Page 42 of Santa's Dark Secret

Yanking my hands free, I tear away from him. “You’re a cocky bastard.”

“Yes,” he agrees. No question about it.

“So, just like that, I’m trapped here for the next twelve months?”

“The North Pole is so much more than the reindeer farm outside the window. Give it a chance, Mila. Despite what you might think, I know your heart, and I think after you truly seewhat it is we do here, you will fall in love with this place. The next twelve months won’t be enough for you, and soon enough, you will start to realize how wrong you were to ever want to go back to your mundane, lonely life in New York. You belong here with me. You just don’t know it yet.”

14

MILA

He is legitimately crazy, and a part of me actually believes that he thinks he’s done the right thing by kidnapping me. He might not have gotten his rocks off by knocking me out, but having me here in his home is definitely getting him hard.

This is all my fault. I welcomed him into my home every year, wished for him to come, and slowly fell in love with the idea of him. Only when he touched me, everything changed.

Why did I have to fall in love with a guy who has no moral compass? Surely that must make me just as messed up as he is.

I sit in his oversized living room, my knees pulled right up to my chest on the couch that is even more comfortable than it looks, but I’m not about to tell him that. Though, I’m getting a sick sense of satisfaction from the way his eye seems to twitch by me having his big-ass boots propped on the cushion. Seems someone likes his home to be nice and clean. I’ll be sure to make a mental note of that and not accidentally make the kind of messes that drive him insane. After all, I wouldn’t want to makethese next twelve months miserable for the man who literally stole me from my home.

Wish or not, he shouldn’t have done it.

“So this is how the next twelve months are going to play out?” Nick asks, circling the back of his dining table and clutching the top of the chair as his gaze remains locked on me.

“Look around you, Nick. Your home is surrounded by reindeer and snow. It’s not like there’s exactly a lot to do apart from fucking each other, and unfortunately for you, the only thing you’ll be fucking is your hand.”

“Better than being fucking delusional like you are.”

“Delusional?” I demand, but the grin on his face suggests he’s saying it just to get a rise out of me, and damn it, it worked like a charm. Refusing to play into his bullshit, I avert my gaze and stare at the reindeer out the window.

Clearly realizing that I’m more than happy to spend the next twelve months ignoring him, Nick lets out a sigh. “I’ve got shit I need to do. Is there anything you need first?”

Glancing over my shoulder, I offer him a surgery-sweet smile, batting my lashes and watching the way his whole body seems to soften. “Only for you to pull out the knife currently in my back, sweetheart.”

His face falls, and I can’t help but wonder if he thought for just a moment that I’d actually started to come around. But surely he knows better than that.

I watch as he finally gives in, realizing that I’m not about to break. He lets out a subtle sigh, and with that, he disappears into his bedroom . . .ourbedroom.

A minute passes, and I hear Nick undressing. It’s a sound already so familiar to me, and within seconds, I get lost in the memory of what it’s like every time he undresses around me. He might have asshole tendencies, but when it comes to giving me exactly what I need, he’s never let me down.

Hunger blooms through my chest, and for just a moment, I consider putting my frustration aside and barging through the bedroom door to have my wicked way with him. I doubt he’ll have any issues with it. If anything, he’ll give it to me a little harder just because I’ve been acting like a brat, but he’s not about to get to me that easily. What he might not know about me is when I’ve been wronged, I’m a stubborn bitch until I feel justice has been served, and in this case, justice hasn’t even begun to be served.

Doing what I can to try and calm the raging need within me, I suddenly realize this is my one shot to slip away, and in the blink of an eye, I’m on my feet, darting to the front door, more than ready to make my hasty escape.

I all but lunge for the door handle, gripping it hard and violently twisting, only to be met with nothing. The door doesn’t move, the handle not even budging an inch, and I curse myself for being such an idiot. Of course the big asshole locked it again.

Damn it.

I pace through the foyer, trying to figure out a game plan when my gaze comes back to the armchair that was once angled nicely in the corner of the living room. Only now it’s half knocked over, leaning up against the couch from my earlier woman-handling.

I hurry toward it. This is definitely a bad idea, but what choice do I have? The second I throw the chair through the window, I’ll only have a moment to get away before Nick comes racing after me. I’m a pretty good runner. I spent a lot of time in the gym this year trying to pass the time. I could run for miles before passing out, but Nick is fit too, and judging by the ruthless way he fucks, I don’t doubt he could chase me for hours. All I need is to get far enough away to find another living soul, and I’ll be good.

Not ready to give up on the one shot I have, I go for it, grabbing the chair and launching it toward the massive window with every bit of strength I possess.

The chair plunges through the glass, and the noise is deafening as it shatters into a million fractured pieces.

“FUCK! MILA,” I hear Nick calling from the bedroom, but I’m already gone, racing through what was once a beautiful window until my too-big boots come crashing down into the snow.

I put one foot in front of the other, not daring to look back as I run toward the reindeer farm. My arms pump on either side of me, taking me as fast as I can go. I’m not exactly a great sprinter, but I’ll manage a steady run with no problem.

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