She drops to her knees then and tears fill her beautiful eyes and run down her face. “Pl-please Brand,” she says, her hands pressed together for the plea. “Please don’t hurt my father.”
“Aha!” I say victoriously. This is exactly what I hoped for. Total subjugation. “I’ve been waiting for you to get on with your pleas. You are one smart woman.”
Rising to my feet, I unbuckle my belt and unzip my trousers. I watch her stare as my cock springs free, thick and already aroused.
I shake my head at it. “I apologize,” I say as I stroke along the solid length. “It’s been clamoring for you ever since our first night. If it had made sex an ordeal for you like I had intended to, then none of this would have been necessary. Instead it ended up almost making us both lose our minds from the pleasure. Sex between us can be anything but pleasurable. When I fuck you, misery and guilt should be all that either of us feels.”
“You are sick” she says, disgusted.
“I know,” I murmur. “Pain … and staggering loss does that to you. You have a glimpse of that now. Crawl towards me, baby …” My eyes stare intently into hers. “Suck me off … and I will spare your father.”
My gaze taunts her with the challenge. I don’t know if I really expected it, but she begins to crawl towards me. My blood brims with anticipation, and my cock juts eagerly towards her as she approaches. But when she reaches me all I can see are her wet eyes.
Unable to stand her gaze for a moment longer I grab her head and pull it forward. The tears keep streaming down her face. I try to force a smile to mine but it is impossible. It is perfect, we are both miserable, but as her mouth shakily covers my cock, I feel only pain.
She has no right to do this to me. I grab her hair. “Suck hard on the head,” I instruct harshly. “Slide your tongue down the length and then grip the base with your hand.” I tug on her hair to bring her eyes up to mine. “Hard!”
She grabs my cock to do as she has been told, and my eyes flutter and close as an ethereal groan escapes my lips. “Take as much of it into your mouth as you can … I want to feel my tip all the way at the back of your throat.” She pulls my rod into her mouth and begins to suck hard on it. “Hmmm … just like that.” I breathe heavily as I move my hips to thrust it deeper into her mouth, but she doesn’t have the experience to deep throat, and she begins to gag and choke. I pull her mouth away and a burst of pre-cum shoots out.
With an iron fist, I finish the job myself, fisting my penis brutally until I reach the point of no return. I explode at the ecstasy and revel in the waves. When I open my eyes she is watching me, her eyes seemingly haunted. I rise to my feet then and instantly she grabs my legs.
“Brand … please,” she begins, “just give me another chance,” she cries.
At the look in her eyes brimming with tears, I feel something strike me so hard in the center of my heart that I lightly stagger backwards. The chair breaks my fall but my eyes remain on hers. Before I can stop it, my eyes fill with tears also. She falls to the ground sobbing. I stare at her for a long time. In disbelief. Look at what I have done. I have broken her. Then I pick her up gently off the floor. I carry her to the bed and lay her down gently. When I straighten she is gazing into my eyes. Hers are like crushed flowers.
“Do what you like with me, but please don’t hurt my family anymore,” she whispers brokenly.
I nod and walk out of her room and lock the door behind me.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Liliana
I cry until I’m so drained and exhausted it feels as if I am nothing but an empty husk. I can’t stop thinking of my father, and praying that he is okay. Into my misery comes the sound of footsteps. I turn my head towards the door and listen listlessly. I can tell they don’t belong to Brand. Probably, a maid with a tray of food. It must be dinner time. Too tired to care I don’t move even when a key is inserted into the door, and the handle twists. But when the door is pushed softly open, I summon the energy to sit up.
Mrs. Parks stands at the door and looks at me with eyes full of pity. She is carrying my dinner tray. I notice that she leaves the door open as she heads towards the coffee table to place my dinner there.
She straightens to look at me, and I respond with a silent plea in my eyes.
“You need to eat,” she says.
Hot, bitter tears that I could have sworn I’d run out of well up anew in my eyes and roll down my cheeks. I press my father’s ring to my chest and her eyes flutter down to it.
“I cannot do anything intentionally against Brand,” she says softly. “He didn’t come from my body, but he is my son.”
“Please. You don’t have to do anything against him. Just leave the door unlocked.”
She frowns. “I can’t let you go out there. You’ll die out there.”
“I’ll die in here. I’ll take my chances. I’ll dress warmly. I grew up in the country and I know how to navigate the wilderness. I know I can make it to the farmhouse. I promise I will never get Brand in trouble. I won’t tell anyone about this kidnapping, not even my own family.”
She shakes her head, but there is uncertainty in her eyes.
I quickly take advantage of that momentary hesitation. “Please, Mrs. Parks. You have to believe me that I will never get Brand in trouble. I’ll leave and that thing that was between us will be over. It will be better for Brand too. This is an unhealthy obsession. When I am gone, he will realize it.”
She takes a step towards me as if she wants to comfort me, then she stops herself and heads back to the door. It crosses my mind that if I rush her I can probably overpower her, but I would hate to hurt her. She is a truly kind soul who has been put into a horrible position. For a second she stands at the open doorway then she turns and places her index finger to her lips before putting the key in her pocket.
“Be very careful,” she says, and with a sad smile walks away.
For a second I do nothing. Just listen as I swipe the tears off my face, and hurry into the closet. Using my teeth, I nick then tear a dress and turn it into a cap. Quickly I construct a few layers of clothes. Then I grab my jacket and zip myself into it. I break off the high heels on the warmest looking pair of boots and slip my feet into them. I will continue to try and escape until my very last breath.
I sprint out of the room and down the eerily quiet corridor, keeping to the walls like a bug. Somehow I arrive at the kitchen that has been closed down for the night without meeting anyone. I find my way towards the back door. I pull it open and the blast of cold air that bombards me is so icy it actually chills my bones.
Beyond the garden is the infinite darkness of a vast hunting moor. I circle the house until I reach the area where I figured I saw the lights of the farmhouse in the distance. I could see it when I was high up, at ground level I cannot see it. I will have to trust my instincts. Hell, it is freezing cold. I should run. That will keep me warm. If I can just get there. Hopefully someone will be there and I will be able to contact my dad and he will come and get me. I’ll have to make up a believable story for him though.
I touch the slight bulge of my father’s ring pressed between my bra and my heart. “Wait for me, Dad. I’m bringing your ring back. Then I run out into the darkness.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Brand
It has been almost half-an-hour that I have felt restless and strange. The feeling comes from deep inside my gut. At first I tried to ignore it, but as the seconds tick by it is getting worse and worse.
Rising to my feet I begin to walk. I exit the study almost unaware of where I am until I am standing in front of Liliana’s door. As I reach for my key I hear quiet footsteps behind me. I glance back and what I see makes me turn around and keep my eyes on her until she stands before me.
“What is it?” I ask, impatience in my voice.
“I left the door open for her,” she says quietly.
I couldn’t have heard her correctly. My eyebrows furrow in annoyance. “Excuse me?”
“I left the door un
locked,” she repeats, her voice defiant.
My blood begins to boil, but I cannot bring myself to chastise her. Not her. I shut my eyes for a moment to contain myself. When I reopen my eyes she is staring boldly back at me. “You never interfere,” I remind her.
“Not this time,” she says, lifting her head proudly. “I did what my heart told me to do. Punish me if you must.”
I glare at her. She knows just as well as I do that I will do nothing to her. I throw open the door to reveal the predictably empty room. I go very still as I look around the room and see how carefully she has prepared for the long trek out of the moors. I pull out my phone and give quick orders and in no time Mark comes jogging up the stairs. With one look he figures out what has happened and gives me a look filled with dread.
“Get Andrew and Tim here now. I want to know what happened in the surveillance room.”
He pages Andrew and Tim, then turns to me. “I’ll send out Khaled’s team for a quick search, Boss.” When I don’t respond, he goes on. “We will find her. There is no way she could have got far on foot.”
“Do you realize it’s minus two degrees out there?” I ask quietly. I am insanely calm. Usually, my temper is hair trigger and at the least provocation I will blow a gasket and unleash hell on everyone around me. I don’t know why I am calm. I might be in shock. I can’t believe she slipped through my fingers.
Mark looks at me strangely as if he can’t quite believe his eyes. He is saved from answering my rhetorical question when Andrew and Tim come barreling into the room. I turn towards them as they stand there, their mouths slightly agape as they pant.
“Where were you both?” I demand.
“Mrs. Parks invited us for Lancashire Hotpot,” Tim mutters defensively, his eyes sliding to the ground.
I instantly understand what happened. “Go on. Get out of here all of you and find her,” I order, “or there’ll be hell to pay.”
“I’ll go too, and see what I can do,” Mark mumbles uncomfortably and exits the room after them. I exhale slowly. Then I lift my hand and smash my fist on the coffee table. It cracks with a loud noise as white pain shoots up my arm. I am glad for the throbbing injury. My little bird flew away. If anything at all has happened to her ...
“I’m sorry,” Mrs. Park whispers. “She said she had grown up in the country and knew how to take care of herself.”
I take a deep breath and turn to face the window. It has started snowing. My mind feels crystal clear. It is a good thing. It means the temperature has gone up to zero degrees and she will start leaving tracks. Also the snow is falling fast and deep and the roads will soon become unpassable, so no one will be able to take her out to the village.
Running down the stairs I snatch my coat from the rack and sprint out of the house leaving the front door wide open. I can see the tracks my men have left as they scattered in different directions. I run around the side of the house as soon as I reach the area that is almost a straight path to the farmhouse. I start running towards it while letting my eyes sweep either side of me. I do not use the torch on my phone because I know if I do my eyes will only see inside the narrow band of its light. This way my eyes will slowly train themselves to see in the dark. The farmhouse is actually a lot further away than it looks from the house.
I run to the edge of my land and see nothing at all. No bits of clothing caught in brambles. Only a flat white landscape. Its beauty hides an uncaring heart. I stop to think. All her tracks have been covered by the snow, and I have not yet reached any fresh tracks. I know I am going in the right direction, but what if she got lost in the dark? I stop and rethink my strategy. I run to the stables and saddle Ramses. He is a shining black beauty. It was Jake Eden who got me interested in horses. He was such an impressive horseman. I wanted to be better than him.
“Let’s go,” I say, and Ramses takes off into the night as if on wings.
Cold air rushes past my ears. My plan is to move in a crisscross movement towards the farmhouse. That way even if she went off course, I’ll find her. Hot vapor billows out of Ramses’s nostrils as he thunders over the hard ground. I pull on the reins hard and he comes to a juddering stop. I jump off him. A wisp of cloth sticking out of the snow. I fish it out. There is fresh blood on it. The horror is indescribable. I leap back on the saddle and keep my pace steady as I work my way over the land. Then I see it. The small dark shape on the ground.
I dig my heels in and make for it. My heart feels like it is going to burst out of my chest. She is lying face up and not moving. Snow has started to lay even on her face. I slide off Ramses and crouch next to her. Jesus, her lips are already turning blue.
She is as still as death as I run my hands down her face then her body. I find the source of the blood quickly. A tear in her arm. Not serious. The blood is already clotting. I press my fingers to her pulse. It is faint, but it is there. Inside me something collapses from sheer relief. Under her head I find a swelling as big as a pigeon’s egg. She must have fallen and knocked herself out. I take off my jacket and wrap it around her frame.
I lift her into my arms, and as gently as I can lay her over Ramses. In the distance I can see the men’s torchlights going further away from the house. Big flakes of snow fall steadily on us as I get on the horse and carefully transfer her into my arms. She doesn’t make a sound and that terrifies me.
I turn Ramses towards the house and prompt him to a gallop. I am in a race against my entire world collapsing at my very feet. As my trusty stallion flies us home I feel hot blinding tears fill my eyes. They roll down my face and I am powerless to stop them.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Liliana
I awaken in an unfamiliar room.
Over my face is an oxygen mask, and as I turn my head slowly to the side I see that an IV drip has been attached to my arm and I’m wearing what looks like a hospital gown. My mind feels foggy, and it takes a few moments for me to recall with decent clarity what happened.
Yes, I was running away.
To look for my father. All I could think about was him even as I became colder and colder and began to lose my sense of direction in the pitch black. I could have been running in circles. The lights of the farmhouse that I had been so sure was in the direction I was travelling in never materialized. I recall stumbling on a piece of jutting rock and falling, crying out ‘Daddy’ at the sharp excruciating pain at the back of my head … then the world faded into blessed blackness.
Does this mean I was rescued?
Some part of me cries out with sorrow at the thought, but another part of me galvanizes into action. I need to get to my dad. With my good hand I remove the mask from my face. The grief I feel gives me some sort of strength to sit up. It is then that I hear the low sound of the television on, and the mention of my family’s name. I turn to it and with widened eyes begin to watch the report of my father’s accident. Blinking my tears away I listen even more closely and almost collapse back in relief when I see that he is all right.
I need no further motivation. I pull the IV out and holding onto the bed, I try to stand, but there is no strength in my legs and my body feels as heavy as lead. Letting my body drop to the floor, I crawl towards the wall, lift myself up, and lean against it.
With the wall as my support, I take careful steps out of the room.
It must be the dead of night because the corridor is completely empty of staff or patients. I’d hoped to meet someone who I could have begged to take a message for me, but never mind. My legs were already feeling a lot stronger and I just had to keep going until I could find a door or elevator. After what seems like a lifetime I reach a set of elevator doors. I press the button and, barely able to breathe, wait for it.
It dings open and my gaze clashes with Brand’s chilling eyes. He looks as if he’s just seen a ghost and I’m so startled I lose the careful concentration that had kept me up and I fall backwards, landing on my butt. Jarring pain comes from everywhere. I feel broken in a thousand different ways.
“Jesus Christ,” he growls, taking a step towards me.
I begin to crawl backwards on my hands. I open my mouth to tell him to stay away, but I am barely able to sound the words. His polished black shoes stop next to me. I freeze. Crouching down, he hooks his hands under my knees and my back and scoops me into his strong arms. Silently, he carries me back through the corridor I’d just come through. I try not let my head rest against his chest even though every nerve ending in my body is begging me to.
“We are not in a hospital?” I whisper.
He frowns. “No. Why would you think that?”
“Why don’t you let me go, Brand?” I ask restlessly. My skin feels hot and feverish and I can’t look him in the eye.
He ignores my question.
“That’s the best way for you to stay alive,” I ramble on. “If you keep me here much longer my father will find me, then there will truly be nowhere for you to hide.”
He smiles cruelly. “How amusing? You think I should fear that old, toothless lion. He has been out of the business for twenty years now. This turf is mine. I am the new king. I have just as much power if not more than he wielded in his heyday.”
He enters the room where I had woken up and I say. “You can put me down here. I need to go to the toilet.”
Instead of setting me on the ground he carries me into the bathroom. Gently he seats me on the toilet.
“You can go now. I can manage on my own,” I say tightly.
“The time for modesty is past,” he mocks.
“I can’t do it with you watching,” I lash angrily.
He sighs and turns his back.
“After I have emptied my bladder, he runs a washcloth under the tap. Then he crouches next to me and to my complete shock he wipes me gently with the warm washcloth.
“Why are you doing this? You’ve already had me. Your revenge is complete. Why do you want me here when you hate me?”
A Kiss Stolen Page 10
