Page 2 of Beg Me Angel

Chapter One

Vera

––––––––

Aheavy arm pressed firmly against the back of my thighs and I could feel the intense pressure of a palm between my shoulder blades as I was protectively pinned against the chest of someone I couldn't see.

But there was a scent; it was sweet and thick, mixed with citrus notes and juniper. It was warming and confusing all in the same breath as my groggy brain would go in and out of consciousness. Lights would pop on and flicker off, bursting sun-bright and fizzling out like the soft flame of a dying candle.

The smell of smoke still encased my body, pulling me back into the world, only to stifle the oxygen trying to find my lungs, sending me back into the darkness.

I wanted to scream and yell, I wanted to kick and punch, except I couldn't. My arms had turned into limp spaghetti and my legs no longer had any feeling left in them.

What the hell is going on?

Desperately, I tried to open my eyes, but everything was fuzzy, bleeding together in one giant mess. They wouldn't stay open even though I tried like hell.

I wanted to see where I was, I wanted to see the face of the arms that were holding me firmly above the forest floor.

But my lids kept slamming shut as my mind would shut down and blackness would take over. I had no control over my body, no control over my brain, no control over where I was going.

The feeling of not being able to manipulate my own body and having no sense of up or down; it scared the shit out of me. Stewing inside my own head, I demanded the arms put me down, I screamed at the top of my lungs for him to tell me where he was taking me. . .

But I was mute and blind, strangled by the sheer weight of an unknown force putting me to sleep.

The strength of the arms tugged me in closer, jostling my body to get a better grip. I could feel my head joggle around on my neck, rolling back and forth with ease. One of my arms wiggled loose, falling off my side and hanging heavily.

Using his fingers to flip my arm back up, the man cupped my elbow into my ribs to keep me steady and still. It was so strange to feel all these things happening and have no control over it. I felt paralyzed, trapped inside a box that was also my body.

A cool breeze whipped across my face as the sound of crunching leaves and snapping branches kicked back off thick brush and tree trunks. Each pop and crackle emulated through the empty space between my ears creating this amiable melody, a crescendo of noise that washed over my body.

I wanted to lift my head higher, I wanted to twist my neck and see where I was and who was carrying me. And I wanted to know why I couldn't.

There were so many questions that raped my mind, twisting it into a jumbled rope of knots.

Why was I being hoisted up without agreeing to it?

Why did I not recognize the arms around me or the noises that fluttered in when I could hear?

Why can't I remember where I am?

Why?

“Almost there, we're almost there, just hang on, don't give up.” His voice flowed like smooth cognac, soothing my body and mind enough to give in and let him carry me.

There was comfort in his words, easing my nerves and allowing the final wave of unconsciousness to take hold. I wasn't going to fight it anymore, whatever was stealing me away had finally won.

Any choice I had was gone, it was stomped out and crushed into a million tiny pieces as I laid trapped in my head, unable to utter a fucking word.

The world around me faded away as my lids sealed shut and my head rolled into the hardened muscles of the unknown man's chest. I was gone.

Drowned in sleep.

Absorbed in my own mind.

Lost.

* * *

---