From the floor Nick stared up at the ceiling, listening to Elena breathe quietly on the bed. 

She hadn’t wanted to lie down, or sleep but it hadn’t taken long before she’d gotten too tired to stay up and her body forced her to close her eyes. Nick took his place on the floor and let her have the bed since it was the gentlemanly thing to do. Things had gotten weird with her when they were discussing her home life. Nick was getting sort of uncomfortable with the way that Elena kept hugging him, and touching him. He almost thought for a few moments that she was coming on to him.

“Don’t be stupid,” Nick muttered to himself, knowing that there was no way she would have been coming onto him when he was essentially holding her hostage against her will.

“What?” Elena suddenly asked and Nick looked up, surprised that she was awake, “What did you say?”

“Oh, nothing, I was talking to myself,” he explained, “I thought you were asleep?”

“I can’t sleep,” she shrugged, sitting up on the bed, “The sun coming through the window is too bright.”

“It is bright,” Nick agreed, unable to stop himself from checking her out quickly. It was hard not to, despite the fact that she definitely needed a shower. Her tank top was low cut, her panties were nearly see-through and she was in no way modest. Whenever she stretched, or leaned over, or so much as looked in his direction he couldn’t keep himself from taking a quick look. 

“What time is it?” Elena asked, not blind to the fact that Nick’s eyes were somewhere other than her face. 

He checked his watch quickly then looked back to her, “Noon,” he answered while mentally doing a countdown of how much time they had before Elena’s father was expected to hand over the cash. Twenty-eight hours and it could all be over, “I found some shorts for you to wear,” he added, handing her the clothing.

Elena untangled herself from her sheet then got up to look out the window, making sure that Nick got a huge eyeful. She stretched her arms above her head, pointing her hips in his direction before slowly siding on the shorts. If she knew anything about men it was that she could get what she wanted by using sex. Nick would be no different, she already had him wrapped around her finger by telling him that she was abused, and she knew that it was only a matter of time before she had him taking her home. Get him turned on then he’d be putty in her hands. 

“Does my face look really bad?” she asked, turning towards him. 

Nick made a point of glancing at her face as if trying to see if there were anything then shook his head, “No, it’s not too bad. Just tell people you’ve taken up boxing.”

“Ha, ha,” Elena said dryly, leaning against the wall as she looked at Nick down on the floor. It was time to pull out the big guns, “I can’t stand the thought of going home and letting my mom see me this way – this ugly.”

“You’re not ugly!” Nick immediately told her, glancing up with a surprised expression, “I don’t know why you would think that!”

“My face is just a bunch of bruises, I’m ugly!” Elena sighed, her eyes welling up with tears again.

“Oh, please don’t cry,” Nick begged, getting on his knees. He crawled towards her a little, not wanting to have her cry anymore because he didn’t feel like being her tissue again, “Haven’t you run out of tears yet?”

“You don’t just run out!” she wailed, getting herself worked up into a full out bawl, “I’m ugly and it doesn’t matter when I go back because they’re not going to want me!”

Nick stood, holding his hands out precariously in front of his body to try and calm her down, “Of course they’ll want you! You look fine! You’re absolutely beautiful!”

Elena sniffed dramatically, and rubbed her eye with a fist, “You think I’m beautiful?” she asked in a whiny tone.

“Absolutely,” he reiterated. 

“Are you lying to me? Just telling me what I want to hear?” she questioned, her voice small, unsure and full of unshed tears.

Nick shook his head, “I’m a terrible liar,” he said with complete honesty, “I think you’re the most beautiful girl I’ve ever laid eyes on. You’re the type of girl that guys like me only dream about.”

Elena looked up to him with glossy eyes, “What do you mean?” she wondered, seriously curious about his implication.

“You’re…” Nick struggled for the right words, not quite knowing how to answer her, “Perfect. I know obviously everyone has flaws but I haven’t found one in you that can’t be seen as a good thing too. I’m not very good with talking, and saying what I mean, and I wasn’t very good in school or at my jobs but you’re completely different. You’re smart, and you say exactly what you mean and never hesitate. You’re not afraid of stepping on people’s toes or risking anything just to be yourself. I can’t do that. I’m afraid of what other people think of me. I only wish I could be as strong willed as you are. You really walk with your head up, you’re independent and feisty, and I bet a lot of women wish they could be as confident as you are. I know right now you’re feeling a little down in the dumps but from what you’ve told me about your life when you’re not being held hostage it seems like that’s the type of person you are. You’re a gorgeous girl; you have a great body, and a great personality. I also think that... considering your not-so-great home life you’ve really become a strong person,” Nick’s voice got soft and he fiddled with a fingernail on his index finger, “Not everyone is able to do that.”

Elena gasped, surprised to hear Nick’s rambling confession. She had never in her life had a guy say things like that about her. He did comment on her body but not until after he’d talked about her personality, her will, and her strength. She was completely shocked and felt slightly guilty that she was trying to use this guy who obviously saw the best in people over their blemishes. He was so insecure about himself, but he’d just proven to her that he was the type of person who cared about everyone. It was completely opposite to his outward appearance. 

“Is that why you don’t like it when women get hit? Did someone hurt you?” Elena asked, moving toward to touch Nick’s arm.

Nick pulled his arm away from her grasp and took a seat on the bed, “Is it not okay for me to just not like it?” he asked.

“Why are you afraid to answer my question?”

“I’m not!” he snapped, looking up at her with an annoyed expression.

“You don’t need to get defensive, I’m not going to think any less of you if you tell me the truth,” Elena said softly, thinking to herself that the truth might just put a kink in her plans. She wasn’t so sure if she could be the bitch anymore if he was going to keep being the sweetest guy on the planet. 

Nick took a deep breath and let it out slowly, “My dad used to be really great,” he smiled slightly, thinking about memories past, “He would play catch with me, he would take me to the park, and play trucks and stupid stuff like that. Dad worked nights at a factory so he was always home when I got home from school. Then there was a machine accident one day and he got blamed. The guy who got hurt sued us and everything. The company he was working for fired him, and we lost the lawsuit and in a blink of an eye pretty much everything was gone. The only thing we still had was the house because it was in my Grandfather’s name and paid in full. In my mind, that’s when my dad died. I have no memories of him after that. I only know of some drunk who looked like him who beat up my mother, and then me when I got old enough to try and protect her. I ran away for a little while when I was sixteen and when I came back he beat me to within an inch of my life. I called the police and that was the first time he went to prison. It wasn’t for long, but by the time he got out I was gone. Then one day he saw some woman who looked sort of wealthy and he tried to steal her purse and she turned out to be an off duty policewoman who just happened to have good fashion sense. He’ll be up for parole in two months though, and he’ll probably get it.”

Elena was torn. This guy was nothing like she’d expected. She knew that he was weak and gullible but she never wanted to know the reason behind it. Now that she knew why he was the way he was it was hard for her to take advantage of his weaknesses. He accepted her faults and she wanted to exploit his. 

“I’m sorry,” she whispered, her sentence having more than one meaning since she was sympathetic towards his situation but also sorry for her actions.

“Don’t be,” Nick dismissed her, “You and I are the same, we’re both victims. Has your dad always had a bad temper?”

Elena knew she was in trouble since Nick was asking about her story, she didn’t want to have to convince him that she was like him it just wasn’t fair. She thought quickly, trying to figure out a way to get out of the conversation. Rather than try and change the subject Elena went for the extreme. She walked up to Nick who was still sitting on the bed and pressed her lips to his, obviously catching him off guard. 

She had expected for him to push her away (successfully changing the subject) but his hesitation only lasted for a moment and he was soon kissing her back. The kiss quickly went from chaste to frenzied and she moaned as soon as she felt his tongue against hers.

Nick’s hands went to her hips, holding them tightly before pulling her onto the bed to straddle his lap. He pulled at her tank top as she ground her hips against his and as soon as her breasts were exposed he moved the attention of his kisses downward.

Elena’s hands went through his hair, yanking roughly at the ends while continuing to rock against his growing erection. Her hand then went to the zipper of his shorts and she moved to the side, lying back on the bed to give him a chance to get them down over his hips.

Nick covered her body with his, his mouth seeking hers out again while he frantically yanked down her underwear. As soon as they were down he wasted no time in thrusting into her and setting a fast pace.

No words were spoken, only pants and moans as they pushed each other over the edge. Her fingers dug into the flesh of his ass and Nick cried out as he tried to hold back his orgasm.

Taking the upper hand Elena flipped them over so she was on top controlling the pace and she felt powerful watching his face contort with pleasure as he came, his back arching up off the bed.

She was still mounted on top of him as he came down from his high and Nick wasn’t sure what he should do next. He didn’t have too many quickies and wasn’t sure if he should make sure she got hers. She helped him with the decision though, getting up off his lap without another word.

He groaned as he felt himself slip from her body and he looked awkwardly around the room, feeling a little out of place.

Getting up off the bed, Nick pulled up his shorts and buttoned them, regretting the rash decision he’d made to have a quickie with his hostage. He didn’t know what to say to her, or whether she wanted him to say anything. He moved over to the window, looking out at the street below. The street wasn’t busy (not too many people would dare go for a walk in this neighbourhood), the only action was people walking straight from their cars to their doors. Movement down the street caught his eye and Nick looked, watching someone walking towards the house.

“Fuck me!” Nick said loudly, his eyes going wide as he stared out the window, pulling the curtains tight so he was only looking out of a crack.

“Excuse me?” Elena asked, not watching his actions, “I just fucking did was that not enough for you?”

Nick turned to her with a confused expression, “What?” he asked then he realized what she meant, “No! God, I didn’t mean I wanted you to fuck me I meant fuck me like we’re in trouble!”

“In trouble?” she asked, her curiosity peaked.

“I just saw Brian walking up the sidewalk,” he breathed, fear catching in his voice.

“Who’s Brian?” Elena asked, standing up off of the bed. 

“The man who’s probably here to kill me and take you back,” Nick answered, grabbing Elena’s hand. He hurriedly helped her put what little clothes she had back on and pulled her from the room, taking a moment to listen for any movement on the bottom floor. 

“What do we do?” Elena asked in a whisper, holding tightly onto his arm.

Nick took a deep breath and turned towards her, “We run.”