Love for Dessert (Contemporary Romance) (9 page)

Anastasia took a big breath of the heated air, and pulled her hand away. “This is a lot to take in. I’m not really sure what to feel about all of it…” The heated air was helping with her feelings, but she was feeling uneasy. Who knew to what lengths the drug dealers would go to, to get to her? Ariana? Peter? Erica? “And… what about us?” she said. “Was that just a cover too?”

Darren moved closer to her. “Of course not. Anastasia, I love you. I have never lied to you about my feelings for you, and they will not change. I had no choice but to conceal my true life from you… and about that I am honestly very sorry. But if you are willing, then I would like to try again. You are a wonderful woman, and I need you in my life.”

He was being completely honest and Anastasia could see that very clearly. “I…” She couldn’t think of anything to say to respond to him, so instead, she moved closer to him and kissed him. She stood up, and straddled him. He played with her perky breasts, his lips on hers, tasting her. His tongue snaked between her lips. Both their eyes remained closed, but they knew exactly what the other felt like.

She could feel his eagerness pressing against her. “I love you,” he whispered against her skin as he sucked on her neck. “So much. I promise to protect you.” He left a trail of kisses down her shoulder, his hands traveling down her body and into her underwear. He played with her most sensitive nub as she shuddered against him.

This wasn’t sex, they were making love. Love. She could feel it in every touch, the way he caressed her, made her feel like she was the only woman in the world for him. When he entered her, there was no pain, only pleasure. He made sure not to hurt her. As they both reached release, Anastasia felt herself drifting into a sense of security and peace within his arms. This was the perfect man for her, and she knew it.

He was here. He was trying to kill her. Why? He had promised to keep her safe, but instead he was the one pointing the weapon at her. His eyes were deadly. He raised his gun, which was already cocked and deadly. He tilted it to the side. Kill shot. Anastasia’s eyes were wide open in panic. Was this how her life was to end?

Her heart beat so fast she swore that it was going to jump out of her chest altogether. There was no one here to save her now. Damn it. No. Anastasia decided to fight for her freedom. She lunged at him and a shot rang out. The smell of blood filled the air.

Anastasia’s eyes flashed open. Her heart still raced, and she realized that she was safe in bed. She was drenched in a cold sweat, and she still felt the all too real fear of being killed. She pressed both hands over her eyes, massaging them, trying to calm down. She looked to her side, and saw that Darren was still sleeping. He looked adorable, just sleeping there.

Anastasia looked at the clock, and discovered it was six in the morning. Memories of last night flooded back to her, and she smiled absentmindedly, remembering the fun events that had occurred in the water. They had fallen asleep almost immediately after reaching their room. Anastasia sighed happily as she watched him with love-filled eyes.

“Why are you staring at me, baby?” He blinked open his eyes and stared at her, now awake due to the rays of sunlight hitting his face.

She pushed away her fear of the nightmare as she got up and dressed. “No reason.”

“Oh, it’s six already. We should probably get moving, the next city is somewhat far away,” Darren said wisely as he pulled on his pants, and then his shirt. “Can you be ready to go soon?”

“No problem,” Anastasia answered as she went into the bathroom, and washed her face. She got herself ready, running a brush through her hair and brushing her teeth. She then began to pack, giving Darren a chance to use the bathroom. Within half an hour, they were both ready to go.

“Alright, into the car and let’s go,” Darren muttered as he grabbed their bags. Anastasia nodded, looping her arm into his as they walked. They brought the bags to the car, making sure that no one was around. They settled into the seats, both ready for the long drive ahead. Anastasia was somewhat nervous, and she moved to grab the necklace she always wore around her throat.

“Ah! It’s not here!” Anastasia exclaimed, surprised.

“What’s not there?” Darren murmured, only seconds away from starting the car. “Did you forget something?”

“My necklace! The clasp broke last night, and I must have lost it in the blankets while we were sleeping! My dad gave it to me before he left us… I can’t leave it behind. I just can’t,” Anastasia said, worried. The necklace meant a lot to her, and she wore it always.

Darren grimaced. “Alright, baby, let’s go back and get it.”

“No, don’t worry, it’ll only take a minute, I’ll go back myself. You have to stay here and guard our things, anyway.” Anastasia smiled as she began to head out of the car.

“No, Ana, I must come with you!” Darren insisted, as he grabbed her arm in an attempt to stop her from leaving.

Anastasia shook him off. “Don’t worry, really!” Anastasia closed the car door as she began to walk back to the hotel room. Darren sighed as he watched her, hoping that she would be alright.

Anastasia rode the elevator as she headed to the room, hoping the maids had not cleaned their room yet. It was still early in the morning, and the sun was beginning to shine very brightly. She entered the room, and began to search the blankets for her necklace. It was a vintage-looking locket, with a picture of their once happy family all together. It was her most sacred possession, and she had to have it back.

Her hands stumbled upon a chain, and she pulled on it gently. The locket came out, and Anastasia breathed a sigh of relief as her lips curled into a smile. She stood up, ready to go, but all of a sudden, she heard loud voices.

“Is this their room?”

“Should be.”

They were low voices, obviously male. And they sounded like they were heading towards her. Uh-oh. The doorknob rattled, and there was a click. There was nothing to do but hide. Anastasia crawled under the bed, and tried to stay still. The door swung open as several footsteps entered the room. She heard them open the bathroom door, the closet and various other things.

“She’s not here.”

“Really?” The second man growled impatiently. “Boss is going to have our heads if we don’t get rid of her. Where’s that fool, Tyson? Maybe he wasn’t a traitor and he did kill her after all.”

“No way, man. The only reason the boss sent us here was because he wanted us to get rid of them together. He’s done with Tyson.”

Another pang of fear struck Anastasia. Tyson was probably the last name Darren was using for his undercover assignment. So Darren’s cover had been blown, and now it was more crucial than ever that the evidence he had collected be delivered safely into the hands of the police. She hoped that Darren had not followed her, for these men would likely kill him.

“Let’s go look somewhere else.”

“Yeah.”

Anastasia smiled widely as she heard this, grateful that she had not been discovered. But as she smiled, she breathed in a mouthful of the dust. She wanted to sneeze almost immediately. But the men were still not out of the room! She tried to hold it back. She wrinkled her nose, trying to keep it in to the best of her ability. Alas, it was useless.

“Achoo!” Anastasia sneezed, desperately hoping that the men had left. No such luck. The next moment, she was dragged out from under the bed.

“So this is where you were, girly.”

Anastasia didn’t say a word, instead glaring at the man who smiled cockily at her.

“We can’t do it here,” the first man said, a rugged-looking man who stared meanly back at her. He had the oddest hair, a Mohawk or something of that sort.

“Nope. Let’s take her to
there
.” The second man had an outrageously large, obviously fake diamond earring the shape of a dollar sign in his ear.

Mohawk nodded, suddenly pulling out a rag and covering her face with it. “Mmf!” Anastasia uttered as she felt herself losing consciousness. And then there was black.

Unknown to the men, Darren had been unable to leave Anastasia alone, and had followed her into the hotel several minutes after. He was worried, and didn’t want anything to happen to her. He rode in the elevator, heading up to the floor on which their room was. But he didn’t know that in the other elevator, the men had already taken Anastasia out. They had hidden her slim body in a big suitcase.

The elevator doors opened, and Darren hurried to the room to find the door ajar. “Shit. Ana?” he yelled, pulling it all the way open, and discovered that the room was completely empty. “Ana?!” he screamed furiously as he checked the washroom, closet, and other places. She was nowhere to be found. How had he missed them taking her? “I’m such an idiot…” Darren cried out angrily.

He headed out of the hotel and into the car as fast as he could. He would find her, no matter what.

When Anastasia woke up, all she could see was black. It was somewhat cold, and her nose was itching. When she moved to scratch it, she was unable.
Huh? Why can’t I move my hands?
Anastasia wondered as she struggled and found that her hands were tied. Then it all came back to her, the kidnapping. Even though her eyes were free, there was no light whatsoever that she could see.

Oh no, I hope Darren is alright.
She winced as the rope that bound her hands dragged across her sensitive skin. Before she had been captured, Anastasia had managed to stick her necklace in the pocket of her shorts, and she hoped that it was still there.

She was in a cramped space, and she could barely move her head. Then she realized that she was in the trunk of a car, and they were still moving. The car drove over something bumpy, and her head hit against the roof of the trunk painfully. “Ouch,” she murmured quietly, as the car continued to move.

A few minutes later Anastasia grimaced as she felt the car screech to a halt. There was a lot of mumbling going on outside, and Anastasia decided to pretend she was still unconscious.

Mere seconds later, the trunk popped open, and Anastasia felt the fresh cold air hit her. She strained her ears, but she couldn’t hear any traffic, or any other signs of life other than the two voices of her kidnappers. “She’s still out,” one of them, Mohawk it seemed, said.

“Alright, bring her into the room.”

Anastasia felt herself being picked up, and there was the sound of footsteps as she felt herself being carried. A door opened, a door closed. Her nose was still itchy. Suddenly she felt her hands being untied, but she didn’t dare stretch them or move. She was dropped, and she found herself sitting on a wooden chair. Her legs were untied, and her hands retied behind the chair’s back.

They were just about to tie her feet to the chair’s legs when one of their phones rang. “Hello?” Mohawk answered. “Hi boss. Yeah, we got her. When Tyson comes for her, we’ll kill him too. Okay. Okay. Got it. We’ll take care of it immediately.”

“What does the boss want us to do?” the other man asked.

Mohawk growled impatiently. “Come with me, I’ll tell you in the other room.”

She waited, until their voices faded completely. Only then did she dare open one of her eyes just a tiny bit. After she confirmed that no one was there, Anastasia opened her eyes completely, taking in her surroundings. She was in some sort of… warehouse? There were huge cardboard containers on steel shelves, and several lights hanging from the ceiling. It was still somewhat dark, despite the amount of lights there were. This was probably their meeting place, or hideout, or drug storage place.

Anastasia remembered she had hidden the phone in her bra. She breathed a sigh of relief as she felt it there. She struggled to move her hands, but found that she couldn’t. If only she could press the power button, then she could turn on the GPS. Anastasia groaned as she moved her chest around, trying to push the phone out. It was tough, but she managed to push it out. She felt it shift. Her phone fell out and clattered loudly onto the ground.

“Shit, I hope they didn’t hear that,” she murmured as she used her foot and pushed the phone to the front of her body. She tried to press the power button with the edge of her foot, desperately hoping it would turn on. After several repeated presses, she breathed a sigh of relief. The phone buzzed to life, showing the opening screen almost immediately. Anastasia had never thought she would be so happy to see the AT&T logo appear.

Anastasia kicked off one of her flats, and after wincing about how dirty it was, pressed a toe to the screen. She unlocked it, and pressed dial after finding Darren’s name. She couldn’t hear at all, and she didn’t dare turn the volume up. She saw that someone picked up. “Hello?” she whispered as loudly as she could. “Hi, Darren, please, come get me. I’m in a warehouse or something. Please.”

“Is she awake yet?”

“I don’t know, check.” She heard the growls of her kidnappers.

Anastasia hurriedly covered the phone with her foot, glad that her phone was somewhat small and could easily stay hidden. She didn’t know if her phone had hung up because of the pressure of her foot, but she hoped it was still on. “Hey, girly, are you awake yet?” Anastasia felt someone put a rough hand on her chin, lifting her face up.

She tried to continue acting like she was sleeping, but it was no use. “I know you’re awake. Stop faking.” Anastasia groaned as she opened her eyes reluctantly. “I hope you aren’t going to scream, because there’s no use in doing that.” He snickered meanly. “Ain’t nobody going to come save you now.”

Anastasia didn’t say anything, but merely glared at him.

“You might want to be less rude, for I’m the one with the gun, and you’re not.” He pulled out his weapon, and held the cold steel against her forehead. She softened the look on her face immediately, but her hatred for him still burned strong in her heart. “Good girl, just shut up. When Tyson comes to save you… We’ll kill him and make you watch.” A chill ran down Anastasia’s spine. The man was obviously a sadist, and would not lose any sleep over killing her.

He walked away, and Anastasia desperately stared at her phone, trying to see if the call had remained active. It had. “Please don’t come,” she whispered. Anastasia closed her eyes, hoping that Darren had heard and would not come to save her. She prayed for his safety, and that some miracle would bring them both out of this ordeal alive.