Survival

by J Marie

  It was going to be the toughest test of my life, putting up with Darren’s bullshit and making him feel like he was my king or some shit. Maybe I would just skip to the chase and kill him the first chance I got. But then what about the guards? They would probably just kill me. Unless I got Darren alone … maybe off in the woods where I could easily stab him with something. Then I’d take his phone and deactivate my collar and GPS, but he’d no doubt have a password. I’d have to get him to activate it somehow and then strike.

  This plot would take time, not as much time as my original plan, but I’d still have to get him to trust me just a little. Maybe in a month’s time, I could accomplish my goal. I’d have to train, though, and ready my body for battle. Darren was big, and he had skill I was sure I had barely tapped. Maybe I could set up a trap in the woods. So many ideas swam in my head, but I needed more information before I could set anything in stone. I could probably get what I needed once Darren gave me a tour of the estate. Then I’d go from there.

  Satisfied with my new plan, I burrowed further into the pillows and blankets and drifted off into the sleep I desperately needed, dreaming of blood and black eyes.

  ~*~

  Holy fuck.

  I had never been so close to breaking my word in all my life. That was not the kiss I was expecting. Not even close. I figured she’d give me a quick peck, and I’d have to catch her chin to keep her there while I took what I really wanted, but she just charged in. And fuck if it didn’t drive me to want to fuck her right then and there against the wall.

  Her bravery was so sexy, but I met her exhilarating aggression head-on with my own, and I felt it growing, overshadowing my self-control. The terror in her eyes only made my dick that much harder, and I had to let her go before I reneged on my own deal and fucked her into oblivion.

  Pushing off the wall, I walked away from her door quickly before I turned around and changed my mind.

  Fuck. I had never felt more elated in all my life. I finally had her, in my home and under my control. For the rest of her life. She was so perfect, so alive, and so tempting. I knew things weren’t always going to go that smoothly, as she would need time to adjust, but I had all the time in the world to bring her to her knees. And I would enjoy every minute of it.

  I headed down to my office with the intent of finishing up some work to get my mind off her, but instead pulled up the security feed to Jaden’s bedroom on my desktop. I watched her curl into herself under the silk sheets. She was awake, though; I could see the weariness threatening to pull her under, but she was fighting it, lost in thought of her new situation as well as likely plotting her escape.

  The thought had me laughing on the inside. Even if she somehow managed to escape the property, if my men didn’t find her within the first twenty minutes, the local police department I had in my pocket certainly would. She’d probably try to go to them for help, but they would just hold her there until I came to get her. What would come next would be a night that my little warrior princess would never forget. I would rip the thought of any further attempts of escape out of her head and replace it with pain until she no longer knew what the word “escape” even meant. She was mine, and I was never letting her go no matter how much she tried to fight me.

  Eventually, Jaden would grow tired of the fight. She would grow tired of losing, but I wasn’t about to let her dwell on it. I knew how to engage the fire in her, but I also knew how to keep it at a reasonable temperature. Most days, I would want room temperature, but then some days, I knew I would want full-on supernova. Jaden was fucking adorable when she was angry, but she was so much more fun to play with when her rage finally took over.

  The shock on her face when I opened the doors to collect her was the most amazing thing I had ever seen. In that very moment, my strong little fighter was more terrified than any other moment I had had with her, and I loved it. I wanted more of it, and it excited more than I ever imagined knowing I could have and take as much as I wanted from her, whenever I wanted.

  Jaden looked so sweet and delicate, wrapped tightly in the sheets and grasping her pillow, but she didn’t belong there. She belonged in my bed, under my sheets, under me, but I had to be patient for that. She was so much like a wild animal, but once her training was complete and she acclimated to her new life, I would eventually be able to trust her. But for now, I would have to wait, and I fucking hated waiting.

  Chapter Seven

  Fight or Flight

  “Wake up, Jaden,” a low soft voice whispered to me.

  I tossed and turned in my bed, fighting something in my head, but I didn’t know what it was.

  “Come on, babe. Wake up, you’re dreaming,” it said again and I felt a large warm hand gently shake my shoulder.

  And then, finally, my eyes opened and I jack-knifed out of bed, my loud gasps on the verge of screams as I tried to cling to my state of sudden reality.

  “Hey, Jaden, it’s okay. It was only a dream.”

  And then I felt a familiar warm hand on my back, rubbing softly up and down, and I noticed myself calm almost immediately.

  I looked over to find Jason sitting up in bed with me, concern on his face as he tried to comfort me. A huge wave of relief abruptly washed over me as my hand reached up to touch his stubble covered face. He felt real. This felt real. And when I finally came to that conclusion, I quickly clutched him to me, holding him as tight as I could so that he could never let go, instantly melting when my skin connected with his body heat. So real.

  “Hey, what’s wrong? What happened?” he asked me softly with that same concern in his voice again. It made me want to cry.

  “I just had the most horrifying dream ever.”

  “You’re okay, Jaden. Everything is fine,” Jason said reassuringly.

  God, just hearing his voice was a symphony of relief, a chorus of salvation, giving me the soothing confirmation that I was safe, that I wasn’t a prisoner and that I was home … where I belonged.

  “I know,” I said, sniffling back tears, thankful none of it was real.

  He pulled back, taking my face in his hands, and softly rubbed my cheeks with his thumbs.

  “Tell me what happened,” he said.

  “I dreamed I was kidnapped and sold into human trafficking. And this guy. This fucking horrible guy, who ran the place, bought me and made me his sex slave and I …”

  I suddenly felt strange. Like sick to my stomach strange.

  “And what, Jaden?” Jason pressed.

  “And …” I tried to continue with my story, but my stomach continued to ache with a strange pressure that seemed to wrap itself entirely around my torso. I suddenly couldn’t breathe; I felt the panic rise as my blood rushed and my heart began to race. Darkness shrouded my vision, and I could no longer see Jason.

  “Jason?” I called out to him, but there was no answer. “Jason!”

  I felt the pressure grow until my limbs gradually locked in place. Something was constricting me, coiling and tightening around me like a boa constrictor, squeezing the life out of me.

  “No, no, no, no!” I screamed. It wasn’t real. It wasn’t supposed to be real.

  Darkness consumed me until I felt invaded by it. I couldn’t move, I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t see, yet all I could hear was a hauntingly familiar voice echoing in the background. “Mine,” it kept saying. “All mine.” I fought with all my might to move, but not a single muscle was able to penetrate the force. I couldn’t even scream.

  Jolting from the bed, I screamed so loud I shattered my own ears. The sheets were a scattered sweaty mess around me, and my chest heaved as I sucked in heavy breaths. My heart was racing and I put my head in my hands to try to calm myself down. Tears poured from my eyes as I came to realize that dream had been the false one, and I was still trapped in my nightmare. I was panicking, and I could feel the walls closing around me. I had to get out of here. I had to get the fuck out. Now.

  I got up, put the Nikes on, and ran to my bedroom door, nearly breaki
ng the damn thing off its hinges as I threw it open and raced out of the room. My heart was pounding as I shot down the hallway, my steps light and quick, barely making a sound as I moved like a fucking panther in the dark.

  I turned the corner towards the stairs and my heart abruptly stopped in horror, a shocked gasp escaping my lips, but thankfully my legs had a different strategy in mind. Terror clutched my heart as Darren stood not more than twenty feet from me, casually leaning against the wall, shirtless, in tracks pants, running shoes and blocking the stairs. He was waiting for me.

  How the fuck did he already know? I knew I was running only sixty seconds ago!

  Because he has a security team and cameras everywhere, you dumb fuck. That’s how.

  “Going somewhere?” he asked me, raising an eyebrow.

  A single glance of him was all the motivation I needed to simply skip the stairs, grab the railing, and nimbly throw myself over the edge, feet first. I didn’t even think, just reacted; too much adrenaline pushing my momentum to slow me down.

  I only met Darren’s eyes for a second before my hand released the railing, and I was somewhat amused to see shock and possibly concern over his face as he jerked forward to stop me.

  My landing was not soft, but as soon as my feet hit the hard marble flooring, I instantly bent my knees and rolled with my remaining momentum in the direction of the door. I rolled up, grabbed the handle and yanked the door open, thankful as fuck that it wasn’t locked. But as a noisy alarm blared in the background, I quickly realized why the door remained unlocked as I sprinted past two armed guards standing just outside the door.

  “Hey, wait! Stop!” they shouted, but I was already at a dead run by the time they realized what was going on.

  My heart continued to race as the adrenaline pumped through my veins. I ran around the fountain, pumping my legs as fast as I could when I started to hear a familiar loud, angry voice behind me.

  “Jaden!” Darren shouted as he raced after me. Now, the adrenaline was really rushing and I instantly kicked up my pace.

  Other voices shouted around me, and I listened to the sounds of dogs barking and heavy footsteps all around me, orders bellowed from all directions, the clicks of guns clattering in my ears, all of it sending me into overdrive. Would they really shoot me?

  “Don’t! Stand down! I’ve got her!” I heard Darren shout. He must have been telling his guards to fall back. What the fuck for? What the hell was he doing?

  No sense in sticking around to find out.

  Shooting off from the circle drive, I took off into the night, driving right into the shade of the trees, seeking shelter in the shadows. I had hoped to bide some time to put a plan together. Maybe if I could make it to the gate, I could flag a car down or something.

  What the fuck kind of plan is that supposed to be?

  Just what the fuck was I doing? What the fuck did I think was going to happen? That I’d just walk out the front door and everything would be all hunky-dory? This was by far the stupidest thing I had ever done. I was only originally running because I irrationally panicked from a dream, and now I was running because I knew who was chasing me.

  Darren was hot on my heels now. I could hear him in the distance behind me, his loud footsteps heavy with anger and determination. Damn, he was pissed, and the aggression in his voice had scared the shit out of me. I didn’t want to be me when he found me, but that ship had sailed now. I was committed to my escape, and I had to follow through with it.

  I knew he could hear me running through the woods like an animal; there was no stealthy way around it, but at least, the darkness of the trees would shadow me from his sight. At least, until he got close enough.

  And then it suddenly occurred to me. Why hadn’t he just activated my cuffs? He could have stopped me in my tracks and found me as easily as he had before, yet he continued to pursue me freely. He could even just track my signal if he wanted to, not much work involved here. What the fuck was he doing?

  He’s hunting you down, girl. Run …

  Fear laced through my veins as I came to realize that was exactly what he was doing. He was enjoying the chase, probably hoped all along I would give him this opportunity, but it only made me kick up my pace. I could hear Darren getting closer as he raced after me; luckily his bigger body couldn’t maneuver through the woods like my smaller frame could. I weaved in and out of the branches, ducking when I needed to while he just bulldozed through all of it. And yet, it didn’t even slow him down. Shit, he was fast.

  But then I saw the gate in the distance, the gold-plated embellishments shining in the moonlight like the beacon of hope I needed. A fresh spike of adrenaline renewed me, especially since I saw headlights coming from my far right in the distance. Here was my chance!

  Darting in and out of the trees, I tried to confuse Darren, but the noise of my steps gave me away. My hope was turning to panic as I felt him on my heels now. He was so close that I swore I could feel his breath on my neck, which only made my eyes tear up from my impending failure and the anticipation of his brutality. He was going to catch me. I could feel it.

  I sensed his arm reaching out for me, but as I turned to dodge his attempt, he maneuvered just as quickly and kicked up his pace. Darren’s strong arm finally snaked around my waist like the boa constrictor I had just dreamed about and lifted me right off my feet.

  “Gotcha,” he breathed and I screamed in aggravation.

  Not even missing a beat, I shoved my elbow back into his face and clocked him right in the corner of his mouth. His teeth cut into my elbow, but it was worth the grunt he made from the contact. Even my legs refused defeat as they kicked at his lower body with everything they had, but it didn’t seem to matter. Darren had caught me. Fuck.

  I fought against his hold, but his arms were like steel bars that continued to tighten around my body, and I could see myself slipping back into the nightmare I had just tried to run from.

  “Stop! Get the fuck off me, you son of a bitch!” I screamed at him, but it all went unnoticed.

  Once Darren was done dragging my fighting body out of the woods like some errant toddler, he slammed me down on the ground hard and pressed his body on top of mine.

  “Just where the fuck do you think you’re going, huh?” he spat, pissed off but still amused at my stupid attempt. Fuck, he wasn’t even breathing heavy, and here I was trying to suck down as much oxygen as I could. Damn, how fit was this guy?

  “Getting the fuck away from you!” I shouted, trying to catch my breath.

  “You and I both know that’s never going to happen. Your life is with me now, Jaden, accept it and move on.”

  “Like hell it is! One way or another, I am getting the fuck out of here!”

  “Yeah? And just how the fuck are you going to accomplish that, huh? I can track your every move, Jaden, and I didn’t even need to use my phone for that. An electric current awaits your perimeter breaches, and even if you somehow managed to find some sort of success, where are you going to go? You don’t even know where the fuck you are.”

  “I’m a smart girl. I’ll figure it out,” I spat.

  “No, you won’t. You’ll go running to the cops the first chance you get. But they won’t help you because, guess what, I own them, too.”

  I tried to break away from him then, forcing my head in the other direction, but it didn’t make a bit of a difference. I wasn’t going anywhere, not without his permission. It didn’t surprise me that he had the cops in his pocket, but it only put a small damper on my plans to escape. At least now I knew who I could trust outside these gates. No one.

  “Face it, Jaden. No matter what you do or where you go, I will always find you and bring you right back to me … where you belong.”

  “I don’t belong here and I never will! Now, get off!”

  “Let me give you a little reality check here, sweetheart. You ran from me and I caught you just like I told you I would,” he seethed. “You’re mine now, Jaden, and there will be no more denying it
. Whatever life you had before is over. Your future is with me now.”

  “Go fuck yourself,” I spat.

  “Oh no, little girl.” His voice was liquid venom in my ears as he glowered down at me. “That’s your job now. But first,” he said dragging me up by my throat and onto my feet, “I’m going to show you just how pointless running from me is.”

  Still keeping a tight grip on my neck, Darren dragged me back into the woods, and I knew instantly he was taking me past the perimeter. I fought and kicked against him, but I had already tired myself out from the chase. Once I felt the sharp tick at the back of my head, I could tell Darren had felt it, too, and then he threw me as hard as he could into the woods, and I stumbled and rolled on the ground. I knew I only had about five seconds, and Darren wasn’t going to let me back into the safe zone. I stayed low on the ground, knowing once the volts hit me I was going to crash. Better to already be low than to fall from standing up.

  And then I felt it.

  The sharp current cut through my veins like shards of glass, and I screamed in total agony as it felt like my body was being ripped apart. I writhed in pain, thinking that my head was going to split open as my muscles and limbs convulsed under the current. It was, without a doubt, the most painful thing I had ever experienced, and my body quickly shut down, needing only a few seconds to welcome the numb blackness that claimed me.

  ***

  I woke up still lying on the ground, face first in the dirt, with my limbs limp at my sides. My body felt like spaghetti as I made a small moan still remembering the shock that had rocked my entire being. I could sense Darren standing over me, and I didn’t have the strength or the energy to fight him anymore. I felt paralyzed and numb.