Four: Taken By Him

NADINE

I could feel warmth all around me, the bed was so soft that I found myself snuggling and wanting to disappear into it. It was that soft.

The pillows were comfy too and I sighed at how comfortable it was as I pulled it closer to myself. This was the kind of bedding that'd make one wish they could sleep forever and that's what I wanted at the moment.

But work... I just got the approval for my lifelong project.

My eyes popped open immediately after that thought came to my mind and I stood up with a start.

Why did I have to sleep in late when I should have been the first person to get to work?

I started to make a beeline for the bathroom only to stop dead in my tracks as I looked around the unfamiliar bedroom.

It wasn't my room.

I wasn't in my room.

Panic surged through my body as the events of last night came flooding into my mind.

The approval, the team hang out, the rain, the highway, my car getting spoilt, and the stranger that had stopped to help me.

But it wasn't to help me, it was to kidnap me.

I've been kidnapped!

My mind started working in overdrive as I looked at myself to confirm that I was still dressed in the same outfit from last night and that my bag and shoes were on a chair in the room.

I tried to stay calm even though I could feel anxiety and panic brewing in me and my thoughts ran in various directions on why and who could have possibly kidnapped me.

Does this have anything to do with Mr. George's warning about the development plan? I mean, I just got the approval and I managed to get kidnapped on that same day.

They must be it.

I walked up to the chair, careful not to make any sound in case someone was close by and I started to rummage through my bag in case my kidnapper was stupid enough not to take my phone away.

He was stupid enough not to take my phone away.

I thought to myself as I picked up my phone from the bag and I quickly dialed the emergency number with my heart in my throat.

It did not go through.

Not because the network was bad or anything but because there was no network there at all. I stared at where the network icon was supposed to be but there was nothing there, nothing, absolutely nothing at all.

I confirmed that my sim card was still in my phone but there was no network.

What part of the world could he have possibly brought me that the network was this terrible?

I started walking around the room with my phone raised up in the air while hoping that the network would at least pick up a bar so I'll be able to call for help.

It did not pick up anything.

Oh shit. Oh shit.

Where were we? How did... I ran to the window to confirm if I was in the middle of a forest or something because it made absolutely no sense why this was going on.

And the minute I pulled back the curtains, my eyes widened and my mouth opened in a surprised O as I stared at the buzzing city in front of me.

We were in the middle of a city, a buzzing one at that with skyscrapers, supermarkets, shopping malls, highway roads, and...

I gasped when it hit me. I was in Eden City, the city I've been designing since I was fifteen and there was exactly the view I've always designed that I'd see when I look out of my room in the apartment I wanted to live in once Eden City was developed.

A chuckle bubbled up my throat once I realized the ridiculousness of the situation.

It was either I was going crazy or I was having a dream.

I decided to go for the latter. It was obvious that I was too happy and excited that the project has been approved and that was why I was dreaming about Eden City because why else would I be in this place?

But the dream was too detailed, too real that it left my mouth agape as I stared out of the window in absolute wonder.

This place was absolutely beautiful.

The buildings, the roads, the cars, the people... I stared at the streets below at the people going about their daily activities and it made me wonder how a dream could be this detailed and vivid.

And as much as I love the idea of Eden City, I knew I had to wake up from this dream as soon as possible if I wanted to make Eden City into a reality.

But wait, was I supposed to be conscious of the fact that I was dreaming?

I heard the knob turn at that moment and I turned around in panic at the same time the door flung open and the same man from last night entered.

Another involuntary gasp left my mouth as I experienced a full-body shudder and I instinctively took a step back.

He was larger than life, dressed in a black tee and black pants that hung every part of his body. Especially that damned black tee that exposed his bare hands and all the muscles that were barely held together.

I couldn't stop myself from observing his upper body, the muscles in them, and an imagination of what he'd looked like without a shirt started popping into my mind.

What the fuck, Nadine? Are you really checking your kidnapper out?

Relax, okay, it's just a dream, I'm allowed to be irrational in dreams.

Except that it wasn't feeling like a dream. Everything was so vivid and detailed that it couldn't possibly be a dream.

"I see that you're awake," he spoke calmly and his voice had the same devastating effect it had on me last night.

It electrified my whole body, making me hyper-aware of all my senses and they all seemed to be doing one thing; leaning toward this man.

"Who are you?" I demanded, my voice betraying the calmness I wasn't feeling.

"Uhh," he started walking towards me and I instinctively jumped back and I held out a hand to stop him.

"Don't come any closer," I told him and he stopped.

His eyes narrowed at my defensive stance and then his lips curved into a smirk-like smile.

"I'm not going to hurt you," he stated calmly, his eyes not leaving my face, "and even if I was, you stand no chance against me."

What the fuck? Did he just... He just did!

"No shit, Sherlock, you kidnapped me, brought me to God knows where and you want me to believe that you won't hurt me?"

"Well, about that," he stated calmly again, unbothered about the fact that I was nearing insanity here, "I did that because I have hmmm, something to discuss with you."

Was this psycho for real?

"Well, I don't give a fuck about what you want to tell me. You could have just sought me out like a normal human being to discuss whatever it is with me instead of kidnapping me. Now, lemme go before I scream this whole building down."

I screamed at him but the hulk of a man was not even bothered. He did not look the least bit fazed by my theatrics.

Then he started walking towards me in slow, predatory-like steps that made me take a step backward, then two, then three till my back hit the wall and there was no place to go again.

"Stop it," I yelled at him but he didn't budge.

"Don't move any closer or I swear I'm going to scream..."

He stopped right in front of him with his right palm on the wall above my head and the other one tucked away in his pocket, he crouched down a little so we were face to face and I could see his face clearly.

I expected to feel mortified, endangered, and scared but instead, I felt caged and suffocated thrillingly by his close proximity.

"You can scream all you want but no one is going to come and rescue you," he spoke to my lips because his lips were hovering over mine I could feel his warm breath all over my mouth.

"What about all those people?" I managed to tilt my head towards the window, "surely, one of them will take pity on a poor helpless girl being held by a deranged psychopath."

"Oh, those people?" he mussed, his voice sounding amused as he removed his hand from his pocket to catch a strand of my hair and I exhaled softly at that.

I felt him freeze for a nanosecond as his eyes left my mouth to stare at my lips.

My mouth and throat dried all of a sudden and I became even more hyper-aware of this male that was thoroughly male in all senses of the word standing right in front of me.

What in God's name was going on?

He stopped all of a sudden and he straightened up but still remained in close proximity.

"And you're right," he started, eyes leveled on mine, "I should have sought you out like a normal human being but I'm afraid I'm not one and I can't just allow you to go back to Crescent Valley because right now, you're in Eden City."

I stared at him in confusion for a moment longer than usual before laughter bubbled out of my mouth.

Of course, I was in a dream.