by Tina Saxon
Chapter Fifteen
I NEED TO put space between us. My body feels like an inferno, and Jett is the only one who can extinguish it. I sit on the tub, trying to catch my breath.
Breathe, Addison.
He’s just a man, a really gorgeous man, but nonetheless a man. A man I’ve known for a whole two days. This is not me. I’ve had sex and a few boyfriends, but I never slept with any of them right away. I guess captivity brings out the inner slut in me. A laugh escapes my lips. I cover my mouth with my hand to stifle any more laughs.
I don’t know why I stood between his legs when he was sitting on the bed. His eyes were so full of need and pulled me to him. I’ll blame the wine. Or maybe him singing to me or holding me close when we danced. I crave his touch. My whole body drips with desire. Need. And I know for damn sure that he feels it, too.
But he stopped.
He’s stronger than I am.
Jett tells me a muffled goodnight through the door. I rub the wrist that has been in a handcuff for two days. It feels good to be able to walk around, to be free—from the bed, at least. I go back into the bedroom. The table that Jett had been working on earlier has some bags on top of it. I didn’t notice those when we walked in.
I was a little distracted.
The bags are filled with clothes, in my size, of course. There are quite a few different pieces, which I’m thankful for but begs the question how long they plan on keeping me here. The more I think about it, it’s a good thing Jett and I stopped when we did. My focus needs to be on getting out of here, not on a guy whom I will never see again. I pull out a pair of cotton shorts and a T-shirt, along with a pair of panties, and head for the shower.
Later that night as I lie in bed, memories of our “date” flood my thoughts. Jett promised me that I will be safe, that he won’t let anything happen to me. He seems sincere, but I can’t trust him.
So why am I okay with giving him my body?
He is the only one here who seems to be on my side. Addison, don’t be fooled by lust. He’s not going to be my knight in shining armor. Travis has placed Jett in my company as my entertainment while they figure out what they are going to do with me.
I want to believe that it’s not an act, but I would be stupid to act so naïve. I need to be smarter about this. Nothing will keep me from being free, even a gorgeous, green-eyed man who can light me on fire.
* * *
I wake up feeling refreshed. It probably helps that I’m not tied to the bed. Melanie walks into the room as I sit up.
“Good morning, Emily,” she says with a bright smile, placing breakfast on the table.
“Not sure it’s so good. I am still being held a prisoner,” I say sarcastically. I wonder if she knows that she’s an accessory to kidnapping? She’s dressed in all black again. She’s a beautiful, older lady, probably in her sixties.
She frowns. “I am sorry about that. I do hope that you are being treated well. Travis is a powerful businessman, but he doesn’t make it a habit of kidnapping women.” Her answer makes it seem like she has known Travis for a long time.
“How long have you worked with Travis?” My stomach growls as I walk over and sit down at the table.
Surprisingly, she sits down with me, glancing at me with loving eyes the way a grandmother would look at her grandkids. I look away from her. It makes me miss my own grandma. Makes me wish I had spent more time with her before she passed away. “I’ve known Travis since he was born. I was his nanny.” She smiles. I can tell she adores Travis. “He’s really not a bad man.”
“Could have fooled me. Usually nice guys don’t keep women locked up against their will.” My sarcasm is back.
“Not that I agree with what is going on, but I do know that he has his reasons.” She smiles genuinely at me.
Reasons? What the hell kind of reasons? Making sure he finishes the job he started thirteen years ago? I wonder if she knows he had my mother killed? I wonder if she would think he was such a good man after that?
“I’m sorry. I can see that I upset you.” She stands and squeezes my hand. “Please let me know if there is anything that I can get you to make this easier.” She begins to leave.
A quick thought of taking her down runs through my mind. Now that I know what it looks like outside this room it helps, but I’m sure Tweedledee and Tweedledum are right outside. And could I really hurt this lady? If people would just be a little meaner, I would have a lot more will to fight. This is what confuses me the most. I’ve read many cases of kidnapped victims and their stories when I was in college. This is not what is supposed to happen. I am thankful, but it confuses the hell out of me.
I’m still eating as the door opens again. There’s a flutter in my stomach hoping it’s Jett. My eyes dart to the door. Control yourself, Addison!
I drop my shoulders in disappointment but quickly hitch them up again as Travis walks in. I cross my arms and offer a fake smile. I’m sure I come across as a bitter juvenile.
“Emily, how are you this morning?” Travis asks nonchalantly.
Oh, just perfect, jackass. I squeeze the chair arms to keep me in place and stay quiet.
“I see that Jett has taken off the handcuffs. I do hope you won’t cause any problems with your newfound freedom.” He smirks. There is a warning in there.
I laugh. “Would you like me to thank you? Why are you keeping me here?” I ask, looking at him dead-on.
He smirks. Asshole. He walks toward the door but stops right before leaving. Not even turning around, he says, “I didn’t kill her.” There’s a hint of pain in his voice. And with that he walks out.
What? Did I hear that right?
One statement and my head feels like it’s going to explode with unanswered questions. He didn’t kill my mom? Does he know who I am? If he didn’t kill her, why is he keeping me here? Question after question fills my head. Why couldn’t he have stuck around to answer a few of them! The need to move around has me jumping out of my chair. Exercise has always helped clear my head. Looking around, the room is fairly large so I put on my tennis shoes and run around the room. I stop every ten minutes and do push-ups, sit-ups, lunges, and squats before running again. I really want to do some kickboxing, but I don’t want them to figure out exactly how skilled I am. I might need to use those skills in the near future. I make a mental note to ask for a clock.
After what seems about an hour, I’m sweaty and thinking a lot clearer. I pull out more clean clothes and take a quick shower, concerned about anyone entering my room unannounced.
Back at the table I pull the deck of cards out of the bag Jett left. I play solitaire. I’m bored. I laugh to myself, thinking I’m a high-maintenance prisoner. The things you learn about yourself in certain situations is interesting. So far I’m a slut and high maintenance.
Totally opposite of my normal life.
My thoughts return to Jett. I wonder if he’ll ask Travis to assign someone else to me. I sigh. That would suck. It would definitely be easier to think about planning an escape without him around, but I would miss him.
His hardness. His softness. His eyes. His smile. His touch. All of him. I drop my head on the table and release a loud sigh of frustration. I’m so screwed.
A couple hours of solitude, just like my card game, and I’m bored out of my mind. Hmm… Melanie did say that if I needed anything to let her know. I know there are cameras in here, so I stand in front of one of them. “Hello? Can you please send Melanie in?” I ask directly into the camera. I feel a little stupid, but I’m sure someone is watching. A few minutes later, the door opens.
Melanie walks in with a big smile. “You called?”
“Um… Jett doesn’t seem to want to play with me today?” I laugh at my own little joke. “I’m bored. Are you busy? Would you like to play a board game with me?” I say anxiously. I don’t like to be alone in here. I guess I should be a little thankful, but I’ll never tell them that.
“Sure,” she says as she sits across from me. “What ar
e we going to play?”
Chapter Sixteen
Jett
“TRAVIS, I CAN’T do this anymore,” I bark out when I see him in the kitchen getting lunch. I’ve been avoiding her room all morning. “I have a job to do, and I don’t have a fucking clue why you’re keeping Emily here.”
After I left her room last night, I took an hour-long cold shower. It didn’t do a damn bit of good. Instead, I got myself off thinking of how her body felt wrapped around me, the fucking heat of her sex begging me for relief. I’m sure had I not stopped, I would’ve fucked her seven ways till Sunday. Dammit, just thinking about her gets my dick at full attention. I adjust myself and turn my attention back to Travis.
He’s smiling at me.
“What the fuck is so funny?” I demand.
“I knew a woman once who grabbed my attention like no other woman could. It was like she hypnotized me.”
So much for trying to hide it.
“Every time I was around her, I couldn’t think of anything else. I would have given my life for her.”
“What happened to her?” I’m curious because I’ve never heard of Travis being married or having a girlfriend.
“She left me because of my job. She felt it was too dangerous. And I’m not an idiot, I know it is. So I let her go.” His voice turns cold. “I agree, I think it’s best you focus on your job.” His answer surprises me.
It’s what I want, so why do I feel like someone just ran over my puppy?
“You’re not going to let Joe near her, are you?” The words come out harsh. There is no way in hell I’d let that fucking happen.
His smirk is back. “No. She seems to have bonded a bit with Melanie. I’ll have Melanie entertain her for now.” He chuckles.
I’m glad someone thinks this is funny. I sure as hell don’t. I don’t know how I’m going to concentrate on work, but it makes me feel better knowing Melanie is with her.
As I grab some coffee to try and get some work done, Travis stops me before I can leave. “Jett, Emily is here for a reason. You may not know why, but there is a reason. So think with your head and not your dick if you plan on helping her.” That was definitely a threat. If Travis is threatening me, then Emily’s importance to him is worrisome. What does he want with Emily? I might need to do a little digging myself. I’ve stayed out of it up to this point, but it’s time I step in. I just have to be careful; one bad move and I might be six feet underground.
I walk into my office and sink down in my chair. Before I start looking into Emily, I need to actually do some work. Curiosity gets the best of me. I turn on all six of my screens and pull up Emily’s room on one of them. She’s playing Scrabble with Melanie. I breathe a sigh of relief knowing that she isn’t alone. Seeing her again has my dick twitching. I can’t watch her all day or I’ll be jacking off under my desk. Thinking back to Travis’s warning, it makes me wonder who she really is. I do know that if Emily’s life is in danger, things will fucking be done to get her out of here. I made her a promise that I would keep her safe, and I plan on keeping that promise.
* * *
It’s dinnertime and thoughts fill my head about last night. I’ve kept myself busy with work so I haven’t looked at Emily all day. I click on the keyboard and pull up her room. She’s lying on the bed, reading a book. Surrounded by white with her hair falling down around her face, she looks like an angel. She has gorgeous, long hair. Hair I’d love to pull back in order to give me access to that beautiful, long neck of hers. Why can’t I get her out of mind?
Her door opens and Joe walks in with her dinner. I immediately sit up straight, taking notice that Joe is by himself. That motherfucker will die if he touches Emily.
Chapter Seventeen
JOE WALKS IN and closes the door behind him. He has my dinner and places it on the table. I’m a little surprised his sidekick isn’t with him. I put my book down, thankful that Melanie has given me something to do while I am by myself. Joe walks toward me. I sit up in bed wondering what the hell he’s doing. The look in his eyes sends chills down my back.
“I guess your boy toy got tired of you.” He chuckles, continuing toward me.
I want to say something back, but I don’t want to agitate him. Maybe he’ll get his snide comments in and leave. I hop off the bed and plant my feet. I’ll be ready if I need to defend myself.
“Maybe you just need a real man to show you how it’s done,” he spits out, standing right in front of me. I can smell nicotine and whiskey on his breath.
I can’t hold back anymore. “You fucking touch me and I’ll kill you,” I say through gritted teeth. I quickly see that he has his sidepiece holstered.
He laughs. “Bitch, someone needs to teach you a lesson.” He throws me on the bed, his body following. He pins my arms to my side. No way, asshole. I bring my knee up with as much force as I can and kick him right in the balls. He doubles over, falling off the bed in pain. “Fucking bitch!” he yells, holding his dick. I go to grab his gun but the door flings open making me jump back. Jett is on Joe before I can blink. He picks him up and throws him against the wall. Jett and Joe are about the same height, but Jett has as much muscle as Joe has fat.
“You so much as look at Emily again, I swear, I. Will. Kill. You,” he says, grinding his teeth. Jett punches Joe square in the jaw. With a loud crunching sound, I am pretty sure he broke it. Two more guys who I’ve never seen come in and grab Joe, dragging him out of the room. Jett paces the room again, muttering a curse. Or a few. His normally emerald green eyes are raging black. I can see the rise and fall of his chest with his erratic breathing.
“You know I had him. I didn’t need any help.” I chuckle, trying to break the intense air surrounding us. He doesn’t laugh and just stares at me. I can see his jaw is clenched.
“I need to go. I’ll be back later, I promise.” His voice is still filled with anger. I don’t have a chance to respond before he walks out, slamming the door behind him.
Glancing at the dinner that Joe brought in, I decide it’s probably not a good idea to eat it. Who knows if he drugged it? I lost my appetite anyway. The smell of nicotine still lingers in the air. I shiver in disgust, needing to wash his smell off me.
When I come out of the bathroom Jett is sitting at the table looking at the uneaten food. “Why haven’t you eaten?” he asks. His eyes are back to emerald green, but I can still see the concern in them.
“I was afraid if I did I’d be dead by the time you came back.” I shrug. He grabs the food, gets up, and leaves.
Well, that went well.
I turn on the TV to get my mind on something else while lying back in the bed. Jett returns about an hour later. I know how much time has passed because I now have a clock in my room, again thanks to Melanie. He has food with him. Jett walks over to the table and pulls out Italian food and places two plates on the table. He pours a glass of water at each setting.
I guess no wine tonight?
The smell takes me back to only four nights ago when I was enjoying my dinner with Marco. It seems like weeks ago. Although Marco was sweet, flirty, and had a very defined body, he’s not Jett. Just looking at Jett has me winding up.
“Eat with me?” Jett asks, pulling me from my thoughts.
Dinner smells awesome. Nerves having calmed down, I’m really hungry now. I turn the TV off and sit down, glancing at Jett. He’s trying to act calm, but his eyes show something entirely different. His jaw flexes as our gazes trap one another.
“I guess I should thank your for spying on me,” I say, twisting my lips and cocking an eyebrow. I want to bait him to talk. His intense stare is hard to escape.
“Anytime.” He clears his throat, his lips curling up slightly revealing his dimples. My stomach flutters. He starts to grab my hand that rests on the table but rears back. Awkward silence surrounds us. I grab my fork and eat. The food is amazing. A small moan escapes my mouth as I pull my fork from my mouth. I peek up at Jett and see him staring at me. His eyes are filled with lust. I sa
w those same eyes last night.
“Would you not do that?” He exhales through gritted teeth, adjusting himself in his seat.
“What? It’s really good,” I respond playfully with a knowing smile. He lifts his eyebrow and smiles.
“Want a taste of mine?” He lifts a piece of meat from his plate and brings his fork to my mouth. I open and he seductively pulls the fork out.
Holy hotness.
I don’t remember if it was good because the look on his face as he watches me eat has me fidgeting in my seat. My sex tingles as my body starts to hum.
“Do you have any idea what you do to me? You’re going to unravel me.” Jett leans in closer. “You’re taking something that shouldn’t be yours to take. I feel like I can’t stop the freight train that’s about to collide head-on.”
“Then don’t,” I answer in a whisper. I hear what he’s saying. Hell, I’ve said it myself, so why do I want to see the result of the impact?
He leans back. “It’s not that easy. I’m not supposed to be here tonight. But fuck if I was going to let Joe lay a finger on you. I already broke his nose. You’d think he would have learned.”
“Maybe he’ll get the message now.” I smirk. “I know why you broke his jaw, but why did you break his nose?” I ask, tilting my head, raising a curious eyebrow.
Jett grunts. “He runs his mouth too much.”
That I can agree with. “So why aren’t you supposed to be here?”
“It’s getting too complicated. This. Us,” he says, looking down at his food.
I sigh. “Then why are you here now? You’re definitely not un-complicating things.” Warmth spreads through me as he looks my body over with hungry eyes. I exhale sharply, licking my lips. “I’m going to have to take matters into my own hands if you keep looking at me like you want to eat me,” I breathe out.
He leans over and whispers in my ear. “Mmm… Emily, I would like nothing more than to have a taste.”
