Page 18 of Oh, Hell No

“Not sure if you noticed,” I replied, “but I’m not a fan of your gun. I won’t be running.”

He smirked, then turned and left the room, closing the door behind him. I heard a lock turn and rolled my eyes. He had a trust issue. I was locked in again, but this wasn’t a basement. I could live in this prison, although I doubted very much that he was going to allow that.

Hurrying toward the bathroom, I turned the knob and swung the door open, then let out a small squeal. It was huge, white, and clean. A gold chandelier with crystals hung from the ceiling, and I went to flip the light switch just to see it sparkle. A fluffy, round rug covered the floor in front of the bathtub. I’d never seen a tub like that before. It was a shiny silver nickel on the outside, and inside, it was white porcelain. Although it stood alone, it wasn’t considered a claw-foot tub since there were no feet on it. I walked over and studied it. The depth to it wouldmake a wonderful place to soak in a bubble bath, but first, I had to get the nasty off. I was not sitting in my filth, and I had never been dirtier.

Turning, I walked over to the shower. I was pretty sure this wasn’t historically accurate. While the tub could be a replica of something from the past that they’d filled with warm water they’d brought up, this was a luxury they hadn’t had back then. There was no door or curtain to it. I walked inside the white stone entrance and turned the corner into a roomy space with two showerheads on either side. There was a built-in shelf with expensive-looking shampoo, conditioner, and body wash.

I began to strip off my clothes and wrinkled my nose at the smell.

Once I had taken off everything, I rolled it up inside my shorts and took them out to put over by the door, not wanting to touch them ever again. My eyes shifted to the towel rack with massive, thick white towels and what looked like black leggings, a T-shirt, and a pair of pink panties that made me blush.

Where had Oz gotten panties for me, and had he touched them? He had to have. At least, I thought he was alone in this house, other than me. But what if there was someone else? Would a woman stay here with him, knowing he had abducted someone and had them in the basement?

I smelled the stench from said basement and decided I didn’t care. I just wanted to get clean. Enjoy warm water on my body. If some female was with him and okay with what he was doing to me, then it was her soul that needed to worry about it. Not mine.

Heading back into the shower cave, which was basically what it was, I studied the knobs, trying to decide what was what. The red on one of them meant hot—that much I knew—so I turned it, and water began to come from above my head and not the showerheads. A small squeal escaped me as it poured down over my head like rainfall. It wasn’t warm yet, and the jolt of coldwater had been unexpected.

I messed with the other knobs until I had both showerheads and the rain shower all at the same time. The warm water was closer to hot now, and I stood there and let it hit me from all sides. Sighing in pleasure, I wasn’t sure I would ever leave this spot. The idea of going back to the basement seemed abhorrent. This was so wonderful.

Was there anything else I could tell Oz that might get him to reward me with sleeping in the bedroom?

I shook my head at my thought. That was weak and selfish. I wasn’t going to hand over my brother to killers so I could sleep in a bed.

But was there anyone else?

NO! Stop it, Winslet, I mentally scolded myself.

I tilted my head back as the water hit my face, and I decided I would enjoy every moment of this in case it was a while before I got it again. I refused to believe that I’d not make it out of this situation alive. Oz was…well, a bad guy, but I did not see real evil in his eyes. Although I hadn’t looked into his eyes when he had that gun pointed at me. I hoped I wasn’t being blinded by his beauty, but I didn’t think I was.

There was some good in him deep down. There had to be. Because if there wasn’t—no, I didn’t want to think of that. I wanted to live in the moment. And this moment was a good one.

The clock in the bedroom said it was after nine, which meant I had spent over three hours in the bathroom. First the shower, then a long soak in the bubble bath. Remarkably, this place didn’t seem to run out of hot water. I’d kept refreshing the tub with hot water in between dozing off. With a clean body, fresh breath, and a change of clothing, I felt like a new woman.

My hair was still slightly damp when I brushed it again after getting dressed, so I left it alone to air-dry, hanging down my back. Wrapping my arms around my body, I stood in the center of the bedroom, unsure of what to do now. I was locked in, and I was okay with that. Leaving this room meant I would be led back to the dark basement. I wasn’t ready to go back there.

I decided to look out the windows. See as much of the sunshine as I could. I pulled back a drape and realized it wasn’t a window, but a door. There was a small balcony outside of it. Wanting to feel the warmth from the summer sun on my skin, I reached for the handle, but stopped before turning it. An alarm could go off. Then, Oz would come get me.

My hand dropped back to my side. I’d just look at the sun. Not feel it. I wasn’t chancing cutting this short. We were surrounded by oak trees—very old ones—and lush green grass, and through some of the trees, I could see open pasture, but there weren’t any animals grazing on the land. In fact, there was nothing other than a few birds and two squirrels in the front yard.

Oz hadn’t been lying. We were secluded out here. I wondered again whose house this was. Oz hadn’t answered that question, other than to say he wouldn’t own a place like this with clear distaste in his tone. I agreed that the history of homes such as this one in the South wasn’t good. It was awful. But it wasn’t the house’s fault; it was the people who had built it and lived here once.

Glancing over to the bed, I felt the overwhelming urge to climb under the covers and close my eyes. The small naps I’d gotten in the tub were nice, but a real deep sleep sounded amazing. I listened for footsteps and heard nothing. I didn’t know when this would end. I might as well take advantage of it while I could. Not wasting any more time debating it, I hurried over to the bed and pulled back the velvet coverlet and sheet, then climbed inside.

“Oh God,” I moaned as the soft, cool fabric touched my skin.

I sank into the mattress, sure this must be the most wonderful one I’d ever laid on, and closed my eyes. The pull of sleep was almost instant, and I let it take me, relaxing fully, letting all my other worries go. Even if just for now.

Nine

Oz

“Samson’s left the country,” Linc said into the phone. “His secretary doesn’t know where. She pissed her pants, wailed, and begged for her life. She wasn’t lying. She’s clueless. Storm is sure of it.”

FUCK! I gripped the bottle in my hand tightly, tempted to throw it against the wall.

“Did she know if Perry had gone with him?” I asked.

I added another bastard to the list of people I wanted to kill. Samson Zephyr had just become number two.

---