Page 46 of Dangerous Kiss

She barely remembered him dragging her to his van. Now, with her hands bound behind her back, she lay on the freezing metal floor of a van as he drove it. She had the sense that they were going uphill, and with the cold, she guessed they were driving up a mountain. Maybe Rainier, or Olympic National Park. She had lost track of time; they could have been on the road for hours. Maybe he was even taking her to Canada.

“Please,” she spoke softly. “Please tell me what you want.”

Nothing. Silence. She changed track. “I’m very cold…sir. Could you possibly crank up the heat?”

Again, no reply, but she saw him turn the heat up. “Thank you.” Good, that gave her hope that he had some humanity in him. She kept quiet then, trying to figure out how to deal with this. Should she give him what he wanted? Her love? Her body? Stella was a grown-up. If it took offering him these things to preserve her life, she would do it. Or should she try to exert power by turning on the diva in her? Would that mean he would kill her quicker?

What do you want? Tell me…

An hour later, the van came to an abrupt halt, and the man got out, coming around to the back of the vehicle. He yanked open the doors and grabbed her, wrapping a thick coat around her and picking her up easily. She had been right—they were in the mountains. Snow swirled around them, making it hard to see, but soon she realized he was taking her to a lodge of some kind. It was warmly lit, and Stella felt a little surge of hope.

But once inside, when she saw just what kind of monster he really was, all her hope died, and Stella Reckless began to scream.