Blyss (The Blyss Trilogy 1)

Deep in thought, my fingers gently twirl a long piece of her golden hair. It’s so soft and beautiful; everything about this girl is beautiful. What I really need to be focusing on is the task at hand and not allow myself to get sidetracked by her beauty. Sitting here beside her, I get an odd sensation, an unexplainable vibe perhaps that is attracting me to her.

I can’t help but think, What the hell is Nick up to? He’s playing with fucking fire. I recognized her immediately when the men brought her in last night, passed out and beaten. Something told me then to keep my mouth shut and play ignorant, pretending I’d never seen her before in my life. Only having been to her estate a couple of times in the past, I had only seen her once before up-close. To see her once is all anyone ever needs; nobody could forget a beautiful face like hers, never.

This makes no sense to me; her father is a powerful and wealthy man. Nick knows this, so why the hell would he have her abducted and forced into this perversion? If Nick is feeling the need to be evasive, then he is obviously hiding something - something big.

Reflecting on the time I caught first sight of her, it was at her father’s house during a Christmas party last December. Her father had said she was home from college on break. In my mind’s eye, I remember she had the look of love permeating through every bone in her petite body. She seemed to hang on to every word her boyfriend spoke, never leaving his side.

Her intoxicating beauty and beaming personality were so alluring I caught myself unexpectedly staring at her a few times. I also caught Nick gawking at her during inappropriate moments while dining among high-profile names. I specifically remember his behavior, because Nick never gawks openly at anything, including his first loves; money and power. He couldn’t keep his hungry, beady eyes off her. He was mesmerized by her beauty, but hell, so was I.

When she danced with her boyfriend, she was grace and beauty gliding across the dance floor as if she owned it. Her long, blonde hair shimmered from the lights hidden between the chandelier crystals hanging above, her hair soft, free, and flowing over her shoulders in a dance of its own.

From the way she interacted with both her boyfriend and father, it was apparent she was adored and loved. I could tell she was the apple of her father’s eye just by the way he looked at her. Her father bragged about her every chance he got. You could tell he was more than proud of her and all of her accomplishments.

The young man she was with clearly loved her, as well. Her mannerisms exuded refinement and everything sweet and innocent. I don’t think she was even minutely aware of her natural beauty, because she wasn’t snobby at all. Everything about her screamed of elegance and poise.

Julianna squirms around on the bed, drawing my attention back to her. She settles back down, and I think she’s resting comfortably enough now for me to leave her. I really do need to get going; I’ve got too much shit to do today. By the time she wakes up, the medicine that’s been pumping through her body should be overriding her pain receptors. I think about the hidden cameras spread throughout her room and relax a little. The boys will alert me if they see her getting too restless.

I carefully move from the bed, trying not to make any movement that would disturb her. I make sure to pick up all the extra drugs, needles, and shit, taking them with me. Jared can disconnect her IV in a few hours, when she’s due for her next round of meds.

I pull her bedroom door shut softly behind me, and I turn left down the corridor, making my way to the lab to dispense of the needles. Everything here is high-tech, with the best security money can buy. Each of us has a special chip in our hand that recognizes who we are and to what degree of access each of us has in this facility. Nick, Jared, and I are unrestricted. The rest of our team has restricted access to certain areas of the facility, especially access to our computer room.

Approaching the lab door, I wave my hand over the sensor and the door clicks open automatically. This technology baffles me sometimes. How a chip the size of a grain of rice can unlock and open a door simply by waving my hand over a sensor blows my mind.

I walk through the open door, spotting Jared sitting on his favorite perch, peering through the eyepiece of his microscope. I shake my head at the sight; he’s such a damn lab rat. I chuckle inside. What’s funny is Jared’s so damn intelligent, and he tries so hard to communicate in simple terms to us, but he can’t. He thinks he’s talking on our level, but he really isn’t. Nick has zero patience for his scientific explanations and always just wants the bottom line in simple terms. He always talks down to Jared as if it is he, in fact, who is the complete idiot.