Total pages in book: 22
Estimated words: 19506 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 98(@200wpm)___ 78(@250wpm)___ 65(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 19506 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 98(@200wpm)___ 78(@250wpm)___ 65(@300wpm)
I unzipped my pants and began relieving myself as I weighed my options. I needed my car, because I needed to get to my job, because I needed to afford food. I didn’t have enough money to repair the car myself, and I definitely didn’t have enough to buy another one.
As far as the guy went, he was a total creep, evidenced by the fact that he brought me to his house when I was unconscious. Granted, he was a buff, hot creep with a killer body; he was everything I was attracted to, but he was a creep nonetheless. And I could only hope that his body was the only thing ‘killer’ about him.
The thought finally broke through my brain fog enough to cause fear to prickle in my chest. I wouldn’t be able to fight this guy off; not only was he much bigger than I was, but my side hurt too much to throw a decent punch. I patted down my thigh, but felt nothing in my pocket; my knife must have fallen out during the crash.
Getting my car back wasn’t worth the risk of whatever this guy could do to me, and I was a fucking moron for even considering it. Now that my head was screwed on straight, I knew my only option was to escape. There had to be a back door or a window I could crawl out of.
I zipped up but skipped flushing so that I didn’t make any noise to signal that I was leaving the bathroom. I opened the door as slowly as possible and tiptoed out into the hallway, the stone floor absorbing the sound of my footsteps.
When I’d only crept a few paces down the passage, a loud knock sounded from the next room, causing me to freeze in place. A quick moment passed before I heard a door open, followed by several new voices. Unable to restrain my curiosity, I stalked down the hallway and peeked into the open room.
There were four new men standing with the biggest guy, making my stomach knot up with worry. I couldn’t think of a single good reason why they’d be there, and could only hope for coincidence. If nothing else, their presence would make it more difficult to get out of this place.
A man with dirty blond hair stepped up to the big guy and said, "Hey, Rider." Rider. I hadn't asked the guy’s name, but for some reason, I was glad I knew it. “How is he?”
“He’s awake, but he’s shaken up. And I’m pretty sure he hates me.” Even though he couldn’t see me, I nodded my head in agreement…but the action made my stomach knot again. I shook off my confusion and fully focused my attention on what was being said about me.
“I’m sure that’s not true,” an older man added.
“He has every right to,” Rider replied sadly. “This is all my fault.”
“What do you mean?” the first guy asked. “What happened at the club?”
Rider let out a long sigh and motioned for the group to follow him to a cluster of chairs. The other four men sat in pairs on each other’s laps, making it obvious that they were romantically involved.
Once everyone was seated, Rider began, “I was sitting near the bar when this strange feeling came over me. I was on edge and anxious; I thought something bad was about to happen. But when I turned around, I saw the most beautiful man I'd ever laid eyes on. I couldn't look away as he crossed the club floor. He took a seat and also took my breath away."
"That's how I felt when I first saw Zane," another man said as he patted the thigh of the man on his lap. Zane. I made a mental note, collecting the names. "Of course, he was in danger, so I was worried about him as well, but I was still awestruck by his beauty."
"I thought this man was in trouble too," Rider continued. "When he sat down, another shifter went up to him and was being aggressively flirtatious. I could tell my mate was uncomfortable, and I heard him try to get the guy to leave, but he wouldn’t. So I stepped in to help.”
I couldn’t help the way my chest warmed when he described me as the most gorgeous man he’d ever seen. But I tried to quickly push the feeling away. I certainly wouldn’t call us friends, so I wasn’t sure why he called me his ‘mate’, and I didn’t know what the hell a shifter was, but I listened to him move on with his story.
“I told the shifter to leave him alone and he finally did. I didn’t mean to make my mate feel inadequate; I just wanted to help. But I upset him and he left. I scared him when I went after him; I could see it in his eyes in the mirror, and he ended up becoming distracted and wrecking his car. I just wanted to apologize and speak to him, but I caused him to get injured. It’s my job to protect him and I did just the opposite. This is all my fault and it’s tearing me up inside.”