Taken Ch. 01

Chapter 1: What Happened Last Night?

The pain in my head was the first sensation to arouse my senses, a throbbing, dull ache reminiscent of a cheap champagne hangover. I groaned, beginning the mental calculations of figuring out exactly what I had done last night to warrant the hellacious day I was obviously about to have. I yawned, extending toes and fingers in opposite direction, eyes cautiously blinking open against the dim morning light breaking way through the curtains - wait. This wasn't right. The lighting was off, the light filtering in too dim and - yes. This was all wrong, this was not my room at all. I groaned again, hands rubbing my face as I took a deep, shuddering breath. Obviously, my errors were more than just some bad champagne last night, if I had managed to tumble into a bed that was unfamiliar to me.

Fighting the waves of dizziness and nausea, I slowly sat up, gripping the sheet to my chest as I realized that I was completely naked underneath. I cursed softly under my breath, taking stock of my surroundings. It appeared to be a rather bare and unimpressive basement, two small windows up high letting in enough low light for me to make out a wooden staircase approximately six feet to the right of the bed. Across the opposite direction, an out of place bathroom of sorts sat exposed. A toilet and a shower, if you could call it that. Great - I'd really picked a winner this time. What was this, mom's unfinished basement? It just needed a table full of empty beer cans and pizza boxes to complete the scene. I slowly stood, clutching the sheet tightly to my chest as I began to search the cold floor surrounding the bed for my clothes. Whoever - and wherever - Mr. Wonderful was - I didn't want to give him any impression should he happen to reappear that I was interested in a repeat of whatever had occurred last night. I wanted a hot shower and my own bed for the rest of the day.

I jumped, startled, as the door above let out a creak of protest, rusty hinges working to allow entrance. "Shit," I muttered, readjusting the sheet to make sure I was as covered as I could be, squinting my eyes to try and make out features on the dark shape descending, the dim basement light doing little to help my cause. I stood nervously near the end of the bed, shifting weight from one foot to another, futilely glancing around still for any sign of my missing clothing.

"Good morning," he spoke as he stopped in front of me, strong arms casually crossing over his wide chest.

I briefly shut my eyes and took a breath, doing my best to calm the nervous flutters in my stomach and the screeching voice in my head that wouldn't stop telling me what a complete and total fool I was to have gotten myself into this predicament. "Umm, good morning," I muttered, feeling the crimson rush of extreme embarrassment make its way from my toes all the way to the top of my head. "I, um, where are -" my words cut off as I finally worked up the courage look up at my mystery "Mr. Wonderful." He was tall - at least a foot taller than I - and clearly strong. He wore a simple white shirt, fabric stretched tautly over his muscled arms and chest. He was smirking, clearly amused by my discomfort at the situation. HIs eyes, though, were the most disconcerting. They were calm, watchful. I suddenly felt like a rabbit about to be caught in the wolf's snare.

"...My clothes," I finished quietly, dropping my eyes away from his intense gaze, knuckles whitening as my grip tightened on the soft sheet wrapped around my body that suddenly felt more exposed under his presence.

He chuckled softly, taking a quick step towards me. He towered over me, his presence and scent overwhelming my senses. Embarrassment, desire and annoyance all battled within my mind as I, in turn, attempted a step back to try and clear my head from his influence. With a squeak, my knees hit the edge of the bed that was much closer to me than I had realized, and I tripped, flopping ungraciously back onto the bed on my bottom, scrambling to maintain my hold on the sheet that still protected me. My options were clearly limited at this point - turn and scramble across the bed away from him, likely losing my protective sheet in the process, or refuse to give in to his intimidation tactics and put on a face of bravery. I chose the latter.

"Where are my clothes?" I demanded, jutting my chin out and looking up at him again, mustering as much annoyance into my glare as I could.

Slowly, casually, he leaned down over me, placing two strong hands on either side of me. I reflexively leaned back, away from his face - those eyes, lips - as he came forward. My elbows hit the bed as I struggled to remain even partly upright beneath his towering form. All the while, that smirk stayed on his soft lips, dark eyes slowly roaming my face, my hand where it still held its' death grip on the sheet..and lower.

"They're gone ... you won't need those anymore," he finally responded as his attention came back to my face. My eyes widened, lips parting in a small "o" of surprise. "What do you m-mean, anymore?" I retorted, uncomfortably wiggling and wriggling my way upwards in an attempt to escape the confined cage I suddenly felt I was in under his body and arms.

Without warning, the sheet was suddenly ripped out of my grip and I was scrambling to cover what I could with one hand as I wrestled for control of the sheet from him. "Look," I gasped in anger and embarrassment, "I know we may have had a good time last night, b-but that was it. I want my clothes, and I need to go now. Give.me.the.sheet," I grunted out, pulling as hard as I could against his strong grip and making no headway. He 'tsked' softly and with one quick tug had yanked the sheet clean out of my hands and held it behind him with one hand, still leaning over me with the other. "Last night? Last night was only the beginning, my pet," he chuckled, as his gaze traveled slowly down my bared figure. I whimpered, squeezing one arm tightly across my breasts, my other hand desperately trying to cover my nether region as I squeezed my legs tightly together. His dark eyes returned to mine, a smile slowly stretching his lips across very white teeth. "Don't worry, pet, nothing happened last night ... I wanted you to be fully awake and aware for the fun."

At that, I whimpered and bolted to the right, gaze set on the stairs to freedom. Damn the clothes, I knew in my gut I needed to get away from this man. Fight or flight mentality set in, and I chose flight - I knew I stood little chance against his height and muscles, and the longer I stayed the more danger I was in. My feet struck the cold ground. I stumbled briefly in my terror as I scrambled forward, those six feet suddenly feeling like six thousand feet. I could hear the blood rushing in my ears, my heartbeat erratic with both fear and the sudden energy expansion. For a half second, I felt a glimmer of hope as I got near the stairs, until suddenly I was being slammed against the wall from behind, my long dark hair cruelly twisted around his fist as he pressed my face, hard, into the cool stone.

I choked a sob out, tears running down my cheeks as I struggled futilely against the hard body pressing me against the wall. Without a word, he began walking back towards the bed, his hand still wrapped in my hair, forcing me along at his side. He threw me down on the bed and allowed me to scramble backwards. I kneeled at the far end of the bed, my back pressed against the wall, my arms crossed over my chest. I sniffled and stared sullenly at the bedspread in front of me, breath shuddering as I swallowed more tears back. I suddenly felt myself unable and unwilling to meet his gaze as he stood there watching me, not a word being said. Finally, I slowly wiped one hand across my eyes, drying tears and glanced upwards at him. "What do you want from me?" I softly spoke, eyes lowering again quickly to avoid his hard stare.

"Get used to me, pet," he demanded, his black boots shuffling against the concrete as he stalked closer to me around the side of the bed. "You belong to me now, and you won't be leaving anytime soon."

Chapter 2: Escape is Impossible ... coming soon!