Loraine frantically looked around the dimly lit room as she tugged at her hands, tied above her head on the bed post.

Where am I? What the hell’s going on? How did I get here?

Loraine wiggled her legs and was relieved that they weren’t bound. That was an advantage to her—she didn’t know how she was going to get out yet, but it was a good thing to have her legs free. She just had to believe that she was going to get out. She needed to stay positive if she had any luck of making it out of here alive.

She struggled to control her labored breathing, pushing the fear at bay. She needed to be calm if she was going to think of a way out of here. First things first, she needed to see if anything around her was familiar and figure out what the hell happened before she landed in this predicament. She looked around and took account of what she knew so far.

I’m tied to the bed but my legs are free. I’m in a hotel room… She sucked in a breath, startled when she recognized the room. I’m in my hotel room!

Her laptop sat on the desk, her screen saver—pictures of her happy and smiling at different parts of the world flushed one by one. She could see her Linea red luggage in the open closet next to the bathroom. And even though her room wasn’t how she left it in the morning—with a little disorder because it was easier for her to find things that way—she recognized her things even her favorite teddy bear, one she’d had from the cradle, which she left on her pillows that now sat on her desk chair facing her. The way his black button eyes stared at her made her skin crawl! There was no way she was touching it ever again!

She was being held hostage, in her own room! She fought to swallow a sob as she batted back tears.

I can’t panic. She took in a deep breath. Don’t panic, just stay calm and figure a way out.

The last thing she remembered was walking down the hallway, and then there was a burst of light in her eyes, accompanied by excruciating pain in the back of her head before everything went black.

Then I woke up here with nothing but my underwear on. God he stripped me. And she could just imagine how excited taking her clothes off had made him.

She sobbed again, but this time she let her tears fall free. Yes, her legs were free, yes she had her bra and panties on. But what’s to say whomever was holding her here had not violated her already?

No! Don’t think like that! Maybe he hasn’t already…maybe he’s just waiting for me to wake up before he…

Why else was she tied to the bed? And she didn’t feel sore in the apex of her thighs, so she still had time to hope for a way out, as little as it might be before the sadist came back.

The semester in Paris was supposed to be fun, not this nightmare. She thought she was running away from her problems on the home front. Who knew she was running toward something even worse? She snorted at the irony.

She looked down at her partially nude body again and cursed herself. She shouldn’t have bought the sexy lace underwear that was now her only remaining clothing. It would only tempt him further to defile her. She bought the expensive things because she wanted her parents to see the bill and get pissed off—it was the only time they acknowledged that they had a daughter. Now her juvenile victory had come round to bite her in the ass.

Loraine admitted that she was no saint—head strong, defiant, and stubborn and an everyday pain in the ass were all her middle names. But she wasn’t a bad person. She didn’t deserve this!

Why did he pick her to torment? What did she do and out of millions of people in Paris, why did she catch the psycho’s attention? Belonging to one of the rich families in New York, she always knew she was at risk of getting kidnapped to be ransomed off, but this…no. She never knew this could happen.

There were no tutorials on what to do if she were taken by a sexual psycho because no one anticipated it!

Things like this don’t happen to people like me!

She turned her head to the side, pressing her mouth to her shoulder to muffle the sounds of her crying.

“Loraine, mon coeur, my heart…”

Loraine jumped at the sing song French accent that came from behind the bathroom door.

Unable to keep the panic at bay, she cried out as she struggled with her restraints, chaffing her wrists with the silk ties.

“What the hell do you want?” she yelled at the dark figure that now stood at the foot of the bed, staring down at her.

Just his gaze made her feel exposed and dirty. She turned her head away as she continued to struggle when he pulled his shirt over his head and reached down to undo his pants. She felt the bed dip at the foot and she cried out tagging harder.

“There is nowhere to go, my sweet Loraine. Vous êtes tous les miens.”

“No! Let me go. I don’t belong to you! Please! I’ll pay you whatever you want,” she begged, her sobs now coming heavily.

The stranger shushed her with a soothing tone as he climbed over her. Loraine screamed again, using her legs to try and kick him off her. He fell hard on her, knocking the wind out of her and trapping her under him.

“Get off me! Please get off me!”

The stranger grabbed her chin and turned her face toward him. She shut her eyes tight, sucking her lips into her mouth. She wasn’t going to look at him and he was not going to kiss her!

“Loraine, open your beautiful eyes mon bonbon. Come on mon amour, let me taste your sweet lips.”

She shook her head, struggling to pull her chin out of his grip.

“Loraine, wake up.”

Loraine paused, shocked by the sudden change of his voice. She knew that voice.

“Loraine!”

She slowly opened her eyes and her heart jumped when her eyes stared right into his evil grey ones.

“What do you want?” she cried.

“Joli, those sweet red lips.” Then his lips came down on hers.

“No!”