My stomach knotted in excitement. Whatever his surprise was I couldn't wait to find out more. The words tripped from my tongue before I could stop them even though I had promised myself earlier that I wouldn't ask what he meant.
"Please, give me a hint?" I begged, looking up at him through lowered lashes.
David's chuckle was all male as he let his hands wander down my back to the curve of my ass. Gripping me tightly he pulled me up hard against his body. I whimpered as I felt him press against my stomach. I knew what lay beneath his clothes and the pleasures he could bring. I wanted to feel it, even if it meant him taking me now against the bonnet of his car.
He nibbled along my earlobe weakening my knees. "Did you know, Carrie, that patience is a virtue? I said 'later' and I'm the Master." He let me go suddenly but steadied me with his hand. My knees didn't want to support me and I had to place my hand on the car to hold myself upright. The alarm sounded, its squeal making me jump and David laugh. He held me tightly as he clicked the alarm off and wrapped his arm around my shoulder before walking me up to the lift. The door whooshed open and I was startled to come face to face with a tall man dressed completely in black. It dawned on me immediately that he was security.
"The apartment is clear." He addressed David who merely nodded in response.
David turned to me and kissed me softly. "I have to go finish up some business but I promise I will be back as fast as I can. Mike here will stay with you just in case. But I really won't be that long. You'll barely miss me and I hope you'll enjoy the surprise later."
I couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. I wanted David to stay with me. Although the guard standing at my back was obviously well trained. For some reason when I was with David I felt much safer.
"Do you have to? Couldn't it wait?" I tried to keep the petulant whiney tone from my voice but I was sure some of it crept in.
"I'm afraid not, my sweet. This needs to be done." He handed me a small cell phone. "If you need anything mine is the only number programmed in. Call me and I will come." He smiled at me before kissing me softly once more. "I do love you, Carrie. I've never loved anyone the way I love you."
My heart skipped a beat as he spoke and I leaned up on tiptoe to whisper against his ear. "I love you too. Hurry back to me."
He grinned and jogged across the parking lot to the car and climbed back into it. He squealed out of the parking garage and I watched him go. Turning to Mike, I smiled at him.
"Is there a car or will I get a cab?"
He looked startled before he answered. "Mr Ashcroft gave me the impression you were going up to his apartment?"
I shook my head. "No, there are one or two things I need to pick up from my own apartment."
He looked sceptical for a moment or two. "Fine, I'll get a cab and go myself. I won't be long and David won't even know I was gone."
"No, it's fine, we have a car." He pulled a radio from his pocket and spoke into it. He then gestured for me to join him in the elevator. "It'll pick us up outside the front door."
I beamed at him. "Thank you." The doors slid shut behind me as I stepped inside the elevator. It moved upwards and stopped on the ground floor. I followed Mike out into the foyer and then out through the double doors onto the street. The car stood idling at the curb and I climbed into the back and Mike followed.
The car moved away and wound down through the streets. Realising it was the driver who had taken me home before, I smiled and sat back. David would be furious if he found out I had gone to my own apartment but I wanted to pick up my mail and check my messages. My parents were going to be worried so I wanted to figure out what they were planning on saying before I called them again. I also needed some clothes.
David had said he had something special planned and I knew for a fact that I had no clothes at his apartment. Everything was still at his mother's house. And as good as he was, I couldn't imagine that he’d had the time to move them back to the city.
The car pulled up at the curb, jolting me out of my thoughts. I hopped out of the car without even thinking and skipped up the steps to the front door. Mike started to follow me.
"I'll only be a couple of minutes, you wait here." He hesitated and that was all the time I needed to slip inside the door and climb the stairs quickly. Fishing the spare key from its hiding place in the door frame, I popped the door open and entered the apartment.
I had only been gone a few days but already it had developed an empty feel. Making my way to the answering machine I pressed the play button. It beeped a few times before starting to play the messages stored. A sound in the hall had me moving back to the front door.
"Mike, I told you I would only be a few minutes." I spoke with an air of frustration. Being followed around was not something I would ever get used to.
I opened the door and froze.
"Hello, sweetness. Miss me?" Robert's words sent ice skittering down my spine. Images flashed into my mind of his hands around my throat as he tried to choke the life out of me. The way his hand had clamped across my mouth to keep me silent as I had lain helpless in the hospital bed. And what he had promised to do.
I turned with a strangled scream of panic and tried to escape in the apartment but there was nowhere to run—I was trapped. I thought of David's face. The sincerity in his voice as he had told me he loved me.
Pain blossomed across the back of my neck. I turned to see Robert lift the butt of the gun once more and screamed as he brought it down on the side of my cheek. Pain exploded in my head as I collapsed and the last thing I heard was his manic laughter as the darkness swallowed me up.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
My head ached and I tried not to vomit with the pain as slowly I opened my eyes. The light seemed far too bright and part of me hoped I was back in the hospital the way I had been when I had woken the first time.
"Wakey-wakey. It's almost show time. I was afraid you were going to sleep straight through and that would be no fun, now would it?" The sound of Robert's voice instantly made me realise I wasn't safe. Far from it.
I moaned and tried to sit up but my hands were frozen behind my back. I struggled for a few minutes until I realised that they were tied in place. I struggled some more but it only caused the pain in my head to worsen.
Robert's shoes came into view and he crouched beside me. "Dear me, we can't have you on your side like that. You'll miss the look on David's face when he stumbles in and finds me ready to blow your head off."
He tangled his hands into my hair and tugged me upright. I screamed around the gag in my mouth and my stomach roiled painfully. I was sure I was going to be sick. Once upright he grabbed my arm and tugged me to my feet. I went with him but the world spun in dizzying circles and I almost fell. He held me in place and shoved me back against the wall, his body pinning me in place.