“Did you seriously say let the fun begin?” Incredulity marked Chandra’s tone. “That is so not right.” Not when darkness pressed in on all sides in a suffocating layer.

“Do you not see the fun in our situation?”

“It’s dark.”

“I know. It’s perfect. Before, you could see the depressing lack of opposition around us. There was nothing to really fear.”

“Exactly. That was a good thing. Now I can’t see anything.” Which meant she was alone in the dark with Tomas. Tomas and nothing else. There wasn’t any sound in the darkness. She didn’t even hear herself as she held her breath to listen.

Dear, Devi. Save me.

His voice, where it tickled across her lobe in a warm puff, sent a shiver down her spine. “The darkness is a friend. It can surround and comfort you. The dark can be a shield against the light.”

The reply caused her to blink. “Either that was poetry, or you are truly insane.” Very possible given his captivity. And she was alone with him!

“Your heart is racing.” His voice purred around her. “Pittering and pattering. You’re so frightened, and yet you don’t beg for your life.”

At his taunting words, her back straightened. As she jabbed her elbow back, she was rewarded with hard abs. But it still gave her some satisfaction to hit him as she stated, “Your bullying tactics don’t scare me. If you were going to kill me, you’d have done it by now and tossed me into the hole with the rest.” Because she suspected the heap at the bottom of the pit, featuring boots, was why she hadn’t seen any guards or staff once she left her room.

“Killing you would be such a waste, though.” He drew near. She could feel heat radiating from him in a wave. “It’s been a long time since I was with a woman.”

The threat caused a frisson, less of fear and more of excitement. What was it about this man that appealed to her more carnal nature?

She steeled herself against him. “Your lack of coitus is going to be even longer than that if you don’t shower the next time before making bold attempts at seduction.”

For a moment, silence. Then a querying, “Did you just say I smell?”

Not really. For a man living in a hole, he seemed remarkably clean—if she ignored the blood. Still, though, a girl should have standards. “Even you have to admit you could use a bit of R & R. Maybe get a shave and a haircut to straighten things out. Antiperspirant is everyone’s friend.” She blabbed, wondering why she couldn’t shut up. I need to shut up. But no, she kept going. “And the whole barefoot in scrubs look. It’s gotta go.”

“If I strip the offending clothing, will you join me?”

The bold question stole her next words. He wasn’t seriously suggesting they…

Rumble. The slight tremor reminded her of where they were. Their little bubble wasn’t impermeable to calamity. As fascinating as she found talking to Tomas, she had to remember they were in danger. At least, she was. Tomas seemed quite capable of caring for himself now that he’d escaped his chains.

“We shall continue this conversation when we’ve reached a better locale,” he said. “Preferably one with a shower to please the doctor.”

“How are we supposed to find our way out?” She hated how her voice quavered. Sure, things seemed dire at the moment. Standing around in the pitch black inside a top-secret and secure installation wasn’t exactly ideal.

You forgot the part where you’re with a known killer.

Who wanted to see her naked. Be still her racing heart.

“Follow me.”

At that, she blew out a breath. “Exactly how am I supposed to follow? I can’t even see you.”

“At all?”

“Would I be asking if I could? Not all of us have night vision. We need to find a flashlight or something. The thing is, I have no idea where they’d keep one.”

He made a noise. “We don’t need a flashlight. Just hold on to me.”

Fingers, hot and callused, gripped hers and pressed them against fabric. She linked her fingers into the waistband of his pants and couldn’t help a sharp awareness of him.

“I’ve got you.” She did, but it didn’t prove very useful. It was still dark.

Tomas moved with a long stride, and she took two to keep up. And when he stopped? She bounced off him.

Twice.

The third time, he whirled and caught her. It brought her flush against his chest.

“Are you this clumsy as a doctor, too?” he asked.

“Maybe if you were a little more considerate instead of dragging and abruptly stopping.”

“Are you blaming the innocent one in all this for your ineptness?” The fine snobbery in his query made it sound so elegant.

“You’re the one with size, what, fourteen, maybe fifteen feet?” Women noticed things like hands and feet on a man. The matrons in her family tended to start all discussions about potential bachelors with an observation of fertility.

“I am perfectly proportioned to my height.”

“Which is also really tall.” So tall, she felt rather short.

“You make it sound negative. I thought women liked tall men.”

“We like men a few inches taller than us. A girl would need a stepstool just to reach you.”

“No need to stand on anything. I am capable of solving a height difference.”

Before Chandra realized what he meant to do, her feet left the floor, and she was lifted, hoisted high enough that firm lips pressed against hers. She sucked in a startled breath.

He laughed softly against her mouth. “See? Height is no issue.”

“Apparently, boundaries are. I never said you could kiss me.”

“That wasn’t a kiss.” The words vibrated against her lower lip. “This is.”

He meshed his mouth to hers, immediately teasing and massaging her lips, pulling at the lower one for a suck. She should have pushed him away.

After all, he took rather than asked. However, she would be hard-pressed to deny she wanted it. The kiss ignited all her senses. It shouldn’t have. She didn’t know this man, and what she knew was disturbing.

The kiss didn’t care about any of those things.

Her arms wound around his neck as his fingers dug into her waist, holding her aloft. She lost herself in the moment until his mocking words broke the spell.

“Will you still claim I can’t have you?”

She bit him.

He cursed and set her down abruptly. “That was uncalled for.”

“Next time, keep your brute strength to yourself.”

“How about I keep everything to myself. Find your own way out.”

The implication horrified. He was going to leave her alone in the dark! She desperately wanted to scream—don’t leave me. Inside, a part of her whimpered in fear. However, Chandra was not about to ask him for help. Let him selfishly leave. She didn’t need him.

I’ll find my own way out.

She felt around with her fingers in front of her, using tiny, shuffling steps as she cast about blindly.

Shuffle. Wave the hands. More shuffling. Flailing widely.

A heavy sigh filled the silence. Not by her.

“Are you criticizing me?” she asked, quite annoyed.

“More like cringing at your lack of skills when it comes to survival.”

“They didn’t teach me how to escape a hidden lab with no power in school. If you don’t like it, then leave. No one’s making you watch.”

Another heavy sigh. “That’s just it. I want to leave, and yet I can’t. Not when you’re so obviously incompetent. You’ll die of old age at the rate you’re moving.”

“At least I’ll live to a ripe old age,” she muttered. Then squeaked as she found herself lifted, princess style this time, with his arms looped under her knees and back.

“Try something novel and be quiet now while I get us out of here.”

Since getting out of the dark really worked for her, Chandra sealed her lips. She still couldn’t quite figure out how it was she turned into a chatterbox of inanities around him. Perhaps he oozed some kind of pheromone that rendered her stupid. Who knew what he could do, especially given Parker’s experiments.

I can fly, but that’sss not becaussse of Parker.

The alien words, with a hint of a lisp, floated into her mind, and she almost shrieked.

“Who said that?” she exclaimed out loud.

“Said what?” he asked.

“Someone just said they could fly.” She paused. “In my head.”

“You’re mistaken.”

“I am not mistaken. I heard someone talking. Dear, Devi.” She moaned. “I’m hearing disembodied voices. This is bad. So bad.”

“Insanity is treatable.”

“Maybe if my family believed in modern medicine. If my grandmother finds out, I’ll probably have to go through an exorcism.” Poor cousin Juliette. She still had a haunted look in her eye from her intervention, but as daadee had confided to Chandra, “At least she finally stopped running around with those boys.” Loose morals weren’t tolerated in the family.

“You’re not haunted. And that voice won’t be talking to you again. Promise.”

“So, it was your fault. You’re like some kind of psychic. That’s why you’re here, why Parker captured you. Are you reading my mind right now?” Despite knowing the futility, she let go of his neck to cover her ears, lest he discover how much she enjoyed being carried in his arms. Chandra wasn’t a girl with a lot of experience when it came to the opposite sex, the whole, no-boys-until-marriage thing being drilled into her from birth.

“Don’t be ridiculous. I do not read minds. I can just sometimes speak to a select few.”

“Just because you can doesn’t mean you should.”

“I would be glad to stop talking entirely.”

“Fine.”

He didn’t reply.

And despite the fact that she should have expected it, she sniffed. Jerk. A jerk who was kindly taking her out of this place. Easily, too.

“Is it me, or are the doors all unlocked?” Unusual. Chandra would have guessed everything went into lockdown in case of a power failure.

“The passages are open because I might have gone exploring earlier.”

“And you didn’t leave?”

“I was looking for survivors.”

“Do you know who attacked the lab?”

“Is this a trick question? I’m the one who cleaned out this place. I just wished I’d done it quicker. I missed Parker.”

Did Tomas mean to imply that he’d killed everyone? She swallowed hard. “Why kill everyone?”

“Because they offended me. I warned them to get out of my way. They didn’t listen, which was really their own fault since they know I’m not a man to exaggerate.”

“Are you going to get rid of me, too?”

“I might if you don’t stop asking questions.”

She tried silence for a moment, but with the darkness so oppressive, and his body so close to hers, she couldn’t think straight. She couldn’t think at all.

“Where are we?”

“Must be a record. You lasted a whole ninety seconds that time.”

His condescending tone stung. “Maybe I wouldn’t ask so many questions if you’d answer me. Everything you say is couched in grand words and threats. Why can’t you speak plainly?”

“Are you accusing me of being a snob?”

“Yes.”

“Then you’d be right.”

“You should add jerk to that, too,” she muttered.

“What’s that? You want me to leave you here? In the dark?”

She wrapped her arms so tightly around his neck, it would take the Jaws of Life to pry her away.

“I’ll take that as a no.”

“Don’t you dare leave me here.”

“Or what?”

“I’ll have my grandmother curse you.”

“I’m so scared.”

“You should be. Uncle Sanji hasn’t been able to cheat on Aunt Selma since my daadee cursed him with impotence.”

“I have no plans to meet your family, so your threat means nothing.”

He made a good point, so why could she so easily see herself presenting Tomas to her daadee for her approval?

“The door leading outside is right through here,” Tomas remarked.

She didn’t need him to tell her that because she could see the hints of daylight creeping around the edges of the door. It illuminated the room in a shadowy pallor that showed off an unexpected grouping of machinery and tools.

She pushed at his chest, and he set her down. “Is it me, or does this look like the inside of a shed?” Definitely not the building she’d expected to emerge in.

“It is a shed. Great camouflage, actually. This cabinet”—he rapped on the metal frame—“hides the door leading inside the mountain.”

“Which mountain, though? I don’t recall any big enough near the Lytropia Institute.”

“I don’t know what institute you’re referring to. I’m not sure where we are. I was kidnapped while on an archeological dig in Sudan. I assumed I’d been brought back to the States. I just don’t know where.”

“You’re an archeologist?”

“Don’t sound so shocked. I happen to be quite renowned in my field. Was tenured at a prestigious university, too, before my capture. I’ve even written for several magazines about my findings.”

“I can’t believe you’re a scholar. You do realize you’re throwing the shoe size schematic off.” Grandmother would find this intriguing, as would Chandra’s aunts.

“I don’t think I want to know what that means.”

And he never would, because Tomas, for all her attraction to him, wasn’t someone she’d introduce to her family. Chandra wasn’t ever getting married. Again. Not after the fiasco she’d endured with Ishaan.

Arranged marriages were only beneficial to the parents. The poor victims of them could usually barely tolerate each other. At least, that was the case with her and Ishaan. He resented her so badly. Especially since the marriage was meant to cover his shame. His parents were very upset by certain choices he’d made.

Chandra wasn’t about to make another mistake with Tomas.

Freedom beckoned. The daylight creeping through cracks teased, and she moved to the door excitedly.

“Thank you for finding the way out. How far do you think we’ll have to go to find civilization?” She put her hand on the knob—

“Don’t go out there,” he shouted as he lunged.

—and the door swung open, and she faced someone in a dark mask holding a gun. A gun pointed in her direction.

The guy dressed in combat gear fired, and searing pain engulfed her as something impacted her body. She hit the ground with a startled gasp. Couldn’t quite blink away her shock.

Pain set in.

Darkness tore at her as more sharp retorts echoed all around.

She faded. Faded into the darkness.

...until light tore it away.

The stabbing brilliance against her eyelids forced her to wedge them open. They felt so heavy. All of her felt heavy. Especially her arms and legs. They wouldn’t move at all when she tugged at them.

On account of me being tied down!