It's Chapter One! Sorry if it gets a little long, but no matter how much I try, I couldn't figure out a fluid way to write in a character's back story without it seeming too choppy. I'll just find a way to put it into the next chapter. But I'm working on it, so let's hope for the best.
The premise: Jacob's a successful businessman with a taste for danger: he's an occasional kidnapper on the side. Assigned to kidnap an heiress, Jake thinks he's in for an easy ride. But Jake's in for the time of his life when he kidnaps the wrong girl, instead grabbing her cousin, Leah. Will he fall for her fiery spirit and capture her heart?
I will say I wouldn't mind getting kidnapped by Taylor Lautner...
Chapter One: Lust At First Sight
LPOV
I hate her. I hate her. I hate HER!
"Leah, if you insist on moving all about like this, we'll be here all day!" Alice complained, her crisp, British accent slicing through my rampant thoughts.
"Sorry." I muttered. "But I just don't see the point of getting fitted for an outfit for a party -who invented those anyway- that I don't even want to go to."
"Marie Antoinette!" Emily said from across the room. "I think Marie Antoinette invented parties. Or maybe it was Cleopatra... Well, whoever did had to have been super fabulous."
"It was neither, Em." Alice chided gently. "And you know that you two have to be there."
"Yeah. I promised Kim that we'd go! Ow!" Emily said, flinching when Bree poked her with the needle.
"And what the hell is a Punk Rock Masque-Rave? She's really running out of themes for these things." I asked out loud, reading the wild script on the invitations she sent us. "And just who told you to promise for the both of us? We should really work on suggesting that she get a hobby, because these constant parties are killing me." I said, sighing when Alice nodded for me to take off the skimpy leather pants. Stepping out of it gingerly, I walked across the room and pulled on my jeans. My cell phone beeped from my bag and I grabbed it to check the time, trying not to drop the expensive phone in front of Emily, since it was a birthday gift from her.
"It's the best phone money can buy! And now we match!" Emily had said at the private birthday dinner I'd had with my parents after opening the small box to find the phone and a purple bedazzled protector. My phone had finally died after five years of me dropping, tripping, breaking, and scratching it. What finally did it in? I dropped it in my bowl of cereal the morning before my birthday at Emily's swanky downtown apartment.
Whereas Emily would have instantly toss her credit card to her assistant to buy her a new one, I spent the better half of the morning wiping it off, blowdrying it, praying/chanting/yodeling over it, and then finally, crying like a baby when it wouldn't come back to life.
"I kind of like the idea of a punk rock masque-rave." Emily said. "I get to combine three of my favorite things: parties, masks, and punk rock."
"I thought you liked that sugary pop-music crap." I asked.
"Sam says that I should try to expand my horizons..." Emily replied smoothly, as Bree motioned for her to step out of her leather dress. "Besides, this could be fun. And you could meet one of Jared's hot friends. You need to get laid... Badly."
Bree and Alice giggled. I scowled and rolled my eyes. "Nice, Em. You really know how to make a girl feel like a million bucks."
"Well it's a good thing that we're worth a billion each isn't it?" She trilled and stripped down where she stood, handing the dress to Alice. I tossed her her jeans and smirked as I pulled on my own sundress.
"Hello?" I asked into my phone, having forgotten about it for a few seconds.
"LE-AH!" Rosalie Hale shouted into my ear. I pulled it away gingerly and winced.
"Hi Rose." I said cautiously. There were the weirdest sounds in the background. Like... Horses hooves? I couldn't tell for sure because of the static. "Where are you?"
"I'm in England. At some big horse race or unicorn race or something. It doesn't matter. I'm wearing a big hat!" She said excitedly. I knew for a fact that she was probably on her way to becoming super drunk, the way she usually chose to be if in her father's company for longer than three seconds. "I'll send you picture!"
Before I could say a word, she hung up in my ear. Emily walked over to me, waiting for Alice to make the final adjustments before we had to leave. The phone buzzed in my hand and I jumped, about to drop it. "Hey Em. Come look at the pictures Rose sent us."
As I scrolled through the pictures, I raised my brows. Most of them were blurry candid shots of the polo players... and their asses. I should have known that that would be all she would focus on. The only picture that wasn't ass-related was a picture of the high-tech scoreboard, showing all of the polo players and their scores. But I could see why she had taken a picture of it. The guys were deliciously hot in that foreign way.
"What's that?" Emily asked. "Europe is for... 'Winnahs'?" She asked, reading the text and wrinkling her nose.
"Rosalie's in Europe wearing a big hat and getting rip roaring drunk while she watches hot polo players ride their horses." I explained. "I'll bet you ten bucks she sleeps with one of them by tonight."
"How's she going to get back in time for the party tomorrow?"
"I never said that she wasn't gonna do it on the Hale family jet." I replied, slinging my bag over my shoulder. Alice and Bree came over to us and passed us our outfits. "Thanks Alice!"
"Yeah. These are awesome." Emily said, fingering her leather dress through the fabric. I gazed at my own outfit for the party, happy that it was somewhat conservative compared to Emily's dress. Now all I needed was accessories and a black tutu, which I could probably find in my closet, seeing as I'd been to many weirdly themed parties.
"Now. It's time to go accessories shopping! Come on, Lee." With a quick wave at Alice and Bree, we climbed onto the elevator leading away from Alice's studio and I let Emily drag me to her waiting car.
The next night, Emily, Rosalie, and I were ensconced in our favorite corner booth of Kim's ballroom, exchanging witty repartee on our peer's costumes.
"Damn." Rose muttered, downing her dirty martini in one huge gulp, frowning, then flagging down an adoring, pierced, leather clad waiter to get her another. "Isabella Swan looks like she got run over by a bus... And didn't comb her hair when she got up."
"That's nothing. Jessica Stanley's skirt looks more like a belt. I thought this was a rave, not a whorehouse." Emily replied, earnestly consuming Pixie-Stix powder from a tube made to look like a Glow-Tube. "And look at her fat rolls. We really need to take her under our wing. Alice would have a field day."
"Now now girls. Be nice." I said, taking a sip of my water. I absolutely refused to touch any of the food and alcohol that was being offered to me. It may be irrational, but I'd always felt better eating and drinking things that I've made myself, a lesson taught to me from a bad case of food poisoning in India a couple years back.
"Leah, the girl's a cow. You've got to admit it." Emily finished off her Pixie-Stix and reached for another one as a waiter passed by. "Rose, you never told us how your England trip was."
"Same old, same old. Daddy was an asshole, Mommy was super drunk. The polo game was cool, I guess, if you're into that sort of thing. One of the polo horses, the one Daddy sponsored, stepped on his toe." She laughed and tossed back her famous mane of naturally golden hair. "I wish I'd gotten that on camera."
"You must be so jet-lagged." I said, glancing at the slight shadows under her eyes. Of course this didn't take away from her gorgeousness. In fact, it gave her that really disheveled, pale, I-just-came-down-from-an-Ecstasy-high-and-now-I'm-so-tired-I-can't-see-straight kind of glow. The unfortunate part is that all of that is true, except for the Ecstasy part. "You just flew in from England, after all."
"It was no biggie." She replied, smiling sunnily at the waiter when he bought her her drink. "Besides, it's not jet-lag when you spent the whole plane ride getting some."
"Oh, I thought you had that post-coital glow." Emily said, getting excited. From the slightly wild look in her eyes, I couldn't determine whether it was from the anticipation of a good sex story, or the Pixie-Stix dust kicking in. "Spill the deets."
Rose didn't need any more prompting than that. "Okay, so the rider of the horse that Daddy sponsored was really nice and sweet, calming Daddy down after the horse stomped his toe. As his daughter, I felt it was my duty to thank him, so I just had to see him without the helmet. My god, he was gorgeous. I mean, out of this world dimples and curly hair that defied the tragedy of helmet hair and the most beautiful blue eyes ever seen on a human, besides mine of course."
"Wow. He sounds like a stud." I breathed, a little ashamed at how much I was enjoying the story. I really needed to get laid.
"That's not the best part." Rose continued, taking a reviving sip of her martini. "So, I turn on the flirt super hard so he'll go to dinner with me. It turned out even better than that. I was all 'We should go to dinner before I leave tonight' and then he was all 'Well, I kind of have a prior commitment in the States tomorrow, maybe we can hook up there' then I was all 'Oh, how are you getting back?' And here's the kicker: He goes 'Well, my private jet is being repaired and it's not fit to fly at such short notice, so I'm kind of not sure at the moment' I freakin' died on the spot. He has a jet! A jet, girls! He must be as rich as me if not more, and that's saying something because the only dudes that ever approach me are worth less than half of what I am and can't even afford to ride a P.J. let alone own one. Anyway, I, being a genius, says 'Look no further! You can ride back to the States with me!' Then he laughs and looks over at my dad, who was still cursing and spitting 'cause of his toe, and says 'Won't your dad be kind of pissed at the extra passenger?' And then I laugh and put a hand on his chest -a trick Mommy taught me- and I'm all 'Of course not. Daddy's not coming back with us. We'll be perfectly fine."
"Here's the best part, though. So after I say this, I winked at him, like Mommy taught me back in my kiddie pageant days and I swear, his eyes turned a deeper shade of blue in like, half a second. They went from blue like the summer sky to blue like Princess Di's engagement ring. I literally died of an orgasm. If it weren't for my impeccable etiquette training, I would have keeled over, in broad daylight no less."
Emily sighed and placed her cheek into her hand, a faraway look in her eyes. "That sounds like Sam and I."
"Sorry, Em. As much as I love Sam, he's got nothing on Emmett. Last night, we got on the P.J. and when the flight attendants took our dinner off of the table... Let's just say that those dishes and silverware weren't the only thing that touched that surface that night." Rose looked away worriedly. "I do hope Gladys disinfects that before Mommy and Daddy use it."
"Weren't you worried that the flight attendants and the pilots heard you?" I asked, knowing that Rose was notorious for her loud love-making, Emily and I having walked in on her plenty times before.
"Nah. Gladys is the soul of discretion. She loves me since I give her really expensive jewelry every holiday." She said confidently. "I thought about inviting Emmett to the party, but you know how Kim gets about uninvited guests. Oh great... Speak of the devil and she shall appear. Kim darling, how are you?"
Kim skated up to us on the arm of her boyfriend Jared, male model of the minute. Her roller derby costume was definitely not rave or punk rock, but she didn't care of course. Her bright pink mask was slightly askew and she looked crazed. "Sweeties! Haven't seen you in FOREVER! We must get together and catch up over lunch."
"Hola Kimmy!" Emily squealed and threw her arms around Kim's neck. "Thanks for inviting us! These Pixie-Stix shots are so clever and so delish."
"My idea of course. And to think? Jared wanted hot dogs." She tossed an affectionate glance at the steely-gazed Jared and laughed. Her eyes landed on me and my glass of water. "Leah, sweetie, you simply must loosen up. Garcon?" She snapped a finger and a waiter appeared out of nowhere. "Get this girl a Screamin' Orgasm."
"That's not necessary, thank you." I told the waiter, watching as he shrugged and walked away.
"Leah, Leah, Leah." Kim said, shaking her head fondly and shooing Jared away. "Even at boarding school, you were the most serious out of all of us. We still love you though. And that's why Rose, Emily, and I are making it our life's mission to get you a man."
"I thought it was your life's mission to avoid going through menopause?"
"Well... That's second." She said, then turned toward the door. "Oh, great. Here are some of the world's most eligible bachelors now."
Emily and Rose tripped over themselves -and consequently- me in a bid to see who had arrived. I wasn't really interested, so I took a sip of my water and made myself as small as possible so I wouldn't ruin Emily's dress, which she had decided at the last minute that she didn't want to wear. Since my outfit was deemed to 'safe' to wear to the party, Emily found a replacement dress and made me wear hers.
I was uncomfortable to say the least.
"Oh. My. Sweet. Jesus." Rose breathed, then leaned back into the booth. "It's Emmett... Oh my gosh... I want to go speak with him."
"How are you gonna get him away from that other dude?" Emily asked as she spied Sam coming to greet her from the DJ's booth, where he'd been stepping in for the real DJ until he'd arrived.
"Oh, I know a way. Don't worry about that." Rose said, then tossed back her hair and tugged on her outfit, a nice pair of leather pants and a ripped London Flag tee. "How do I look?"
"Gorgeous." I said. "Now go get him." Right now. I panted in my head as her sharp elbow was cutting off circulation in my thigh. Luckily, she didn't need anymore encouragement and left as fast as her legs would take her.
"I'm gonna go dance with Sam." Emily said, readjusting her mask. "Promise me that you'll at least have one dance?"
"Sure." I said, thankful that she didn't make me do a Pinkie Promise, which was as sacred to her as her beloved teddy bear, Sir Pinkyton. She smiled and left, jumping into Sam's arms the second they were within touching distance. They disappeared into the crowd within seconds.
What she didn't know was that I truly planned on dancing... My way out of the door. I was tired and I needed some sleep.
But before I do that, I've got to high-tail it to the bathroom. With that thought, I picked up my purse and began the trek through the crowd, having to pause every now and then for the perfunctory greeting and cheek-kissing that was the norm with our crowd. However, I finally made it to the bathroom and did my business.
As I walked out, I passed by a supply closet and slowed down when I heard thumping sounds within. I was about to check it out when I heard a familiar high pitched squeal. Rolling my eyes, I walked away. Well, at least I know that Rose is gonna be okay for tonight... And every night after that. I was so distracted that I bumped into someone on my way back to the dance floor.
"Sorry. I can't see a damn thing through this mask..." I began to ramble, stopping short when I took in the combat boots, the powerful legs encased in black jeans, the black shirt that lovingly hugged a huge expanse of chest, the delicious looking black leather jacket that topped off the look, and the simple black mask that topped off the look.
He was sex on legs, and I was going to come right then and there if I didn't get the hell away from him.
"It's fine." He boomed over the music, taking advantage of my momentary loss of speech to grab my arm. Did I sway? I couldn't even remember. All I knew was that I like the feel of his hand on any part of my body. I think I purred, though I couldn't remember whether it was heard over the music. Someone bumped into me, and in the swirling lights of the dark room, I couldn't determine who it was. All I knew was that there was a stinging sensation in my upper arm and a feeling of lethargy overtook me as I leaned against the stranger's arm.
"I feel all... floaty..." I giggled, strangely detached from myself as I swayed along to the music. "I love this songgggg... Dansh with me..."
I took a step toward the gyrating dance floor, the strobe lights and moving bodies making me dizzier than ever. My hair was plastered to my lip gloss and when I moved a hand to move it away, I stumbled ungracefully toward the floor.
I blacked out before I felt the impact, a dark, looming face in my peripheral vision.
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