Page 3 of Protection for Nichole

She’d made her career learning who to needle and who to give rope to so they would hang themselves. She was good at reading people, but all of that had been thrown out when one of the terrorists had shot the doctor in front of her eyes. That had put real fear into her, showing her that her captors couldn’t be reasoned with or manipulated.

The door opened, and the three other women crawled or scooted away from the door. She was the only one who didn’t move. Nichole could make out two of the women huddled closetogether. A part of her wanted to be huddled close to them, but she stayed put, partially because of the pain coursing through her body. What had they done to her while she’d been passed out? Her muscles felt bruised. Almost like someone had beaten her. Had they done more?

“Get up!”

Nichole’s eyes pricked with tears from the overly bright lights, and her body ached as she pushed herself up from the ground. Not wanting them to see how scared she was seemed like an impossible task. Fear raced through her like a jackrabbit, hopping all over the place, making everything shake. She fought for control, pushing down the fear and anger. It wasn’t really helping because when the guy spoke next, she jumped like his words had struck her.

“Follow.”

Pain flared in her feet and hips, along her back, and up her neck. The other women seemed to be in similar shape. She spied blood clumped in the hair on the back of one woman’s head. These bastards must have beaten them after they’d passed out.

A shiver almost took Nichole to her knees. The woman behind her grabbed her arm and kept her upright. Nichole didn’t want to think about what else the bastards could have done while she’d been passed out.

They were led into a room with tables. She saw that the men were already sitting at one of the tables on the far side of the room. What was this? Why were they allowing them out of the room where they were being held? She thought terrorists wouldn’t let them out of their holding cell. Weren’t they afraid of them talking or planning an escape?

“No talking. Eat.”

A half-filled bowl was placed in front of her. The food inside seemed to be some sort of stew. Walking in here, food had been the last thing she wanted, but now her stomach cramped ashunger took over. It was like she hadn’t eaten in weeks. How long had they been out?

She took a bite, surprised that the stew tasted good. So good that this could be a restaurant meal. This wasn’t how the people in the safety briefing she’d attended told her it would be. They’d warned her that the food would be horrible, and maybe poisoned. But this tasted like heaven. As she spooned the stew into her mouth, a piece of bread was plopped down on the table beside her.

As she consumed the stew, she glanced around, taking in the people and the room. There were six men still alive and three women. Adding her in meant ten people. Had they killed everyone else from the compound or let them go? She hoped they were free and finding a way to get help.

The man who had read the statement on camera had two black eyes, one of them mostly swelled shut. He was eating slowly. Nichole feared he wouldn’t be okay.

She’d almost finished eating when they were told to stand. There was still food in her bowl, so she tried to spoon the rest into her mouth quickly as she stood. One of the men picked up the bowl to finish what was in the bottom. Retribution came fast, and he was punched in the side of his head, which dropped him to the floor.

“Get up!”

Nichole dropped the spoon and stood straight. She didn’t want to be hit. She figured they’d already beat them when they were passed out, so any new beating would hurt worse. Since she had no memory of what had caused them to pass out, she feared it had been very bad. Maybe they’d drugged them, or they’d just beat them senseless. Whatever had happened in those few hours or days that she couldn’t account for, it had been terrible.

Once she was back in the room with the other women, she would start asking questions. They were almost back to the roomthey’d come out of when one of the terrorists grabbed her by the shoulder. She froze and resisted the urge to shake their hold off.

“Come with me.”

Nichole wanted to say no, but this man wouldn’t hesitate to kill her. She had to watch every response because one little thing could set them off. She could survive beatings and rapes, but she couldn’t recover from a death blow.

Chapter 4

Jay’s alarm rang.He rolled over, groaning. His dreams had been filled with thoughts of Nichole, and now he was hard as a rock. Jerking off in the shower was the only solution so he didn’t embarrass himself at work.

Before he pulled on his clothes, he heated up a breakfast sandwich and poured a travel mug of coffee. He was out the door in less than fifteen minutes. Thoughts of Nichole still warmed him, but the lust was mostly under control. He couldn’t wait to see her. Not that they’d made plans, but they were in contact now, or would be as soon as he replied to the note he would write today. Eventually, they would get together for another week of fun. This time, he wouldn’t let her walk away without promising to get together again later.

Thoughts of his parents hit. Eventually, he would have to see them, but they could travel to California if they really wanted to visit. Disappointment wound through him. He would never be enough for them unless he gave up everything that mattered and followed their path.

He pushed away the thoughts and concentrated on driving to work. By the time he made it into the building with their offices,he’d finished his sandwich and coffee. He would eat more later, but at least he had enough fuel for the workout this morning.

“Hey, meeting in five,” Griz said as Jay stepped in.

“What, I didn’t get a—” Just then, his phone pinged with a notification about the meeting.

“Good thing I’m on time.”

Jay took his seat, wishing he’d had time to grab another cup of coffee. Usually, these meetings were informational, but sometimes they produced action. Today he wasn’t sure if he wanted this to be an action meeting or just information.

Going out on missions was their jam, but he wanted to see Nichole. Going out on a mission would push his reply even later. Maybe she wouldn’t like that he hadn’t responded in a reasonable time. He should have written out a reply last night, but he hadn’t wanted to say the wrong thing.

When he’d first read her email, he thought about replying automatically, but he’d wanted to sit with it and prove he wasn’t some out-of-control lust fiend who only wanted her for her body. He wanted her body, but he wanted more than just another fling. She was offering up a fun weekend or week, which he knew they would end up in bed again, but he wanted to at least appear to be deeper than just a dude full of cum.

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