Blyss (The Blyss Trilogy 1)

I pull her into me again with a tight embrace and spoon her worn out body against mine. Shit, she feels good. At least she’s letting me hold her without a struggle; that’s a start. I nuzzle over her neck to whisper into her ear and am caught off-guard by her scent; she’s simply intoxicating. “I’m so sorry. I’m...just...so...sorry.” I find that’s all I can say to her at the moment.

She remains wordless, and in a few short minutes, I feel her body start to relax and go slack. Jared must have finally listened to me, letting go of that bodyweight-to-drug ratio bullshit, and gave her a decent dose of sedative. I find myself continually murmuring calm words into her ear while I stroke her arm. At this point, I’m probably saying those words more for myself than for her. I let another ten minutes go by, making sure she has truly passed out. I slowly ease away from her side and stand up to stretch.

Glancing around the room, I shake my head at Nick’s opulent display in decorating this one. None of the other captives’ rooms are this nice. Don’t get me wrong, they’re nice, but they are not decorated to the degree this one is, with its expensive paintings lining the walls, bookshelves filled with books, fine linens, and high-end quality drapes and furniture. Hell, even her shampoo and lotions were shipped in from God knows where. All I know is I saw the bill for that shit, and it wasn’t cheap.

I pull my cell from my back pocket and call Jared. “She’s out; let’s get this shit over with.” I turn around, take in her sleeping form, and my heart melts a little more at the sight of her innocence and helplessness. Her blonde hair is splayed across the pillow, and it takes everything in me to not lay back down beside her so I can stroke her silky tendrils. It isn’t until I hear the door open that I realize I’ve silently stood watching over her; for how long, I have no idea.

Jared cautiously enters the room, and I can’t help but grin. He visibly relaxes when he sees for himself that Julianna is indeed knocked out cold. “We should’ve done it this way from the beginning,” he says all-knowingly. I ignore his bullshit and grab the bag from his hand, placing it on the bed beside Julianna.

I start spreading out the bag’s contents, placing them on the bed. Jared shifts on his feet, and I look at him with a raised eyebrow.

“I, uh...I need you to move her for me, just in case...you know...she wakes up and sees me.”

Laughter fills the quiet room as I shake my head at him. “Truly, Jared, I think you should have the honors since I’ve told you three damn times this morning her meds were too low. Did you short-change the dose again? Scared you didn’t give her enough?” I tease him.

“Oh, no, man. I didn’t mess around this time, but I’m somewhat fond of my face, you know? I’m going to be black and blue for a week as it is.”

“Chicks dig that shit, Jared,” I say as I wink at him, “so it might get you laid.”

“Really? You think so?” he asks earnestly.

I shake my head, ignore his question, and finish pulling the rest of the items out of the bag. The man is so smart he lacks common sense. Here’s a man who created the perfect drug for getting women to have uninhibited sex, but he’s only able to view it as one big scientific experiment full of mathematical equations and chemicals. It’s never dawned on him to use it for his own benefit—besides to earn some type of science award and make himself rich. The women here, in his mind, are mere lab rats. Hell, as horny as these women are, I’m sure he could get laid at least ten times a day.

“You want her on her back?” I ask.

Jared moves, hovering over her body as he whispers, “Yes, please.”

“Hell, Jared, she’s out cold. You could probably have a fiesta in here, and she wouldn’t wake up.”

“Yeah, well, you weren’t on the receiving end of her roundhouse kick, were you, Travis.” It wasn’t a question. He’s a little sore over being taken down by a lightweight, not to mention a girl a foot shorter than him.

I move over Julianna and gently roll her onto her back. Her limbs are lifeless. I brush her hair out of her face and stroke her cheek. She distracts my train of thought, as I find myself taking a moment to gaze down at her angelic face. Jared promptly interrupts me, bringing me back to the present. “Hold her arm out for me, Travis. I just need a couple more vials of blood, then I’ll take the cannula out of her arm.”