But what choice did she have? He had taken her gun and her phone; and he had Laila somewhere. If he had taken her then surely he’d figured out a way to get Laila, too. She could not afford to gamble with her best friend’s life.
She now belonged to Mikhail Maximoff.
CHAPTER 3
“I’m going mad!” Tori cried out as she leapt out of her bed. She’d been lying there for close to an hour debating about getting out of bed or not. She usually slept like a baby until her alarm went off just before five in the morning and then she would be out the door moments later for her morning run. She loved to get her heart rate going first thing in the morning and watch the sun come up.
But since she was Mikhail’s prisoner there would be no runs outside. He had a state of the art gym in his house, just as her father did and the past three days she had done a lot of treadmill work, but it was not the same. Usually exercise helped her get herself centered for the day, it was a great stress reliever, and just allowed her to feel more connected to herself and the world around her. But now the world around her was encased in a very large tomb it seemed.
She was not sure how much longer she could stand to be here.
But she had no choice. Every time she thought about giving up and running out the door she remembered Laila. She was counting on Tori to be strong and to get through this. Mikhail was not the kind of guy to toy with; he would make good on his threat. Tori had seen what happened to people who tried to test him; the same thing that happened to people who tried to test her father.
It had been over almost two weeks since she’d been Mikhail’s prisoner. She spent her days wondering around his huge mansion and looking for Laila. Tori doubted that she was there, but it was worth a try anyway. At least if she was looking for her friend she felt like she was doing something to remedy this situation she was in.
When she grew frustrated with looking for Laila, she hit the gym, and when her body became too exhausted to workout anymore then she read. Mikhail had a huge library with a great selection. The man knew his literature. She wondered how much of his collection he had actually read.
She rarely saw Mikhail. She knew that he was off running a business most of the time, but then she would occasionally bump into him. He tried to talk to her, flirt with her, open her to conversation and get to know her, but Tori was adamant about ignoring him to the best of her ability. It did not seem to bother Mikhail as he just laughed it off and continued to play his little mind games.
She wondered when he would get tired of mind games and just take her, ravish her. He wanted to and she was not sure she could stop him. She could of course fight like hell, and maybe even win due to her training, but then Laila would be dead before Tori got halfway down the block.
Tori decided to try the basement again. Mikhail’s basement was like a man cave paradise with several large rooms, each with a different section of his personality. There was the lounge which had a huge home theatre with a projector, large couches, and a mini bar. The gym which she frequented regularly, and the billiard room which had a pool table, foosball tables, dart board, and a poker table.
And then there was a smaller room off to the side that she had been in once before. It looked like it was a room that had been undecided and he had just not done anything with it yet. But it was possible that Tori missed something when she checked it last. At least it made her feel like she was doing something.
As she checked the room she realized that it was just as empty as before. There were no secret doorways or compartments as she might have hoped.
“Did you really think I’d stash her here?” Mikhail’s booming voice greeted her as she exited the room.
She tried to ignore him, but he stood in her way blocking her path.
“Move,” Tori said, the anger rising within her, but as he loomed over her she felt her body getting hot. She wanted to think it was all from the rage she was feeling, but she could not deny the unbelievable attraction she was feeling right then to this man. He was beyond sexy. His handsome, chiseled face, his broad, muscular chest, and his arrogant attitude standing over her in a dominating fashion—it all created a beautiful image that she could not ignore no matter how much she hated herself for it.
“You have such a charming personality,” Mikhail said.
“I’ve spit on things more charming than you,” Tori said as she elbowed past him.
Mikhail suddenly grabbed her arm and jerked her back, close to him. Before she could do anything he grabbed her face in his huge hands and pulled her face to his.
His lips were now on hers, smothering her mouth. She tried to pull away, but realized it was futile. He was too strong; she just had to endure.
She wanted to resist him, but suddenly she realized that her body did not. Her mouth was responding to the kiss, moving across his broad lips, sucking up the pressure he was applying. His mouth was so warm and soft accompanied by his rugged stubble that pressed hard against her chin causing a bit of pain.
Tori’s body was responding. The tingling between her legs, the moistness starting to grow, her flesh growing hotter with every second—she was enjoying every second of this man’s kiss. Her head began to swim as her body surrendered into the kiss, her legs feeling wobbly as if she might fall if he was not holding her face.
And then the kiss was over.
Mikhail pulled back from Tori, triumph in his eyes and a smile on his handsome face.
“Don’t you know talking to me like that only turns me on?”
Mikhail walked away laughing.
Tori felt like hitting something. She felt frustrated, she felt controlled, and humiliated.
But she liked it. She could not stand to admit it to herself, but she liked the way he controlled her. No one had ever done that to her; no one ever would have dared and she wouldn’t have allowed it otherwise, but he did. Mikhail grabbed her, manhandled her, and took from her what he wanted. She should have felt completely violated, but she felt good. Her whole body felt like it was on some crazy high of a new drug, and she wasn’t sure she ever wanted to come down.
A smile was even forming across her face that she could not stop.
What was happening to her?
CHAPTER 4
The next few weeks continued on uneventfully. Tori felt the tedium and the boredom of each day bleeding into the next as she tried to scramble together some semblance of a daily routine and purpose. Most days she found herself reading in the library.
Sometimes she forced herself to watch the television just so she would know what was going on out there, but it depressed her so much that she had to shut it off after a few minutes. To know that the door to freedom was just a few feet away, unlocked, and unguarded was maddening. Nothing was actually keeping her there except for a threat.
She wished that she was more like Mikhail and her father—hard to core. She was tough, but Mikhail had figured out her biggest and perhaps only real weakness—her love for her friends and family. Tori was loyal to the very end with those she loved. She would do anything for them and she would lay down her own life to protect them without hesitation.
Mikhail had figured that out and he was exploiting it in every possible way. She longed for the day when she might be freed from her hell.
She usually only saw him in the evenings. Some days he tried to be social with her and others he just let her be as if she didn’t exist. He would usually play a few games of pool and have a few drinks and she found herself occasionally joining him; the loneliness of being by herself cut off from the world was getting to her and she was seeing how people could develop Stockholm Syndrome and actually identify with their captors. When you had no one then you were desperate to cling to absolutely any form of human companionship, no matter how horrid.
After dinner, which Mikhail usually prepared himself (he was a great cook) they would retire to the living room and watch a few movies. He was partial to action films and classic horror movies. She did not bother to tell him those were
her favorites too.
Tori tried to hate Mikhail, but it was getting harder with each passing day. Her thoughts kept returning to the night he forced his lips on hers. It had been exhilarating and she found herself turned on so much that she actually entertained the notion of going to his bed and just riding him until he needed to have both hips replaced. And then she would feel like a vile, wretched pig for even thinking about it. The man was holding her captive against her will after all.
But he had not forced himself on her at all since then. They hardly even spoke, despite spending more and more time together. And when they did speak it was usually just bitchy quips and put downs.
“So, are you hungry?” Mikhail asked one night as he usually did, which meant he was hungry and he was fixing food anyway.
“I’m hungry for freedom,” Tori said.
“Are you sure you aren’t hungry for something else?” Mikhail said adjusting his crotch in front of her and allowing his hand to linger over his package.
“Are you making sure it’s still there? I hate it when I lose small things too.”
Mikhail would just laugh. He enjoyed the banter they had. The man was so infuriating because nothing ever bothered him. She had yet to see him actually angry or upset over anything at all. It was like he had no emotions, as if he were some kind of a robot.
But she found herself growing increasingly attracted to his surly behavior and she didn’t understand why.
(Of course you do)
Ugh. It was the bad boy. Tori, like a lot of women were addicted to the rush of being near a bad boy. The danger, the excitement of living on the edge where anything was possible. She hated to admit it, but she could not resist a real bad boy either.
And Mikhail was proving out to be the ultimate bad boy.
Mikhail had proven that he could take from her whatever he wanted anytime if he were so inclined; that was what the basement stunt was about when he kissed her. But he was proving to be a more complicated man than she had originally thought. He loved the chase. That was what he was all about. Even though he had her under his thumb to do whatever he chose, he didn’t. He wanted her to give it to him because she wanted to. He preferred the game, the tension, the give and take, the fun of it all.
So Tori was content to string him along and play his games. She had even taken to teasing him. One morning when she finished her workout she came upstairs to use the shower and he was finishing his breakfast. She was dying of thirst so she went to the fridge to get a bottle of water.
Tori was wearing a tank top, a sports bra, and a pair of small gym shorts. Mikhail had surprised her the very first day she was there by filling the closet in her room with an entire wardrobe of new clothes, something for every occasion it seemed. When she saw it she wasn’t sure whether to be mortified or ecstatic.
“Good workout?” Mikhail asked finishing his coffee.
Tori grabbed bottle of water from the fridge, downed most of it in one gulp, spilling a bit of it on her face and shirt and tossed the bottle in the trash. She looked at him then covered in sweat and peeled off her tank top.
She flicked the shirt at him hitting him in the face with it as she slowly walked out of the room with only a sports bra covering her large, double D chest.
A few days later she walked into the billiard room where he was playing pool. She could tell Mikhail was getting a bit intoxicated, and she decided to tease him. Tori opened her robe a bit under the ruse of retying the drawstring, but she allowed him to see her body beneath wearing only a skimpy bra and panties.
She could taste the hunger radiating from him. He wanted her so bad and she enjoyed being wanted.
But she knew this was a very dangerous game she was playing. One day he was going to be tired of playing games and he was just going to take her and have his way.
Tori wasn’t sure when that would be, but she didn’t imagine it being long in the future.
And as much as she hated to admit it she had fantasized about it. His rugged hands ripping her clothes off, bending her over a piece of furniture, and entering her from behind hard and fast; just the very thought of it got her hot and bothered.
But it was so wrong in every way. She was being forced here against her will; she could never forget that.
She couldn’t wait any longer; she had to find a way out of this.
“Let’s go out.”
Tori wasn’t sure she heard Mikhail correctly. He had just come home and found her sitting in the living room reading Tom Sawyer. She was getting to a great scene when he spoke to her and interrupted her thoughts.
“What?” Tori asked.
“Let’s go out for dinner,” Mikhail said. “Go put on a nice dress—the black one I bought for you.”
“You are joking?”
“No, I’m not. Go on and get dressed. I’ll wait. Hurry up.”
Tori did as she was told. What was he thinking? He trusted her to go out with him in public and not to try anything? Did he not think that the very first chance she had she was going to tell someone who she was and that she had been kidnapped?
“So, we are going to town?” Tori asked as they drove away from Mikhail’s mansion in his Jaguar.
“Not hardly,” Mikhail laughed. “Too many people might recognize you. No, we are going to a nice club outside of town a ways.”
“Oh, ok,” Tori said.
“I know that you think this is probably weird,” Mikhail said. “But I trust that this evening will go off without a hitch.”
“Yea,” Tori replied with a smile.
“I mean I know that you are going to be tempted to scream to high heaven that I kidnapped you and have your friend hostage somewhere.”
What? No way.
“But that is the point,” Mikhail continued. “I do have your friend hostage somewhere and if anything happens to me or you do something stupid then a bullet will find itself buried deep within her brain before you can blink.”
“I understand,” Tori said.
There had to be a way. He could not get that message out that fast if he was incapacitated, right? If she told someone what he did the maybe a mob of people might attack him. It would probably take a few days to find Laila, but she was sure that the cops could do it and force him to talk.
No… no they couldn’t. She could not forget who she was dealing with. Besides it wasn’t like the cops were going to jump at the chance to help a mobster’s daughter any time soon.
The club was called Paridiso Nueve. She had heard of it in passing but had never ventured out that way before. It was a good thirty minutes outside of the city limits, so she guessed Mikhail felt it was pretty safe for them.
The club was dark and fairly busy when they got inside. Tori was impressed by the way that Mikhail got them a table in the most private corner of the club right away, where they could view all the action but no one could really see them or what they were doing.
Tori was feeling a little nervous until she had a few drinks in her. Mikhail might not have been worried about them being seen, but Tori knew that if they were seen by someone then it might put her finding Laila in jeopardy and all of this would have been for naught.
The music was pumping loud in the club and Tori found herself bouncing in her seat to the driving beat, the alcohol starting to loosen her up. It looked like she was worried about nothing; no one was going to recognize her there in that dark place. Mikhail was careful, crafty. He wasn’t going to do anything silly that might wreck his plans for her after all.
“Let’s dance,” Mikhail said grabbing her hand and pulling her towards the dance floor without waiting on a response.
Before Tori realized what was happening she found herself in the middle of the dance floor. Mikhail was a good dancer and moved very well for such a large man. He was fluid, graceful, and full of sexy swagger. It was like his whole body came to life in a way she had never seen before.
Tori loved to dance, but it had been a while since she’d been dancing with a real man w
ho was able to take the lead and make her feel truly like she wanted to be led. Mikhail did that with his eyes bearing into hers, as if reading every single inner most desire she’d ever had and sending her the message that he could make them all come true; all she had to do was let go and believe.
Mikhail’s hands rested on her lower back, pulling her closely into him. His musky, masculine scent flowing into her senses driving her wild in every possible way. Tori wanted to push him away and scream as loud as she could for him to leave her alone, but her body would not let her. Her body had a mind of its own and it ached to be touched by him. Her lust was unforgiving and unrelenting, tugging on her mind to just relinquish all control to him.
Mikhail’s lips were brushing against her cheek, sliding gently up and down the skin as the beat swirled all around them sweeping them up into some kind of magical little bubble where nothing else mattered but the intensifying heat between them. His lips were on hers now, just barely touching, not pressing, brushing and sliding back and forth, slipping off to the side to moisten her cheek before moving back. His hands were sinking lower, getting closer to her ass. Her oven was burning hotter and hotter, the moisture growing, flowing out of her and starting to wet her panties.
Mikhail’s face moved to her neck then, kissing and nuzzling her tender flesh. Her neck was so sensitive; she could feel every single nuance of every touch, every kiss, every pressing of moist lips. His hands were now on her ass, squeezing, rubbing getting her hotter.
“Let’s take this somewhere more private,” Mikhail growled in her ear as he took her lobe into his mouth and suckled it softly.
Tori did not want to. She wanted to stay right where they were where there were people there who could keep them from going farther. If she was alone with him right then she knew that there was no way that she could say no. He was too powerful; his magnetism, his sensuality, his masculinity—he was perfect and she hated him for it. She hated the relinquishing of control that she felt she did not have a choice in. Tori was too strong willed, too stubborn, too hard to give in, but his will was stronger, he was more stubborn, and he was so much harder than she was in every way…
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