Page 7 of Compulsion
He had no intention of falling.Hewasgetting through the door at the top of the stairs.Then he’d be gutting the prick who’d abducted him.Atlas wondered if Lily was squeamish.He highly doubted it, but if the sight of blood did bother her, then she could look away.
Her sweet vanilla scent surrounded him.Tempted him.His left hand held the knife.His right was cuffed to her.The dumbass who’d attacked him had clearly not done his homework.Atlas was a lefty.He could cut a man open in less than two seconds with his left hand.From groin to?—
“What are the odds that he just left the door unlocked?”Lily’s soft voice barely reached him.
They were right in front of the door now.Or, rather, Atlas was.A mix of light and shadows spilled around them.Dammit, the light from the lantern would be slipping beneath the door, potentially warning the bastard waiting that Atlas was coming with an attack of his own.“Kill the light.Now.”
She did.
Instant darkness.
In the darkness, he was highly aware of her.Her scent.Her quick pants.Her body.A body that pressed closely to his.Feminine.Warm.Tempting.
He reached for the doorknob.Tried to turn it.Surprise, surprise, it was locked.
“The lock and the hinges are on the other side,” she breathed.“This is the part where we both need to try really hard and not panic.”
He wasn’t going to panic.He was going to kick ass.And probably kill.“Go back down the stairs.”
“What?”
“Go back down the stairs.”Because he was going to need a bit of a running start.
“Why are we going back down?”Lily’s words trembled.The first sign of real fear he’d caught from her.
“Because I’m bigger than you, I’m stronger than you, but if I’m going to break down this door, then I’ll need some momentum going so…head down the stairs, then we’re racing up.”He needed more room to work.That narrow area at the top just wasn’t enough space.
“You’re…breaking down the door?”
He didn’t respond to that question.He’d already said as much, hadn’t he?What else did she think he was gonna do?As she’d already noted, the hinges were on the other side, so not like he could take those freaking things off.His options were to break the lock or to shatter the wood of the door.
“You were just unconscious.”
She kept harping on that point.He was no longer unconscious.He was bleeding, yes, but definitely awake and aware.
“Do you really think slamming into a door is the best plan?”Lily continued.
He turned his head to look back at her.Only saw darkness.“Do you have a better idea?”
A pause.Then, “No.Let’s slam you into the door.As hard as we can.You’ll be our battering ram.”
His lips wanted to twitch.Trapped in hell, and he wanted to smile.Weird.
“You haven’t suspected me,” she suddenly blurted even as she crept down the stairs.He crept with her, aware of the faint groan of one stair beneath his feet.“Haven’t asked if I’m some horrible villain who staged this whole scene with you.”
“You’re cuffed to me.”
“Uh, yes…”
“You aren’t strong enough to have gotten me here alone.”And the aches in his body told him that he’d definitely hit some stairs as he tumbled and landed in the basement.
“True.But I could be working with a partner.Yet you are showingzerosuspicion of me.”
He figured they were about half-way down the stairs.“Do you want me to be suspicious?”
“No.I want you to get us out of here.As fast as possible, please.”
“Working on it, sweets.”
