Page 67 of Attraction

While she walks, she unconsciously rubs at her hand and her eyes are drawn to it. Caressing her palm with her thumb, she can’t stop thinking about what Darius did—the hot pain of the knife cutting her felt so real. Darius—touching her, his mouth on hers, his eyes focused on her, it’s all she can see when she sleeps.

Was it real?She doesn’t know.

Stopping, again easing the cramping twinge in the back of her leg, she sighs—she’s lost in her thoughts and closes her eyes. He’s there, Darius, vivid—like he’s here with her. Except now all she can imagine is being naked and him touching her.

“C’mon Kat,” she swallows, “get it together, none of it was real. It was just a damn dream. You were exhausted, dehydrated—it was a hallucination.” She focuses. “It’s probably some psychological thing he’s learned—hypnosis to trick the mind. It wasn’t real.”

The tightness in her thigh is not easing, and using the wooden bench for support, she rubs the back of her leg with swift up and down movements—stroking the muscle until eventually, the tightness relents.

There’s no way she can run on it and she decides to walk. It’s a good thing the park is not too far from the base as her energy levels are still way below par. That exercise really tested her to the extreme, milking every ounce of her strength. Carrying Digby has taken an exhausting toll on her body and as much as she’s looking forward to it, she also hopes, for the next few days they don’t get spun-up because she’ll need to make the most of the downtime—resting up. She makes a plan to seriously up her fitness regime. Luna may be strong, but she isn’t—or not as much as she needs to be and certainly not as fit as the guys, but she’s determined to rectify that.

Her thoughts still focused on what Darius did, means she’s distracted when suddenly, without warning, she’s taken by surprise.

Someone grabs her, shoving her backward into the tangle of bushes behind, and a large hand grips across her mouth, silencing her yell. A burly arm strangles around her neck—choking and dragging her backward.

She tries everything to fight off her assailant, kicking and punching, twisting her body, desperate to get free, but whoever it is he’s physically bigger and stronger than her. The surprise of his attack catches her off-guard and she thuds to the ground.

Hitting her head, she lays still where she fell and as she opens her eyes she looks directly into a face she hoped she’d never see again—Munroe!

“Mm-mm-mmm.”She squeals anxiously, but her sounds are muffled by his large strong hand, clamped over her mouth. An intense spark of anger laced with loathing flashes across her eyes. She’s on her own turf in a familiar place, but with her energy depleted and her thoughts elsewhere she ignored Luna’s howling warning and didn’t see the attack coming—she won’t make that mistake ever again.

“Shut up… shut up! I don’t want to have to hurt you, so just be quiet. Do you understand?”

“Mm-hmm.” She nods, hoping to get free from his grip, but all he releases is his hand from her mouth—using the full weight of his body to keep her pinned down. “You shouldn’t be anywhere near me,” she growls. “What the fuck do you want?”

“I need to talk.”

“Well, I don’t want to talk to you. I should… kill you… that’s what I should do!”

“That’s what you want? Well, then you’ll need to get in line. Even so, I don’t think that’s gonna happen, at least not here, not with all these people around. All those innocent bystanders, I don’t think you’d do that. What about your littlefuck-friend,I bet you wish he’d done it—finished me off? He didn’t have the balls for it and as for Darius, yeah well, he’s too smart, he only comes for you when you’re not looking, when you’re weak and vulnerable. That’s how he likes his prey.” He smirks. “Anyway, I’m not here to talk about them, it’s you I want.”

“What the hell do you want with me?” She swallows nervously. “You need to let me go!” She takes a breath, her heart’s pounding so hard she can hear it thudding in her ears. “What you did to me and those others… you’re sick. You know that?”

“If you say so, but for what it’s worth… it wasn’t my doing. But all that doesn’t matter, nothing matters now except me getting away from here and to do that, I need something, and you’re gonna get it for me.”

“I’m not going to get you anything. I saw those other girls—the photos of them. What kind of monster are you?”

“Oh, there are plenty of monsters out there… but trust me, I’m not one of them—least not the worst of them.” He sighs, sitting back on his heels but still not releasing his firm grip on her. He holds her down, shoulders pinned to the ground—they hurt too much for her to force him off. “Look, all I want is my cell phone and some money. I need to get outta town and I need cash to do that.”

“I don’t have your phone and I don’t have any money, so you’re all outta luck.”

“Really? Well I bet you can get it. You’re gonna get it because Ineedit back.”

“I’m not doing anything for you. You drugged me—for God’s sake, you were going to rape me!” She takes a breath. “What kind of man are you?”

“Hm …” He sighs. “The same kind as Digby, Zak… the rest of them.”

“You’re wrong Digby, Zak they would never have done that to anyone.” She looks at him with utter contempt, thinking how much she wants to put her hands around his neck and squeeze the life from him. Make him as powerless as he made her. She knows she can do it, but he’s right, she can’t do it here.

“I need that phone and I need five thousand dollars…today.I have to leave today.”

“You’re joking? I can’t get that kind of money; I don’t have it.”

“You’re a medic, you can get it.”

“No, the only thing I’m going to get is the cops—to arrest you!”

“I don’t think so and you know why? Because if you report me for what I did, they’re gonna investigate. Then they’ll wanna examine you—assault, right? What then? Oh… they might find out your secret?”

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