Page 120 of A Yulean Sister’s Guide to Getting Kidnapped

What would I do?

Then it hit me. I quieted myself, and stopped fighting. I fell into his arms, and started letting my tears flow freely.

He instantly got uncomfortable. “Stop crying.”

I tried to say something, but the cloth in my mouth stopped it.

“What?” he asked, as if the issue was his hearing.

I tried again. Finally, he got frustrated. “I’m going to take this off,” he said, and if you scream, I’ll knock you out.

I nodded, keeping that easy mask on. He released it as we walked up to the ship.

“That was so scary,” I said, which was the truth, but this certainly wasn’t. “I’m so glad you saved me.”

His entire demeanor changed. Most men like this succumbed easily to the damsel thing. I’d seen it time and time again.

I’d never used it to save my life, but it was worth a shot.

“I don’t want to hurt you,” he said, suddenly trying to sound like my rescuer, not my captor. “I’m going to make life better for both of us. Don’t you see?”

“I do,” I said. “I could tell from your party we were meant for each other. We’re of similar status, after all.”

He smiled, looking way less charming than he did when he was Octavio. “We are, aren’t we. Are you finally ready to make this easy?”

I nodded.

He smiled.

It was perfect, I was just buying time. “I like you better this way anyway,” I said, letting my flirtatious side take over. “I prefer a man with dark hair.”

“Octavio is just the role I play,” he said. “I can be like this otherwise.”

“I think I’d like that.”

He was completely hooked on my every word.

What a moron.

Coltar set me down on the deck, leaning me against one of the edges of the wall. “I’m going to get us going,” he said.

“Wait,” I said, panicking. We couldn’t leave.

“Can’t I come with you? I really don’t like being alone.”

He came over and squatted in front of me. “You’re feeling needy, huh?”

“A little,” I said, trying to sound shy.

“How about I go do this, and then we spend a little personal time together?”

I shuddered at what that probably meant, but kept it locked down, behind my mask. “I’d like that. Bring me with you?”

“No can do,” he said. “There’s only so much space near the helm.”

I pouted, probably a pout for the record books if his reaction said anything. “Are you sure?”

He sighed, “You are a bit needy.”