Page 8 of The Ties That Bind

“Has my dad answered yet? He usually responds to my texts right away unless he’s in surgery or with a patient. Which, to be fair, is a lot of the time, but I don’t think he was on call today—”

“Still waiting,” Alec cut in abruptly. He held the now unattached end of the rope. “The restroom is this way.” Elle considered trying to grab one of the tools or heavy-looking metal pieces now within her reach, but one look from her captor quelled that urge. Whether because she knew he could easily overpower her or because she couldn’t bear the thought of hurting him when he was already in so much pain, she didn’t know. That uncertainty terrified her.

She was a model hostage and used the restroom without another word, not even complaining that he kept a hold on the other end of the rope trailing out the bathroom door. It was a small, dirty staff washroom, and way overdue for a cleaning. But it had a working toilet and a sink with soap and water, which was more than she had hoped for.

Elle caught a glimpse of herself in the cracked mirror. Her hair was a mess and some of her mascara had made a run for it, but overall, she didn’t look too much worse for wear. She washed her face as best she could and stepped back into the main room of the basement. “Thank you.”

“For what?” He looked genuinely confused.

“Letting me use the restroom. An actual restroom. I figured kidnappers just made their victims go in a bucket by the side of the mattress or something. Possibly while they watched.”

Alec grimaced. “I’m not a complete monster.” He shook his head. “Though I can’t blame you for thinking I am.”

She waited until he met her gaze. “I don’t think you’re a monster.”

He secured her to the wall again, but with more slack this time, she was pretty sure. “How’s your wrist? Any rope burn?”

Elle twisted her bound hand in front of her. “Maybe a little.”

He stepped out of sight and began rummaging for something. “I should have thought of this before. Sorry.” He gave her another questioning look (she still wasn’t planning to run) before unraveling the rope from around her wrist. “It’s a little raw, but not too bad.” He applied some cream to the reddened skin, and Elle felt instant cooling relief. He then carefully wrapped gauze around her wrist, followed up with a thin layer of tape to keep it in place, and retied the rope. “Does that feel okay?”

“As okay as non-consenting bondage can feel.”

His shoulders stiffened. “I’ll be back later to check on you,” he said, already turning to leave.

“Wait! I don’t suppose you have any aspirin?”

“Hungover?”

“I was alsoroofied,” she spat indignantly. He might be a desperate man trying to save his sister, but she wasn’t forgivingthatparticular detail anytime soon.

She tossed back the two pills he handed her and followed them with a few gulps of water. “I could have just handed you anything, you know,” he said. “You didn’t even check the bottle.”

“Turns out I’m just full of bad decisions this week.” She couldn’t keep the annoyance from her voice. He tried to leave again when she cried out.

“What’s wrong?” He spun back and gripped her arms, frantically searching for the source of her pain.

“It’s finals week,” she moaned. Alec continued to look bewildered, so she explained further. “As in final exams? Which I have to pass or else I flunk my classes?”

“I didn’t get to go to college, princess, but I’m not an idiot. I know what finals are.” His features pinched in irritation. “If your dad comes through you’ll be back to your regularly scheduled classes and frat parties and whatever else you do in no time.”

The “if” echoed discordantly through Elle’s mind.Ifyour dad comes through, notwhen.Something wasn’t right, and Alec wasn’t telling her. She tried to banish the thought from her mind.There’s nothing I can do about it right now. Just keep moving forward.

“I need to study. That means I need my books, my notes, my laptop,” she ticked the items off her fingers one by one, “my highlighters, my sticky notes, my—”

“In case you haven’t noticed, this isn’t the school library,” he deadpanned.

“You could keep me under house arrest in my apartment?” He didn’t dignify that with a response. “Fine. But I at least need my Calculus book and lecture notes. You can just run over to my apartment real quick and grab them.” Alec’s face remained stony, clearly unmoved.

Elle flopped back onto the mattress with an exasperated growl. “If you make me fail my finals, you might as well kill me. Because Iwill notretake Calculus. It’s a fate worse than death.” She glared at him. “It’s the least you can do.”

“I’m sure Dr. Keller would just write you a note for delicate nerves or something,” he grumbled. “Any other requests, princess?”

She popped back up, smiling brightly. “Yes. While you’re there, can you also grab me some panties?”

His eyes bulged. “What’s wrong with the ones you’re wearing?”

She blinked innocently up at him. “I’m not wearing any.” She slowly raised the bottom hem of her dress, turning sideways and dragging it just over her hip. She wiggled her bare ass at him once before dropping the dress back down.That ought to give him something to think about.

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