Page 44 of Seductive Secrets

He closed his eyes, shaking his head. “Never, ever, put yourself in danger like that again!” he growled.

She laughed, massaging his scalp through his hair. He was nearly purring with the move so she continued, soothing hisanger. “I never plan on putting myself in danger. And since that was the second time, I think that I’ve had a lifetime’s worth of terror. The next fifty or sixty years had better be kidnapping-free.”

“Good. When will you marry me?”

She laughed, lifting her leg to better cradle his hips. “Whenever you want.”

“I love you,” he groaned as he lowered his head to kiss her lingeringly.

“I love you too.” she replied, kissing him back as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

Chapter 11

Melissa glared at the guard, then at Mark. Both of them had been tied up for days, their bound hands released only to eat one meal a day.

Normally, they were guarded at all times, but last night, the guards had gotten drunk off of cheap whiskey and they’d all forgotten about them until this morning.

Mark noticed her look and nodded as surreptitiously as possible. Normally, the guards were vigilant and on task. But today, the guard currently in the room with them was still hungover from their drinking binge last night, so it was now or never. In a few more hours, the guards will have recovered from the alcohol.

Slowly and as silently as possible, they wiggled their way closer to the guard. Every time he shifted in his sleep, Melissa and Mark froze, waited for the man to settle again, then started moving.

Both of them were bound by their hands and feet. But the guard was so sound asleep, it was a simple matter to carefully, slowly, remove the knife from the sheath as well as the key to the door. With that, they quickly and quietly cut through the plastic ties binding their hands and feet.

Carefully, with Mark hovering over the guard’s head, Melissa used one of the plastic zip ties to bind the guard’s feet. They’d agreed not to even attempt to tie the man’s wrists, for fear of waking him up. Their goal was to just get away, not kill anyone.

“Let me have the knife,” Melissa whispered. “I know where to stab without the wound being lethal.”

Mark hesitated for only a moment, then he nodded, handing the knife to her. They then made their way to the door. It was locked, but Melissa used the key, both of them glancing over their shoulder at the guard as the key scraped the lock open.

When the door finally released, they both looked back at the guard. He was still sound asleep. Mark peered out the door.

“All clear,” he whispered, then took Melissa’s hand and gently tugged her out of the room. Then they pulled the door closed and locked it again. Mark pocketed the key, hoping that they only had one key to the room.

“Let’s go this way,” Mark suggested, pointing to the right.

“Are you sure this is the right way?” she whispered, pressing herself against his side.

“Not a clue,” he whispered back. “I went for the hallway with a doorway at the other end. We had a fifty-fifty shot and I went right.”

“Good point,” she whispered back, placing a hand on his shoulder. The slimy bastards had stolen the lovely diamond engagement ring on the first day, laughing at their “bonus” money. They both looked back, checking to ensure that the other guards hadn’t discovered their absence.

Mark hesitated before pushing through the doorway. “Are you ready?”

“Yes,” she whispered back. They both knew that there could be additional guards on the other side of the doorway. Or worse.

Both of them paused, then nodded to each other. Mark pushed through the door, both of them holding their breath as they waited for the bullets to fly at them, or guards yelling to “getthem!”. Or whatever usually happens during a movie when the captives try to escape.

Instead of bullets or screaming bad guys, Melissa and Mark encountered…sunshine! Both of them gasped, still not sure if their minds were playing tricks on them.

“Run!” Mark called out, grabbing Melissa’s hand. Both of them started running, Mark shortening his stride so that Melissa could keep up with him. They were out of breath within moments, having been held captive and not allowed to move for…they had no idea how long, but it had seemed like weeks!

“We’re at some sort of harbor or industrial port of entry,” Melissa called out, pointing to the cargo holds in one direction and an extremely large ship that was docked, the ocean visible beyond.

“There!” she cried out, both of them running now. “I see someone who might be a police officer!”

Mark nodded, taking her hand as they raced across the concrete “docks”. “Don’t stop, Melissa. Don’t stop for anything!”

Nothing happened. There were no bullets fired at them, no shouting or rampaging guards. They rushed over to the police officer who looked startled for a long moment.

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