His breath was soft against her face as he spoke into her ear.
“Just go along with this, Kim. Just go along. I'm sorry, but it's a job I'm doing for a lot of money. These people watching are big fans of yours. Try to understand.”
“I want you to die,” she said. She bit down on his wrist, drawing blood, and then he hit her, slapped her hard on each of her cheeks. Tears made her skin sting.
She wanted to pass out, but she was still conscious, very much under the blond stranger's body, hearing him grunting, feeling – too much. So she did her best to block out everything but the sound of the waves and thoughts about what she would do to him when she got away.
Chapter 6
When Kim woke up she was sitting in a bathtub of warm water, leaning with her back against the sloping rim, her hands tied under the suds.
The blond stranger was on a stool beside her, washing her with a sea sponge as naturally as though he'd bathed her many times before.
Kim's stomach heaved, and she vomited bile into the tub. The stranger stood her up in one powerful swoop, saying “Alley Oops,” and she noticed again how strong he was. This time she heard a hint of an accent but couldn't place it. Maybe Russian. Or Czech. Or German. Then he pulled the bathtub plug and turned on the shower.
Kim swayed under the spray, and he held her up, supported her body as she cried out and hit at him, trying to kick but losing her footing. She started to go down, and he caught her again, laughing, saying, “You're a little something special, aren't you?”