Faith (A Dark Romance Novel) Read Online Free Page A

attractive he was . I’d had a lapse in judgment last night, but today was a new day. I shifted to get off of the bed, but a rattling sound caught my attention. Looking down at my feet, I froze, my eyes widening as I peered down at my left leg, which was shackled to one of the steel bed posts. I hadn’t noticed it when my eyes had done the initial sweep of my body, but the steel shackle seemed to gleam under the light. How could I have missed it?
    I wordlessly turned my head and peered over at the stranger, confusion etched in my expression.
    “Oh yes. That.” The stranger stood and began to cross the room toward me, the smile still on his face, but the smile was no longer attractive to me. The smile seemed to mock me and sent a chill down my spine.
    Instinct told me to get away and I tried, crab-walking my way backward until my back was flush against the cool wall. “What’s going on? Why am I chained to the bed?” Panic was beginning to creep up within me and I scanned the room again. There were two doors. One was open, and I could see a countertop with a sink, so evidently that was a bathroom. The other door was closed and made of what I assumed to be solid oak.
    The stranger stopped at the edge of the double bed and crossed his arms over his chest. “Yeah, about that, I couldn’t really trust that you wouldn’t go a little crazy when you woke up and do something stupid like try to escape.”
    “So, I’m a prisoner…”
    “I prefer to use the term ‘guest.’”
    “A guest can leave.”
    He laughed. “Touché.”
    The events of the previous night were becoming clearer by the second and I remembered that smile. I’d swooned over that smile. I’d never dreamed that smile could be associated with someone who… who what? A kidnapper? Captor? Rapist? Well, not a rapist – yet – but I was confident in the kidnapper assumption.
    “Why am I here? I don’t understand. My family has no money, if that’s what you’re after.” I forced a smile onto my face despite every fiber of my being wanting to break down in tears. I had to have faith. I’d get out of this, whatever this was. God was testing me. Father liked to say that God gave his children tests throughout their lives, some we may not understand, but he did it to make us stronger. Our job wasn’t to question his will, but deal with it. I would deal with this and it would be all right.
    He sighed and sat down on the edge of the bed, facing me. I crawled to the far corner, putting as much distance between us as the shackle would allow. “Truth is, I was actually there for your blonde friend, but you caught my eye. I’m going to assume what you said last night was true and you’re still a virgin.”
    I didn’t answer.
    He nodded. “Don’t want to answer?”
    I shook my head, my cheeks growing warm.
    “Well, we’ll find that out soon enough. Modesty isn’t an emotion you’ll find useful here.”
    I still didn’t answer. I didn’t know what to say. 
    “Any questions?”
    The urge to relieve my bladder increased. I would surely pee myself if I didn’t get to a bathroom soon. “I need to pee.”
    “That’s a request, not a question, but fine.” He stood and pulled a set of keys from his pants pocket. Leaning over my leg, he inserted the key into the cuff around my ankle, but didn’t turn it. He lifted his head and his gaze caught mine. “I’m going to say this to you now, and take what I say as the absolute truth. If you do anything stupid, if you try to run, I’ll catch you and you’ll be punished. So be a good girl.”
    “Okay.” As I answered, my eyes left his to focus on the door. Punished? What did he mean by punished? I suspected I didn’t want to find out.
    “It’s locked and I have the only key in or out. So if you think you’re getting out that way you’re mistaken.”
    “I wasn’t –”
    His hand shot out so quickly I didn’t know what was happening until my chin was in his grasp and he forced my eyes to meet