by J Marie
With an intense glare on my face, I slowly bent low to the side of her neck and gently sunk my teeth into her. The pressure of my teeth gradually increased until she squirmed underneath me and eventually cried out from the pain. When I finally released her neck, I tilted my mouth to her earlobe and sucked it into my mouth before whispering into her ear.
“Stop cussing,” I warned and returned my threatening gaze to her eyes. She now had a lovely deep red bite mark on her neck. Beautiful.
She stilled, her chest heaving up and down as her tears finally began to spill down her cheeks. Jaden was beautiful even when she cried.
“If you think I’m going to tolerate this sort of behavior simply because you accidentally came across your family on the news, then you are seriously mistaken, my love.”
“You’re nothing to me,” she said bitterly.
I almost laughed. If she thought I gave a shit about what she thought of me, then she was seriously wasting her energy. I knew full well what she thought of me—how she felt about me—and it only motivated me to continue my mission to mold her into absolute perfection.
“And you’re everything to me,” I retorted, grazing the tip of my nose up the column of her throat. Her body shuddered from the contact, and it made my dick jump with urgency. “So much so that I’m this close to having your little family eliminated so they can stop interfering with your conditioning. I don’t appreciate this sort of regression.”
Her eyes widened in fear as more tears rolled down her cheeks. I was serious. I was tired of this bullshit, and if her family were out of the picture, she could mourn and move on instead of plotting and hoping she’d one day be free of me so she could see them again. They were the only thing connecting her to the outside world, and it was time to sever the connection. This way, her motivation to escape would be gone as she’d have nothing to return to and she would eventually just give in to me. Sure, she’d hate me even more, but she’d get over it. She might later conclude that I no longer had any leverage over her, but I would always have leverage. There were plenty of innocent people out there, and I was a master of persuasion. In the end, Jaden would realize she was mine no matter what; there was no other way around it.
“P-please, Darren. Please, don’t,” she pleaded quietly. She knew I was serious.
And then I smirked at her as I slowly sunk my cock back into her heat knowing full well she wouldn’t deny me now. God, she was still so wet, practically soaking … for me. She could deny it all she wanted, but she loved this. Loved when I dominated her, when I took her while she tried to fight me. She couldn’t let herself enjoy it until she, at least, put up a fight first. And that was the only reason she was crying because she hated herself for loving it.
“Give me another reason, and I won’t hesitate to wipe everyone you love from the face of the Earth. And I will make you watch. Go ahead and fuck with me, Jaden. See what happens to them,” I fumed, throwing her own words back in her face. She was silent for a few seconds, and I allowed it so she could fully grasp my words.
“Y-you’re right. I’m sorry,” she whispered, fresh tears falling down her face as she relaxed her muscles and officially submitted like a good little girl. Fucking win.
“Who do you belong to, Jaden?” I said, pulling out and then sliding back in to watch her breasts bounce.
“You,” she whispered as a sob wrenched up her throat and she finally began to cry.
Her beautiful tears ran down her face as she ultimately gave in to me. I had her, and she knew it. Her family would always be her weakness, and so long as I had them under my thumb, she would always be reminded to behave. I didn’t want leverage forever, though. Eventually, I wanted everything to be real, but if she continued to have something of her past to cling to, then it never would be.
After wiping away Jaden’s tears, I fucked her three more times that night, completing her delayed punishment with my belt instead of my hand against her ass until she screamed for mercy. I made her swallow my dick for her disrespectful words and only then did I fuck her for the fifth and final time that day.
By the time I was done, I barely had any energy left, only giving Jaden a fifteen-minute break between each time. Her fights with me always made me super fucking hard, and she had to have realized this by now because by the end of the night, her fury had been reduced to that of a rag doll as she just laid there underneath me, coming furiously while I drilled into her.
When I was finally satisfied with her, it was dark out, so I picked her up from the floor and carried her dead weight to the bed. Tucking her into my side, I laid her tear-stained face on my chest and wrapped my arm around her torso while draping her leg over my own. My thumb traced along the lines of her feather tattoo while she slept peacefully in my arms.
God, she was so beautiful … and resilient. I had poured another bucket of water onto her fire, and I wondered how long it would take before the embers burned wild again. Considering I had just threatened her entire reason for living and practically fucked her to death, I had a feeling she would behave for quite a while. It didn’t matter, though. I knew how to get a rise from her if I wanted one, but I think I’d prefer to enjoy her submission for a little while longer before I start eliminating everyone she held dear. Then the real fun would begin.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Acceptance
I woke up the next morning with a jolt from a nightmare and was consumed with more pain than I thought imaginable. My body ached, my ass burned, my pussy throbbed, my throat was sore, and my eyes felt puffy and heavy from crying. I was a fucking wreck. When I opened my heavy lids, the light in the room was still very dim and soft. It was probably near dawn.
I rolled over, clutching the soft bed sheet to my chin and realized Darren was not in bed with me; he wasn’t even in the room with me. I was beyond thankful. Last night, he had completely destroyed my body with pain, pleasure, and more orgasms than I could count. After seeing my family on TV, I had obviously been in a stupid, uncalculated rage, and I tried to make Darren pay for it, but I was such a stupid little girl if I thought I could ever really hurt him. And he certainly proved that to me last night. Eventually, I had just given up, too exhausted to continue fighting with him, and just let him prove his point until he was well satisfied. And now I was still paying for it. I would probably pay for it for the rest of the week.
And then I realized my family could pay for it, too. When he threatened to eliminate them like that, it put things in a whole new perspective for me. He had used them as leverage if I ever managed to kill him, but now he was using them if I simply didn’t behave for him. I definitely couldn’t let anything happen to them. I would have to behave until I figured something out.
As I laid down, I realized how the pillows and sheets smelled just like Darren. That clean musky, woodsy scent of his was engulfing me, and I suddenly didn’t want to spend another moment in his bed no matter how shitty I felt.
I slowly rolled my naked ass off the bed, taking small steps between winces of pain as I grabbed a silky black robe from Darren’s closet, it reaching well passed my knees, and made my way toward the bedroom door. I was determined to sleep in my own fucking bed since he was probably gone for the day. But as I just about grabbed the handle, a small warning shock from my collar stunned me, and I stumbled back away from the door.
Son of a bitch.
Well, I might not be able to leave his room, but I certainly wasn’t staying in his bed. I decided to step out onto his balcony and watch the sunrise from one of the cushioned lounge chairs. But as I stepped out to admire the view, my eyes focused on some movement on the beach.
When I focused my eyes, I realized it was Darren. He was standing in the sand, bare-chested, black pants, and barefoot holding what looked like two wooden sticks in his hands. Surrounding him were four men dressed in all black, each one holding a single wooden stick similar to Darren’s. When I focused my attention, I realized they were arnis sticks, another traditional weapon of a practic
ing martial artist.
One man stood in front of him, one to his back, one to his left, and one to his right. And then all at once, they attacked him. But, oh, he was flawless. He maneuvered around his opponents effortlessly, blocking their attacks with his arnises and aggressively counterattacking.
Darren’s muscles flexed under the weight of each strike, and I found my heartbeat suddenly increase at his graceful yet ferocious agility. His technique was beautiful as he wielded his weapons with absolute perfection, carefully calculating every move, every strike, and subduing his opponents in less than a few minutes. They all laid in the sand surrounding him while they clutched their bodies and moaned in pain. It was then that he looked up and saw me standing on his balcony, arms folded across my chest and watching him. He smirked, placed both arnis sticks in one hand, and blew me a kiss. I just stared him down before slowing turning on my heels and heading back into his bedroom.
Fuck, he was impressive and obviously really fucking dangerous. I wished I could compete against him like that. But if he could handle four guys at once, then I was seriously fucked; especially since he had just spent all night fiercely fucking me before being out there at the crack ass of dawn, training like it was no big deal while I was up here throbbing and aching all over. He had to be an alien. There was no other explanation.
I went back inside and took a shower in Darren’s bathroom. While I waited for the water to heat up, I summoned the courage to look at myself in the mirror and nearly cried. My eyes were red, puffy, and bloodshot from last night’s tears and lack of sleep, and a large red bite mark on the side of my neck stung like a bitch. Small bruises marked my wrists, hips, and ribs, and my ass had small red lines across my cheeks. God, I was a fucking mess.
I barely had any energy to stand, so I sat in the corner and washed myself until I felt clean enough to just sit there and rinse off. I let the spray of the hot shower rain down on me, enveloping me in a warm and wet heat. I pulled my knees to my chest, wrapped my arms around my legs, and laid my forehead on top of my knees. That was when I started to cry. Again.
I was in pain, both mental and physical, and I wanted everything to just go away. Last night had been horrible, and I was seriously pissed at myself for going after Darren like I had. He was so unfazed by me; the only thing I could successfully do to him without fail was give him wood. Stupid. So stupid.
After a while of just sitting there and silently crying, I heard the shower door open and knew it was Darren. I felt my body tremble as I tried to hide my face from him, hoping he’d just leave me be, but he hesitantly stepped in, closing the door behind him. His steps were soft and slow as if he were afraid of scaring a wild animal.
He crouched low beside me and placed his large warm hand on my shoulder. I shuddered and choked back a sob as I continued to hide my face from him. He then moved me a few feet from the tiled wall and stepped around me to sit down behind me, his legs on either side of my body. He then pulled me against his chest and wrapped his arms around my entire body, clutching me to him. It only made me cry harder that he was trying to comfort me when he was the source of my pain, not my solution.
For the longest time, he just held me like that while I cried my sorrows down the drain. Eventually, he was able to pull my head away from my knees to lay it on his chest. His hand cradled my face and he patted down my wet hair while I melted into his body. I hated him so much, but I had never been more grateful for his unusual tenderness.
At that moment, I suddenly wanted him to take care of me, to comfort me in the aftermath of his fury. I wanted him to show me how much I truly meant to him, that I was everything to him as he had said. I wanted him to prove it. I wanted him to make me feel cherished and special and loved so I wouldn’t notice the shadow of misery that promised to consume me if he didn’t. I was so tired of being afraid all the time. I just wanted to feel something, anything, other than the absolute hopelessness I felt right now as I crumbled in his arms.
He was breaking me. I could feel it. I was shattering right before his eyes and I hated myself for it. I suddenly had no desire to fight him, at least not at this moment. I was pissed off at how fucking weak I looked right now, but I told myself this was only temporary. I had to release my weakness if I was to become strong again and rise above it. I would regain. I would survive. I wouldn’t let him break me. I was Jaden fucking Wilder, and I was made of fire and steel.
When I was done with my stupid fucking tears, I rose off Darren and looked him dead in the eye. He had a nice little red mark at the top of his cheek from my elbow, but other than that, he came out of last night completely unscathed. Zero expression on his face, Darren took my face in his hands and wiped my tears away with his thumbs. A small moment of mutual understanding passed between us, me showing him I could withstand him, and him loving that I could. His eyes blazed with intensity as his gaze met mine, but I wasn’t afraid. Not this time.
And then he leaned in, pulling my face toward his so he could kiss me with an utmost gentle passion I had never experienced with him before. That kiss spoke a thousand words of need, want, lust, and absolute acceptance. Darren was who he was, there was no changing him, and there was no changing me, but what I could do was evolve around him and he would ensure that.
We finished our shower together in silence, and then, after carefully drying me off, Darren carried me back to his bed and laid me down. I felt the weight of my eyelids again as I fought to keep them open, but they were quickly winning their battle with me. I felt Darren climb in beside me and pull me to him as he had the night before. I relaxed against him with my head on his chest and his lips on my forehead while I finally drifted back to sleep.
~*~
I had never witnessed anything so honest and pure in all my life. When I opened the shower door, I didn’t know what to expect, but seeing Jaden huddled in a ball and crying on the shower floor, my heart suddenly swelled for her. I wasn’t sorry for what I had done last night, she needed to learn her lesson and she obviously had, but when I saw her like that, all I wanted to do was hold her and comfort her until the tears stopped. And eventually, they had. They stopped because Jaden had something most women I knew didn’t—resilience. When she finished crying and looked me right in the eyes like that, my level of respect for her had grown immensely.
She was showing me that, yeah, I might hurt her and make her regret every fight with me, but she could take it. She could withstand my wrath, and though it might take her some time and tears to recoup, she would always eventually come back to me with eyes blazing and fire in her heart. I loved that about her. It was exactly why I chose her. She was absolutely perfect for me, and I was never ever letting her go.
When Jaden’s breathing evened out, I gently eased out from under her, pulled the sheets over her shoulders, and slipped out from the room. I wanted to stay. I wanted to watch her sleep against me while I listened to her soft breathing and beating heart and felt her silky skin under my fingertips, but I had too much shit to do.
When I saw her standing on my balcony, I suddenly ached to be at her side. I hadn’t expected her to wake up so early or to see me train the way I did. That was a normal once a week routine for me to keep my skills sharp. Not many people battled the way I did anymore these days, but I prepared for everything and anything.
I left Jaden in my bed and decided to let her sleep for as long as she needed. She wasn’t as used to those long nights as I was. I changed into a pair of jeans and a black dress shirt since I planned to work from home today. I left a note for Jaden on my nightstand and headed to my office, punching in the code to enter through the door as a security precaution.
My office was huge. A large conference table with twelve chairs sat at the end of the room while two black leather sofas faced each other over a black Persian rug in the middle of the room. A long, glass coffee table sat between the two couches with a large glass ashtray placed in the middle. Tall bookshelves adorned my walls to my right and a window the size of the entire wall
gave a perfect view of the ocean. My giant black desk rested a few feet away from the window so all I had to do when I needed a break was turn around and find the ocean at my feet. The drawer underneath my keyboard contained several handguns and loaded magazines, just in case. All the windows in my house were bulletproof so I could never be assassinated in my own home, but I was still never not in reach of an automatic weapon.
I fired up my computer and started replying to numerous emails that required my immediate attention. Two hours and several phone calls later, I had put out four fires and secured a new deal with an arms dealer in Texas. I had also received a report from the new manager I selected from the pile my accountant recommended for the warehouse. Apparently, things were going well and the results of the latest auction were currently pending, but I had been informed sales were through the roof.
Scott handled some shit for me here and there, especially when it came to our soldiers and training facilities. I had a small army at my back to command whenever shit went down with another organization, and so far, we had never been matched. I’d crushed several cartels and other crime families who had crossed me in the past but made millionaires out of those who worked with me favorably. Give me twelve hours, I could easily make you or break you. It all just depended on how well you could negotiate and follow the rules.
I had also scheduled another appointment for Jaden to meet with the Russians to redo her nails. Since I was suddenly feeling generous, I really would let her choose her nail color and I’d even have them throw in a facial and hair treatment.
I decided to leave Jaden alone for the rest of the day and let her rest. She seriously needed it. I said she could wander the house when I was home so I lengthened the perimeter for her collar so she could get breakfast when she was ready. I kept the screen on my security camera in my room up on in the corner of my desktop so I could watch her as she slept and know when she woke. Normally, it was off as I didn’t need my own men watching me, but I could turn it back on whenever I wanted.
