Page 75 of Blood Claims
“Hold out your hands,” he ordered, nodding down to where they were in my lap. So, I did as I was told because it didn’t take a genius to know why he asked this. Especially when he opened the pot of what smelt like antiseptic cream and started to rub it on my abused wrists.
I was fascinated watching him as he worked silently and methodically to bandage me up. Not exactly what I had expected when he first brought me here, but then again, I wasn’t sure what I had expected.
He then wrapped the tape around the bandage, securing it before lifting my hand up to tear the end with his teeth. He then did the same on the other side until I was left with two whitecuffs, my wrists already feeling better. But then the second he reached for the band aids, I started to say,
“I can do…”
This offer died the second he gave me a pointed look, effectively shutting me up. So, I let him fix the band aids in place, one on my cheek and the other on my forehead. His large thumbs pressed the sides down in a gentle way that stole my breath once more. Something that had me asking,
“What are you planning on doing with me?”
Again, his jaw hardened as he screwed up the backing from the band aids in his hand.
“You don’t need to know.”
I frowned and instead of arguing, I asked what I thought was a more important question.
“Are you going to kill me?”
“You would be dead already if I was,” he stated firmly, making me ask again,
“Then why am I here?”
He released a frustrated sigh and after tossing the paper in the box, he shut it with a slam. Then he caged me to the island with his hands either side of my hips as he leaned in.
“Do you always ask this many questions?”
“Only when kidnapped,” I replied, making him scoff.
“Know many kidnappers that would answer them?” he countered, and I would have smiled at his quick wit had it been under different circumstances. But instead, I shrugged my shoulders and remained silent. He released a sigh and pushed off the island before telling me,
“No, I am not going to hurt you, not if you follow the rules.”
“And what are those?” I asked.
“They are simple enough. You don’t leave the house and you don’t go snooping around it… now come on, I will show you toyour room,” he said, taking my arm and helping me from the island.
The hard stone sent a chill up my legs the second my feet touched the floor. But he let me go and turned to walk out the room, leaving me with no choice but to rush after him. His long legs ate up the space with ease, meaning I practically had to jog next to him. He glanced down at me over his shoulder, watching with no reaction, so I asked,
“Could you possibly slow down?”
“No,” was his hard reply as we made our way back to the main entrance hall to where the main staircase was. And my cold feet were thankful, because the plush carpet felt like heaven as my toes sank into it.
The details of the house were incredible, with its intricate carved pillars, its stone archways and fancy banisters that held iron artwork in between stone balustrades. The metal look like vines creeping their way in between the stone railing, with delicate leaves and flowers amongst the thorns.
“This side of the house is off limits, do you understand?” he said once we were at the top, now pointing to a door on the opposite end of the landing. One that looked like it led further into another wing of the house.
“Why, what’s in there?” But this was the wrong thing to say because he bent his head lower in front of my own and snapped,
“I asked if you understood?!”
I jumped at the anger in his voice, flinching back and telling him quickly,
“Yes, I understand.”
He released a heavy sigh.
“Good, now come,” he replied, his voice back to being its usual hard and unyielding grumble that was enough to keep me from arguing. Which meant I was back to following him through the many dark hallways that he refused to light, ignoring all theswitches we passed. On more than one occasion, I ended up bumping into him. To the point that I was about to walk into a sideboard when he wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me over so I would miss it.
