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Chapter Eight
Ariella
I blinked several times over and opened my eyes. My vision swam, and my stomach roiled.
“Good, you’re awake.”
I opened my mouth to announce that I was going to be sick when Ben brought me over a small trash can with a plastic throwaway shopping bag inside.
Was it that obvious?
I wiped the beads of sweat from my forehead and sat up. The room spun in the process.
I shut my eyes but clutched the small can before I heaved up my lunch from earlier.
What was he doing here?
Where was I? The sun hadn’t set yet. What time was it?
Had Jaxson and the others realized I’d gone missing?
“You’ll feel better soon,” Ben said, his hand on my arm rubbing in soft motions, which made my stomach somersault.
I shrugged away from his touch. “Ben,” I rasped, my voice rough, my mouth dry.
I wanted to get up, run away, and get the hell away from my ex-husband. I’d heard he’d been released from prison and that his conviction had been overturned. Apparently, Benjamin hadn’t been responsible for stealing millions of dollars along with countless other financial crimes.
I hadn’t known he was a kidnapper.
He was full of surprises.
I guess we both were.
It didn’t matter to me whether he was guilty or not, I didn’t want to be with him, and the fact he drugged me and dragged me to—wherever the hell we were, it didn’t make me change my mind.
Was I in a hotel room? The bedroom looked strangely familiar. A feeling of déjà vu wafted over me like fog.
Ben was an idiot. If he brought me to a hotel, then he would have had to use a credit card. The Eagle Tactical guys could track him and find me, hopefully before it was too late.
“Good, you’re looking more awake already.” He grabbed my arm and tied fabric around my wrist, pinning me to the bedpost.
“Ben,” my voice hitched in warning as I struggled to keep my left arm away from him. I was still heavily sedated, making it nearly impossible for me to fight back. “Don’t do this, please. Let me go.”
I doubted I could run, even if I could get to my feet.
He huffed under his breath. “Let you go?” He climbed onto the mattress and straddled my body to keep me from fighting him.
Ben pinned my other arm down and tied me to the opposite bedpost. “I plan to have a little fun with you. After all, isn’t that what you did with me? Pretending?”
“What are you talking about?” I shrugged away, trying to escape his putrid breath and his body that towered above mine.
My hands were bound, and while I had the use of my legs, I also was still far too weak to do much. Soon I would be completely at his mercy.
What did he plan to do with me?
Would he kill me?
He sunk his weight against mine, sitting down, pinning me further into the mattress. Ben leaned down, his breath hot against my ear, a knife in his left hand. If he thought he was arousing me, he was dead wrong.