Accidental Abduction (Masked Men of Sage Springs #1)

Chapter Eleven

Charley

Anticipation ran through me as I waited to see what he’d do next. “You’ve got until I count to five, and then I’m coming after you. And I’m not going to let you get away this time.”

“What happened to ten?” I teased, trying to turn, but he grabbed the back of my neck and pushed me forward until my cheek was millimeters from the tree in front of me.

“Don’t fucking push me.”

“But I think you like it when I do,” I purred, leaning into the seductive vixen voice.

He growled, roughly yanking me to the side and aiming me toward the trail that led through the woods back to the bar. “You better fucking run.”

This time, when he released me, I darted through the brush, my pounding heart the only thing I could hear.

Hudson’s voice faded as I wove down the trail, and then suddenly it stopped when he finished counting. I knew why he only counted to five—he had no doubt he’d find me. Because I didn’t want to get away.

Deciding to see exactly how much he’d punish me as a result, I quickly scanned to make sure there wasn’t anyone loitering outside the back of the building before I screamed, trying to make myself sound panicked.

“Help! He’s coming! Help please!”

The wind was knocked out of me as strong arms wrapped around my waist, Hudson pulling me tightly against his solid chest. His rough palm covered my mouth, and my panicked breaths fogged in the air in front of my face while he carried me toward the side of the building where he’d parked his car.

He rarely drove his car to work unless it was safer because of the weather, so it seemed like this little scenario of his had been planned.

A flare of jealousy burned through me at the thought he planned this for her , but then I grinned against his palm. Viv wasn’t fucking here right now.

Fuck that demure, psychotic , little plastic doll, I was as chaotic as they came.

And I had no plans of stopping this. The harsh light of day might bring consequences I didn’t want to face in the morning, but tonight...

Tonight , Hudson was mine.

“Don’t bother screaming. The music is too loud for anyone to hear you,” he warned as the hand covering my mouth loosened. “Stay quiet or I’m going to have to shut you up. Although, I think you enjoy having your mouth full.”

Nodding, my chest heaved as I waited for him to move his hand away further.

When it dropped to his side, I lunged forward, letting out a loud scream, hoping there wasn’t anyone outside the front door listening either. I didn’t want Hudson to actually get arrested for kidnapping me, but I also wanted to see what he’d do.

“You asked for it.” He let out a dark chuckle, banding a strong forearm across my exposed stomach, covering my mouth with a cloth, and quickly tying it tightly around the back of my head.

Hudson spun me around, his eyes wild as he looked down at me briefly before he bent and hefted me over his shoulder.

Yanking on his T-shirt, I scratched my nails across his lower back, trying not to giggle at the yelp and pained moan he let out. “Keep it up, little devil. Your time is coming.”

If I could have, I would have told him to bring it on...but as I thrashed and kicked while he carried me off, I think he got the message.

My head spun as Hudson shoved me into the back seat of his car.

Again, I had the fleeting thought that with anyone else I’d be terrified, but as he leaned in over my body, gently making sure the cloth covering my mouth wasn’t too tight, I’d never felt safer.

“Stay. Here. Don’t move an inch.” His tone was serious, but I could tell from the frantic scanning of my face, he was trying to make sure I was okay with this. “When I come back, if you’ve tried to escape, I’ll know. If I can’t trust you to behave when I need you to, I’ll have to leave you here instead of taking you somewhere quiet to have my fun with you.”

Nodding, I tried to calm my breathing, wordlessly assuring him that I’d be good...for now.

“I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

My ears rang in the silence of the car after he slammed the door.

Was he going to take me back to his house? Or somewhere else?

Either way, I needed to let Hazel know I was gone. I lifted my hips, shifting my arms to the side to wiggle my phone out of my back pocket. Thankfully, he had zip tied them in front of me instead of behind or I’d be stuck.

My fingers shook as I used my thumbs to type in the code to unlock the screen and open my text messages. Apparently facial recognition didn’t work too well when you were wearing a mask and had a gag tied across your mouth.

Charley: Left with Hudson. Won’t be home tonight. Be safe.

The wind howled outside the car, but I didn’t hear him out there. He must have gone back inside the building for something. I really hoped he didn’t run into Vivienne in there, because I was looking forward to the rest of this role play. And that bitch wasn’t spoiling this for either of us. Hudson deserved someone who actually wanted to be with him.

Before my thoughts could spiral with more worst-case scenarios, my phone buzzed in my hands.

Hazel: Same to you, but please DON’T call me with details later. There are things I don’t need to know about my brother.

I wanted to ask her how she knew something was going on she wouldn’t want details for, but the sound of the bar door slamming had my fingers flying across the keys. Hazel had known about my crush on her brother for nearly as long as I’d had it. It was hard to keep things from someone who knew you as well as we knew each other. But even she didn’t know how deeply my feelings for him had grown since I started working at the bar.

Charley: You’re no fun.

Her response was immediate.

Hazel: Please don’t break his heart.

I highly doubted that would happen any time soon. I’d have to be in possession of it to break it.

Charley: I’m more worried about mine.

Hazel had encouraged me more than once to tell him how I felt, but with Viv in the picture, there was no way I’d put myself in the middle of their relationship and risk that kind of rejection. Having him as a friend was more important than my misplaced crush. Although I’d let her fascination with Reid stay concealed, even though I knew she had a thing for her brother’s oldest friend. But I wasn’t sure if her feelings for him were more than just physical.

Both older men were handsome, but I’d only ever had eyes for one of them. Seemed the Rivera siblings both might have the hots for their counterparts’ besties. Well, hopefully, the older one would once he realized who he was with.

But what I’d told Hazel was true. I was more worried about my heart than his. He’d always seen me as this annoying little sister he needed to protect before tonight, and I wondered if that would change for him once he knew I was the woman he’d done all those things to a short while ago. Surely after what had transpired against that tree Hudson knew he wasn’t with his ex.

Before I could delve any deeper into his motivations for chasing me through the woods in a mask to finger fuck me against a tree, the door to the driver’s seat was wrenched open. Reflexively, I shoved my phone back in my pocket before he looked into the back seat and noticed I had it.

He’d really committed to the menacing masked man persona earlier—despite a few slips to make sure I was okay—and I didn’t want to destroy the illusion by letting him know he’d left the zip ties too loose. If I wanted to, I could snap these in seconds and jump out of the car before he could leave, but I wasn’t doing anything to upset the flow of things.

Because I knew Hudson, if he overthought this encounter, it’d stop. He didn’t like confrontation, and he thrived on being in control. I only hoped that the control part would translate to the bedroom. Because whether it was a good idea or not, I was going to fuck my best friend’s brother tonight.

It felt more like Christmas than Halloween, but I wasn’t turning down the gift of dick regardless of the holiday. Especially not from the guy I’d had a crush on for a decade.