by Amber Hart
Captured by You is a work of fiction. Names, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
A Flirt eBook Original
Copyright © 2015 by Amber Hart
All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Flirt, an imprint of Random House, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, New York.
FLIRT is a registered trademark and the FLIRT colophon is a trademark of Penguin Random House LLC.
eBook ISBN 9780553391596
Cover design: Georgia Morrissey
Cover photograph: Petrenko Andriy / Shutterstock
www.readflirt.com
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Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Chapter 1: Raven
Chapter 2: Jospin
Chapter 3: Raven
Chapter 4: Jospin
Chapter 5: Raven
Chapter 6: Jospin
Chapter 7: Raven
Chapter 8: Jospin
Chapter 9: Raven
Chapter 10: Jospin
Chapter 11: Raven
Chapter 12: Jospin
Chapter 13: Raven
Chapter 14: Jospin
Chapter 15: Raven
Chapter 16: Jospin
Chapter 17: Raven
Chapter 18: Jospin
Chapter 19: Raven
Chapter 20: Jospin
Chapter 21: Raven
Chapter 22: Jospin
Chapter 23: Raven
Chapter 24: Jospin
Chapter 25: Raven
Chapter 26: Jospin
Chapter 27: Raven
Chapter 28: Jospin
Chapter 29: Raven
Chapter 30: Jospin
Chapter 31: Raven
Chapter 32: Jospin
Chapter 33: Raven
Chapter 34: Jospin
Chapter 35: Raven
Chapter 36: Jospin
Chapter 37: Raven
Chapter 38: Jospin
Chapter 39: Raven
Chapter 40: Jospin
Chapter 41: Raven
Chapter 42: Jospin
Chapter 43: Raven
Chapter 44: Jospin
Chapter 45: Raven
Chapter 46: Jospin
Chapter 47: Raven
Chapter 48: Jospin
Chapter 49: Raven
Chapter 50: Jospin
Chapter 51: Raven
Epilogue
Dedication
Acknowledgments
By Amber Hart
About the Author
Chapter 1
Raven
Jospin was once here.
His childhood home comes into view. A palace, more like it. A poaching-empire fortress, right before my eyes. It’s much grander than I’d imagined. I wonder if I’ll see reminders of Jospin inside. I know I see them in his father. I don’t want to look at Mr. Tondjii, but I can’t look away.
I picture Jospin’s face. Rounded nose. Full mouth. Dark skin, such a contrast to my own. I’m trying to process what just happened, that the man I love left for good, because of me. My mind blanks.
—
Banished.
The word pings off the bark of trees everywhere, yelled by Jospin’s father for all to hear. Eight letters that spell a bleak future.
Jospin, my Jospin, has been exiled. Kicked out of his tribe, his pack, his home. All he’s ever known, his life up to this moment…gone.
Jospin is looking at me. His look tears me apart.
I will die for you, it tells me.
You are worth it, it says.
I will find you again, it promises.
All of this in a look that vanishes the moment his father speaks again.
“I suggest you leave now,” Mr. Tondjii warns Jospin. “Before I do much worse to you than the other packs will.”
Jospin doesn’t argue. He does as he’s told, shoulders high, no fear. Walking, walking, walking…
gone.
—
I am barely managing to hold it together. To put one foot in front of the other and follow the stones that carve a path to the front double doors—massive in their uninviting steel gray.
I am commanding my legs not to shake. I am fighting the magnetic pull of my knife, the one I want to bury in Jospin’s father’s back. I feel like a ticking time bomb. Explosive energy courses through me. I want to see Jospin. I am burning with the need for
so
much
vengeance.
Tick, tick, tick go my insides, close to destruction.
I wonder how much time it will take.
I wonder how much time I have left.
—
We have reached the door. Guards open it and watch us walk inside. We passed other guards at the front entrance gate too. No lack of security here.
I want to destroy it all. This compound. Jospin’s father’s plans. The entire poaching empire. All of it.
I again look over at Mr. Tondjii, who’s leading me into the compound. And suddenly I nearly laugh. I will be the one who destroys it all. I am the sleeper cell that will ignite.
You fool, I mentally say. You’re letting me inside your world.
And I know the word for this mistake he’s made: endgame.
The amount of anger coursing through me is new. Raw. An unexplored terrain that I need to learn how to navigate. I can’t feel anything else. I can only power through until…
Payback. For Jospin. For my father.
Clovis must see something in me, because he grabs my hand—the one attached to my injured arm, the one an ape attacked months ago, leaving me scarred—not caring that I can’t completely grasp his fingers. I know Clovis is sending me a message. That he’ll protect me, that I should leave my weaknesses behind because there’s no place for them here. To trust him is what he’s asking me. He laces his fingers through mine and mouths, Hold it together.
I try, for Clovis’s sake, to look unaffected. I am suddenly thankful for my appearance, hoping it will cause these men to underestimate me. Small face, straight pale-blond hair, jungle boots, a thin frame. Next to muscled hunters, I hardly seem like a threat. But I have secrets they will never know. I let go of Clovis’s hand and pull my hair into a ponytail, though not without effort. I’m still learning how to use my injured arm. I want them to see that too. Let them believe I am weak, unworthy of attention.
No one is saying a word. So I open my mouth and break the silence.
“What is your first name?” I ask, brazen, addressing Jospin’s father.
He pauses. Turns around. He seems amused. I look him dead in the eyes. He will not have control over me.
“Jean. But you should call me Mr. Tondjii.”
His name sounds American to me, though it’s not. His face, calm and smiling, looks trustworthy to me, though that’s a lie.
“Mr. Tondjii,” I say, voice laced with honey. “Nice place you have here.”
He chuckles. “Yes, well, I suppose you’ll be enjoying it now too.”
Hardly, I want to say. But I smile in agreement.
“I’m sure Clovis will make you feel very much at home,” Mr. Tondjii continues. “For however long you’re here.”
I don’t miss the warning in his words. But I know that I’ll be here only as long as I want to be here, no more, no less. His threats mean nothing. He’s already taken everything I love in Africa.
Dad. Jospin.
I look around his beautiful compound with disgust. People are starving in this very country and he’s living with such wealth. And the price for this much luxury?
Murder.
That’s how Mr. Tondjii acquired the decorative foyer, lined with elegant vases, that we are passing through. By butchering apes. By selling their meat—bush meat, worth a lot on the black market. I study the clear vases more closely and realize what they contain.
A human heart. A snake head. Gorilla teeth.
Mr. Tondjii is watching me. I let another smile slip through. I think he mistakes it for praise. In that moment, I realize I’m dealing with a man who has no soul. I walk into his living room and see throw pillows on luxurious couches and servants standing around with trays of food. I stare at paintings on the wall, all done in the richest shades of gold and red.
A woman approaches. She is wearing a soft-looking dress the color of amethysts. There is an elegance to her walk, one that screams royalty. There’s something so familiar about her face that I feel a physical ache in my heart. I know without a doubt that she is Jospin’s mother.
“Who is this?” she asks in English, motioning to me.
“Raven,” I answer for myself.
“Well, Raven.” She pauses to assess the way Clovis once again clasps my hand. “If my husband has let you through the doors and you are on the arm of someone I consider a son, then I welcome you.”
Mrs. Tondjii smiles. It is a real smile, a warm one.
And I can only think: She doesn’t belong here. Not with her honest smile and soft eyes. There’s a gentleness to her that is surprising in this hard place.
“Where is Jospin?” she asks.
Clovis tenses. Mr. Tondjii wraps a hand around her waist.
“Come with me a moment,” he says to her.
Her face falls. She nods. She clearly knows something is wrong, but she remains silent. It’s not until Clovis is leading me up the marbled stairs, me holding on to the carved wooden banister, that I hear her wail.
I can only assume that she has been informed that Jospin was banished, which to her likely means he’s as good as dead. She doesn’t know the truth—or what I hope is the truth: that Jospin is now on his way to Heart for Habitat, the sanctuary founded by my father for young and injured apes.
Other pack members follow us upstairs. The hallway splits in two. Five doors on each side, and another staircase that leads to a third floor.
“Mr. Tondjii’s quarters are upstairs,” Clovis says, nodding to the staircase. “The remaining rooms belong to me and the other pack members who live here.”
“Which one is mine?” I ask.
Deep laughter erupts behind me. I turn to see a pack member—dreads like Clovis’s, but shorter—eyeing me.
“You aren’t staying in Clovis’s room?” he asks.
Damn it. I should have assumed that I’d be staying with Clovis, since we’re supposedly together.
“I don’t want to offend anyone,” I say, going for polite.
“What is this, brother?” the guy asks, looking at Clovis. “She’s a spy who betrayed the habitat and faced the possibility of being executed by our pack, and now she’s worried about offending someone?” He grins.
Brother?
The other pack members disperse, leaving me alone with Clovis and this guy who is maybe Clovis’s brother.
“Raven,” Clovis says, drawing my eyes to his face. “Meet Mattius, my brother.”
I look over at Mattius and try to keep my expression warm, though I wish he would stop staring at me with those all-too-knowing eyes. Mattius looks at me as if he doesn’t believe me. I won’t let him be my demise.
“Hello, Mattius,” I say, inching closer to Clovis, turning my attention back to him. “If no one cares, I’d much rather stay with you.” I trail a finger down Clovis’s arm for emphasis, soft and flirty.
“You will stay with me always,” Clovis says, wrapping an arm around me.
I don’t trust Mattius, who is still staring. I’m too close to losing it all right here in this hallway, because I wish Jospin, not Clovis, was holding me. I miss Jospin, and the ache of missing him is so strong that it promises to rip me open. I wish I had never gotten sucked into this trap. But there’s nothing I can do about that now. So I lean in to Clovis and relax, yawn like I’m tired.
“Can I see our room, then?” I ask.
“Sure,” Clovis replies, casting Mattius a final look. “Later, brother.”
Mattius nods, watching me for a second more.
I force myself to smile. Give a little wave as he walks away.
I will lie to their faces, I vow, and somehow, some way, at whatever cost, I will bring this place down.
Chapter 2
Jospin
I go by my house, though I know I shouldn’t. The moment I disappeared from Father’s sight, I broke into a run. I haven’t stopped running since; I had to make it here before the other pack members. Because surely they’re on their way. Father would have sent them, no doubt, to search every single inch of my space for clues of my betrayal.
The betrayal that never happened.
The betrayal that belongs to Clovis, though I took the blame. For Raven.
Raven is the only secret I’ve hidden from Father. I’m not a traitor.
But I couldn’t let her die.
That’s what would have happened. Raven would have lost her life looking down the barrel of Father’s gun if I hadn’t taken the fall. So I did it. Claimed to be the spy who leaked information about our pack to our rivals.
Father believed my lie. And Raven is still alive.
It hurts to know that all I’ve worked for, every moment of my life that I had dedicated to my father, to eventually taking over his throne, has been wiped away. I’m banished. But Raven is alive, I remind myself.
I enter my house and lean forward over my knees for a moment, my breath coming in pants, my body tired. They’ll be here any minute. No time to waste. I race to my room. Find the picture Raven drew of us, her signature at the bottom, and fold it into my pocket. Next I grab two guns and as much ammo as I can strap to myself. I slip knives into my pockets.
My eyes settle on the bed. The place where I made Raven mine. Where she gave her heart to me. Where I fell too deeply to ever turn back.
Her legs tangled around me. Breathy little moans leaving her throat, driving me crazy. Me drinking in everything she was willing to give me. Taking it all. Kissing each bare inch of her skin.
I had no idea how much loving Raven would cost me. But it is worth it.
Sweat trickles down my jaw. I need to grab clothes. As many as my bag can hold. A few pairs of cargo pants and shorts. Shirts. Underwear. More ammo. There’s no more room. I hoist the bag up on my shoulders. Let it fall against my back, heavy.
Time’s up. I rush out the door.
A cluster of leaves reflects sunlight from a patch in the green sky. More light dances over me as I slice a path through the forest, quick on my toes, thankful for the moss underfoot that helps silence my movements.
I don’t stop running until I reach the habitat gates. I check my surroundings. Make sure I’m not being watched.
My fist hits the door harder than I intended.
Hurry.
I glance backward. Still no one.
I knock again. Any louder and the surrounding trees will echo my location. I can’t risk leading anyone here.
Should I run?
Maybe I’ve made a mistake. Maybe I can try to make it in this jungle alone. Or maybe I could strike a deal with another poaching pack, offer them information on my father if they’ll provide me a place to stay and the promise that harm won’t come to me.
No.
I can’t stomach the thought of betraying my pack, my family, that way. I just can’t. This is my only choice.
I’m lifting my hand to knock again when the door swings open. A woman stands on the other side.
She looks at me questioningly. I stare at her blankly. I hadn’t really thought about what to say once I got here. I blurt the first thing that comes to mind.
“Hi, I’m here for a job,” I say in Engli
sh, assuming she’s American. Flash a somewhat queasy smile.
The woman looks me over. “I’m sorry, but we aren’t looking to hire—we don’t have enough money for it,” she says, and goes to close the door.
I jam a hand through the crack. Pry the door open. It’s rude, but I’m desperate.
“I don’t need money,” I say. “I’m volunteering in exchange for a place to stay. And food.”
I wait for an answer. Her eyes narrow.
“We don’t have room for you,” she replies.
Bullshit. The habitat is always understaffed. I don’t know much about them, but I do know that at least. They don’t pay the volunteers, and there aren’t many jungle people willing to work for free. Unless they truly love the cause.
“But I heard you’re understaffed,” I say.
I don’t miss the way the woman tenses. “That’s true.”
This confuses me. “Then why did you say that you don’t have room?”
Her hand stiffens on the door, as if to close it again.
“I meant that we don’t have any room for you,” she clarifies. My breath catches with her next word. “Jospin.”
She knows me. A habitat worker knows me.
“Did Raven tell you about me?” It’s the only reasonable explanation.
Her face pales. “Raven? How do you know Raven?”
“How do you know me?” I’m getting defensive now.
“Where is Raven?” she asks, her voice trembling.
That’s when I realize this woman is scared of me. That’s when I see the way she uses the door as a shield. Which can only mean one thing.
