by Penelope Sky
“Who said I did?”
“Not your mouth. But your eyes certainly say you do.”
I didn’t care if he was right. I didn’t care if he was sexy and confident. This man was standing in the way of my freedom, and I wouldn’t let him become an obstacle. If I did sleep with him, he would only hold on to me tighter. It would make it harder to escape. It would make it harder for me to want to escape. Living with him had been a vacation compared to the hell I was used to. It would be easy to get comfortable and never leave. “You’re confusing arousal with hatred.”
“Who says you can’t have both?” He leaned closer to me over the table, invading my personal space as usual. His hand slid to the back of my elbow where his fingers lightly touched me. He glanced at my lips before my eyes, his desire dancing on the surface of his eyes.
I pulled my arm away, getting away from his touch. “You could bed any woman you want. Don’t waste your time with me.”
“I don’t want any woman. I want you.”
I turned back to him, seeing the sincerity written around his muscular jaw. He wanted to kiss me again, this time not on the neck. He wanted to kiss me everywhere, to explore my body with his mouth. “Why?”
“Why what?”
“Why me?” I asked.
The corner of his mouth rose in a smile, like the question amused him. “Look at you.” His hand moved into my hair, his fingers lightly tucking the strands behind my ear. He was gentle with me, just like the last time he touched me. Unlike Egor, he didn’t possess evil cruelty. He glanced at my lips again. “Those soft lips. The sass that flies out of them.” His eyes moved to my right cheek. “These rose petal cheeks.” He dragged the backs of his fingers across my skin. “The little freckles I would love to kiss. Those brown eyes…like my hot coffee in the morning.” His hand moved to my neck next, gripping me delicately. “That thick hair I want to fist. You’re exquisite, Mia. Fucking exquisite.” His fingers moved to my chin, and he directed his gaze on me. “You’ve got a backbone made of steel. I don’t know anyone else who would jump out of a speeding car and run. I don’t know anyone else who would dare insult a man like me. I don’t know anyone else who could have endured what you have but still hold your head high. I’ll say it again…fucking exquisite.” He dropped his hand but kept his grip on me with his eyes. “Those scars on your back… I’m not going to lie. I like them. The idea of hurting you gets me hard. I know you can handle it, which makes me want you more.”
His touch aroused me, and I hated the way he could make me feel just by looking at me. Egor had done terrible things to me, and even though Carter admitted he wanted to hurt me, I knew the two men weren’t comparable. If Carter really were cruel, he would chain me up and do whatever he wanted. But he never crossed that line…always giving me the power to say yes or no.
Right now, he wanted me to say yes.
I respected him for giving me rights. In the cold world we lived in, any form of kindness was appreciated. My expectations of men had declined over the years. Despite the fact that Carter had bought me, he exceeded my expectations.
“Let me hurt you.” His eyes focused on my face, taking in my features with authority. He continued to give me a choice even though he didn’t want to. It was like he hated himself for giving me any kind of rights.
“You want to hurt me,” I whispered. “I want to be free. Let’s make an exchange.”
He sat back in his chair, withdrawing his heat. He cocked his head to the side slightly, prepared to listen to my pitch.
“I’ll be what you want me to be…if you let me go.”
He released a quiet breath with his nostrils flared.
“I’ll do what you want. I’ll let you do what you want. Whatever it is. If you let me go when you’re finished.” I didn’t want to be whipped until I bled. I didn’t want to be choked until I passed out. I didn’t want to be in pain anymore. But with Carter, it was a sacrifice I was willing to make…to be free.
He said nothing, his jaw clenched tightly.
“Carter.”
“I told you I would never let you go.”
“And I’m never going to fuck you…willingly.”
His eyebrows slowly furrowed, his anger filling the room. A shadow passed across the window, making it darker in the room. His rage was palpable. Like a king who had just been defied, he was planning the best execution.
“This is the only way you get what you want. Just let me go. You’re going to get bored with me eventually. I won’t tell anyone you bought me…if you’ll just let me be free.”
He shook his head slightly. “There is one other way.”
“What?” I asked, confused.
“If you try to escape. If you break your rule, I can break mine too.”
My heart started to race again.
“I’m not stupid, Mia. I know you’ll make your move eventually. Take this as a friendly warning. When you try, you won’t get away. I’ll be as cruel as your previous master. I will open those old wounds and drain you of all your blood. But if you take me now…I’ll be kind. I’ll be gentle. You’ll always have the power to ask me to stop, to ask me to be gentler. I’ll make you come—all night long. You will enjoy it as much as I do. You may be strong and smart…but you’ll never match me. I’m an opponent you can’t defeat. So, think about it…and make the right decision.”
Carter was right. I had underestimated him.
He gave me another option, but since that option didn’t give me what I wanted, I couldn’t take it.
Despite the threat he’d unleashed, I couldn’t let it deter me. I had to get out of here.
I retrieved my phone from behind the crock in the kitchen then carried it into my room to take a look. I played the video and fast-forwarded it to the moment when Carter entered the code into the alarm system.
I got it.
I got all five numbers and the pound key.
I had the code to escape this place.
A light of hope shone from my heart, and it was the first time I’d felt excitement in the last three years. I’d accomplished something I didn’t think was possible. I had the code to turn off the alarm. If I left while he was asleep, I would be hours ahead of him. He wouldn’t notice until the following morning, and by then, I could be anywhere.
And if I took one of his cars and crashed it into a lake, he wouldn’t even know where to begin to look for me.
I could run and disappear. Once he stopped searching for me, I could reveal myself again.
But then I remembered one little flaw in my plan.
The tracker.
It was embedded in my ankle, deep underneath the scar tissue.
I didn’t have any other choice. I would have to cut it out.
There would be so much blood, so much pain. It would be disgusting, staining the bed all the way down to the mattress. I didn’t know how to do stitches, and even if I did, I doubt he had the supplies. I would have to bandage it up as best as I could before I fled.
I didn’t want to do it.
But I had to.
I had to do whatever was necessary to get out of there.
And finally go home.
I made dinner that night, a mixed green salad with chicken and rice. Carter had someone drop off groceries at the house, and I was told to make meals based on what was brought. I worked in the kitchen, roasting the chicken in the oven while I perfected the rice on the stove. I used to cook at home all the time. It was a regular part of my life. When I was stuck with Egor, all those everyday luxuries were taken from me. It was nice to be in the kitchen, nice to cook a meal I could actually enjoy.
Carter was in the living room, watching TV, shirtless like always. He enjoyed his scotch, a nighttime ritual he’d done every single evening since I’d arrived. If he didn’t have such a strong hold on his faculties, I would be concerned by how much he drank. He could hold his liquor better than anyone else I knew, even Egor.
I eyed the sharp steak knife sitting on the counter. With a razor edge and m
ade of stainless steel, it was the perfect instrument to remove the tracker from my ankle. It would be painful, but since I’d found a stash of bandages in the downstairs bathroom, I should be able to make it work.
I just had to sneak it into my room.
Carter had stopped locking me in my bedroom a week ago, confident that the tracker and alarm system would be enough to keep me inside. His bedroom and office were locked, so there was no way I could get to him.
Unless I burned the house down.
That wasn’t the worst idea…except I didn’t want to kill him.
I shouldn’t care about granting him mercy just because he wasn’t evil like Egor. He wouldn’t rape me, but he wouldn’t give me my freedom either. There might be different degrees of evil, but at the end of the day, it was still evil in its most basic form.
It shouldn’t matter that I found him attractive…despite everything I’d been through.
But I still couldn’t do it.
I finished dinner then set the plates on the coffee table in the living room. In the morning, Carter liked to sit at the dining table, but in the evening, he liked to sit in front of the TV. For most of the day, he was either on the phone, working out, or taking care of things in his office. I hadn’t seen him leave once, with the exception of a family emergency.
I wondered if he would ever leave.
It would make my plan easier. I could do all of this when he was out of the house, rather than if he was asleep. But since I had no idea when that would happen, I didn’t want to wait a day longer than I had to.
Carter’s eyes watched my movements as I set the plate in front of him. “This looks good.”
“Thanks.” I sat on the other couch with my plate, enjoying a glass of wine since I would need it for the pain I was about to self-induce.
Instead of digging in, he kept looking at me. Egor always infected my space with his disgusting touch. Carter could do it with just a look. An intense and deep gaze that made my skin prickle and form bumps.
I ignored him, pretending his penetrating stare didn’t affect me as much as it really did.
He finally turned to his food and started eating. Even when he was hunched forward over his food, his stomach was still rigid with his tight abs. His tanned skin was firm everywhere, covering thick and powerful muscles. He cut into his food and took a bite. “Tastes as good as it looks.”
“Thank you.”
“I wonder if you taste as good as you look.”
I refused to look at him, telling myself this would be my last night with him. Even if a part of me wanted to stay here, to have a comfortable life cooking and cleaning, I couldn’t stay. I had a life waiting for me.
“Hopefully, I won’t have to wonder for long.”
I took a bite and chewed. “You know what I think?”
“Tell me.” He drank his scotch. “I find that smart mouth as appealing as the rest of you.”
I brushed off his words, annoyed with myself that I found his asshole comments charming. “I think you only want me because you can’t have me. I’m just an object, a prize. Another notch on your belt. I’m something you can collect, something that can boost your ego. Since I don’t want you, it shakes your confidence. Now getting between my legs is a matter of pride. Why else won’t you force me? Because it’s a game to you. The point doesn’t count if you cheat.”
Instead of being angry about what I said, he released a quiet chuckle. “Your rejection doesn’t shake my confidence. And your rejection doesn’t make me want you more. Regardless of your attraction to me, you’ve suffered a great deal. Why would any woman who’s experienced those things want to spread her legs ever again? No, the reason I want you is simply because I want you, because I admire your fire, your bravery, and your endurance. From head to toe, I find you beautiful. From the scars on your back to your perfectly soft lips, I think you’re a very desirable woman. Trust me, I’m not the kind of man who goes for women in this situation. I may pay for sex from time to time, but that’s only because whores are kinkier. I never thought I would be attracted to someone like you, when I’ve bedded all kinds of women—from virgins who wanted me to be their first, to women who wanted me to fuck them in the ass. You don’t fit my palate at all. I’ve never been into slaves. But that doesn’t change anything. I want you, Mia.”
I believed every word he said because his actions proved it. He wouldn’t respect my rights otherwise. But there was something missing from his explanation. “I’m not a slave. I’m a prisoner—big difference. And if you don’t like prisoners, why did you buy me?”
He turned back to his scotch and took a long drink. “I already answered you.”
“Just to piss off someone?” I asked incredulously. “Sounds like more work than it’s worth.”
“I don’t know about that… I get to look at your every day.” He picked up his fork and started to eat again. “You cook for me. You clean for me. And I think I’m going to start having you wear lingerie while you do all those things.”
“I’m not wearing lingerie.”
His authoritative gaze turned back to me. “Pick your battles, sweetheart. Because you won’t win them all.”
The threat was clear, and I knew he would make good on his word if I pushed him. If I wanted to keep my legs closed, I would have to comply in other ways. My temper naturally flared, but I kept it reined in, knowing it was better to remain silent.
He went back to eating, his eyes turning to the TV.
I hoped the hostility for the evening had departed. A few hours after he was asleep, I would make my move. I would cut out the tracker from my ankle, turn off the alarm, and take off in one of his cars.
I would be free.
So I shut my mouth and ate my dinner in silence.
I did the dishes and cleaned the kitchen before I went to bed. Carter walked up the stairs before me, so I slipped the knife into the back pocket of my jeans and covered the handle with my shirt. I walked up the stairs a moment later, seeing his bedroom closed at the end of the hall.
I walked into mine and shut the door behind me.
I’d done it.
I pulled out the knife and slipped it under the sheets of my bed. There was no lock on my bedroom door, not from the inside. So I quickly stashed the knife away just in case Carter came back to say anything else.
I passed the time by lying in bed with the knife beside me, staring at the ceiling as the night deepened. Carter had never burst into my bedroom in the middle of the night, but I wanted to play the part just in case his behavior was different. The more I rejected him, the more he pursued me. He might take it a step further and come into my bedroom unannounced, naked and hard.
There was a clock on my nightstand, so I kept glancing at it, waiting for the time to pass.
Waiting until three a.m. seemed to take a lifetime.
Carter was usually awake before eight in the morning, so he had to be asleep by one at the latest. But I waited a few extra hours to make sure he was asleep before I made my move.
When three a.m. arrived, I finally got to work.
My heart was beating hard in terror. Panic was heavy in my throat, and my breath came out shaky despite how hard I worked to stay calm. My hands were shaking, both from fear and excitement. The thought of breaking free tonight gave me a kind of high I couldn’t come down from. It was what I wanted more than anything in the world. I couldn’t let this opportunity slip away from me.
That wasn’t an option.
I pulled a stack of towels to the bedside and prepared for the first step.
Removing the tracker.
I’d never done anything like this in my life. My fingers felt exactly where the tracker was under the skin, the definitive shape it made when I pressed my fingers down. It wasn’t very big, so it should be easy to remove—if I cut myself in the right way.
I was scared of what might happen, but I reminded myself I’d been through worse—at Egor’s hands. He’d whipped me until I bled all over the bed.
He’d punched me in the face when I resisted him. He even broke my leg when I slapped him. There was nothing I could do to myself that would hurt more than that.
So I held my breath and did it.
It hurt like a bitch. There was blood everywhere. But I kept calm and finished the procedure, setting the small tracker on the bed beside me. I bandaged myself up and ignored the pain shooting up my leg. There was a possibility of an infection, but when I was free, I could visit a doctor to get what I needed.
Now, I had to move.
I placed the pillows under the sheet to make it look like I was still sleeping there. I placed the tracker there too, just in case he checked my coordinates randomly. I tossed the bloody towels into the bathroom then crept into the hallway.
His bedroom door was still shut.
The hallway was dark because all the lights were still out. I didn’t risk turning them on and gripped the wooden rail to guide myself down to the bottom floor. Without breathing and with small movements, I descended without making the wooden steps creak. When I reached the first floor, I made my way to the kitchen.
The alarm pad was outlined in blue light, each of the buttons easily visible in the darkness. I’d memorized the five-digit code he entered yesterday, so I typed in the code without having to check twice. There was always a possibility he’d changed it since yesterday, but I took the gamble.
The alarm gave a slight beep before it was turned off.
Yes.
I knew where his garage was even though I’d never been inside. My inspection of the house had left me empty-handed in regard to his car keys. I had no idea where he left them. They were nowhere in the house, and unless he took them to his bedroom, there was only one place they could be.
In the garage.
I opened the door and stepped inside the large garage. I flicked on the lights, revealing six different sports cars. Two were black, two were red, one was blue, and another yellow.
I grinned, tasting freedom on my tongue. I didn’t even notice the pain in my ankle or the blood dripping down my foot. Now that I’d gotten this far, there was nothing that was going to stop me.
