A very big thank you to SunflowerFran for helping me with the summary of With the Tides in making it flow more freely. Going in the direction that we are, this story can use as much freedom as it can get.

7

The sound of a gun's chamber clicking as close as it was to me was a sound I would never forget as long as I lived—If I were to continue living, that is.

Keeping his eyes riveted to mine, he slid the barrel of a revolver right beneath my chin, slowly, giving a light but firm press of the cold metal to my throat. I barely so much as breathed.

"Was this," he whispered, his breath fanning my cheeks, "one of the outcomes you considered, Miss Swan? Answer me."

"Yes," I breathed back. My heart was going a billion miles a second, slamming against my ribcage. That calm but blazing look in Cullen's eyes added to the equation in a not so helpful way. I knew nothing of what he was thinking, of what he was planning, and that scared me more than the gun.

"Will you do it?" I asked.

"I beg your pardon?"

"Will you shoot me?"

"I'm considering it," he answered, and I didn't think he was employing some kind of scare tactic—I believed him. "Having regrets?"

I gave a short laugh despite myself. "Yeah. Just a little."

"Good. This won't have been for nothing then."

"So you're telling me this was all a ploy to instill me with life lessons?"

"No. I would say it was more the result of a lot of bad choices gravitating to an epicenter: you."

"Care to expand on that further, Mr. Cullen?"

"Not particularly, no." His eyes shifted back to mine, and I hadn't actually realized that they were focused elsewhere. The intensity hadn't once wavered, and I'd retained the feeling that his attention was still dedicated to holding me up to this wall, at gunpoint.

An unmistakable knock hit my ears. My eyes widened to globes.

Cullen sighed quietly to himself, his gaze affixed to my own. There was an embarrassing amount of hope, I knew, in my expression.

"And what is that look for?" he asked with a raised brow.

"What look?"

A chuckle rumbled low in his throat, deep enough for even me to feel. "You're a God awful liar, Miss Swan. Good to see I'll get honesty out of you, if nothing else." He paused after saying this, taking a moment to look me over, his head tilted.

I stiffened instantly. If his mind was anywhere near where I thought it was, then like hell if him holding this gun would stop me from defending myself.

"Easy, kitten. Just making sure I haven't left any visible marks."

Another volley of knocks echoed through the villa. They seemed so loud. As if we were naughty children speaking in a church, Cullen and I had been whispering in rather low tones before our visitor appeared. Although very welcome, the knocks felt out of place.

"Friend of yours?" Whoever it was, they were persistent.

"No," he muttered. "More like a friend of yours."

Cullen began extracting our bodies from one another as I tossed this information around in my head. Of course, thousands of thoughts were flying about in my head, thousands of different scenarios. Nothing got by Cullen's watchful eye.

"I'm more adapted to this expression than any other by now," he said. Dropping the gun, he steadied me onto both feet. He ran his thumb roughly over my wrist, the one he'd had shackled between his fingers, and straightened himself and his clothing. I did the same.

The knock rang out yet again, and we both turned to look at the door. Just looking over Cullen's shoulder, it caught my attention that he seemed a bit annoyed, and in no rush to get the door for whomever was there. A friend of mine, he'd said. Did he mean that literally? Was this someone from my world here to pay a visit? Perhaps they would be the one responsible for my being here. I couldn't fathom who it could have been though. I had a relatively small social circle, and I was hardly exasperating enough to merit a kidnapping.

Whoever this person should be, I believed they had the information that Cullen refused me. He almost seemed like a lost cause to me now. He'd rather shoot me point blank than tell me anything about my situation. The thought made me grimace a bit.

I would be lying if I said I hadn't considered snatching the gun from him.

"If you try it, I will kill you this time." He hadn't even looked at me, but he gave me his back to stride back to the kitchens and rifle through the pantry for a moment. He returned with a bit of duct tape.

"Are you fucking serious?"

"Deadly. Give me your hands."

I muttered, "Like hell—"

"I won't ask you again." No nonsense captor had returned, and with a heavy sigh I held out my wrists together and allowed him to bind me. "If you're a good girl, this will be the extent of your punishment for trying to stick me today. Although, I can't make any promises for tomorrow. I think it would be in your best interest not to find out."

For a moment I was a mildly stunned. I tried to stab him in the Adam's apple and my worst punishment was a bit of duct tape, and not even enough to immobilize me. I wouldn't think about it more than I needed to, but I was expecting much worse. This just made it even more maddening trying to piece Cullen together. Who the hell was he and what did he want?

There went that knock again.

With a heavy exhale Cullen said, "Seems like they aren't going anywhere so I'll have to get that." He hooked his index finger into my restraints and led me to the front door, following his heels. I felt ridiculous, like a dog on a leash with its master. "On our best behavior please, Miss Swan."

"No promises," I grumbled, eager for him to get on with twisting that golden knob he seized.

"Good enough for me."

I gasped when the door opened, and from the corner of my eye I saw Cullen watching me, gauging my reaction.

If I thought I was lost before…

A/N: Who could it be?