Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1

JAMIE

I hear the swish of tyres behind me, still hopeful that someone will stop. A hope that is rapidly diminishing as the morning passes. At least a dozen cars have passed, and no one has stopped yet. As it approaches, I give my best disarming smile, but they drive on by, eyes fixed ahead. It's as though, if they don't look at me, they won't have to acknowledge me. It's not quite as bad as the ones who pointedly look away, but almost. My flame of hope flickers a little lower and I trudge on.

I'm not comfortable being in this situation but at the moment I have no choice. I try not to dwell on the set of circumstances that have led me to this position, but with nothing else to take my attention, my brain loops on the events of the last twenty-four hours, anyway.

It feels like I've been walking for hours, and I probably have, but my phone is dead and I don't have a watch so I don't actually know what time it is. Still morning I think.

The weekend had seemed full of promise as I caught the train out of London, excitement giving me butterflies at the thought of seeing Aiden again. Pah, the name now leaves a sour aftertaste. We'd met at a club in Soho a couple of weeks ago and hit it off really well. Chain Reaction is a BDSM club, and one I go to frequently. Although I don't know the owner, Lawrence, very well, he is very friendly and known as one of the best Doms around. I don't use the rooms at the club but can usually be found there on Friday nights at their general open-party night. Having met Aiden there, I'd assumed we were into the same scene.

Apart from dancing and kissing, nothing else had happened that night, but we'd both felt enough of a pull of attraction to exchange numbers. The last two weeks were fun as we texted each other and occasionally phoned. When he invited me for the weekend while his housemate was away, I thought it was a sign that finally I'd found someone who might be right for me.

Another car approaches and I check it, sticking out my thumb again. This time, the car seems to speed up. I see that it's driven by a small, grey-haired old lady. I can't blame her, but she has nothing to fear from me. She might be one of those who avidly reads crime novels—which old ladies seem to have a thirst for—or watches Scandi thrillers on TV, her imagination full of what can happen if you pick up a hitchhiker. I can't say I blame her. I plod on; there's nothing else I can do.

Before I came here, I'd opened up to Aiden about what I liked and didn't like. I'd been nervous telling him, and perhaps if I hadn't been so pleased that he hadn't ghosted me, I would have paid more attention to his responses.

Most of yesterday was fun. Aiden greeted me off the train and we went to lunch. Then he showed me around the small town and we had a walk in the countryside, through some fields to a ridge where you could see a forest flanked by rolling hills one way, and looking in the opposite direction—the sea. We'd sat for a while and I enjoyed the moment, looking out across the blue ocean on the horizon, the ships little more than a speck in the distance. The sun was warm on my face and I became drowsy, tired after the journey. Talk had been surprisingly easy, considering we'd spent most of our time texting, and we shared a couple of kisses, though not the electric ones they'd been in the club. I dismissed that those were probably due to the adrenaline coursing through me that night. Today, nerves were most likely to blame, as I knew we needed to make sure we were on the same page if anything more physical was going to happen. And what was I here for if that wasn't a possibility? But for now, I was content to bask in the sunshine and the silence. The only sound punctuating it was Aiden's phone, which rang frequently; he always took the call, moving away so I couldn't hear him, and the discussion was always brief but heated.

Eventually, Aiden pulled me to my feet, and we walked to his house. He opened a bottle of wine while he cooked dinner and we talked. I admit my nerves caused me to drink more than I'd intended, suddenly unsure of myself and of him. He wasn't averse to knocking back the drink either, and by the time we'd finished dinner a few hours later, we'd managed to drink our way through three bottles. I don't normally drink much, so I was suffering the effects more than I should have, but if I was hoping for the drink to give me some courage, I was wrong. When he started to kiss me, I put all thoughts out of my mind and enjoyed kissing him back, feeling like there was something of the spark I'd felt before between us.

He seemed so sweet and caring when he stroked my cheek and said, "I like you a lot, Jamie."

I smiled at him and kissed him, allowing him to lead me to his bedroom. I knew I still needed to make sure he understood, but I didn't want to spoil the mood. I pushed him down onto the bed, straddling his lap and kissing him. He gripped my ass; yes, this was more like it.

"Do you remember what we talked about?" I whispered when I broke from kissing him. I watched as his eyes narrowed, taking on a hard look I'd not seen before and my mouth went dry. I pulled back a little, wariness taking over as I tried to gauge what to say next.

"Oh, I remember." His voice had an oily sheen that made my hair stand on end.

I jumped back away from him, stumbling as my feet hit the floor in an uncoordinated mess. Now that I'd put some space between us, I felt a bit safer. Safer. The word alerted me to the fact I was in a potentially unsafe situation and I retreated another step, trying to think.

He looked at me, annoyance flashing, before it was replaced by a small pout—a look that he did not pull off convincingly. He patted his legs.

"Come back, little rabbit. Everything will be alright."

"It's Jamie." I crossed my arms and hugged myself, not liking his tone or the name he'd called me.

"What are you into?" I asked, trying to give myself time. He'd never told me in the time we'd spent texting.

He shrugged. "I'm not into that freaky shit."

Oh fuck, this was getting worse.

"You were at a BDSM club." I couldn't believe I was hearing this.

"I went with some friends, thought it would be a laugh and I might meet some cute guys." He looked at me with a smile—the one I'd felt attracted to was gone. All I saw now was a predatory look. "I met you, and you're really cute."

He stood, and his size suddenly felt intimidating, the room too small. He stalked towards me and I backed up quickly, hitting my head on the bedroom door as it stopped my progress. He crowded into my space and my whole body became cold. I froze as he cupped the side of my face, brushing a thumb across my cheek.

"Good rabbit," he cooed, and I understood with awful clarity what sort of person he was. A dangerous one. His mouth was smiling, but his eyes were dark and deadly. I no longer worried I might not have found the person for me. No, I now feared for my life.

"Now you're going to do exactly what I say. Aren't you?" His thumb was still brushing my cheek and every touch made me want to recoil further, but I needed him to think me compliant.

I nodded, not able to take my eyes off him, trying to see if I could read what he was going to do next.

"That's right. And if you're a good rabbit." His voice lowered, which gave it a sinister tone. "I'll lock your perverted little ass in a box... well, what's left of it after I'm done with you. That's what you want, isn't it?"

So, he had taken me seriously, and he'd also done a small bit of research to learn the term, but not enough to fully understand what it meant.

A shrill ringing tone cut through the air and he scowled but didn't move to answer the phone, just stared at me. When the noise stopped, he gripped my chin and gave me a chilling smile. "Now, where were we?"

Fear held me in place, and I could do nothing but blink at him.

"There's a good, submissive rabbit." I didn't know how much he knew about the Dom/sub scene, but this was all wrong. Aiden was no Dom; he was dangerous.

His phone started ringing again, and this time he swore before letting me go and striding across the room. I didn't wait to see anything else, just grabbed the door handle and wrenched it open. I took the stairs two at a time, jumping the last few and ricocheting off the wall opposite as I turned the corner towards the front door. I heard a shout behind me, but didn't look back. I fumbled with the door latch and started to panic, but it eventually opened and I shot outside and took off running. I kept running and didn't stop until my lungs were bursting. I bent over, gasping for breath, holding my ribs as stitches spasmed in my side. Blood thudded in my ears, preventing me from hearing if anyone was following me. I risked a look back the way I'd run and couldn't see anything. A sense of relief washed through me, but it was short-lived as I remembered I'd left everything back at his house. My coat and my bag, which held not only my clothes but also my wallet. I had no money or cards. There was no way I could go back there to retrieve them. I fumbled around, shooting off a quick prayer of thanks that I still had my phone. I opened my banking app and froze my cards, as there was nothing I trusted about Aiden anymore. I ignored the heavy lump in my chest—a mixture of disappointment that I'd never find anyone who understood me and shame that I'd allowed myself to get into that situation.

I just wanted to go home, but I had no idea where I was, so I opened the map app to try to find out where the train station was. I watched dismally as my phone flashed that there wasn't enough battery and went black.

"No. No. No." I frantically pressed the power button, but it didn't come back to life. The phone charger was back in my bag. Not only was I lost, my train ticket was on an app on my phone. I had no money and no way of getting home. I tried to quell the panic that was rising, and settled for feeling like this was the worst day of my life. I didn't even know what time it was but it was getting light so I guessed it was four or five a.m. It had been a long night. I needed a course of action and my options were limited. I could walk, so the only decision I needed to make was which way to go. I cast one more look back the way I'd come and started walking the other way. I'd have to hitchhike, hoping for the kindness of strangers.

When I hear the sound of another car behind me, I feel like I've been walking for hours, and I probably have. I'm tired and thirsty. This road through the forest seems to be never-ending. It hadn't looked that large when I'd viewed it from the ridge only yesterday when I was full of hope. Now I just want to curl up and cry.

I glance behind me when I hear another car approach, sticking out my thumb, genuinely surprised when I see it stop just in front of me. I would expect the driver to wind down his window, but instead, a man gets out of the passenger side and runs towards me. I back away; that's not what should happen. Panicking, I turn to run, but it's the last thing I remember before my world turns black.