Page 12 of His Captive Pet

“Just another ten minutes,” he promised. The edge had left his voice; whatever anger he felt before was finally disappearing. But hers hadn’t. He was still the lying, kidnapping bastard that he had been only a few hours ago in Chicago.

“Fine.”

“If you would have cooled your temper, I could have undone them when I put you in the truck,” he said, but his eyes stayed on the road again.

She didn’t respond. No use getting into a fight. She wanted less of his attention, not more. Wiggling her fingers, she managed to find the button again and press it. Leaning to the side and angling her body, she caught view of the screen and dragged her finger across it. She held in her excitement when her text message screen opened automatically. She had a text from her supervisor at the clinic. Stephanie wanted to know if Aubree could pick up an extra shift as a dozen or more dogs were being brought in with injuries.

She could just spit on Blake for not letting her help those animals. Instead he’d kidnapped her!

Clearing her mind of that situation for a moment, she went about trying to tap out a coherent message for Stephanie. They were out of Illinois already and into Michigan. He’d taken her across the state line, which made the situation much worse for him.

As she went to tap send, the truck weaved and the phone slid off the seat onto the floor of the cabin.

“No!” She closed her eyes and pressed her head back against the window.

“What was that?” Blake asked as the car turned up a dirt road.

She shook her head, not ready to answer without yelling or crying. She couldn’t quite make up her mind on how she wanted to respond to him.

Just a few hours ago, he’d been asking her out on a date. And she’d been elated at the prospect. A hot date with a man possessing domineering qualities. But, now? Now he was her abductor, only was it really kidnapping when it seemed to be sanctioned by the Chicago PD?

“Aubree, what was that noise?”

“Nothing,” she said.

He gave her a skeptical look through the mirror. The truck jostled again as it began to climb up a hill. Blake concentrated on maneuvering the vehicle, and she watched out the window as trees went by; the forest around them became thicker as they went on.

Samuel sat up; his ears peaked as he looked out the back window. Then he stood on Aubree’s legs to see out her window.

“Samuel, get down.” She tried to nudge him with her head, but he only licked her face a few times and went back to his examination of the view.

“You knew you were taking me away, that’s why you grabbed him. This wasn’t a spur of the moment thing, you fucking planned this,” she spat at Blake as he pulled the car to a stop.

“This is as close as the truck can get. We have a short hike to get to the shelter. Hope you’re up for it.” She heard the slight joviality in his tone, and it sparked her fuse again.

“Fuck you!” she yelled and jammed both of her feet against the back of his seat.

He jolted forward from the impact, but no damage done. Yet, when he turned to face her again, the fierceness in his eyes made her mouth dry. What had been dark blue before had morphed into black circles. His jaw tensed to the point she heard his teeth grind.

He didn’t say a word. He cut the engine, grabbed the keys as he exited the truck then slammed the door. She watched him walk around the front of the truck and come to her door. Samuel kept her from scooting away from the door, as he lurched for it, wanting to get to his new best friend.

“Whose side are you on anyway?” she said.

The door flung open, and Blake reached in, bending down to retrieve her phone. He swiped the screen and looked at her message. It only took a few taps and the message was gone, and her phone turned off. He shoved it in his back pocket.

“Let’s go.” He stepped to the side.

Did he think she’d actually get out of the truck on her own? No way. She wasn’t going anywhere with him. Sure as hell not some shack in the middle of the woods.

“No. I’m staying here.”

His jaw tensed again. “Look, Aubree, I’m not the monster you seem to think I am. There’s more going on here than just a little dog fighting ring. I had to get you out of Chicago while the dust settles from the raid. I have no intentions of hurting you, not more than the punishment you have coming, anyway. That part doesn’t change here. You can be pissed, but you will not act out against me.”

“I’m not scared of you, Blake. I’ve had stronger men than you think they could handle me, and failed.” It wasn’t exactly the truth. She had dated men who might have been stronger in some sense, but none made her toes curl like he did with his glare.

But she had every right to insult him! She was the one wearing the cuffs… She was the one who’d been kidnapped!

The tension eased in his jaw enough for his lips to curl up into a menacing grin.

---