Eliza Gayle Witch Bundle (paranormal romance), Eliza Gayle [books suggested by bill gates txt] 📗

a better opportunity. But she was nothing if not patient. Something else she had learned with years of practice. Yes, she would go with him for now and bide her time for later. At least Cash wasn't here right now. Merc may have orders to keep her alive, but he wouldn't hesitate to kill someone else who got in the way of his mission.

Merc walked up to her with rage contorting the features of his face into an ugly mask. It gave her a great deal of satisfaction to drive him insane. She smiled sweetly at him. “I'm ready to go.”

Instead of grabbing her by the arm, he fisted his hand around her hair, yanking her against him. Pressing his lips right up against her ear, he spoke. “I've had about all I'm going to take from you this time, you little whore. Any more trouble from you and I'm bound to twist this pretty neck of yours. Or, if I decide not to kill you, maybe something I might enjoy even more.” As he trailed his lips down her neck her stomach heaved. For months she had evaded him without hurting him, but right now, with his big hard body pressed into hers and his clammy lips touching her, she didn't care anymore if he lived or died.

Her power built again, this time a little wild and a whole lot bigger. Both hands burst into flames as she jerked out of his grasp. As he leveled the gun at her again, the already gusting winds pitched her backwards, pulling her away from Merc. As she fought to gain purchase on the road, a sharp pain shot through her leg.

The son of a bitch had shot her. Lucky for her the wind knocked off his aim and she was hit in the leg. She looked down to see it wasn't a bullet he'd gotten her with—oh no, the bastard used a tranq. Trying to reach for the dart, her arm wouldn't go where she told it to. She glanced again at her leg and saw more than she was supposed to, there were several darts sticking out of her leg. Whatever he'd shot her with was already working. She wouldn't last long. Her thoughts became fuzzy and thick and she couldn't form a flame in her mind. No way to use her power to save herself this time.

The wind screamed in her head as she looked for Merc. He had landed on his butt on the road and… wait—she tried to focus her vision. Scrunching her eyes, she saw too many people. Was someone on top of him? Fighting him? Her legs gave way as she fell to the ground, succumbing to the darkness.

Selene opened her eyes to soft burning candles and the smell of cooking food. Her head pulsed and stomach growled at the same time. Looking around the room, she took in the antique dresser, expensive art on the walls, and an odd New Age collection of Tarot cards, crystals, pendulums, and chalices. Strange.

Where the hell am I? Did I fall down the rabbit hole? This was definitely not the compound.

She tried to sit up, struggling because her body and limbs felt weighted down as if they were made of lead, especially her leg, it hurt like a bitch. Looking down at her body, she found herself dressed in only her tank top and some baggy sweat pants that looked five sizes too big for her. She forced her body to move, swinging her legs over the side of the bed.

Her fuzzy memory began to clear and she remembered Merc hitting her with a tranquilizer and could only imagine where he had taken her this time. The organization had hidey-holes placed strategically all over the country, and since she didn't know how long she’d been out she could be anywhere by now. She needed a plan for escape and pretty damn quick.

First things first. Food and decent clothes. She rifled through the drawers in the dresser to find only men's clothing. Nice stuff, too. Expensive designer T-shirts and undergarments, even the workout gear looked and felt incredibly luxurious. Now if only she could find some of this stuff to fit her. She padded across the room to the closet to find only more menswear. There were several nice suits with shirts and ties but there was also an equal amount of leather. She slowly breathed in the familiar rich scent.

Her thoughts immediately flashed to Cash and the way his lean, muscular body had filled out his leather pants and jacket. Yum. A little dark cloud settled over her at the realization that she’d never see him again. She hadn't even gotten his last name, let alone any other personal information about him. She suspected, though, that she would never forget the affect he had on her or be able to ride her bike again without thoughts of his hard cock pressing against her backside.

Selene sighed and yanked herself back from her wayward thoughts, she closed the closet door and started to search the room for a way out. Walking to the door, she bent down to examine the lock to see if it could be picked. Testing the knob, her eyes widened in surprise when the door popped open. Slowly she peeked outside the doorway, looking for a guard or camera that would be watching her. Spying nothing, she stood up and eased out the door, her bare feet making no sound on the hardwood floors.

Pressing her back against the wall, she waited for any clue that someone was nearby. Hearing no sound and only smelling the food and—dear God—coffee, she hurried across the landing to the stairs. Until she got to the bottom of the stairs she would be completely vulnerable to anyone who walked into the area. She considered turning around and investigating ways out of the house through other rooms, but damn that food smelled good and she was hungry, starved actually since she