Nina waited until the man was done with his dinner. And when he got up from the chair and was about to leave, she got up as well. “Can I go outside for a brief while?” she asked. “I haven’t gone out in the past week.” She gave him her best smile.

“No.”

Just one word, and his expression remained granite hard.

Nina’s smile faltered.

Nothing seemed to move her captor. And she thought she could actually seduce him? He didn’t look like he ever smiled, let alone know or feel passion.

Based on his looks, she had thought he would be used to getting attention and also maybe being with a lot of women.

He was handsome. But not the way Suraj was. Her husband was stunningly handsome with classical polished looks, and he gave the women around him the vibes of being safe and protective.

Whereas the captor, although handsome, looked dangerous and unpredictable. Maybe it was due to his buzz-cut and sharp, rugged features. And the heavy stubble combined with the stitches on his face and arm further added to the dangerous aura.

Some women preferred the dangerous, sexy vibes in a man. But Nina would never willingly want someone like him in her life, let alone be intimate with him. But she had to stick to her plan.

She kept the smile pasted on her face and tried once again. “Please, I promise I won’t try to escape. You can be the one to escort me.”

“I said, no. The only place I’m going to escort you is back into your room. Let’s go.”

Even though Nina expected her request to be denied, she still felt disappointed. She nodded and followed behind him down the stairs towards her room. Just before she reached the end of the stairs, she tripped and bumped into him.

He caught her around the waist and straightened her.

“Thank you,” she said in a breathless voice, keeping her eyes locked to his.

His nostrils flared, and she saw the dilation of his pupils.

At that moment, she knew he found her physically attractive. Her plan to seduce him didn’t sound way too impossible now. All she had to do, was turn those sparks of attraction he felt towards her into roaring flames.

She deliberately walked very close to him within the narrow corridor, until their sides kept brushing against each other.

Suddenly, he grabbed her elbow and more or less dragged her the rest of the distance into her room. Then he picked her up and banged her against the wall and wrapped her legs around his waist.

She gasped as his fingers dug into her thighs as he moved his hard body in between them. The next instant her lips were captured in a brutal kiss.

She moaned in shock and pain. Barely a few seconds later, he pulled away. “Is this what you were after?” he asked, rubbing against her, letting her feel his hard arousal.

Her lips hurt, and her throat closed up in fear. She braced her hands on his shoulders to push him away.

His eyes were cold, and his mouth was twisted into a cruel smile. “It’ll take me less than two minutes to take you against this wall,” he said. “And even if I end up fucking you, it will not make any difference or alter the plans I’ve already set into motion. Do you still want to proceed with your ill-advised seduction plan?”

Nina’s heart thumped faster as she shook her head.

“Yes or no?”

With great difficulty, she somehow got her voice to work. “No,” she whispered.

He watched her for a few more moments before he slowly let go of her knees and moved away. “Then behave,” he warned.

Her legs shook so much that she collapsed on her knees as she watched him in fear.

With another cold glare, he left the room, slamming the door shut.

Her heart continued to thump erratically and it took her a while for her legs to stop shaking and the rest of the fear to dissipate completely.

Slowly, she stood up and lay on her bed. She took several deep, calming breaths until she could think rationally once again.

God! How was he able to read her mind so easily? And who was this man?

His unpredictable personalities confused her. Was he the same man who had cut off her hair and clothes, threatening her with rape and torture? Or was he the guy who turned her down, even though he knew she had wanted to seduce him. She had more or less thrown herself at him.

Was her captor a good guy or a bad guy?

A bad guy would have taken her offer immediately. He would not offer her a choice and warn her off.

She might not be a raving beauty, but she was not bad to look at either. If he wanted to get back at Suraj, wouldn’t having sex with his enemy’s wife be a bigger revenge?

It was strange.

Even though he might not be a bad guy, he was still the guy who wanted to destroy Suraj. And so, she shouldn’t let down her guard with her captor.

Nina took a deep breath, trying to sort out through the mess that was in her head.

After a while, she came to another conclusion.

She wasn’t going to give up her current plan of seducing him. She had always thought of herself as street-smart and be able to read people easily. And she knew even the hardest of people let down their guard with intimacy offered through seduction.

But unlike the obvious seduction, she was going to approach it differently with her captor.

Before she got to her captor’s body, she would first seduce his mind.