Trapped by a Dangerous Man Read Online Free Page A

front of the fireplace, waiting for Santa to come so that she could lecture him about giving her a pink bike when she wanted a black one.” When he was angry with me, which was fairly often, he would say that my stubbornness was going to lead to my downfall.
    He and my mother never agreed on much, which was probably why they divorced when Rob and I were young, but on the subject of my blind, thoughtless stubbornness, they were 100% in accord.
    At the moment, I was inclined to admit they were right.
    My aching toes, dragged through the snow, were uncomfortable even before I started walking, so I couldn’t pinpoint when I lost all feeling. One moment I was stepping through blocks of burning ice, and a few seconds later it felt like my lower legs ended in stumps.  
    Loss of feeling in extremities… not good. I told myself I would just sit down a moment, pull my knees into my chest and get my blood flowing again. Maybe rub my feet until the feeling returned. Then I would get up and find a way out of this mess.  
    Deep down, I knew that wasn’t likely to happen, that not stopping was the better option.  
    But I was starting to panic again; the air around me, the snow weighing on my limbs, was not much better than the vise of the car’s interior. It was like the darkness took on weight, pushing on my coat and wet jeans, forcing me down, and only when I went still did it relent.
    I tried to scrunch and flex my toes and was rewarded with a bit of stifled movement. The boots were… no, not coffins.
    “Get a grip,” I yelled, the heavy snowflakes muffling the sound. For once, the hysteria obeyed.  
    But not the fear. I couldn’t banish the knowledge that I would die there. Icy tears slid down my cheeks, mingled with the mucous running down my nose, and froze on my lips and chin. I’d never been the type to feel sorry for myself, but damn… what a crappy way to die.
    Except I was feeling, strangely, a little better. Not warm, but warmed… cozy despite the cold, which took a back seat to the strange euphoria that was creeping along my chilled flesh. It was so quiet and peaceful there, but I knew I needed to stay awake. So I thought of all the cows, cozy and quiet in their barns, and I wanted nothing more than to be with them, appreciating the puffs of their steamy breath in the air. I could spend the rest of my life with them, would happily dedicate myself to shoveling cow dung if some fairy godmother should flit in and offer me the choice… I would have agreed to anything… there was no existence too degrading. “Shovel cow dung. Shovel cow dung,” I chanted, the cold making my jaw vibrate, shaking the words as they stuttered between my ice cube lips.
    Tears had frozen my eyelashes together, and I was no longer sure if I was upright or lying down, though I supposed I was on my back, yet I didn’t remember falling over.  
    Bright lights seared through my eyelids. A vehicle stopped and waited with a low rumbling. A door opened. Footsteps. A man cursing. Even as far gone as I was, I knew he was really pissed, and some tiny, human part of me wished I could smack him and say that in this situation, he wasn’t the one with the real problem, but I also wanted to promise him that I would take excellent care of his cows.
    Arms wrapped around behind my shoulders and slipped under my bent knees, and I knew that it was ok to let go.
    ~~~
    I opened my eyes into complete darkness and realized that I was on a soft bed. Warm. I blinked slowly, exaggeratedly, and slowly raised my arm in front of my face. And saw nothing.
    I didn’t panic, not yet, but struggled to remember what had happened. Unfortunately, I remembered too much… losing control of the car in the most pathetic, least out-of-control way possible… walking for what seemed like forever but probably hadn’t been, panicking and thinking I was being smothered by the night.
    With a deep breath, I squeezed my eyes closed and pressed my fingertips to my face. My hands