by Lana Hartley
I walk over to the giant glass refrigerator and get some fruit, meat, and cheese.
Why the hell not?
Grieving and being a prisoner has a way of making one famished.
I open a bottle of wine and sit on the island, having my own little picnic.
The wine sets my nerves at ease. I needed a drink for sure.
I finally feel some sustenance coming back into my body.
I drink straight out of the bottle, and for a second, I forget about my worries.
“Enjoying yourself?”
That voice.
I turn around and see Nate gazing at me.
How long has he been there?
My heart beats a little faster.
I’ve been found out.
By him.
Nate
The thought of her crying fucking kills me. Having to be the one to tell her that she can never leave, that she’s my prisoner...well, it doesn’t feel fucking good.
But the truth is, even if I didn’t have to keep Sienna safe, I know that she’ll always be with me, forever.
There’s no way I’m letting go of her now.
I feel possessive of her in a way that I can explain. It’s just as a natural instinct, to be with her, to make sure she’s all right.
This mess with Edison Shaw doesn’t make it any easier.
She’s in actual danger if she were to ever leave my side.
If only she could somehow understand that.
I change out of my suit that I was wearing for dinner into black sweats.
I still have work to do tonight.
I barely ever sleep. Don’t need to. Tonight will be no different.
And so even as I sit down in front of my computer, the monitor shining brightly in the darkness of my room, my thoughts are still on her.
Does she hate me? Can she ever forgive me, or get over the fact that I was the one who kidnapped her?
These are all questions that will have to go unanswered for now.
I imagine her in her room just crying, feeling alone.
Every impulse of mine tells me to go to her, to make sure that she’s all right.
But I hold back. I don’t think I’m the person she wants to see right now.
I try to get some work done. I look over all of my investments. I make sure everything’s in place for the move away from Edison Shaw.
What he doesn’t know is that I have most of his best guys on my side now. It wasn’t hard to pull them away either.
Edison is such a terrible person, forcing people to do his dirty work left and right, that most of his toughest guys are ready for a change.
No matter what you may believe about the mafia, no one likes to kill just for the sake of killing. There’s got to be a fucking reason behind it. Edison never had a good reason.
He was out for blood. And money.
I intend to run his organization with a little more finesse. I’m gonna make sure everybody has so much goddamn money, they’ll never think about Edison Shaw again.
Unfortunately, this may have to come at the price of one more final kill—Shaw himself.
The man is too dangerous to let live. But I’m still weighing my options on that.
I don’t like to kill. If I could put him in prison for the rest of his life, that might be good enough. But I just have to see.
And so I go over the paperwork, ceaselessly trying to find a safe way out of this thing.
Sienna is at the forefront of my mind. If only she had any idea how hard I work to keep her safe.
Even at this moment, I check the security cameras around the building. I have guards stationed all around the penthouse and down below in the lobby. The building is teeming with the biggest and the best.
There’s no way she can escape, and there’s no way anybody’s getting in that I don’t know about.
Just as I’m perusing the security cameras, I see the strangest thing.
Little Sienna is opening the door of her room and tiptoeing down the hallway.
Does she really think I wouldn’t see her?
I have eyes on her like she wouldn’t believe. I know every step she’s gonna take before she even thinks to make it. I’m always ten steps ahead of her, and I always will be.
I watch the cameras with amusement. She walks lightly down the hallway, checking over her shoulder every now and again to make sure that I’m not coming.
I see her walk around the penthouse. Her eyes are wide, like she’s finally understanding just how fucking much money I have. It’s like she’s seeing a place for the first time.
It’s a fucking mansion in the sky. It’s the most glamorous, elaborate, over-the-top penthouse in the world. I’ve made sure of that.
And then to my surprise, I see her slip into the kitchen. Of course, I have cameras there too.
Watching her sneak around like this is all to my pure enjoyment. I just can’t believe she would think I don’t know what she’s up to in every instant.
Obviously, she doesn’t really know me yet.
I sit back in my chair and sigh heavily. She’s wearing a silky black robe and not much else. She looks fucking hot even over the security cameras.
She’s in the kitchen rummaging around for something. I see her take out a bottle of wine and open it. She drinks straight from the bottle. Then she tucks in some food.
Poor girl. She’s probably starving since dinner.
We didn’t end things on a good note. Perhaps now is the time to make up for that.
I get up and leave my room. I walk down the hallway and saunter over to the kitchen where I lean against the wall and just watch her.
She has no idea I’m even here.
I watch her drink the wine and sit on the kitchen island. She’s eating fruit and looking fucking hot doing it.
Eventually, I think it’s time to make my entrance.
“Enjoying yourself?" I say.
She turns around and gazes at me with those crisp blue eyes.
Her long blonde hair cascades in waves down her back.
She sees me, and we lock eyes, and for a moment the heat is inescapable.
We both feel it. I know she does too.
It’s all I can do to hold back.
It’s all I can do not to consume her right now.
Sienna
Nate’s imposing form takes up most of the archway where he leans against the wall. He’s wearing black sweats and looking so hot—but I push these thoughts from my mind.
Not now. I’m supposed to be hating him.
“What are you doing here?” I ask as if I don’t already know.
He’s keeping tabs on me as usual. He walks into the kitchen and joins me.
I offer him the bottle of wine and say, “A peace offering.”
He flashes me that gorgeous smile, and I feel wetness spreading between my legs.
He does things to my body that no other man has.
“Does this mean you’re apologizing for your little outburst at dinner?” he asks, taking a drink from the bottle.
“Maybe,” I say. “But you should apologize, too. You’re keeping me here, after all.”
“Sienna,” he nearly growls, losing patience with me. “Don’t go there. For the last time, it’s for your own good.”
I take a deep sip of my wine.
“Hungry?” he asks, nodding to the food I retrieved from the fridge.
“Yeah, I was famished,” I admit, taking a bite of a strawberry.
He stares at me intently in that way that only he can. He lets me know with one look that I’m his already. I don’t know how, and I don’t know why, but it feels true.
The sexual tension between us is thick.
I break away from his stare, grab the bottle from him, and take another drink.
“You look good after all these years, Sienna,” he says, breaking the silence that’s enveloped the kitchen.
“Thank you. Although I haven’t changed that much since we last saw each other.�
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He stares at me incredulously.
“That’s complete bullshit. You were gorgeous then. Now, you’re even more stunning as a full-grown woman.”
He slowly glances down my body. I feel his eyes move slowly over me and down my curves.
I shiver.
“You’ve grown into yourself,” he adds. “You’re exquisite.”
I feel pleasure wash through me from his compliments.
What I don’t tell him is that he’s matured too, into this hulking, handsome man who I never would’ve recognized. I always had a crush on Nate, but now, he lights my body on fire, and it’s different and more intense than ever before.
“You matured too,” I say simply.
Desire fills his eyes, and my body responds immediately to that desire.
I feel flushed. My breathing speeds up, and I feel a sudden wave of liquid heat rush between my thighs.
His breathing changes as well.
Nate licks his lips. I see his knuckles are white as he grips the white Carrara marble top of the kitchen island.
It’s obvious he wants me.
“It’s good to see you again, Sienna,” he says, looking into my eyes.
“Yeah, well, I wish it were under better circumstances,” I say.
“You know I would’ve found you, no matter what.”
His words thrill me, and I don’t know why.
Has he been thinking about me too this entire time?
I have to get away from this and him. It’s too much. He’s too much.
I know he’s involved with unsavory people, but I also know that he may have saved me from certain death. Maybe Nate’s on my side?
He’s certainly my captor, but look where he’s holding me hostage—a fabulous penthouse in the heart of Manhattan.
If he were evil, wouldn’t I be somewhere less glamorous?
And the way he has a permanent watch on me makes me feel sure of him somehow.
Is Nate really protecting me?
Maybe he’s not the enemy.
Heat flies through my veins, and all I want is him.
I hold back. There’s nothing to do.
“Okay, well, I guess I’ll head back to my room now,” I tell Nate.
I move around the island to head towards my room. I pass Nate as I go, avoiding eye contact. I’m two feet away from the doorway when I feel him grab my arm, spin me around, and push me against the wall.
Before I can ask him what the hell he thinks he’s doing, his lips crash into mine.
Fire.
Fury.
One of his hands grips my waist while the other holds the back of my neck.
My hands thread through his hair, and I grip his head, pulling him closer to me.
Nate doesn’t just give me a little kiss on the lips. No. He puts every ounce of passion he has into the kiss.
And in this moment, it’s like everything I’ve been looking for has been found. I know that he’s the one, that constant in my heart.
His lips on mine feel amazing. The kiss is like no other. In an instant, I forget every kiss that has come before this one.
His body is pressed against mine, not leaving an inch of space between us. I hear and feel his power and presence.
He kisses me hard, and I whimper.
When I open my eyes, Nate’s face is front and center.
I drop my hands. I shouldn’t have kissed him back.
He doesn’t let me go. He pulls back so his lips are close enough to mine to slightly brush against them.
I tremble to his touch.
And then, as quickly as it starts, it ends.
“Goodnight, Sienna,” he whispers before quickly retreating down the hall to his bedroom.
I stand there, trying to take in the enormity of what’s just happened.
Nate, my Nate, has just delivered a kiss that threatens to throw me off center forever.
Everything’s changed now.
He knows it. I know it.
Eventually, I retreat to my room feeling needy and restless. I get into bed and stare up at the ceiling for what feels like forever before falling asleep.
The next morning, I wake up from a dream centered on the kiss.
His eyes. His lips. His hands on my body.
In the dream though, it went a lot further than just a kiss.
This can’t be happening.
Me and Nate?
It’s something I’ve wanted for a long time but haven’t dared to express, even to myself. He was there all along, lingering in my heart.
I shut my eyes and remember the feel of him. It will stay with me forever.
I quickly jump out of bed, feeling the need to run or to do something, anything to escape the intensity of what happened.
I need to get out of this room. Being cooped up isn’t a good idea for me.
A swim in the pool I saw out on the terrace will be good. A little exercise and something to clear my mind of him.
The pool is crystal blue and calm. I dip a toe in, and it’s not too cold or too warm.
Just perfect.
I realize within the next second that I don’t have a bathing suit. Downside of being kidnapped.
Fuck.
The terrace appears to be pretty private. I don’t need a swimsuit if no one’s going to be able to see me doing it. The only person who would likely see me while I swim is Nate.
Let’s give him a show, Sienna. Show him what he’s missing.
Plus, he’ll get a taste of his own medicine. He’ll feel exactly what he’s been making me feel. Lust, desire, and sexual frustration.
I strip off my clothes and throw them onto a lounge chair resting by the side of the pool.
I jump in the pool, fully immersing my body in the water.
It feels amazing. I begin to swim laps back and forth from one end of the pool to the other. The sun is bright and shining, and it warms my skin.
The swimming has the effect I wanted in relieving the restlessness I felt being cooped up in my room.
However, it doesn’t distract my mind from last night’s kiss.
Nothing ever could.
I can’t stop thinking about it no matter how hard I try, or how often I tell myself it’s not good for my sanity to keep replaying it in my head.
It was such a damn good kiss, though.
The heat and passion between us set my body on fire with desire. It ignited a craving within me that can only be filled by him.
I picture his mouth on my body, making me succumb to his every desire.
No, Sienna. Get it together. Focus on swimming, not on him.
As much as I keep telling myself to stop thinking about Nate, I know it’s impossible.
Nate was my best friend, my everything when we were teenagers.
Now, being reunited with him, despite the circumstances, is bringing all those feelings back.
I can’t just forget Nate or try to push him out of my life or my mind.
I push myself to swim faster, hoping the exercise will do something to distract me from him.
Focus on swimming.
The water glides over my naked body as I continue to cut through the water with my arms and legs.
It feels so good.
Nate
I’m watching an angel. She’s floating, weightless, suspended on her back.
Her arms are extended to her sides. Her legs are slightly parted. Her hair is spread above her head in a cloud, the blonde darkened by the water.
She’s so pure and innocent.
My angel.
Sienna.
If I could show humanity her being untainted by all the evil, corruption, crime, and filth the Edison Shaws of this world keep spreading, I swear I could end all violence once and for all on that power alone.
As she’s floating in the pool, her posture reminds me of a crucifixion.
Innocent Sienna, taking on the sins of the world.
She’s stripped out of her clothes to enjoy the water. Her things
are bunched up carelessly on a lounge chair.
Does she not know I can see her?
Does she not care?
This moment exempt from sin only lasts so long, as I can’t help it. My lust crawls back into my thinking.
I’m standing at the window one floor above her, and it’s tinted and completely mirrored. All she can see is the reflection of the sky above. My little angel, suspended between heaven and earth.
But she must know I’m there, must be able to sense me, feel me. Because I can fucking feel how everything between us is charged with sexual energy.
My lust is certainly a presence making itself known at all times.
Her eyes are closed.
Her nipples are poking above the surface of the water, and tiny waves are lapping around her breasts. I want to play with those tits, run my hands over them, and caress her nipples with my tongue.
My eyes drift down to between her legs. She moves her thighs slightly up and down to stay afloat in the water. There’s just a tiny flash of her pussy, but the mere hint has me aroused instantly.
My nose is pressed against the glass, and my hot breath is fogging up the windowpane in front of my eyes. I wipe away the moisture and keep my eyes trained on her.
Suddenly, she moves in the water.
She turns and folds her body in half. Her tight ass briefly dips up as she dives under water. Her hair is waving around her and behind her head in a voluminous velvety mass.
She draws her knees close, hugs them to her chest with her arms.
I’ve seen this gesture before, just after she arrived in my mansion in L.A. She was sitting on the bed after her unsuccessful escape attempt.
Curling herself into this ball seems to remind herself that she’s the only person in this world she can rely on and trust now.
But my angel, I’m here, watching over you.
She opens her mouth and vents her frustration in a silent scream.
The sound remains contained underwater, but the pool moves in furious bubbles all around her as she forces every bit of air out of her lungs.
She starts sinking.
For a split second, I fear she has self-harm on her mind and` prepare to sprint down to the pool and drag her out of the water. But she kicks her legs and shoots to the surface.
She throws her head back, sending her hair and a million droplets flying. They sparkle in the pool lights.
