Sweet Talk Ch. 05

"Need some help?" came a low, masculine voice, just down the hall.

Confused, she peered over her shoulder to find Andreas strolling leisurely toward her.

"You don't look so good," he said, but the look on his face wasn't one of concern; it was annoyed frustration.

In that moment, a terrifying question crossed her foggy brain: had Andreas put something in her drink? What else would explain what was happening to her?

Too late, she realized her mistake in leaving the bar to come back downstairs, in isolating herself. She'd basically trapped herself. The only way out was to go back toward Andreas, to the elevators, and she could feel the effects of whatever he'd given her pressing in on her brain, her limbs going heavy and languid.

If Andreas came anywhere near her, she knew she wouldn't be able to fight him off for long. And, then, God only knew what'd happen to her.

She had to distract him until, hopefully, someone else came into the hallway.

"Did you follow me down here?" she demanded, having to force the words past the thickness of her tongue.

He shrugged, his eyes pinned to hers with a disconcerting directness. "What if I did?"

Unease snaked through her belly, but she tamped it down, trying to stay calm. "Look, I don't know if I gave you the wrong idea, but—"

He cut her off with a low, intimate laugh, as he bent to where her purse was still on the floor and picked the keycard out of the pile of her spilled possessions, holding it out to her.

"We're alone now," he said, silkily. "You don't have to pretend you're not interested." He stepped in close to her, way too close for comfort, bringing with him the strong scent of his expensive cologne. "I won't tell Jason, if you don't."

Anna stared at him, not even bothering to hide her aversion, now, despite the nausea roiling in her belly. "There's nothing to tell Jason, because I'm not pretending. And I'm definitely not interested."

At her tone, his gaze turned cold. "But you're interested in Jason, right? Even after all of that 'we're just friends' nonsense." He eyed her speculatively. "I saw you with him just now, you know? Saw the way you were looking at him. Saw how he threw that other woman in your face. Don't tell me you don't want to get back at him." He moved in even closer, until he had her boxed in between his body and the door. "I can help you. I know all about pushing Jason's buttons. All you have to do," he whispered, "is let me push a few of yours."

She held his gaze, not bothering to hide her disgust, even as she snatched the keycard from his fingers and slid it into the door. "This has nothing to do with Jason," she hiked her chin and glared at him. "If you want to know the truth, I just don't like you very much."

His mouth tightened with irritation as he caught her chin and held her face immobile. "I don't need you to like me, cara, but I can promise you'll like how I make you feel."

She jerked her head away from his grasp, and shoved at his chest. "You've got three seconds to get the hell away from me."

At her side, her one, free hand felt heavy, boneless, but she realized, it still held her phone. Shielding her hand behind her thigh, she concentrated, hard, on sliding her thumb horizontally to unlock the touch-screen, blindly punching the keys, every instinct in her knowing that she was in trouble—and needed Jason.

Fury washed over Andreas's handsome features, at her challenge. "You're nothing but a little tease," he spat, only to cut off as he caught the muffled sound of Jason's end of the phone ringing in her hand, just before it clicked over to voicemail.

The sound of Jason's voice filled the deserted hallway. "You've reached Jason Blake. Sorry I missed your call, but go ahead and leave a message here, or try me at Sugar."

The beep sounded, and Andreas smiled coldly. In the next instant, his hand shot out and clamped onto her upper arm. She cried out in pain, the phone falling from her hand.

"Looks like it's just you and me, after all," Andreas murmured.

Then, before she could react, or gather the breath to truly scream, he slammed his other hand over her mouth, and shoved her backward through the half-open door into the dark, empty hotel room.