Dark Passions by Jeff Gelb Page A

invited him to her place. They had made out on the sofa, but he couldn’t remember much beyond that. It seemed she had made him a drink, and then ...
    â€œYou were leering at me,” she spat. “At the bar ...” Jason swallowed hard. “What? No!” he defended himself. “I wasn’t leering at anybody. But you put something in my drink and—”
    â€œLiar!” she interrupted him.
    Jason slowly shook his head, but even the slightest movement amplified his headache. “Lady, I was just minding my own damn business at that bar when you—”
    She stomped her right foot, the tip of her high-heeled black shoe slamming against the hardwood floor. “SHUT UP!” she yelled again. “Don’t lie to me.” Her voice almost echoed within the sparsely decorated walls.
    Jason struggled against the ropes and glanced around the room for any hope of help. He could barely see a worn-out sofa ten feet or so away, but the lights in that area of the apartment were off. He thought about yelling to get the attention of neighbors, but her own loud voice hadn’t called attention to herself. Anyway, this bitch obviously had something evil in mind, and she could do whatever she wanted long before anyone could come to his assistance.
    She stepped directly in front of him and bent over toward him, yielding a close-up view of her ample cleavage. “You wanted to fuck me,” she whispered.
    There was definitely something wrong with this bitch. She was incredibly beautiful and sexy on the outside, but there was something dark and wicked within. How should he respond to her? Which answer did her twisted mind want to hear? “What?” he finally answered. “No, I didn’t—”
    She backed away and glared at him again. “You’re all alike. You’re disgusting, ” she interrupted him again.
    Now he was angry. Of course he’d wanted to fuck her. She’d baited him from the beginning, and he’d swallowed her hook. What the hell did she expect from him? Wasn’t that what it was all about? “Listen, bitch,” he snarled, “I don’t know who the hell you are or what you’re trying to prove, but I want out of here.”
    She smiled for a split-second, then hissed, “I told you to SHUT UP! ” She stared at him through narrowed eyes and slowly shook her head in apparent disgust. “Besides, my name is not Bitch. It’s Carla. You’re thinking so much about fucking me that you can’t even remember my name.”
    Carla. The name did seem familiar. But she had obviously drugged him and wiped out much of his shortterm memory.
    â€œBut I remember your name ... Jason. ” She pronounced it like it was a fresh pile of horseshit. “But names aren’t important now.” She backed a step farther away and eyed her prey like a cat stalking a mouse, playing with him, taunting him. “Do you honestly think you can just lie your way out of this?” she said, finally in a calmer voice.
    Jason shook his head again. The headache was clearing, and his senses were rapidly returning. He knew he had to do something. “You’re fucking crazy, lady. I want out of here ... now. ”
    Carla strutted seductively toward him, laughing. “You’re not in much of a position to tell me what to do ... pervert, ” she said slyly.
    Jason tried to calm himself. She was right. He shouldn’t be so demanding. He’d have to be diplomatic to get out of this mess. The air conditioner kicked on, and a vent directly above him blew cold air across his exposed skin, raising chill bumps. No matter how he tried to lower his pulse, however, he couldn’t control the anger in his voice. “I told you, dammit, I was just trying to get to know you. Sure, I was looking at you, but I never leer at any body. The way you were dressed, everybody in the whole damn place was giving you the