by J Marie
I figured it was probably time to start thinking about the strategy I would take to eliminate Jaden’s pest of a family, either piece by piece or all at once. I would want every single member located before I gave the order to strike. I’d have my men watch them for a while, study their habits and routines – the same way we did when selecting new targets for the auction. The when could very well be determined by Jaden’s behavior, assuming it improved in the next few days. After today, I had a feeling things were going to be very different with her. That moment in the shower today seemed to have clarified something for her and I hoped it would help her to accept her place. The sooner she made peace with that, the better. It would make her life with me a hell of a lot easier … for both us.
I gave Scott the order to start locating all of Jaden’s family. I wanted to, at least, obtain the leverage first. It was time to get the wheels of that train in motion.
~*~
I woke up several hours later absolutely starving. I had missed dinner yesterday as well as breakfast this morning because, when I looked back over at the clock, it was after two in the afternoon. Holy fuck, I couldn’t believe I had slept that long or that Darren had allowed me to sleep that long. I guess he knew I needed it. I was still sore as fuck, but sleep made me feel well enough to leave the bed. Darren was nowhere to be found again, so I imagined he left me alone to sleep. I looked over at his nightstand and found a note from him.
I’ll be working from my office today.
Go get yourself some breakfast and I will find you later.
No going outside.
-Darren
It was weird to see his elegant yet completely masculine handwriting. Another perfection of his. I grabbed one of his dress shirts from the closet, wrapped it around myself, and left his room, heading for my own. I used the bathroom, which was not comfortable to use and braided my mop of a head into a loose braid, draping it to one side so it fell down to the right side of my neck, covering the bite mark that lingered there. I then chose a very loose fitting, rosy red high-low dress and put on the lightest amount of makeup possible. I slipped on some black flats and headed down for “breakfast” or an early dinner, as I should have called it.
When I entered the dining room, it was all but empty except for one guard who stood next to the window until Pascal hurried through the swinging door that led into the kitchen.
“Ah, good afternoon, mademoiselle,” he said in a heavy French accent. I gave him a fake smile, shocked that he was even talking to me, especially in front of a guard. Was this even allowed? “What would you like to eat?” he asked me with a wide happy grin.
It was strange having another man actually address me without Darren shooting daggers at him with his eyes. It was so nice for another person to actually acknowledge me for once.
I gave him a small smirk. “How about French toast?” I asked with a hint of amusement.
He returned my smile though his was heavy with entertainment. “Ah-ha!” He pointed at me with laughter. “Excellent choice! Have a seat! It will be out shortly. Prepare to have your taste buds mesmerized!” And then he disappeared behind the door.
What a weird little man. At least someone was in a good mood around here.
I took a seat and made myself some tea. In five minutes flat, Pascal came out with a fresh batch of cinnamon French toast sprinkled with powdered sugar and a side of real maple syrup. It was the most delicious French toast I had ever tasted. I thanked Pascal, and he cheerfully disappeared back into the kitchen.
Once I was done with my breakfast, I wandered the house for a while. I checked out the theater, contemplating on catching up with some of my favorite shows. God knows I had been dying to see the final season of Sons of Anarchy. I spent the next hour looking through the library before I became bored of that and headed into the living room. I had so much space to explore, and here I was, bored with it already. There was no true freedom if you were limited to a cage, no matter how big the cage.
Since I had no desire to work out today, I wandered the house for hours—memorizing every room, every corner, every crevice—until I knew it like the back of my hand. I discovered the posts of many of the guards throughout the house—not as many as I had thought there would be. Only five monitored the inside of the house, but so far, I had only ever seen three monitor the outside. I noticed the ones outside carried assault rifles in their hands at all times, while the ones inside seemed to carry concealed.
I eventually found myself wandering through the library. I decided to look for a book on electricity that might help me figure out how to break this damn collar around my throat. I did eventually find something, but it didn’t really have the information I was looking for.
As I sat on the couch near the bay window, I looked out at the ocean, wishing I could go jogging on the beach. That would be nice. But the mechanical sound of a weed eater coming close by drowned out my daydream. As it got closer to the window, I realized it was the same gardener who stared at me the one day.
As he looked up from his work, he caught my gaze, and he stared back at me, obviously focusing on my face again. He really was recognizing me! I wondered if he knew me from the news. Oh, God, what if he was going to report me to the police? Darren had already warned me about the police being in his pocket. I couldn’t let this man jeopardize himself so I glared at him and slowly shook my head, hoping he would heed my warning. He gave me a sad look, nodded, and then went about his work. I hoped that put an end to whatever he was thinking because I knew the consequences of those thoughts would probably affect me as well.
Darren met up with me a little while later. We had dinner together on the patio and watched a movie in the theater. I fell asleep against his side before the movie was over, and he carried me to bed and tucked me in under the sheets. I fell asleep almost instantly as Darren pulled me to his chest and spooned me from behind. My body was still sore and tired, and I was just ready for the day to be over.
***
I felt something tickle my hand and trickle down my finger. Reluctantly, I slowly opened my eyes and watched a giant black spider crawl down my finger and onto the bed beside me. Like a fire had been lit under my ass, panic enveloped me and I jolted from the bed as far away from the spider as I could, practically rolling myself over Darren’s body. He woke instantly, and with his arm still draped around my torso, stopped me from rolling over him and slammed me back down on the bed back next to the spider.
“What the fuck!” Darren shouted at me.
“Fuck! No! Kill it! Kill it!” I shrieked, as I tried to inch away from the spider and further into Darren.
“What?” he looked at me angrily and confused.
“Kill it!” I pointed.
He leaned over to look at the spider I was freaking out about and immediately laughed at me as if it was the funniest thing he’d ever seen.
“Are you fucking serious?” He laughed hysterically. “My little warrior princess is scared of a harmless little spider?”
“Just kill it already!”
He shook his head, smirking, as he leaned over and flicked the spider off the bed.
“Did you kill it?” I asked in a panic and leaned over to make sure it was dead, but I couldn’t find it.
“Trust me. I know how to make things dead.” He gave me that sexy shark grin of his.
“Oh, thank God,” I said, ignoring his comment about making things dead. I rested my head back on the pillows with a sigh of relief.
“Of all the things you could be scared of, I never thought spiders would be one of them.”
“Yeah, yeah, it’s hilarious, I know.” I rolled my eyes at him. “But when I was a young kid, I was running through the woods and accidentally ran through a giant web of spiders. They got in my hair, crawled on my face, and all over my clothes. I’ve been traumatized ever since.”
“My poor little Jaden.” He snickered. “Don’t worry. I’ll protect you from all the spiders.” He leaned over and kissed my forehead, a
smart-ass grin smacked across his face.
I put my hands over my face and rubbed my eyes, groaning in absolute embarrassment. I just watched this man take on four men with arnises, and here I was freaking out about a little fucking spider. God, I felt pathetic, but I could never shake the trauma I felt whenever I thought back to that moment where I wanted to rip my skin and hair out.
Darren just continued to chuckle at me and kissed my temple. “So adorable.” He smirked and then smiled down at me.
Wow, that smile was something else. Genuine, honest, and for some reason, sexy as hell. It was suddenly hard to believe I was looking up at the same man who had caused me so much pain the night before, yet here he was practically beaming at me and rescuing me from my childhood fears. I hated the whiplash I felt when he was a complete monster one minute and a total heartthrob the next. I didn’t know what to make of it, but I certainly appreciated the heartthrob to the monster any day.
I briefly wondered if behaving for him would actually keep the monster at bay, or if it would still require its fix. Darren was easier to tolerate when he was just the cocky asshole; I could handle that. But it was when the true colors of his cruelty shined through that I found myself wanting to run for the hills.
He wanted me to see both sides of him, the man and the monster, both of which he expected me to fear, love, and obey. The man was the one obsessed with keeping me while the monster was the one obsessed with hurting me. One to revel in my submission and the other to combat my defiance. I would have to learn how to manage the two, to keep them in line so they fed from each other and not from me. Maybe I could bring Darren to heel for once—show him the rewards for treating me well instead of merely dismissing them. Maybe then he would forgot about my family and solely focus on me. Maybe all I really had to do was distract him from the bigger picture. I had so much experimenting to do.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Tests and Lessons
Another month went by and it was officially fall and football season. Almost every Sunday, Darren and I, and some days even Scott, would spend a few hours in front of the big screen TV in the living room, enjoying a beer and watching the game. It was amusing watching Darren react to the game, true emotion coming out of him without restraint. Sometimes it was anger, but most of the time, it was fits of thunderous joy. But for someone who was in charge of a criminal organization, seeing him watch and enjoy football almost made Darren seem normal—human—and it fascinated me.
Once, I made the mistake of letting him pull me into his lap during a game, and when his team scored the winning touchdown, he had leaped off the couch with such force, I flew off him and landed on the floor. He hadn’t even noticed until he saw me on the ground scowling at him, rushing his arm down to help me up and apologizing sincerely. It was weird to hear him apologize, but I guess if he unintentionally hurt me, he did feel bad about it. Maybe there was hope for him yet.
As far as actually watching the games, I really only paid attention when the Lions were playing. It brought back so many memories with Jason, and I had to try so hard not to let Darren see my heartbreak. Sometimes, I would need to excuse myself so I could collect my thoughts and dismiss them before they threatened to consume me. At one point, I thought Darren was starting to catch on, but eventually, my memories got easier to ignore.
Oftentimes, he would catch me staring out the window, lost in my own thoughts and longing to be outside. I really wasn’t an indoor girl. I loved to be outside and active, soaking up the sun and enjoying the world around me.
Ever since I had been taken, a lot more came into perspective—what was important and what wasn’t. I needed to stay as positive as I possibly could in this kind of situation, and the only way to do that was to surround myself with all the things I loved. My only problem—Darren kept so many of them away. I hated being cooped up in the house all day. Granted, my cage had expanded immensely since my confinement to my room, but it wouldn’t be enough. It would never be enough.
During halftime, Darren noticed me leaning against the arm of the couch, my chin resting on my folded arms as I stared out the window. I felt his hand graze my back in a gentle sweep, and I turned my head back over my shoulder to acknowledge him.
“What’s on your mind?” Darren asked me.
I wanted to lie. I wanted to say nothing, but he would know and then I’d be in trouble. So I spit the truth out as I usually did.
“I’m just wondering when you’re going to let me go outside when you’re gone,” I said, trying to sound as pathetic and puppy dog like as I could.
He rolled his eyes and sank back on the couch, eyeing me intensely.
“I just gave you free roam of the house when I’m gone, and now, you’re already pushing to go outside?”
“Hey, you asked, and I told you the truth. You can’t be mad at me for that,” I replied, my voice picking up a bit.
He sighed and stared off into space for a moment before returning his gaze to the TV to finish watching the game. Eventually, he spoke up again after I turned my head back around to continue looking out the window.
“Is that something that you seriously need?” He leaned forward, staring at me intently. “With more freedoms come more rules and responsibilities.”
“Yes,” I asserted softly. “I feel like I’m starting to suffocate in here.”
I knew there would always be rules whenever it came to new freedoms, but eventually, they would change when Darren could see I wouldn’t betray him. He stared at me for a moment; his face was expressionless as I searched his eyes for any hope he might ease my suffering.
“I’ll think about it,” he finally said and turned his attention back to the game. That was meant to be the end of the discussion … but I was stupid, so …
“No, don’t think about it,” I replied, turning my body to him completely. “You said you wanted me to be happy. This will make me happier, and I will respond to you better when you stop keeping me cooped up in the house all day.”
He quickly turned his head and narrowed his gaze on me. I had probably stepped out of line.
“I’ve expressly told you my decisions were final. When I said I would think about it, I will do exactly that and nothing more. Do not push your luck with me, Jaden,” he warned.
I could have slumped into myself. I could have let his words discourage me, but I wanted to experiment with something and see where it got me. I leaned forward and put both of my hands on the couch, staring at him with a sexy yet sorry look on my face. And then I slowly crawled over to him from the couch.
“You’re right,” I said softly. “I’m sorry.”
His eyes watched every move I made as I gently eased myself over him and straddled his lap, placing my hands on his muscular shoulders.
“Please don’t be mad at me. I know you know what’s best. I didn’t mean to push,” I said carefully, sighing as I ran my hands down his chest.
I wasn’t really trying to seduce him, he would catch on to that, but I thought if he actually took it for an apology, he might fall into the seduction of my submission to him rather than deny me flat out if I fought him physically. If fighting for what I wanted meant giving him the kind of submission he liked, then I would learn to work that to my advantage.
I sighed a defeated breath, hoping he would notice my surrender. “Forgive me?”
He released a short breath through his nose, and suddenly, kissed me on the mouth. His hands went to the nape of my neck, pulling me to him while his tongue sunk into my mouth. I moaned into his lips, giving him what he wanted while his hands eventually found their way into my hair. And then, before I knew it, he was roughly dragging me down by my hair to sit between his legs while he released his cock from his pants. Pulling my face toward his lap, I didn’t hesitate knowing full well what he wanted and took his straining erection into my mouth.
I managed to suck him off in under three minutes and swallowed his entire load as he expected me to. My throat was a little sore then from the hea
d of his cock bumping against it, but in the end, I considered it a win. I ultimately wanted to see if I could affect him the way I wanted to and I had. It didn’t matter that it ended in a blowjob; what mattered was that it ended the way I intended it to—him giving into an urge I was creating, my way of manipulating him.
With that sort of behavior, I knew he would grant my request eventually. I hoped by next week, though, because I was going fucking insane inside this house.
***
Another week went by and I was beginning to grow antsy. Darren still hadn’t approved my request to go outside while he was gone, and I was barely able to go out even when he was here. It was as if he was deliberately stalling to spite me for my transgression when I had initially complained about him only thinking about it. I didn’t bring it up again, though. Instead, I would blankly stare out the window for the longest time, committing to the importance of my request.
I barely ever went outside unless I was with him, and that was only if he even wanted to go outside. Sometimes, we’d go for walks along the beach when he had time, and once, we went swimming, but he was always so busy so it was rare. I wanted to be free to go wherever I wanted, whenever I wanted. I was over being on a fucking leash all the time.
I had already completely explored the inside of the house, knowing absolutely everything about it I could learn on my own, but now, I needed to know the grounds that surrounded it. I needed to know how big the estate was, what surrounded it, and hopefully, I could finally figure out where the fuck I was being held because it certainly wasn’t Michigan. Darren wouldn’t even leave his newspapers around for me to find, and it annoyed the fuck out of me.
