You Do Bad Things To Me

Chapter Four

TILLY

I wanted to run away. I wanted to get as far away as possible from the man who had drugged me and kidnapped me, and God only knew what else he had done to me while I was unconscious.

But I was stuck on an island. I didn’t even know what day it was or if I really was on an island near Alaska. He could’ve taken me anywhere, and gauging from the landing strip, he obviously could fly wherever he wanted.

A red mark, the shape of my hand, bloomed on his right cheek, marring his smooth skin.

His hand shot out, catching me by the throat. I swallowed against his calloused fingers as they squeezed. Not enough to cut off circulation, but enough to warn me that he was capable of hurting me and that I was helpless against his strength.

“I will answer your questions if you get out of this car without throwing a fit. Deal, wildflower? I want you to trust me.”

My chest heaved with each ragged inhale. “Why should I trust you after you drugged and kidnapped me? You could be waiting to torture and murder me inside, for all I know.”

“I have zero interest in torturing and murdering women,” he said, tone crisp and matter-of-fact. “I only kill when I have to.”

Icy terror clawed at my lungs as he dropped his hand to open the car door and step out, leaving me to try and decipher those words. Rounding the front of the car to open my door, he extended out his hand for me to take.

I didn’t move for a moment, staring up at him as he waited for me to take his hand. Then, I pummeled every bit of strength I had into kicking my legs out at him. My one foot caught him on the side of his right thigh, the other foot landing against his stomach.

He recovered faster than humanly possible, deflecting my other kicks with ease. His hand shot back out towards me again, this time grabbing a fistful of my hair, and he pulled me out of the car.

My scalp burned from the pain. I raised my hands to try and pry his fingers loose, a pained cry escaping me in the process. He ignored my attempts to break free and focused on dragging me up the front porch steps and through the front doors.

I thrashed, desperate to get away from his unrelenting grip. “Let go of me!”

“I gave you plenty of chances to listen to me, wildflower,” he replied, dragging me over to one of the many couches facing the large fireplace. He shoved me hard into the plush couch cushions. A gasp tumbled out of my lips when my back collided with them. He climbed on top of me, using both of his knees to part my legs. I slapped my hands against his broad chest, but he wrangled my hands easily into his and pinned them above my head. The weight of his powerful body pinned me down, effectively putting me at his mercy. I squeezed my eyes closed to shut the image of him looming above me. “I’ve been waiting patiently for months to have you. I’m not afraid to take what I’ve been dreaming about. Right here, right now.”

His hips ground against my pelvis, the undeniable evidence of his thick erection and what he wanted pushing against me.

“No, please don’t.” I shook my head, sobs building behind my sternum. “I-I’ll listen to you, I swear. Please tell me what is going on. I’m so scared.”

He stilled above me at those broken words. A few seconds ticked by before the pressure on my hands lifted, followed by the weight of his body against mine.

I opened my eyes as I felt him retreat from the couch. He towered above me as he shed his heavy coat and draped it on the side of the couch before reaching for the woven grey blanket above me. The intensity of his gaze had lessened, but it still pierced right through me.

“Here,” he murmured, offering it to me. “Use this to get warm. I’ll have Judy bring your tea down.”

I sat up slowly, my aching body protesting as I took the blanket from him.

“Thank you,” I whispered.

He nodded before turning on his heel and walked to the doorway near the set of doors I had exited through earlier. Leaving me alone in this massive living room with a large crackling fireplace and high ceilings with wooden beams.

Pulling the blanket around my shoulders, I struggled to slow my frantic thoughts as my brain tried to process my situation. I’ve been patiently waiting for months… Any icy shiver wormed its way up my spine, chasing away the comforting heat of the blanket. Was this man the reason why I had felt like I was being watched for the past few months? I nibbled on my bottom lip, trying to connect the dots.

The door he had disappeared through reopened. He emerged with a steaming mug of tea in hand. Sitting on the edge of the coffee table, he held the mug out for me, the scent of mint filling the space between us.

I eyed the contents warily.

“It’s just mint tea with a splash of honey,” he stated. I didn’t move. Sighing, he shook his head at me. “You’re on my island, Tilly. Drugging you would be pointless now. You can’t go anywhere.”

Those last four words were a solid punch to the solar plexus. Because they were true. I had nowhere to go.

Mindful of his fingers wrapped around the mug, I plucked it out of his grasp.

“Who are you?” I questioned, lifting the mug to my lips to take a tentative sip. The fresh taste of mint and sweet honey coating the back of my throat helped chip away at the chill inside me.

“Zadeyn St. Peterson,” he answered without hesitation.

The name suited him as I studied his chiseled features and the shadow of a beard covering his jawline.

Zadeyn leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees, loosely clasping his hands in front of him while he watched me. Not blinking once or moving.

Studying me.

My fingers tightened around the ceramic mug. “And where am I exactly?”

“On my island. Off the coastline of Alaska.”

“Your island?” I pressed, gaping at Zadeyn when he nodded. “How do you own an island? And how did you get me here?”

He arched a dark eyebrow. “You stumbled upon the landing strip, Tilly. What do you think?”

My heart dropped to the pit of my stomach again. Of course, he had a private plane. It made sense. That was the only way he could get me here without getting caught.

“So, you have a private plane, too. What else?” I muttered under my breath. “A private yacht to sail around the seas in and kidnap unsuspecting young women?”

Zadeyn’s lips quirked up into a ghost of a smile. “I do own a yacht, wildflower, but I don’t use it to kidnap women.”

“Why should I believe you? You kidnapped me!”

“In my position, I had no other choice but to.” He rubbed his bottom lip with the pad of his thumb as he gazed at me, eyes vibrant with whatever memory he was thinking of. “You’ve haunted my thoughts since the day I saw you out in the field full of wildflowers.”

The ceramic mug nearly tumbled out of my fingers and to the floorboards between us. Consternation burned the back of my throat.

“What did you just say?” The field full of wildflowers… My heart continued to pound relentlessly as my brain replayed the memory of that day. On the outskirts of Pine Hills, there was a small flower farm I had taken my class to at the beginning of the first semester before the weather turned.

I stared at Zadeyn as realization and horror collided together inside my chest.

That field trip took place during the last week of August.

And that was exactly when the uncanny feeling of being watched had started.

“I’ve been patiently waiting for months…”

“You-you’ve been watching me,” I whispered. “These past few months--”

“I know I’m not in the position for you to trust me right now, but I want you to know it wasn’t my intention to make you feel like you were in danger or going crazy.” Zadeyn’s expression twisted into something I couldn’t quite pinpoint. “I wanted a chance to understand who you are. It was the only way I could think of without bringing any attention to you. I didn’t mean for it to become an obsession, but you consumed me. Every little thing about you pulled hard at me. I’ve never felt that sort of feeling towards any woman.”

My hands trembled, the hot mint liquid splashing over the rim and onto my fingers. Nothing he was saying made sense. In fact, it only drove that stake of fear harder into my stomach.

“I want to go home,” I said.

Everything about Zadeyn hardened at those words. His cold, glittering eyes pierced right through me, but I couldn’t let that intimidate me.

With the exception of kidnapping me and threatening to sexually assault me on the couch, he admitted hurting me was the last thing he wanted to do. He had also confessed to killing people when he needed to, and I knew from him rough handling me into the house that he wasn’t afraid to assert power in a fight if he had to.

“This is your home now, Tilly.”

I shook my head, tears streaming from the corner of my eyes.

“No, it’s not. It never will be. My dad and sister… they’ll report me missing to the police.”

“They can report you missing, but nothing will come out of it.”

Not even the slightest bit concerned.

His aloofness scared me.

This man held a lot of power. I’d be naive to think otherwise. He obviously had deep pockets of wealth to own an island, employees who lived on it, a private plane, and a yacht.

All of it brought one question to the forefront of my mind.

“What do you want from me?”

A heartbeat of silence stretched between us with the exception of the gentle crackle of the fire in the stone fireplace. The buttery yellow and orange hues filled the spacious room. Even with the warmth of the fire and the thick blanket wrapped around my shoulders, I couldn’t stop trembling because of the bone-deep cold.

“I’ll tell you everything under one condition,” Zadeyn said.

My fingers clutched at the softness of the blanket. I was torn between entertaining the one condition and not wanting to know what it was, but I wasn’t in the position to play defense against whatever screwed-up game I was in.

I swallowed thickly. “What’s the condition?”

“That I get to kiss you.”