Page 28 of Mated in the Stars
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“Time to wake up Sara.”
That voice. Sara groaned, the shoulder where she’d been shot aching like crazy. She had to be imagining that voice. An illusion brought on by her injury. Slowly, her eyelids fluttered open. A bright light blinded her, and she squinted until her eyes adjusted and then she looked around.
“Where am I?” She asked. She’d expected to wake up inside the medical bay, but this room wasn’t the medical bay. It almost looked like a brig. Rotating her head, she tried to move her arms and legs and found herself tied down. Panic started to set in.
“Do you not remember me?”
Sara’s blood ran cold as her face paled. Slowly, she turned her head to the other side, and froze. There, standing before her, was her ex.
“Rob.” She barely murmured in horror.
A smile spread across his handsome face. She’d always felt it had been unfair of the universe to make such an evil person so attractive.
“I was afraid you may have forgotten me.” He leaned close. “My doctor healed your shoulder for you.”
“Why?” She asked, as her brain raced to figure out what was going on and how he had gotten his hands on her. The last thing she remembered were space pirates boarding her ship and getting shot. Someone had dragged her away, and she’d figured it was a crew member.
Unless…
She stared up at Rob in horror. “You were with the pirates.”
“Bingo!” Rob clapped his hands together. “I knew you would figure it out.” He chuckled. “You always were a smart one. How else would you have avoided me for so long? Unfortunately for you, I caught up to you.”
“What do you want?”
“To finish what we started.” Rob smiled down at her, but it was anything but friendly. “You may have ended our relationship Sara, but we have so much unfinished business.” He pulled a knife out of nowhere and held it up. “How should I punish you for avoiding me for so many years? Hmmm?”
Sara gulped as blackness threatened to swallow her up, but she refused to leave. She had to know what he’d do to her. Her foggy mind had trouble forming any coherent words however, she stared up at him wide eyed in terror.
Against her will she felt herself sliding back into another memory.
“Where have you been?” A voice slurred from the darkness of her cabin.
Sara paused just inside the door. “Rob?” She asked the dark, turning in place. “Lights on.” She commanded the room she’d been renting in the space station after she’d managed to slip away from him. But he’d found her. How? She’d been so careful.
“They won’t turn on.” His gleeful voice filled her with absolute terror.
Spinning around, Sara ran into the door. With a gasp, she ran her hands over the door.
“It’s locked, Sara. You didn’t think I’d come all this way just to let you escape from me again, do you?”
Turning to face the dark room, Sara pressed her back against the door, searching the inky blackness for any sign of Rob. She’d been caught. She wanted to scream, she wanted to cry, but more than anything she wanted this to all be some horrible dream.
“Don’t go fading from me.” Rob’s voice pulled Sara back into reality.
When she blinked and the room came back into focus, she found Rob standing over her, his face so close to hers, she could smell the scent of pine wafting off of him. He still used the same cleanser when he showered it appeared.
“Didn’t you learn you can’t run away from me?” Rob shook his head sadly, like he was disappointed in her. Then he raised the knife and scraped it down the side of her cheek without slicing into her skin.
Sara’s breath caught in her chest, and she felt her heart sputter in fear. Beads of sweat built on her forward and she whimpered. It was easier being a strong-willed captain of a scavenger ship when she wasn’t tied down with a crazed man wielding a knife above her.
She strained against the bonds, but there was no way she was about to break free and fight for her life.
“Why not just let me go?” Sara whispered, scared speaking might whip him into more of a frenzy, but also afraid he might grow angry at her silence. She never knew what move to make in his presence.
“You’re mine… or did you forget we took vows to honor each other for a lifetime.”
