Chapter 12 - Elena

As soon as the door closes behind me, I drop the clothes I'm clutching to the floor. That kiss brought back memories of the other morning. The morning things almost went too far. I remember his fingers between my legs, confident and sure. I remember stroking his huge erection. And the fiery kiss that we shared, the way he teased my breast, he is perfection wrapped in a dark bow. No, not perfection.

Deception.

He kidnapped me and is my father"s enemy. I can't fall for someone like him. It would defy every law in our family. I still can't stop tasting him on my lips. I wonder if he always tastes like that.

I start the hot water and get out of my panties and bra. I need more underwear, but for now, I'll wash these and just go commando. I wash them in the sink while the shower heats up. I can hear a strange knocking sound, but I don't want to peek outside while I'm naked and give Arseny any ideas.

Ideas I might not necessarily be against.

Shit, this can't be happening.

This is like that thing where you fall in love with your captor—Stockholm Syndrome. That's what this is.

Not that I would admit to falling in love with my captor because I'm not, but he is starting to seem more and more human to me, rather than the beast I assumed he was when he took me.

I need to get out of this cabin before things get so heated we can't turn back.

I climb into the shower. In my opinion, a hot shower is the best place to formulate a plan. Wash away the cobwebs and the failed plans and develop something new.

I know he likes me, that is for sure. I know that he is attracted to me. But I don't want to sleep with him to get out of the cabin. I don't want to lose my virginity to him, but on the flip side, I'm going to have to do whatever it takes to prove I can handle this situation.

If I am to seduce him properly, I doubt it could be in my regular clothes. A tracksuit and a T-shirt aren't alluring enough.

Maybe I can get him close enough to kick him in the balls, hit him on the head with something, and take off. It would have to be during the day, though.

I've proved that I'm useless in a forest at night. I swear, when I'm back in Vegas, I'm going on a survival camp or something to teach me how to take care of myself so if anyone ever takes me again, I can run away and survive on my own. I won't be helpless like a damsel in distress.

I finish showering but don't want to go out yet. Whatever that weird knocking was, I doubt it was anything for me. I sit on the toilet and rub my hair with the towel, absorbing as much moisture as possible. I then brush my teeth to get rid of his taste.

It must be pretty late cause it's been some time since dinner. I wouldn't mind getting some sleep.

I dress in the clothes that are too big for me. I'm going to need to tie something around the pants to hold them up. I remember there being some rope in the kitchen that could do the trick if it's long enough.

Once I'm done, I walk out of the bathroom. "Thanks, that was magical."

I pause. There is no one else in the cabin. I walk around looking for Arseny, but he must have gone outside.

I rush to the back door and try to exit, but it's dead-bolted closed. I go to the windows to try to lift them, but they won't budge. I try everything I can to get them to open, including throwing one of the bar stools at them. It doesn't even scratch the windows. They must be bulletproof.

I rush over to the front door and tug and push at it. I go back and try running into it, but that just hurts my shoulder. Still, I try it again, determined to get out now that there's hope. I try again and cry out in pain.

I try to find something to pick the lock with or anything to get out, but there's nothing in the cabin. I grab a kitchen knife. Maybe I can fight my way out of here. No, no, I put it down. That's stupid. The man is an expert with knives. He'll not only disarm me, but he'll probably skin my face off or something.

I hear a bolt slide back and reach for the rope Arseny left on the table. As he opens the door, dressed in black with his face painted dark, he looks at me as I tie the rope around my waist.

He stands there for a moment before I say, "The pants were too big, and I don't have clean underwear."

"You could say you're in my pants. No need to hide it." It's a tease, but the way he looks right now has me frightened.

"I'm going to cuff you to the wall while I go shower and get the blood and paint off me. Then we can get some sleep." He leads me to the wall with the thick pipe and slips the chain around it before he cuffs both my hands. "I promise I won't be long."

I nod. "It's fine. I understand."

He looks at the toppled bar stool I didn't pick up. "Good thing I reinforced the windows." He walks to the bathroom without a backward glance.

He's covered in blood? Did my father's men find me? Did they try to rescue me before Arseny went all GI Joe on them? Is there hope they'll still find me? Someone has to know about this place, someone other than Arseny's stupid guard.

After the water turns off, there's a moment of silence in the cabin, and I shiver. The fire is dying, and the cabin is getting cooler. Still, Arseny comes out dressed only in clean briefs, wiping his face with a towel.

He sees me shivering and goes to the fire, stacking up the wood. "That should see us through the night." He blows on the fire so that the wood catches alight, and it's almost an instant relief that washes over me.

He uncuffs my one hand and re-cuffs his so we're bound together again.

"Bedtime," he says with a yawn.

"Whose blood were you covered in?" I ask as I follow him to the bed. He doesn't answer as we climb in, and I build my pillow fort again.

He shuts the light off, and we get as comfortable as we can.

"Don't worry about the blood. It isn't anyone you're close to." He sighs afterward, and I can't keep my eyes open. I'm exhausted from all the excitement from today.

I doze off, and the next thing I know, I wake up to find Arseny out of bed and the front door open. I hurriedly get up and walk toward it. As I'm about to reach it, the smell of blood overpowers me. I stop and peek around the corner on the porch, and looking back at me, I see a dead deer. I recoil as Arseny steps out from the side of the cabin with something wrapped up in his hands.

"Good morning," he says.

"Good morning," I say back.

"I trust you won't run away while I skin my friend here. I run faster than you and thought you'd like some fresh air." He motions to the chair he's brought out. It's in the corner where I can't easily just jump over and run. I nod and sit there, unsure of what I should say.

He unrolls the bundle he's carrying, and I see the knives.

This guy and knives!

I cross my legs under me and watch as he picks up a knife and sharpens it on a stone. I bet if I tried to run away, he could throw a knife pretty accurately into my back.

I'd rather not test that theory.

"You went to hunt deer last night? That's whose blood was on you?" I ask.

"Yup, I needed to release some pent-up frustration, and I needed to clear my head. The best way for me to do that is to stalk some prey and take it out. I don't believe in wasting, though, so I thought I'd skin our friend here and use the meat for food. Most of the meat I'll send to the butchery, but some nice steaks could come from this." He looks up at me before he leans down. I watch as he makes his cuts and starts to separate the flesh from the skin.

"I don't know of anywhere close to Vegas where you're allowed to hunt," I comment, hoping he'll give me a clue of where we are.

"Well, firstly, I don't play by the rules, and secondly, this is a black-tail deer. They're not endangered. I would never hunt an endangered species."

I tilt my head to the side as he continues to work. "You really do find cutting things up relaxing, don't you?"

He nods but doesn't say anything.

"That's why you don't want to lose the butchers. That's where you get your respite. Where you can go and clear your head." It all makes sense now. This is why Arseny would care so much about the butchers we bought. "It isn't because you think my father is up to something, is it? My father is a straight up-front businessman, and you've got sour grapes he's bought businesses that affect you."

He gives me a warning look and then takes another knife to cut into the meat of the deer. "It is a power move from your father"s side. That's our territories he's marking for his own, and I can't let that happen. That's aside from the fact that I like to relax there from time to time."

"Why not just buy them yourself?" I ask curiously. "Why did you just let someone else own it."

"I don't care," he says quickly.

I smirk. "You do too care. That's what this whole kidnapping is about. You care about the butchers and want to use me as leverage to get them back."

He easily slices through the deer and pulls up a cooler box I hadn't seen before. He cuts the meat neatly and packs it into the cooler box.

I don't know; there's something about his deftness with a knife that sends a tingling feeling down my spine. He really is attractive with or without a blade.

I give myself a little mental shake and focus on the topic at hand. "So if I get my father to sell them back to you, will you let me go?"

"It's not so simple, princess," he says. "First, I have to tell your father that it's me that has you, and I need to do that without starting a war between our families."

"You mean my father hasn't declared war with everyone already?" I ask.

"He's given whoever has you until the end of the week to return you unscathed, or he will burn Vegas to the ground looking for you." He looks up at me. "Too bad you're not in Vegas."

"So, we're pretty far away from the city," I say.

"What do you think? Have you heard any traffic? Any hikers? Any sounds other than nature?" He chuckles. "This place is literally in the middle of fuck all nowhere, just how I like it."

He's not going to let me leave—not until he figures out a proper plan he can implement to get what he wants without bloodshed. I get up, and he looks at me. "Where are you going?"

"To get my book to read while you finish carving up that deer. Then I'll cook us some venison steaks for dinner."

He looks at me suspiciously, but I shrug and do exactly as I said, retrieving my book from inside and coming to sit outside to read.