Eli pulls me into him, wrapping his arms around me as though he wants to hug me. And for some reason, I don’t want to fight it anymore. Instead, I yield into his warm embrace and let the devil comfort me, no matter how evil it is. Tears flow freely as he gently caresses my back, reminding me of what it feels like to be touched by someone. I can’t remember the last time my boyfriend ever touched me like this, so warm and kindly as though there isn’t anything I could do wrong. And it moves me to the point of wanting to hug him back.
But this is my captor. The man who just plucked me out of the library and shoved me into his car. I shouldn’t feel any of these things when I’m around him, and the fact I do makes it even more confusing.
“That’s it, angel … let it all out,” he says, caressing me like I’m his pet.
And I don’t even mind. I’ll take this over that buzzing between my legs any day. In fact, it feels so good that my whole body just relaxes in his arms, like I’ve waited for his embrace since he came into my room. And now my emotions are a whirlwind of a mess.
He picks me up and carries me in his arms all the way to the private bathroom. There he sets me down on the chair and turns on the faucet in the bathtub. He goes to his knees and takes off my heels that I couldn’t kick off in bed because of the straps. He softly places them on the floor beside me while his hand creeps up my leg ever so gently like a lover would touch his woman. And I’m so terribly confused by my own body’s reaction to his petting that I just go along with it.
His hands slide all the way up my dress, creeping underneath the fabric, only to tug at the panties that hold the buzzer in place. My thighs unclench, and he slowly tugs the panties down my legs so carefully that I’m almost starting to wonder if he won’t dare to touch me.
But that makes no sense. He captured me like a goddamn animal and keeps me in a cage. Why would he go through all that trouble if he could just grab what he wanted and use me?
I shiver in place from just the thought. And he pauses with undressing me right as the panties are at my toes.
“Don’t think so much, Amelia,” he says. “It will make you lose your mind.”
“Too late,” I respond, trying not to look at him, but it’s so damn hard when he looks at me like that, so warm yet so possessive, like a teacher trying to woo his assistant into submission.
Before I can say another word, he slips my dress over my head and takes it off. When he sets his eyes on me, I clench my legs together and clutch my chest.
“Why do you want to hide so badly?” he asks.
I throw him a look and don’t respond, but he knows damn well why.
He shrugs and turns around, feeling the temperature of the water before flicking his hand to rid himself of the droplets. “It’s warm enough. Hop in.”
I lift a brow and look at him. “Why?”
“You’re dirty,” he retorts, cocking his head. “Didn’t you feel the beads of sweat dripping down your back while you were coming?”
I almost choke on my own saliva. I can’t believe he said that out loud. And for some reason, it makes my cheeks flush with heat.
He nods at the water. “Go on.”
I hesitate for a moment, staring at him just to gauge how pissed off he’d get if I didn’t do what he says. Maybe now wouldn’t be the smartest time to do that. I mean, he’s warming up to me, and it’d be a shame to waste his trust. Maybe I can use it to my advantage. If I make him believe I’m a good girl … would it be easier to fool him until I find a way out?
I gather my courage and get up from the seat, still clutching myself as I huddle toward the bathtub and step inside. The water is warm and feels so good on my aching body, but I can’t enjoy it because he’s still here staring at me.
“What do you want me to do?” I ask.
“Clean yourself,” he answers.
Waiting, I continue to stare at him, hoping he’ll leave, but he doesn’t.
“What are you waiting for?” he asks.
“Can I have a little privacy?”
He shakes his head and grabs another strand of my hair, twirling it in his fingers. “Perhaps. But you’ll have to earn my trust, angel.”
Goose bumps scatter on my skin. I lean away so my hair falls from his fingers. “Fine. Can I at least have a towel or something? To cover up?”
He leans in over the bathtub, taking in a deep breath while he momentarily closes his eyes, almost as if he’s savoring the smell. “There is nothing to hide, Amelia. I’ve already seen enough … and I enjoyed every second of it.”
My cheeks turn crimson red. When he opens his eyes again, we engage in a stare down, and my whole body begins to shake again.
“You get off on this, don’t you?” I retort.
A smirk spreads on his lips. “Not enough.”
I throw him a shady look. “I’d like to know what kind of evil deserves this punishment,” I growl, rage bubbling up to the surface again.
“That’s something you need to find out for yourself,” he says.
I roll my eyes and throw my head back, groaning with annoyance.
He grips my hand. “You begged me to, Amelia. Do not forget.”
“But if I ask you to let me go, you’ll refuse, won’t you?”
“Because that’s not what you need,” he retorts.
Tears well up in my eyes again. “I just want my freedom back … please.”
I’m hoping, praying, that my pleading will have an effect on him, but he doesn’t seem the least bit fazed. It’s almost as if he’s seen me do this a million times before. Like he’s grown used to it. And that makes me wonder … am I the first girl he’s done this to?
“Your freedom is tied to your punishment …”
I rub my lips together and look away. “Right.”
“All you have to do is confess and forgive.”
Confess and forgive?
I make a tsk sound. As if it’s so easy. Like I can just call out whatever I did and end this. Like I can just forgive him after all this.
“How can I forgive you?” I ask.
“It’s not me who needs forgiving,” he replies, raising his brow at me when I turn my head to face him.
My pupils dilate as the realization of what he means hits me.
“I know you think it’s impossible, but give it time,” he says.
“You want to keep me here in this gilded cage, but you won’t tell me why, and all you wanna do is punish me because I asked?” My lip trembles. “What if I told you a lie? Huh? What if I never meant it? What if I just wanted attention?”
He glares right back at me as though he can see straight through me. And the palm of his hand rises to meet my face, caressing my cheek so softly that it almost makes me turn into putty. “A girl like you doesn’t lie. She only forgets.”
Then he gets up and walks out the door, but not before adding, “Clean yourself and put on a nightgown. My assistant will be watching you, so don’t try anything.”
Someone? Watching me? How?
Then it hits me.
There’s a reason they knew exactly when to come into my room. And why he’s so sure of the fact that I won’t harm him, or that I could escape if I tried.
There are cameras.
Chapter 11
Eli
“How is she doing?”
I sit down in my chair and pick up my glass of whiskey, taking a sip before I answer Tobias’s question.
“Fine,” I reply.
For the situation she’s in, anyway. But I’m not keen on divulging much. A part of me knows it would be beneficial if I did, but I don’t trust him enough to explain every little detail of what went down. I know he’s waiting for me to mess up, but I won’t give him that satisfaction. Not willingly anyway.
“Fine how? Scared? In pain? Completely out of it?”
I clutch my chair and stare at him with intent as he keeps digging for more. “Does it matter? I’m handling it.”
I’m doing this my way. Slow and gentle, so sh
e gets eased into it. With a girl like her, that’s definitely necessary. It’ll be hard but not impossible.
“Well, I need to know how our newest addition is doing,” he says, clutching his hands together and leaning forward. “There’s no way of telling how she’ll react, and we need to be prepared.”
“I don’t need your lecture, Tobias. I know how it works.” I put my glass down again.
His brow rises. “I’m just saying, maybe we should keep tabs.”
“The cameras do their job just fine,” I retort.
“I know that,” he says, looking at me from underneath his lashes. “But are you sure you can control her?” He narrows his eyes at me, and I do the same in response. I know he’s testing me, and I know damn well why. “Because it looks to me as though you can’t control yourself either.”
My fingers dig into the leather seat. “I’m fine. I’ve got this. Don’t worry about it. Keep your eyes on your own job.”
“I just don’t want this to backfire.” He leans forward in his seat. “You know we have a protocol. We don’t pick up the girls. They are brought to us. Bringing them in like this out of the blue is really dangerous. Especially if they can’t even remember—”
I slam my fist onto the elbow rest. “Enough!”
He sits back and cocks his head. “In control, you said? Do you even see your own wrath?”
He’s just pushing me, but I won’t let him test me like this.
I look at the fire instead of his eyes. “You do remember who leads this House, don’t you?” With renewed energy, I gaze at him, determined not to let him poke at my boundaries. “What are you?”
“An advisor,” he says, sighing.
“Exactly. So behave like it.”
“I try,” he says with another sigh. “But you won’t let me.”
“I don’t need you to belittle my choices. I picked her up for a reason. She needs this,” I reply.
“If you say so,” he mutters, turning to gaze at the fire. “But she’s volatile. She will fight this more than any other. And if she manages to escape, this whole place could be exposed.”
“She won’t,” I say. I pick up my whiskey and take another sip. God only knows I need it. “I’ll make sure of that.”
Amelia
When my eyes open, it feels as though minutes have passed, but the sun is already blinding me.
Fuck.
I failed.
My muscles ache and my bones creak as I try to get up from the wooden chair. Oh God, I really shouldn’t have fallen asleep here, out of all places.
Apparently, my body couldn’t take another night of no sleep.
I groan and rub my eyes, wishing I could slap myself, but that would do me no good. I should’ve just stayed awake.
I even looked at myself in the mirror last night just to force myself to stay in the moment. My eyes were red and puffy, but the rest of me was as white as a ghost. But when I tried to sit down to take a moment of rest, I still slipped away even though I avoided the comfy bed with that soft blanket and heavenly pillow that I was dying to drown myself into.
And all I could think about at that moment was that man. Eli. And how he could make me beg with a simple stare. Just the memory of him strapping me to the bed makes goose bumps scatter on my skin again.
One minute, he was a gentleman, his touch like feathers on my skin, and the next, he trapped me on the bed and forced me to come over and over until I was completely wasted. Is that my punishment? Is this what I deserve?
No, I mustn’t think like that. None of this is my fault. I didn’t ask for any of this.
But you did ask him to punish you.
I close my eyes and force myself to remember why, but I can’t for the life of me bring it to the forefront of my mind. All I remember is the guilt swirling through my veins with every step I took, every book I placed back in the bookcase, every word I uttered.
I am guilty. And I need to be punished.
But for what?
I groan to myself, wishing I wasn’t such a mystery, even to myself.
But Eli knows … he knows exactly what I did, and he won’t tell me. Not until I’ve succumbed to every one of his devilish, twisted ideas.
What else does he have in store for me?
I rub the bridge of my nose. I wish I could remember why I’d even say those damn words, but the longer I mull over it, the more I’m coming up with blanks.
Maybe I only said it because I was bored with my life, and when I was trapped by this handsome stranger offering a chance at something else, I took it. And that’s exactly why he did it. Why he pretended to be so charming, why he was such a gentleman to begin with …. To lure me in.
My hand balls into a fist, and I slam it onto the elbow rest. “Dammit!”
I’m just making myself crazy by rehashing it all. I’m still stuck here in this room that’s more like a gilded prison than anything else. There are only two ways out of here—one is by force, and the other is by playing along until I can find a way to escape.
And I’ve already deduced option one isn’t worth the risk. I was never a fighter anyway … but I am a thinker, so surely, this brain can find a way out of this mess I started, can’t it?
Suddenly, the door handle is pushed down, and I jolt up from the chair and bolt to the corner of the room, one of only two spots not seen by the cameras. Yeah, I’ve done my research. Last night I looked at all of the ones I could find and pinpointed their reach by watching them move. Lucky for me, there are blind spots where I’ll be at least a little bit safer. As far as safety is ever possible in a house like this.
Who knows what lies beyond those doors that just opened. I don’t.
But she does.
Her footsteps are like light little taps as the girl steps inside. The door is still open behind her, and I marvel at it as though it’s a gateway into another world.
“Eli requests that you have breakfast with him.” She adds a gentle smile. “But you need to get dressed first.”
I look at my feet and back up again at the flimsy nightgown I’m wearing. I’d completely forgotten that I’d put this on. After he bathed me, I kind of zoned out, but just looking at myself makes everything flood back into my mind. How he came into my room after I’d been coming for hours on end and unlocked me when I begged him to. How he picked me up and carried me to the bathroom, then stripped me naked and put me in the tub. How warm and nice the water felt on my aching skin. And how gentle he was with me.
I shrug it off and force myself to stop thinking about him that way. A man like him, who just whisks someone out of their comfort zone and into captivity, cannot be kind.
The girl walks to the wardrobe and opens it up, rummaging through the clothes before saying, “Aha!”
Holding out a white dress with frills above my shoulder, she narrows her eyes and thins her lips as though she’s thinking hard. “No. Never mind.” She goes back to the wardrobe and sticks her head inside while I just stand there watching her.
Again, she pulls out a dress. This time, it’s a little black dress with studded gems on the rims of the shoulder straps. She holds it over my body and smiles gleefully. “Perfect.”
I frown. “Is this really necessary?”
She cocks her head and furrows her brows right back at me. “Of course, silly. You need to look perfect for Eli.”
She bends over, pulls my nightgown straight over my head, and throws it aside.
I cover my boobs while she picks up the new dress. “Here. Put it on.”
“Why do you do all of this?” I ask, trying to reason with her in the hopes of gaining a new ally even though her frivolousness makes me want to scream. “Don’t you see he’s keeping me a prisoner here?”
“Everyone says that,” she says, shrugging. “No one knows how badly they need this until it’s all over.”
I make a face. “Who is everyone?” I ask, my heart racing in my chest. “There are others?”
She sucks in a breath until her
chest grows tight and her lips are thin. “I’m not in a position to discuss those matters,” she says. “But rest assured that Eli only wants the best for you.”
She throws the new dress over my head and pulls it down my legs. “There. Go on, have a look.” She nudges me toward the mirror. “Beautiful, right?”
I look at myself, but all I see is a vapid shell of a girl.
But I don’t know if that’s because I was brought here … or because of what came before.
“Why do you help him?” I ask, staring at her through the mirror, wondering why any girl would ever do this to another.
She places her hands on my shoulders and rubs her lips together. “Because I’ve seen what he can do, and I believe in it wholeheartedly.”
I turn around to face her. “What does he do? You have to tell me why he did this to me.”
She sighs and shakes her head. “I’m sorry, I can’t. It’s not my place.”
“But you must know, right?”
She shakes her head again. “Sorry. I don’t know about your sins. Like I said, I simply do the chores and help where help is needed.”
My stomach churns, and I look down at my feet. “Okay.”
This girl probably won’t be of much use after all. So much for getting allies.
“Oh, right! I forgot!” Her cheerfulness has me momentarily lift my head in the hopes that it’s worth it. But when she pulls a pair of pumps from the wardrobe, my heart immediately sinks into my shoeless feet.
She goes to her knees and puts on the pair of pumps like I’m Cinderella waiting to be picked up by Prince Charming. But Eli is no Prince, and nothing about being kept like a prisoner is charming.
She puts up this huge smile when she’s done. “You look gorgeous. Ready?”
I shake my head. “No.”
She laughs. “Of course you are, silly.” She winks. “Unless you mean you still need to put on your special panties.”
My eyes widen. Special panties. Does she mean …?
“No,” I blurt out.
“Relax, I’m just kidding.” She taps my shoulder, and it’s the first time in ages I’ve had the urge to bite someone’s fingers off. “If Eli wanted you to wear something underneath your dress, you’d know.”
Dark Wish (A Dark Romance) Page 7
