound of her voice cut me to the quick.