“Ouray, our town, is just ahead. There, the flashing light,” he said to her, pointing. At night, the homes were dark to keep them from being discovered by any aircrafts flying overhead on hunting missions.
“Ouray?” she asked, following his line of vision, her eyes wide.
He could almost feel the anxiety rolling off her. He wanted to comfort her, but thought giving her space would better serve her now. He needed her to wake up to reality fast.
“It was the original name,” he said. “I think it was quite beautiful once.”
The gates opened as the Jeep traveled the final, narrow stretch to get inside the camp. Two men stood at the entrance with weapons in hand. Olivia watched them and they her. Hayden nodded at the men and drove through. It was late, he was tired, and he knew she was. He drove straight to his home, the only house left on this street in the old mountain town. Shane was standing out on the porch when Hayden parked the car and killed the engine.
Olivia was now trembling and he had a feeling it was a mixture of cold and fear.
He put his hand on her arm to get her attention. She turned to him. “No one’s going to hurt you,” he said. “You’ll be safe here.”
She could only stare back and he could see the confusion in her eyes, the need to believe his words.
“Commander,” Shane said as Hayden approached him.
“Shane.” The men shook hands.
Shane nodded at the vehicle. “Company?” he asked.
Olivia stepped out of the vehicle just then, her expression fixed.
“Magnus Hunter’s uniform,” Shane added, his face hardening a little.
“She’s my prisoner. She won’t do any harm.” Hayden understood Shane’s immediate dislike of Olivia. Well, not of her, but of what her uniform stood for. Shane had been with Hayden from the very beginning.
Shane turned so Olivia wouldn’t hear his words. “I trust you, Hayden, you know I do. But there are a lot of lives at stake. If you’re wrong…”
“I’m not wrong,” Hayden snapped loud enough for her to hear. Olivia stopped dead in her tracks.
“Sir,” Shane stepped back. He was out of line. He shifted his gaze momentarily to the ground.
Hayden rubbed his forehead and closed his eyes. “I’m sorry, Shane. I’m tired and hungry and have had a long day.”
Shane nodded his acceptance. “You sure you want to keep her here?”
“I’m sure.”
“All right. We’ve got some food inside and I made a fire. See you in the morning.” He walked away, nodding once when he passed Livvie.
“Are they all going to be so welcoming?” she asked.
“Come inside, Olivia. It’s late.”
He gestured for her to go in ahead of him and followed close behind.
* * *
The first thing she noticed was the warmth inside the cabin. She walked straight to the roaring fire and turned her back to it, surveying the room which was lit by the firelight and two dim lamps. The dark shades on the windows were drawn. It wasn’t large, but it was cozy. Very different from her home at Magnus One. A wide, cushy couch faced the fire and a coffee table stood in front of it. A dining table was set with bowls of soup; tomato, she gathered from the smell. Bread steamed in a basket next to the soup. A small kitchen stood at the back and a thick wooden ladder led up to what she imagined was the bedroom.
The bedroom. A new panic filled her. Why hadn’t he sent her to the cell like the man Shane had suggested? A strange new sensation stirred in her belly at the thought and she quickly pushed it away.
“Would you like to eat by the fire?” he asked, moving to the table where the food was laid out.
She turned to him to find him studying her, but was unable to decipher what he could be thinking. She nodded, nervous and unsure. She was still cold and the warmth of the fire gave her some comfort.
He carried the bowls over, placing them on the coffee table. He then gathered the bread and two bottles of water.
“Drink first,” he said as she settled on her knees on the floor. He took a seat on the couch, still watching her.
She opened her bottle of water and drank half of it. Then, without looking at him, she picked up her spoon and tasted the steaming soup. She wondered for a moment at contamination, but was too hungry not to eat.
“Mmmm.” She closed her eyes. The warmth of the soup felt good.
He was smiling at her when she opened them again. He hadn’t touched his food yet. Instead, he sat watching her eat.
“Take some bread,” he said. “I’ll get the butter.”
“How do you have food?” she asked. “I thought all resources outside the cities were wiped out.”
“We have our own animals and farm our lands,” he replied, bringing a plate of butter from the refrigerator. “Are we more civilized than you expected?” he asked.
Well, they did have utensils and homes and delicious food. She’d never actually imagined daily life in a camp outside of Magnus One—the day-to-day existence of those she would hunt. She’d expected them to live like animals, to be animals. “It’s good,” she said, not wanting to answer his question.
“You’ll have Jenna to thank for the food,” he said. “She’s an amazing cook.”
“How many people live here?” she asked.
“About fourteen hundred men, women and children.”
“And how have you managed to remain undetected? You’d be wiped out in a second if Magnus found you.”
“I realize that. We have some fairly high-tech devices ourselves, had to develop them over time to keep up with the latest and greatest killing machines.”
The thought that she’d be hunting settlements like this one came to her, but she pushed it aside and ate. It was another thing she’d never consciously thought about during her training.
They remained silent throughout the rest of the meal. Once they were finished, he stacked the dishes in the sink and returned to her. “Let’s get you bathed and into bed,” he said.
She raised her eyebrows. “Get me bathed? I’m not a child.”
“No, but I do want to look you over for injuries.”
“I’m not hurt. Besides, you can’t do that by bathing me,” she said, incredulous.
“Let’s go upstairs, Olivia. I’m tired and my patience is already thin.”
“No.” She folded her arms across her chest; she wasn’t budging on this one.
“Up.”
“I will not allow this. It’s uncalled for. You took my only weapon, you tore my shirt and destroyed my badge, and the GPS device was on board my ship, not my person. I’m not injured besides a few cuts and bruises—unless you count the beating you gave me, of course, and I think you got an eyeful already,” she said, annoyed at the heat flushing her neck and face. Damn it, she was a soldier. She shouldn’t be blushing! It was a sign of weakness.
He tried not to smile at the last part, inhaled and exhaled, then spoke. “I would hardly call that a beating, but if you prefer, you can spend the night in the cell where Shane and a couple of other men will deal with you. Choose.”
“I hate you,” she said.
“That doesn’t change anything.” He smiled for an instant, but the humor didn’t quite touch his eyes. He then gestured to the ladder.
Olivia stamped her foot and went ahead of him, climbing the thirteen rungs to the second floor with him close behind her. A little too close for her comfort.
Upstairs, there was only the bedroom and a bath. Against the center wall stood a high king-size bed with an ornate iron headboard. A dresser took up the space between the two windows, a tall mirror stood in one corner, and a plush, worn leather chair in another. Hayden went into the bathroom to fill the tub before returning to her.
“Jenna left some clothes for you over there. You can give me your things. We’ll wash and mend them for you, but to be honest, no one will want to talk to you if they see you in uniform.”
“That’s fine because I don’t want to t
alk to them either.”
“Be nice, Olivia.”
She grunted.
“Undress,” he said, coming closer.
“I don’t have any weapons,” she said, trying to appeal to him. “Do I have to do this?”
“Olivia, I’ve already seen half of you naked and spanked you. And as long as you’re my prisoner, you’d better get used to me looking at you.”
That feeling inside her was suddenly there again, only this time, it came from lower. From somewhere between her legs.
“I do hate you,” she said, reaching to unbutton her shirt.
“Irrelevant,” he said, not even bothering to hide the fact that he was going to watch her strip.
She kept her eyes on him, trying to push down her embarrassment, even as her heart raced and she wanted to run and hide. She tried instead to focus on him. Dirt covered his jaw and face and his clothes were wrinkled. He’d rolled his shirt sleeves up at some point and she could see thick, tanned forearms dusted with dark hair. He was the roughest, most rugged looking man she’d ever seen.
She pulled her shirt off and threw it at him. “Here,” she said.
He caught it in one hand. “Be nice,” he warned.
She sat down on the edge of the bed to pull off her boots before undoing her pants and pushing them to the floor. She stepped out and picked them up, checking the look on his face and deciding to set them on the bed. She then turned her attention to her belly button as she reached back to undo her bra, forcing herself to stand straight as not to allow him to think she was afraid or ashamed. Once the bra was off, she slipped off her panties. She then narrowed her eyes and met his.
“Satisfied?” she asked. “Jerk.”
“Oh, Olivia…” he said, coming closer. “I hope you keep it up. There’s nothing I’d like more than to spank that ass of yours again.”
She was shocked into silence. He grinned and lifted her arm, turning it over.
“Ow,” she said.
“It’s not a deep cut,” he said, running his finger over it. “Any others like it?”
“No.”
“Lie down on the bed on your stomach.”
“No.”
“Lie down.”
“Why are you doing this?”
“Because I need to bandage anything up that might get infected. Trust me, you want us to deal with it at this stage, prior to infection.”
“Trust you?” she asked.
“Lie down.”
She climbed onto the bed and lay down, keeping her legs close together. There was a cut on her right calf that she could feel and a few bruises. He touched a few spots on her shoulders and back. She was tender, but that was all.
“This one doesn’t look great,” he said, turning her leg. “Bath is probably ready. Go get into the tub. We’ll get you cleaned and bandaged before I collar you.”
“Collar me? I’m not a dog!” she said, rising to her feet, but not quite knowing what to do with her arms, where to cover up or not.
“Get in the damn tub, Olivia,” he said, this time taking her by the arm and walking her into the bathroom. Once there, he lifted her and sat her down in the deep water.
“Ouch.” Her cuts stung, but she wanted the bath. Wanted soap and warmth.
“Soap’s there,” he said. “Shampoo behind you.”
She looked at him as he turned away, unbuttoning one button and pulling his shirt over his head. He then stripped off his pants and turned back to her.
“What are you doing?” she asked, unable to take her eyes off of him even while her brain told her she should fear him.
He smiled. “Having a shower,” he said, slowly peeling off his underwear.
Her eyes darted there before she could turn away, her face bright red this time. He laughed.
“Never seen a man naked?” he taunted.
She refused to answer and picked up the bar of soap instead.
“Stay in the tub until I’m out,” he ordered before climbing into the shower.
She submerged beneath the water, closing her eyes. Her brain was working. No, she’d never seen a man naked before. Besides her brother once or twice, but he didn’t look like that. What was happening to her? Her body was feeling things and her brain was thinking things she knew were wrong. He was the enemy, after all. When they came to rescue her, she’d kill him. She’d be happy to kill him, in fact. Wouldn’t she?
* * *
Hayden smiled to himself, humming a tune of music. His cock had gotten hard at the sight of her, had been since she’d stripped in his bedroom. But the look on her face when she’d seen him naked was priceless. Although it was long ago, he still remembered his first days out of Magnus, how his body had reacted once the chemicals they pumped into the air had worn off. No urges, no passions, nothing up or down at Magnus. That was the point of the filtered air the inhabitants breathed. Keep everyone calm, level, obedient. Make them work hard. Control them. He still remembered the first woman he’d fucked after his initial capture by the resistance fighters. He’d been insatiable and she’d been happy to service him. He fisted his cock and slid his hand up and back down along the thick, soapy shaft. The thought of penetrating her tight, virgin pussy only made him thicker, harder. When he’d spanked her, he’d been unable to resist slapping her pussy. She’d been wet, but he knew her brain hadn’t processed it as arousal. It was her body’s natural reaction to the attention. That would all change in the coming days. He switched off the shower and stepped out, taking a towel.
She was submerged beneath the water again, her eyes closed. Suds floated along the surface, but he could clearly see her nakedness, her round, full breasts with their large, pink nipples, the flat of her belly, and the jutting of her pelvic bones.
He wrapped the towel around himself, pushing his erection down and walking into the bedroom to put on a pair of jeans. He didn’t want to scare the girl too badly just yet, but he wanted her. He was a man, after all. Human. He’d take his time with her, introduce her to the many pleasures she’d missed out on, watch her face as her body responded to his touch. She was his, after all. He’d found her; she was his beautiful, innocent prisoner. He’d teach her slowly, let her absorb and see for herself what life outside the domed cities could be like. What being truly and fully human was all about.
He gathered his medical supplies and left them on the bed before going to the bathroom to collect her. She sat in the tub looking for all the world like a child, her fingers curled around her toes, quietly humming the anthem of Magnus One.
“Feeling better?” he asked, holding out a towel for her.
Her expression changed immediately, but she quickly hid the initial fright he glimpsed with something harder. She climbed out of the tub and reached for the towel.
“Can I have a second towel for my hair?” she asked.
He handed her one, eyeing the long mass of dark hair that hung down to the middle of her back.
“Lie down on the bed and I’ll get your bandaged up,” he said.
This time she didn’t protest. Maybe it was the towel she had to cover herself. He disinfected and bandaged both her arm and leg, stretching out the process, making sure she felt his touch on her skin. “Not so awful, wouldn’t you say?”
She ignored him, sat up, and pulled the towel from her hair. “Do you have a comb?”
“Sure.” He returned with one and watched her for a moment as she combed through her hair. She was pretty, her big, curious eyes set wide. The color was somewhere between a very pale, caramel brown to a golden green. Her hair was a dark reddish brown contrasting strikingly against her pale skin. Her cheeks dimpled when she smiled, the right side deeper than the left, but she didn’t do that very much. At least not yet. And she wasn’t going to when he did what he had to do next.
“Go through Jenna’s things there. There should be something for you to wear to bed. I’ll be right back,” he said, heading downstairs. Shane had left the collar in a box on the dining room table when he’d delivered th
e food. Hayden now picked it up and, after giving her a few extra moments, he headed upstairs to find her looking out the window, a short white cotton nightie fitting perfectly over her narrow form.
“Come here, Olivia.”
She turned to him. He wondered if it was his expression that made her skin prickle and her nipples harden into dark points beneath the thin white of the nightie.
She walked to him, her expression guarded, cautious.
“Turn around and lift your hair from your neck.”
She searched his eyes, but still didn’t speak. It took her a moment, but she turned and did as he said, exposing her narrow, delicate neck to him.
He’d held the collar in his palm hoping to warm the metal, but when he slid it around her throat, she gasped. He continued, securing it at the back, locking it so she wouldn’t be able to remove it. He slid the small key into his pocket, knowing he didn’t need to collar her. He just wanted to, wanted to let the men around camp know she belonged to him. No one would touch her if they knew she was under his protection.
“It’s done.”
She let go of her hair and touched the collar. He moved to face her.
“There’s a tracking device there so I’ll always know your whereabouts. There’s also a chip that recognizes when you’re near the border of the camp. You’ll not want to attempt to cross the border, understood?” That second part wasn’t exactly true, but it wouldn’t hurt to have her believe it.
She nodded.
“One more thing, Olivia. The collar shows you belong to me. No one will touch you. Once you’re allowed to wander alone, you’ll be safe within the camp as long as you follow my orders.”
“Am I supposed to thank you?”
He smiled at her. “Go to bed,” he said. He went back downstairs and out the door.
Chapter Three
The collar circled Livvie’s neck, stiff and constant. It fit like it was made for her, close but not too tight. She wondered if she’d get used to the weight of it at her throat. Although it wasn’t really heavy, just new.
Somehow, she’d fallen asleep as soon as she’d gotten into the bed last night. She’d first gotten in on his side. She knew it because his scent was on the pillow and she’d moved to the other side quickly, turning her back. She’d felt when he’d climbed into bed and although her body had stiffened, she’d been determined to pretend she was asleep. He didn’t touch her; remained on his side in fact. She hadn’t noticed when he’d left in the morning, but he was gone now and sunlight streamed in through the windows. She was alone.
Captive's Desire Page 3
