Page 60 of The Cinderella Secret
“Aiden,” she said, her voice going up, “this is not the time.” He’d reached the hem of her skirt, and he kissed just under the edge of it and she let out a little gasp and her legs widened, stretching the fabric of her skirt taut, but making room for him. This was going to be difficult with his hands tied, but he was willing to try.
“Aiden!” Her voice was high and strained. “Aiden, I am tied to a chair!”
That wasn’t good.
“Right,” he said, pulling back and blinking up at her. “Right.”
“Can you go around and try to untie me?”
“Yes,” he said, attempting to catch up to current events. “Yes, that is totally what I’m doing.”
It took him several more minutes to get up, make it around the chair and work through the knots with his teeth. He stood up as the last rope fell away and found the world spinning again. He closed his eyes and leaned against the wall. He could feel Ella untying him and when he finally opened his eyes again, she was in front of him, hands on his face.
“Don’t look so worried,” he said. “I’m fine.”
“No, I don’t think so,” she said, her hand caressing his cheek gently.
“No. I promise,” he said. “Or at least I will be.” Then he leaned down and did what he knew he shouldn’t do. He kissed her.
He was twenty-one again, a hot Mexico night just outside the door. His head was on fire and his fingers were cold. Blood pounded in his ears with a dull roar like the ocean, and the girl in his arms tasted like chocolate and smelled of spices. Everything was melting away. It didn’t matter who was outside the door or where they were. The only thing—the only person—who mattered was right in front of him. Then reality, both realities, hit him and he let go, stumbling back, his eyes still closed. He put his hand up to his lips trying to capture the ephemeral taste that was singular, distinct and only belonged to one person.
“Cinder,” he opened his eyes, and saw her, “Ella.”
She had one hand on the back of the chair that she’d recently been tied to. She looked nervous.
“Number Nine?”
He remembered suddenly why he was mad at Ella. She had broken into DevEntier and was stealing evidence. He looked around the room. They were locked in some sort of office. It was full of janitorial supplies and an ancient and grimy computer on an equally grimy desk.
The door opened and, before Aiden could register who it was, Ella had picked up the chair and flung it at the man in the doorway. The chair crashed against him and he stumbled back. Ella sprinted forward and jumped into a front kick, stomping hard into his gut and groin. There was a ripping noise as her skirt gave up against the force of her legs and split along the front seam. The man yelled in surprise and pain, falling backward through the doorway. Ella grabbed up the chair again and smashed it over him.
“Come on,” she yelled back at Aiden, waving urgently. He moved away from the wall, head pounding and feeling shocked, as if he were thinking through Jell-O. The man ignored Aiden and rolled over, grabbing Ella by both ankles and yanking. Aiden’s thoughts sped up as Ella toppled over. With a quick step, Aiden landed his knee on the man’s back and grabbed his hair with both hands, smashing his face into the floor. Ella scrambled to her feet and grabbed his hand, pulling him across the wide expanse of open warehouse area and toward the elevator.
“I tried to tell them you worked for DevEntier,” she said. “They said they didn’t care and that the boss would deal with you.”
“Who’s their boss?” asked Aiden.
“I don’t know,” she said. “Our research said that there were only two security guards. I don’t know who these guys are, but they are not nice people.”
“What does that mean?” asked Aiden. His head hurt. Aiden reached back to rub the source of the pain and found it matted with blood.
“How are your ribs?” she asked. She still hadn’t let go of his hand.
“What?”
“They kicked you while you were unconscious.”
Now that she’d mentioned it, his ribs did hurt. And he now was not even a little bit sorry he’d just broken that guy’s nose.
“And,” she continued, still talking fast, “that one said he was coming back to have a private conversation with me. Call me crazy, but I don’t think he was going to do much talking.”
He pulled up short with a growl. “I will kill him.”
“Yes,” agreed Ella, reaching back and grabbing his wrist. “Very upsetting. Kill later. Leave now.”
“But…” Aiden let her pull him along and tried to work through the soup that was currently his brain. He still felt like he was going to puke a little. “You broke in here,” he said, clinging to the facts he did know. “You stole evidence.”
She reached for the elevator button, but the readout above the door said it was already moving. “No, I didn’t.” She pulled him toward the stairs.
