Page 7 of Damon

DAMON

I didn’t think I could love a reaction more. Watching Athena melt down into a total mess of shock and panic was the highlight of my week. Hell, it may have been the highlight of my entire existence.

Her dark green eyes were impossibly wide, her screams muffled by the tape over her mouth. I turned my phone to bathe her in its flashlight, snickering when she fell backwards onto the ground in her haste to get away from me.

With her hands tied, she struggled to get to her feet. I stood back, watching with a smile on my face that only seemed to feed her desperation. There was nowhere for her to run now.

“You don’t really think you’re going to get away, do you?” I snickered. “Don’t get me wrong. I’m having a lot of fun with this little game we’re playing. I’m more than willing to keep chasing you, but you and I need to have a little talk.”

That seemed to give her pause. Athena stopped back peddling away from me, a question in her eyes. Taking her forearm, I steered her over to a thick fallen log where we could take a seat.

She scooted away from me on the log, doing her best to put some space between us. I rolled my eyes. We both knew who had the power here.

“I’m going to take the tape off your mouth now,” I said, reaching toward her. “If you scream and make a fuss, it goes right back on. Understood?”

Athena nodded vigorously. With no attempt at being gentle, I grabbed the edge of the tape and ripped it off her lips. She let out a pained yelp that went straight to my cock.

“Ouch. What the fuck, Damon? I always knew there was something wrong with you, but I didn’t guess that you were such a psychopath. Why would you do this? I can’t believe how demented you are. You are going to be in so much shit for—”

I slapped the tape back onto her mouth, silencing her tirade. “What did I just say? If you want the tape off, you shut the hell up and listen to me. I’m trying to have a conversation with you here. If you can’t participate properly, then you get the tape.”

Her words came muffled as she begged me to remove it again, most likely promising that she wouldn’t continue her useless rambles. With an irritated sigh, I pulled the tape off again, holding up a finger in warning. The light from my phone was bright enough for me to easily see the glare that flashed across her face.

There definitely had to be something wrong with me. I loved how she managed to regard me with such disdain despite the fact that she was bound and gagged. This girl had some fight in her.

“How much do you know about me?” I asked. “Do you know about the services Noah and I provide?”

She glowered at me for several long moments before grudgingly nodding. “I’ve heard things.”

“So then you know that I don’t mess around. People pay me to do things they’re not willing to do themselves. Some pretty depraved things at times.”

“Depraved like kidnapping an innocent woman and chasing her through the woods?” Athena interjected. She sat stiffly on the log, not trusting me for a second. Nor should she.

I chuckled, enjoying the way it made her jump. “Much worse than that. You got lucky.”

“Yeah, feels really lucky,” she muttered, gesturing to her tied wrists.

“You should’ve heard what he wanted me to do to you.” I shrugged. “Trust me when I say you got off easy.”

That got her attention. Sitting up straighter, Athena was all ears now. “What who wanted you to do to me?”

I could see by the look on her face that she already knew the answer. I told her anyway. “Your former boy toy, Andy, came to me looking for a little payback. Honestly, I was surprised by what he wanted me to do to you. I don’t have a lot of hard and fast rules or limits, but even I wouldn’t do that shit.”

“Goddamn him. I knew there was something off about him. Boy, I really know how to pick ’em.” She sucked in a deep breath, letting it out in a rush of shaky air. “So what happens now? You kill me? Something worse?”

In an effort to drag the moment out and make her sweat a little, I withdrew a joint from my pocket. Lighting it up and taking a long, slow drag. “I guess that’s up to you.”

Athena’s eyes narrowed. “What does that mean?”

I stared off into the darkness beyond the beam of the phone’s flashlight. Nothing but absolute black within those trees. A person could really get lost out here. The forest seemed to stretch on for several miles in every direction. Good thing I’d mapped my route here so I could find my way back easily enough.

“It means that now you have a choice.” I took another long toke off the joint before passing it to Athena. With her hands tied in front of her she was able to awkwardly grab it. “Either I leave you here in the woods for Andy to find or I let you go and you help me rain down a little punishment on that sick fucker instead.”

Surprised by the options stated, Athena coughed out a stream of smoke. “Wait, are you serious?”

“What about me makes you think I would be anything less than serious?” Quirking a brow, I awaited her response.

She puffed on the joint, staring at me suspiciously. “What’s the catch?”