Chapter 8 - Parker

I shot upright in the bed, panic gripping me. I'd overslept! I had rotations! I needed to—

Wait, no, no, no. You have two days off. You're fine, Parker.

Relaxing, I laid back in the bed, my head hitting an especially plump pillow, and then the next realization hit like a damn Mac truck. I wasn't home. I was in…in Lev's. Oh, shit. Where is he?

I looked around the room, oddly expecting to see him lying in bed next to me, but he wasn't there. As my eyes adjusted to the weak light coming in from the cracks in the shades, I noted a lump on the far chaise across the room that hadn't been there when I fell asleep. A shaky breath left me as I tried my best to be silent. I didn't want to wake him and risk everything that came with that.

Slipping from the bed as quietly as possible, I took my phone to the bathroom and closed myself in behind the door that cut off the toilet from the rest of the space. I didn't bother turning the light on; I just pulled up the dean's office for my college and dialed.

"Dean's office."

I didn't recognize the voice that answered, but that wasn't uncommon. Trying to keep my voice low, I spoke quickly.

"Hello, this is Parker Kozlovsky. I wanted to—"

"Oh, Parker. We're so sorry to hear about your family's crisis. But I can assure you that your professors and the residency director at the hospital have been made aware of your situation. They'll keep your program temporarily paused until you return."

My stomach lurched, abruptly clenching and then falling straight through the floor, taking any appetite I may have had with it. "I'm sorry, what?"

"Oh, yes, no need to worry. Your leave has been granted. We have you out for two weeks, but if you need any extra time, just let us know."

"I—"

But I stopped myself. I wanted to rebut her, explain my situation, and get help getting the hell out of here, but clearly Lev was just as powerful as he made it seem. His people had already called my school and gotten me excused. He'd already planned for this—for me needing a reason to get out of rotations without it looking suspicious. Holy shit.

"Great. Thank you. I just wanted to check."

"Of course, dear. Take care, all right."

I clenched my fist around the phone. "I will. Thank you again."

With that, I hung up. My stomach was still in knots, fear and rage swirling in equal parts to create quite a noxious combination. He'd done this. Lev had done this to my life. The one I'd worked really damn hard to build.

Padding back out to the bedroom with my phone in my pocket, I remembered the letter opener stuck in my sock. I wanted to use it. I really fucking did. This asshole had kidnapped me, ruining the shaky hold I had on my life and making it feel like everything I'd done to get away from my father didn't matter.

As I passed in front of the bed, I moved closer to him, studying how he lay on the chaise. He wore a t-shirt now, and more of those interesting tattoos were visible. That doesn't matter, Parker. That's not what you need to be thinking about right now. Focus.

But I couldn't stop myself from examining them further as I approached. I'd always been a curious person, and it was certainly getting the better of me at present. I still couldn't see what was on his chest, but up either arm were several pieces, all done in black and gray colors. I could see more of the overly long rosary on his right, the crucifix decorated with that skeleton. It crawled up his forearm—extremely realistic beads looking like they glowed—until it disappeared behind the short sleeve of his tee at his bicep.

His other arm was filled with photorealistic versions of animals. There was a black widow near this hand, skittering overtop of beautifully drawn roses that continued as the background for the entire sleeve. Farther up was a snake of some sort, the venomous kind if I had to guess, and then a scorpion tail poked out from behind his other sleeve.

Either hand had those Roman numerals I'd seen earlier, but I couldn't guess what the numbers might mean. A date? Probably, but I didn't have a clue.

They're…beautiful.

All things considered, they were. The tattoos were extremely well done, and Lev had clearly taken the time to let each piece be planned out and heal properly. For a tattoo virgin, I knew a fair bit about them because I'd always been interested. They were strictly forbidden by my father, however. I was lucky to have my ears pierced.

I leaned forward, testing how much of the detail I could see of the rosary's crucifix on the back of Lev's hand.

"Can I help you?"

Soaring backward and onto my ass, I fell to the floor when Lev's voice scared the shit out of me. My heart was a frenzy behind my ribs, and as I looked up at my captor where he was sitting up from the chaise, I could see him holding back a laugh, a smirk touching the corner of his mouth.

My breath was shaky, and as the adrenaline faded, I realized my ass hurt from landing on the hard floor. Sighing and clearing my throat, I pulled myself up and took a few steps backward. I needed to put some space between Lev and me, and when he stood up from the lounger, it just made it more challenging.

"I…I was—"

He cocked his head, studying me as he cut off my words. "Trying to get a closer look?"

Burning swam through my cheeks. Lev had completely caught me staring, and I wasn't sure how long ago. It was more than possible he pretended to be asleep for some time before speaking up. I couldn't hold his stare. Something in those dark eyes made it overwhelmingly obvious that he was in control here—I was just a dumb little girl trapped in his cage.

"All you had to do was ask, little one." His eyes darkened, a heat and intensity taking up residence behind the deep brown.

I shook my head without really realizing it. "No, I just—I'm observant. I noticed the tattoos. I'll admit it."

As Lev took a step closer to me, I couldn't stop myself from scanning his body. The tee was slim fit to his muscular body, and his long legs were only covered in a thin pair of pajama pants. They did little to hide the typical male status that went along with mornings, and I had to quickly tear my eyes away from him.

I knew so very little about sex in practice, and I was using my medical experience with bodies to make a guess here, but I was pretty damn sure that Lev was hung like a fucking horse. Holy God, Parker. No, no, no. Inappropriate. Vulgar. Don't think like that.

"Observant." Lev's voice was silk as he nodded, taking another step toward me. "Of course. I can imagine that medicine demands as much. Still…"

Another step and Lev was right up near me, so close that I could feel the heat coming off his body. I tried to look at the floor, but his hand was quick to find my chin and direct my face back up to meet his stare. The guy was immaculate up close—sculpted and handsome enough to be a statue of a Roman god or something.

"You seem to be rather curious about them. Why not just ask to see more?"

Oh my God, he's flirting? Really? With me? You have to be kidding. No, this is bad. This is some Stockholm-inducing nonsense.

I tried to pull my face back, but I was right up against the end of the bed, and there was little room for me to go anywhere. Instead, I was forced to just look down, and all that did was give me a chance to study Lev's arms and chest up close.

He clearly worked out, possessing a better body than men half his age. Probably beating the shit out of people, I reminded myself. But there was an objective allure to those muscles. He looked powerful, capable of doing a lot with those arms, and very potentially the rest of him. But I couldn't be thinking like that. It was bordering on insanity to be this turned on by the guy who kidnapped me.

"What's going on inside that head, little one? Hmm?" Lev squeezed my chin before releasing it, only to trail his fingertips down the side of my neck to the hem of my PJ top. "In any case, I think it's time to get cleaned up."

I blinked, my mind trying to keep up with Lev's words. "What?"

"A shower, Parker. After yesterday's…encounter, you'd probably appreciate it, wouldn't you?"

Confusion made me shake my head, and I tried again to back up. Still, the bed was right there, so I just let myself sit down, scooting backward across the bed to get more distance on Lev.

"Shower? Seriously? No. I'm not showering with you right here. First, I have no other clothes—"

"I've had some ordered for you. They should be here momentarily." His face was impassive as he spoke, and my mouth dropped.

"What? You ordered—" I stopped myself, shaking my head as I folded my arms over my chest. "No. I don't need anything from you. I have my own clothes, my own apartment and my own life. I want to go back there."

Lev sighed, rolling his eyes a bit as he stepped to the side of the bed, trying to cut off my movements again. "I've already told you. You'll be remaining here. Indefinitely."

"You can't keep me here!" Frustration and fear got the better of me, forcing me to yell. "I don't care what you told my school or anyone else. You can't just kidnap a person. Christ! Look, I won't say anything. Just let me—"

In a flash, Lev was at me, his hand shooting out to lightly grip my throat. It was enough to silence my words and get panic flooding my veins. A squeak escaped me despite the brave face I was trying to put on, and my hands went to his forearm, gripping him so I didn't lose balance and could keep him from pressing me back.

"You. Aren't. Leaving."

My heart beat between each word, matching the staccato of his rhythm, and I couldn't understand the maddening array of sensations sweeping through my body. I was on the edge of a panic attack; I could feel it lingering at the edge of my nerves. However, that was far from the only thing going on inside me.

Wet.

I was desperately wet as Lev gripped me, a restraint in his hand that only just tempered the raw strength behind it. His stare bored into me, and I clenched my thighs together despite the situation. There was a slight tingle to everything as he reduced my air intake, and it somehow made the traitorous arousal flooding my system all the more potent.

"Now, I said it's time for a shower. Get moving, little one."

His grip relaxed, letting me move. The way he kept his eyes on me was like a predator stalking its prey. I leaned toward the door and then the bed. He didn't use those lightning reflexes, but I could see him at the ready to stop me again. As I turned my back toward the bathroom, stepping behind me in that direction, a tiny smile spread across his lips.

My mind was a hazy spin of trying to understand what in the absolute hell was going on. What was Lev going to do? Was he about to follow me into the bathroom? My heart sped up all the further, that horrible lust clouding my mind as I took another backward step toward the bathroom, and Lev closed the distance between us.

Fuck, I am in so much trouble. But I… Shit, why do I want to see what he'll do?

No, it was more than that. It wasn't just wanted to see what would happen. I needed to. I needed it like I needed air to breathe. And in any case, I was about to find out.