by Sam Crescent
She didn’t get to hear the response, but with each passing second, he loosened until he finally let go.
Stumbling away from him, she rushed toward the door, but he was there, a hand on the door, stopping her.
His body was close to hers. Tears filled her eyes as feelings rushed through her body. She wanted him and that, she couldn’t stand. He’d hurt her and here she was, wanting him. It was sick and horrible. She hated it.
“I’m … sorry.”
“I want to leave,” she said.
“Why did you come to my office?”
“Not to get attacked.”
“Grace, I should have asked you.”
“You did ask me. You didn’t believe me.”
“Look, I’m not used to trusting people.”
She spun around and stomped her foot. “I’m not other people. Remember that. I don’t go around lying to people, and I didn’t even see that stupid phone. I sat and was thinking about you because I’m an idiot. Clearly. I need to be as far away from you as possible, but I wanted to talk about what I said last night, and my shoulder is hurting. I don’t like you gripping my throat. I hate it. I hate you. And I just want to go home.”
He wrapped his fingers around her throat, and this time, his entire body pressed against her front. The grip wasn’t threatening or dangerous, but … pleasurable as his lips brushed against her ear.
“I can tear away every single bad thought that gives you pain. Imagine me holding you like this, completely naked as I slide my cock inside you. I can have you craving every single inch of me. There can be a great deal of pleasure in pain.” His other hand moved from the door and she whimpered as he cupped her between the thighs.
She didn’t tell him to stop, but closed her eyes, spreading herself open for him, offering herself willingly to his touch.
“Do you feel that, Grace? You’re rocking against me and that’s not because of fear, but because it’s what you want.” He licked her ear, biting down, and she moaned his name. “It is going to take me a while to get used to you being so fucking sweet, but I’ll get there. Now tell me what you came here to say.”
He let go of her neck and took a step back.
She missed his touch. Placing her fingers where his had been, she felt a little dazed. “I’d like to go to my room or go and check on James.”
“Running away?”
“I don’t feel comfortable discussing it.”
He smiled. “Do I make you nervous?”
“Being strangled and killed makes me nervous. What you do is just rude.” She released her hand. “Can I go?”
“No, not until you tell me what you came in here for.”
“Where were you?”
“Taking care of business.”
He removed his jacket and turned toward her. He rolled up his sleeves, displaying the endless ink he had decorating his arms. She loved tattoos and had always wanted to get one herself but feared the needles.
“I came to give you an answer to your ultimatum, but I don’t need to anymore.”
“I know what your answer is going to be, and think long and hard before you leave this room, Grace. I know you’re a kind person, but I never took you for an idiot.”
“Leaving you without giving you an answer doesn’t make me an idiot. You’re … horrible.”
“I’ve been called worse.”
“Yes, so I’ve heard, and you relish that reputation, don’t you? A beast is what I’ve heard they’ve called you.”
He took a step toward her. “You never want to find out why they call me that, Grace. If anyone else were to talk to me the way you do, their throats would be slit and they’d be dying on my office floor right about now.”
“Then why don’t you kill me?” she asked. She wanted to kick herself. She wasn’t begging for death. This was so fucking wrong on so many different levels. The last thing she wanted was to die. There was so much to live for.
“Why would I kill you when I know we can find so much pleasure together?”
The endless promise within his words was tempting, but there was no way she was going to submit to him. “You think I want you to even touch me after you grabbed me like that?”
“I’m … sorry.”
From the frown on his face, she got the sense that he wasn’t used to apologizing for his behavior.
“I don’t—” She stopped and looked away. “I can’t do this.”
“Don’t be afraid of me.”
“What do you expect after what you just did? I’m not used to this, okay? I’m not exactly … ugh, I don’t know what the hell I’m saying.” She shook her head. “I’m sorry.”
He cupped her face and shook his head. “Don’t say you’re sorry to me. Not when I don’t deserve it. I’m the one who owes you an apology.”
“And you don’t like saying it,” she said.
“Grace, I stopped saying sorry years ago. It’s a habit I easily grew out of.”
“How come?”
“You really don’t want to know.”
“Why am I still asking, though?” She put her hand on his chest and quickly moved it away.
She had to stay focused here. This man had taken all that she’d known. Kidnapped her, and now she had to make a choice to stay with him or to leave. What kind of person forced someone to make that choice? It made absolutely no sense to her. She didn’t want to understand it.
None of this made sense.
“There are things in this world that will terrify you, Grace. I don’t want to expose you to them.”
She smiled. “You mean like getting taken against my will? Being shot at? Threatened? All of these things have happened to me. Do you really think it can get much worse?”
“I know it can.”
She tilted her head to the side. “I need to go and check on James.” She couldn’t move until he gave her space.
He stepped back and even as he did, she mourned his closeness, which was crazy.
Turning on her heel, she left his office, even more confused than when she entered it.
****
Caleb was a patient man.
He knew when to take a step back and when to move full steam ahead. When it came to Grace, he needed to take his time. Give her space. And that was exactly what he was going to do.
What Grace didn’t seem to know yet, and he was more than willing to keep it from her, was there was no going back for her. She’d be staying with him indefinitely. There was no possible way he’d ever be able to trust her with everything she’d seen. No matter her promises, he wasn’t a fool.
Grace wasn’t loyal to him just yet, but one day she would be.
What was it about her exactly that he liked? He loved her innocence. No doubt about it, he wanted to be the one and only man to taste her sweet cunt. To slide through her virginity and claim her as his own. He’d never been with an innocent before. It wasn’t about her cherry. He could buy them so easily once he got in touch with the right people. This was so much more.
Looking at her, all he wanted to do was protect her. No one had inspired these feelings, apart from his sister and his nephew.
“Do you like sweet potato casserole?” Grace asked.
Rather than let one of his men handle her ordering, he wanted the excuse to be alone with her. For the past few days, he’d been in his special location, torturing the men who’d been paid to come and kill him. The men who’d tried to kill him had been advised to go for maximum pain and destruction. He’d killed every single one of them and still didn’t have a name, which meant his enemy was faceless.
It wasn’t unusual. In his experience, though, someone always had a reason for being so vicious. He did when he’d made his way to the top. Killing people was second nature to him. He could easily kill someone while they were telling him a joke. This made the list of people wanting him dead endless. Not good.
Running a hand down his face, he blew out a breath. This royally sucked.
“Caleb?”
He looked at her. “I don’t know.”
“You’ve never had sweet potato casserole?”
He shook his head.
“Then I’m going to have to fix that. Do you like sweet things?”
He winked at her. “You can feed me whatever you like so long as it’s not poison.”
She swatted at his hand. “I wouldn’t do that. I’m sorry.” She looked at where she’d hit and turned toward the computer again, fidgeting.
He glanced down at his hand and couldn’t understand why she’d changed. “You didn’t hurt me.”
She looked toward him and nibbled on her lip. “Are you sure?”
“Babe, it’s going to take a lot more than a swat on the hand, believe me.”
“You’re right. You’re so right.” She chuckled, resting her head against his shoulder.
“What’s going on?” he asked.
“Nothing.”
She said it so fast that he knew something wasn’t right.
“Tell me.”
“I had to take a small pain pill.” She lifted her hand, showing him how small she meant.
He chuckled. “And now you’re far more talkative?”
“I don’t know why. It’s not like I mean to spew word vomit everywhere. Are you mad?”
“I could never be mad at you.”
“I bet it’s really easy to do.” She sighed. “I tried to avoid it.”
“The doctor came to see you about your shoulder today, didn’t he?”
She nodded. “He said it’s healing up okay. It’s not like I can’t use it. I can. I just have to be careful so I don’t tear the stitches.” She frowned. “I don’t know if I’m going to be able to make this dinner all by myself, and you made that chef hate me.”
“No one could hate you.”
“Every time I enter the kitchen, everyone runs away.”
He took her hand, kissing her knuckles. “That’s because I was pissed off.”
“You stabbed that poor man.”
“He threw knives at you and called you names.”
“It was fine.”
“If one of those knives had hit you—” He couldn’t even bring himself to finish his sentence.
He couldn’t stand the thought of her in pain. Even now with her shoulder. He wanted to take the pain away. The only consolation he got was the fact she kept on hugging him with those pain pills.
“Hey,” she said, cupping his face. “Don’t worry about it. I’m not.” She pressed a kiss to his lips. “Why don’t you help me cook? You, me, and James, it’ll be so much.”
“You want me to help you cook?” He hadn’t been in the kitchen to cook for himself in years. It was why he hired a cook.
“Unless it is beneath you. Are you not used to cooking for yourself?”
“Ha, ha, very funny.”
She pouted. “Is that a yes or no?”
He reached out, pushing some of her brown hair behind her ear. She was so incredibly beautiful. He wondered if she realized how much. It wasn’t just her looks that made her that way. She had a good heart. A kind soul. In every single way that mattered, she was stunning.
That was why he couldn’t get her out of his mind. With every single other woman, he knew what to expect. When it came to Grace, he was confused. She didn’t want the same things as everyone else, far from it, and he wanted to know every single part of her.
Stroking her cheek, he wondered what she was thinking. Most of the time she was an open book, but he still wanted her to talk all the time.
Again, something new for him.
“I’ll cook for you, Grace, but what will I get out of it?” he asked.
“Food. When you cook, there is always a reward.”
He leaned forward and kissed her lips. “Tell me what you were going to say when I caught you in my office.”
She pouted. “You scared me.”
“I didn’t mean to.”
“I didn’t even think to phone the police. Don’t you think that’s weird? You’re a bad man. I should have called them to take me away, but…”
“What?”
She was getting sleepy now and he knew he had limited time with her.
“But … I don’t want to. It’s weird. I keep on telling myself that I should hate you and I do, but, I like you as well. I was coming to tell you that I agreed to your terms. I’m scared, Caleb.”
“Of what?”
“Of how you make me feel.” She rested her head against his shoulder. “I’m so tired.”
“How do I make you feel, Grace?”
“Like I want you to touch me every single time I see you. I’ve never been with a man and I like the look of your hands, and I want to see your ink. I’ve always wanted a tattoo. I didn’t finish ordering.” She slumped against him and he held her.
Glancing at the computer screen, he saw she’d put several items into the shopping basket. After closing the lid, he picked her up in his arms and carried her upstairs, going to her room this time.
He was willing to take this at her pace.
She let out a little snore as he entered her room.
Her bed was pristinely made and he couldn’t help but smile. To most, she was the perfect house guest.
He’d been alerted the other day that she and James had been going to every single guard and handing out a cookie. They wanted to know if they could have permission to take the sweet treat. He’d granted it and went to the surveillance room to watch her. She was a natural when it came to taking care of kids.
James was already thriving in her care.
He missed his mom though, he got it.
After laying Grace beneath the covers, he removed her shoes and got her settled into bed.
“You’re so beautiful,” he said, kissing her lips.
“Uncle Caleb?” James asked.
He turned toward the door to see his nephew rubbing at his eyes.
“Hey, champ.”
“Is she okay?”
“Of course.” He held his arms open, sitting down in a chair as he did. James came and crawled into his lap, and Caleb watched her sleep.
“She’s not dead?”
“No.”
“My mommy is dead,” he said.
Caleb held on to him a little tighter.
“I miss her.”
“I know. I miss her too.” He kissed the top of James’s head. He did miss his sister. He couldn’t even bring himself to think of her name. Her death would become even more real.
“Uncle Caleb?”
“Yes.”
“Grace isn’t going to die, is she?”
“No. I won’t let it happen.” He kissed the top of his head. “Let’s give her some time to rest.”
Picking up James, he took him to his room, but rather than go to his own, he went back to watch Grace sleep. Whenever his demons came out to play, Grace helped to put them away. She had so much power over him, and she didn’t even know it.
Chapter Five
Grace chuckled at how many groceries Caleb had ordered. James had lost himself in the bags of candy and baking, which was just as much fun. She unloaded sweet potatoes, marshmallows, broccoli, rice, more vegetables, a turkey.
“Wow, you really thought of everything,” she said.
Caleb put a hand at the base of her back and kissed her cheek. The touch took her by surprise. It was such a tender kiss, and she couldn’t help but smile.
“I simply ordered one of everything and if they were out of stock, I got my men to go and find it. Simple. Is this too much?” he asked.
“This is plenty. I can feed your men and we can have one hell of a Thanksgiving.” She had always wanted to have a big family. Her parents, with their devotion to one another, had only settled with one child, while she wanted so many more. She wanted to have a big family that at each special event, she would be exhausted from all of the cooking, like today.
Caleb hadn’t talked about her admission when she’d taken a pain pill. She only took them whe
n she had to. The pain had become a little too unbearable, but she imagined that was from lifting James onto her hip and playing with him. She’d done too much and suffered for it.
She kept expecting Caleb to call her into his room to have sex, but so far, nothing. The unknown was driving her crazy. She couldn’t exactly bring it up. That would be so wrong, at least that was what she kept on telling herself.
“The men will keep talking about this for years. They’re going to think I’ve gone soft.”
“And is that a bad thing?”
“It is.” He moved past her and kissed her cheek. “When do we get started?”
“Well, Thanksgiving in is two days. I’d like to do a pumpkin pie and a pecan pie. Are any of your men allergic to nuts or have allergies?”
He looked at her and smiled.
“Would you find out?” she asked. “I don’t want to hurt anyone.”
“Of course you don’t.” He put his hands on her hips and kissed her again.
She stopped as she watched him leave.
“Uncle Caleb likes you,” James said, standing on his stool. For a three-year-old, he was so clever.
Kissing his cheek, she ruffled his hair. “Do you want to help me?”
“Are you going to be my uncle’s girlfriend?”
“I … er, I don’t know. How about we get started on those crusts?” Talking to a three-year-old about her predicament wasn’t good.
James nodded and once she had everything put away, she grabbed the ingredients she’d need for the pie crusts. James fought with the food processor while she measured everything out.
It wasn’t long before Caleb was back, and he stood behind James, helping him.
“We’ve got to help Grace every single way we need to, got it?” Caleb asked. He winked at James, who giggled.
“What did you find out?” she asked.
“We’re doing the rounds, but so far, no man has allergies.”
“Then we’re going to be making a whole lot of pie crusts.” She grabbed more butter and shortening from the fridge, along with the orange. She always loved a nice sweet crust this time of year.
Caleb was true to his word and took everything from her, adding it to the food processor. When she handed him the orange, he frowned, staring at the orange then at her.
