I unfolded myself from the chair and approached Xavier with caution. He stopped pacing when he saw me. I stepped right up to him. Boldness came from some deep fountain of strength within me. He held a hand at his waist, the silver bracelet tight in his grip. I placed my hand over his and watched his body stiffen. I met his intense blue eyes and then I made a show of lowering my gaze with deference.
“Keep your rules. I could fight you, but I’m smart enough to know I would lose, and I don’t want to live in fear. I don’t want option number one.” I dropped to my knees.
His breath caught and his knees locked, stiffening the fabric of his trousers.
I didn’t know anything about being a slave, but I had some idea of a few of the requirements. My forehead brushed against his fly.
“What happens now?”
He wrapped an arm around my head, erasing the last bit of distance between us.
Fear fled me. My rebellious body ached for him, and I wouldn’t fight it. I wouldn’t pursue it, but I wouldn’t fight the inevitable. Something about him triggered scary things inside me, needy things. Instead of revulsion, a twisted desire filled me with something I couldn’t explain. I would turn that to my advantage and I would win. At least I hoped I would prevail.
I wasn’t used to this kind of problem. I was a hacker, happy with the black and white logic of 0’s and 1’s. Give me a string of code and I could break it down, and build a hack to attack its most basic elements. Give me an amazingly hot man with Caribbean blue eyes, a gaze of steel, and indomitable force of will, and I fell apart. I needed my brain to work on a solution and my body to shut the hell up.
I would earn Xavier’s trust and wait for him to let his guard down. Then I would escape and settle my debts with Z.
“Thank you, Raven.” He leaned down and pressed his lips to the top of my head. “I respect and honor your choice.”
There it was again, my name. Before I could wonder at the significance of Xavier using my name, he picked me up, and set me on my feet.
“Come, I will explain.”
Chapter Ten
I made my decision. A tear rolled down my cheek. I’d agreed to be his willing slave. My heart stopped.
Don’t think about it.
He returned to the chairs. My sinful body warmed to the vision of his retreating backside, admiring the view. Every cell in my body erupted with heat, exploding with lustful thoughts.
What an amazing ass.
Images of my father slammed into my mind, and my fantasies splintered off into darkness. Desire and want disappeared, but I was left hyperaware. If Xavier touched me now, I would combust.
He turned, noticing I had not followed.
I lowered my gaze.
He stretched out, coaxing me to join him from ten feet away, but I recoiled. This was wrong. There was no way I was going to pull this off.
He lowered himself into the chair. “Take as much time as you need, Raven, but join me. We have much to discuss.”
Something squeezed at my heart. He was giving me time to come to him. There was so much about this man I did not understand. Another tear trickled down my cheek. Damn body. Mindless with lust, and now traitorous with weakness. I couldn’t trust it to help me with anything. The degradation I was about to endure had nothing to do with whatever rules Xavier was soon to lay down. I swiped the tear from my cheek, and caught him staring.
“I need a moment.” I huffed out the words, surprised to find myself hyperventilating. I held my head, swaying with lightheadedness.
Concern flashed in his eyes. I blinked, but when I looked again, his stony composure had returned. I had only imagined sympathy from my captor. I was one delusional and fucked up slave.
It would be easier to believe some shred of compassion lurked under his harsh exterior. I was desperate to humanize my captor, but I had no reason to. He’d done nothing but demand and push from the moment of our first meeting. Not to mention, he had accepted me as payment for Z’s debt. I needed to remember the kind of man I was dealing with. Xavier traded in female flesh.
I was nothing more than a possession. Something to be trained and played with. Presumably, when he tired of me, I would be discarded; given to another predator, or disposed of like my mother before me.
He rose from the chair and took a step toward me.
I held my arm up, palm out, beseeching. “Please. I’m fine.” My head swam and I was going to pass out any second if I didn’t get it together soon. Take another step. I willed myself to obey.
“Raven…” He came at me, but I shook my head.
“Please, I just…I need…” My fingers clutched at the air and the room spun around me. I needed him to sit down and give me space. If he came at me, supported me in this moment of weakness, it would destroy me completely, and I wouldn’t be able to put the pieces back together. I placed my knuckles against my forehead and squeezed my eyes shut. “Please,” I said in a whisper, “just give me a moment.”
When I opened my eyes, the world around me steadied and the room stopped spinning. He stood two paces closer, hands clenching at his sides. He scanned me, head to toe, his expression tight with worry.
I pressed the fingertips of both hands to my forehead. My eyes cast down and I spoke to the floor with a much stronger voice. “What happened just hit me…what I’ve agreed to do.” I took a deep swallow and glanced up. “I had a small panic attack, but it’s passing.” I forced a smile.
His eyes narrowed, weighing my words. After a long moment, his stance relaxed and he returned to his chair. He gestured to the chair opposite him. “Come. Sit. I don’t have all day.”
Damn, that voice of command was back. It liquefied my insides, turning them to mush. How was that possible? I didn’t understand this need to obey. But if I was to be completely honest, a tiny part of me wanted to defy him because I wanted to see what he would do. Fortunately, I didn’t feel that brave or foolish right now. I obediently marched over to the chair and took my seat. I folded my knees to my chest and tucked my chin.
“Look at me,” he said.
I didn’t have the strength for that.
His voice deepened and his command thrummed in my chest. “Look at me. I do not repeat myself. That is the only warning you will receive.”
I dragged my gaze along a path from the foot of my chair, across the expanse of wood separating our staked-out territories, master on one side, slave on the other. My journey continued, eyes climbing his legs, crawling over muscular thighs, meandering across the expanse of his abdomen, and traveling the breadth of his chest. My exploration paused at his neck, delaying the inevitability of his gaze. At the low growl issued from his side of our battlefield, I snapped my focus up those last few inches and met him straight on. I held my breath waiting for his pronouncement of my fate. He drummed his fingers on the armrest, something I’d seen him do before. A nervous tic perhaps? Or irritation?
“You belong to me,” he said. “I want you to say it.” His eyes bore into me.
I froze.
His fingers tapped their quiet rhythm. “You belong to me,” he repeated. “Say it.” His insistence frightened me.
“Why do I have to say it?”
“Because you chose option number two.”
I understood, not that it made it easier. I swallowed against the sudden dryness in my mouth. They are only words. I fisted my hands. “I belong to you.”
He shook his head. “Say it again…properly. Address me with the title you will forever use.”
Forever? That was far too long. I swallowed against the bile rising in my throat. “I belong to you…Master Xavier.”
There, satisfied, bastard?
I may not be allowed to curse out loud, but he couldn’t control what I thought in my head.
His eyes narrowed.
I don’t think he believed me.
“Who do you serve?”
Another slow blink. Why was it so hard to say these stupid words?
“I serve you…Master
Xavier.” You mother-fucking bastard.
He arched a brow. “You will refer to me as simply Master. Now, who owns you?”
I wanted to ask him how many times we were going to go round and round with this, but I held my tongue. I smiled. “You own me, Master.” Cock-sucker.
I could do this. Every time I had to say Master, I would curse him in my head and negate the word. It would work.
“Kneel before me, slave.” He pointed to a spot on the floor in front of him.
Oh, hell no. I rolled my shoulders back and opened my mouth to refuse.
He held up a single finger. “Option one or option two. The choice is yours. The expectation is that a slave will kneel at her master’s feet. I am your Master. You are my slave.” He pointed at the spot. “Kneel.”
I unfolded my legs and slid out of the chair. My degradation had begun. God, give me the strength to endure. I knelt before him.
“Who do you belong to?”
“I belong to you, Master.” You asshole.
“Who do you serve?”
“I serve you, Master.” You fucking asshole.
“Who owns you?”
“You own me, Master.” You mother-fucking asshole.
Okay, I needed more curse words. I’d pretty much exhausted my repertoire and we weren’t even five minutes into this.
“Go back and take your seat.” He shooed me back to my chair with an imperious wave of his hand. “You will be expected to obey my commands without hesitation, no matter how inconvenient they may be for you, or how silly they may seem. A slave does not hesitate. Is this understood?”
I wanted to glare at him. Instead I tucked my chin. “Yes, Master.”
He held up a bracelet with the silver dolphin. “This bracelet contains a microchip which grants you access to certain rooms in the house.”
My eyes flicked to the silver dolphin and then focused back on him.
“It is a privilege you will earn.” He made a show of tucking the bracelet into his top suit pocket. “I have mentioned several rules for you to follow. Keeping your eyes down, I’ll take off the table for now. No swearing or disparaging remarks is an absolute requirement and you’ll address me appropriately at all times. Over the next few days, your obedience will be tested. If you satisfy me with your willingness to comply with the choice you made, only then you will earn the privilege of this bracelet.”
“And if I fail?”
He shook his head. “You don’t want to fail.” He stood and came to stand before me. “There is more.”
I stared up at him, heart thundering, breath stalling in my chest, as he held out his hand. I reached out and accepted it, terrified at the thrill I knew would follow his touch. On cue, a bolt of electricity travelled up my arm as he drew me close.
“You’ll allow me to touch you, to kiss you, to hold you in my arms. You won’t draw away from me.” He wrapped an arm around my waist and drew me close.
I took in a stuttering breath as desire stole all thought.
“You said you wouldn’t rape me.”
His lips brushed mine, soft, tender, giving. “I’ll give you time. You can’t deny your reaction to me. Fear is in your head. You need to decide how to reconcile the two. I wish I could give you more, but this will happen between us.”
I breathed out his spicy scent. “You could always set me free.”
His mouth tightened into a thin line. “That’s not going to happen.”
“Why not?” I clutched his arm.
“Don’t make me regret giving you this choice.” He pushed me away. “Now go, before I change my mind.”
Chapter Eleven
Being a slave, it turned out, was one of the most boring jobs I ever had. I literally had nothing to do.
Xavier rattled off his slew of rules, too many for me to remember, and sent me on my way. His stern voice locked me into near catatonic paralysis with expectations for my behavior.
I was told not to worry. He would help me to remember. I didn’t welcome what that would bring. Memories of that slim rod came to mind. The pain of it flared in my mind and even more memorable on my backside. More worrisome was the change it had engendered in the man I willingly handed over control of my life. That rod had the power to transform Xavier into a beast. I didn’t believe he’d be able to keep his promise to me if he had to use that rod. I worked hard to remember his litany of rules.
He called it incentive.
I called it foul play.
Nevertheless, I didn’t argue my point. Not with the silent command in his gaze. His eyes bore right into me, cutting deep, and muted all my protests. Then his cell phone rang. As he answered, darkness gathered in those penetrating eyes. Blue turned to black as his entire body stiffened at whatever the voice on the other end of that phone had to say.
“Yes, Forest, I have the girl.” His gaze flicked to me as he listened to the speaker on the other end of the call. “No, we haven’t discussed it.” He said nothing to me, but I found myself dismissed with a wave of his hand. “I’ll call you later.”
Chad escorted me back to my room and I haven’t left it since.
That had been two days ago. Two days locked away. Me, myself, and my constant guard.
By now, I had all their pin codes memorized. Not that it mattered. I needed both their individual codes and their palm print to unlock the door. They smiled at me as I spent hours gazing at the electronic lock, punching buttons and tapping at the screen. That’s how confident they felt in their security, but I had a secret weapon. MIT computer science graduate here. I wanted to slap them in the face. You’d think they’d learn a bit more about their captive.
What I had come to find as a truth was that I could program a supercomputer, solve the general theory of relativity, clone dinosaurs. Yet the only thing the men around me would see would be my tits, ass, and my ever-unique eyes. I let Bay and Chad laugh. They thought it was funny to watch me poke at the keypad, so I poked.
Now that my brain wasn’t short circuited and fried by the constant presence of one pheromone inducing distraction with electric blue eyes, the most intoxicating scent, the darkest flavors of sin and lust, and a touch of pure electricity—okay, I fantasized a lot about Xavier—but when I wasn’t awash in my fantasies, I focused on escape.
First step was breaking the encryption on the keypad. Two days trapped in my room, had me climbing the walls and my mind revved into high gear. I almost had access to the root directory cracked. I spent my days staring at the keypad. Nights I dreamt about it. If I could get into the root directory, I could bypass the biometric lockout.
When I wasn’t dreaming of breaking the code, I dreamt of Xavier. Images swirled in my head, never quite coalescing, with the exception of two things. Caribbean blue eyes devoured me, and a lithe, muscular body possessed me with a hunger and violence which shocked me. It never failed to leave me waking aroused, wet, and aching with need. I didn’t know if Ben or Mel heard my cries, or if I gave myself away in my dreams. If I did, they never said a word.
Days piled on top of one another. Two days turned into five. Time slowed and I paced the confines of my prison. My guards provided no comfort. Under Xavier’s new rules, I was not permitted to speak to them, although when two of them were locked in with me they often spoke about me.
We shared the room in silence. I wanted to rant at them, scream at them, force them to speak to me, but I knew the price for failure. Or rather, I knew my reward. The bracelet with the dolphin pendant hung over my headboard. I saw it every moment of every day and it kept me silent when I wanted to scream. I would earn what little freedom it offered. This was my test.
Loneliness settled over me, an aching hollowness that took root in my heart. I drifted for too many days, letting time pass, going stir crazy. On the seventh day of my isolation, I established a routine, letting time settle into a rhythm, unwanted, but necessary. Half an hour of high intensity exercise, followed by an hour of meditative yoga. I ate the breakfast Bay provided, made my bed, wa
shed my face, brushed my teeth. The next two hours, I dredged up every single combat routine I remembered.
Bay’s brows lifted as I spun around the room, punching and kicking my way from one corner to the next. He stayed on his small bed, watching me work up a sweat. Breathing hard, with sweat pouring down my back and my hair plastered across my brow, I worked myself until I could barely move. Then it was shower time followed by a nap as I collapsed with exhaustion onto the bed. After a nap, I dragged the one small chair I had up to the keypad and punched in Bay’s pin code. The device beeped and asked for his palm signature.
Bay gave a hrrumph from the other side of the room, but didn’t interfere. I figured if he wasn’t going to stop me, then I was free to do whatever I wanted to the device. I tapped the screen to activate the directories and spent hours frustrating myself. It shouldn’t be so hard. I studied stuff like this at MIT. There was a way to break it. It was just a matter of figuring it out. An hour turned to two, then to three. At a knock on the door, I was forced to stop. Dinner arrived, and with it Chad.
For the next two hours, I listened in on Bay’s and Chad’s conversation. They spoke about nothing of consequence, sports, poker, cars until Ben and Mel arrived for the evening shift.
This became my routine, day in, day out for the next five days. Not one word from Xavier. For a man who went to such lengths to acquire me, he certainly seemed to be in no hurry to claim me. For myself, I woke every night, drenched in sweat, breathing deep, heart hammering, aching, and wet for his touch.
Memories of his scorching eyes kept me in a perpetual state of arousal. I wondered why he kept me imprisoned up here. If he desired me, then where the hell was he? Surely, I hadn’t bored him already? Or had my capitulation in the library ruined the thrill of the chase for him?
If I didn’t fight, if he couldn’t ruin me, did he no longer want me? Was that it? Was he even now looking for another buyer? Was I to be passed along in trade to another sadistic creep? Terror would grip me in these moments, until I remembered the hunger burning in his eyes.
She’s Mine: A Captive Romance Page 8
