Dark Obsessions - Volume I: Four Intense Capture Fantasies in One Sizzling Collection

by Claire Thompson

  The little dog ran past again, wagging its tail like a windmill as it hurtled toward the tossed ball that had landed not too far from Julianna’s feet. There was a time she would have bent down to retrieve the ball and toss it for the eager puppy, but now she just sat there, watching.

  She’d done little in the two months since her return, other than spend hours in the halls of the Federal Building, or in the office of the therapist assigned to help her process what she’d been through. She slept until nearly noon each day, seeing no point in getting up. She hadn’t returned to her job at Sophie’s Salon. She hadn’t done much of anything. It was as if she’d been frozen in time, her life stopped dead in its tracks by the abduction.

  It was hard to fathom sometimes—that what had ended up being less than three weeks in captivity should have ripped her life so thoroughly to shreds. She no longer knew who she was or what she wanted anymore. When she looked into the mirror, she sometimes didn’t recognize herself. There was a haunted look in her eyes that belied everyone’s assurances that everything would be okay. Would things ever be okay again?

  This time the dog ran right up to her, dropping the ball and panting, its little pink tongue lolling as it gazed up at her with liquid golden-brown eyes. The ball forgotten, the dog began to sniff the toe of her shoe. The man appeared and scooped the dog into his arms, laughing. “Sorry, she’s still a puppy. Very short attention span.”

  He had curly, light brown hair in need of a cut, kind brown eyes and a nose slightly too big for his face. Suddenly Julianna placed where she knew this guy. They’d met at a party. At the time she’d found him attractive, but she was just coming off a not-so-serious relationship with another guy who had turned out to be a total jerk, and she wasn’t eager to leap back into the fray just yet. She’d had a little too much to drink, as she recalled, and they’d talked and flirted some, but nothing had come of it.

  He was looking at her too, tilting his head. “I know you,” he said, smiling. “We met at Caitlyn Johansson’s birthday party back in January. Do you remember? I’m Jake. Jake Goldman and this is Gracie, my new puppy. You’re Julianna, right? Julianna Beckett?”

  She nodded, waiting for him to add something about seeing her haggard face in the newspaper under the headline: Queens Girl Held Captive on Slave Island and dreading the inevitable follow-up with lots of intrusive questions about the experience, but he didn’t say a word. Was it possible he didn’t know about it? Was he the only person in New York who didn’t?

  Gracie gave a small yelp and leaped out of Jake’s arms onto the bench beside Julianna. The puppy gently rooted her little wet nose against Julianna’s jean-clad thigh. Julianna couldn’t resist stroking the impossibly soft floppy ears.

  “I’m sorry,” Jake said. “She thinks just because she’s so cute that everybody automatically adores her.”

  “It’s okay,” Julianna found herself saying. “I like her.” The dog had rested her head on Julianna’s lap and closed her eyes with utter puppy trust. Julianna found her heart, which had felt frozen, beginning to thaw a bit.

  Jake’s smile broadened into a slightly lopsided grin, his eyes twinkling. “She likes you, too. Is it okay if I sit?”

  Julianna nodded. For the first time in a long time she actually felt a small tug inside, a whisper of desire. Ever since her escape, she’d been so shut down, shut off from everything and everyone around her. Was it possible she was finally ready to rejoin the human race?

  Jake sat beside her, the puppy a buffer between them. Jake patted the dog’s head. His hand was large, the fingers square and blunt tipped with short, clean nails. Julianna had a sudden urge to put her hand over his, but she did not. Instead she asked, “What kind of dog is she?”

  “Gracie’s a mutt, but with a healthy dose of cocker spaniel,” Jake said. “I have no business having a dog, since I’m in my third year of medical school, but she was just so sweet, I couldn’t resist.” He stroked the dog’s head with obvious affection. “This guy in my class was taking her to the pound, can you imagine?”

  “How come?”

  “He lives in an apartment building. No dogs allowed. He’d found her abandoned near the building, but his super found out soon enough what he was up to and that was that. I’m lucky. I rent a small house near here with a decent-size backyard, so Gracie can hang out while I’m at the hospital.” Julianna remembered now, Jake had told her at the party he lived in Queens too, not far from her building on Harmon Street. He leaned down, lightly kissing the top of the puppy’s soft head. Gracie awoke and lifted her little face toward him, licking the tip of his nose.

  Julianna wanted to say something to keep the conversation going, but her mind was oddly blank. Since she’d been back, she’d found it hard to engage in the small talk and easy banter that had been second nature before the abduction. She realized Jake was watching her, a sad smile on his face.

  “I read about what happened to you. I’m sure the papers just gave the bare bones about it all and probably got half of it wrong, but from what I read, you’ve been through hell and back. I’m so sorry for what you must have gone through.”

  Julianna looked away. She didn’t want to talk about this with a near-stranger. It was hard enough talking about it with her therapist. But instead of diving in with personal and humiliating questions, as others had, he said, “I have to say, I really admire you, Julianna. If it wasn’t for you, those other women on the island might never have been freed, and those monsters would still be out there trafficking in human cargo. You’re a hero. That must feel pretty good.”

  Julianna stared at him and a small warm feeling moved through her at his words. She had been described repeatedly in the news as a victim. There had been token mention of her part in busting the setup, but the focus had been more on what she’d suffered while on the island. It sold more papers, apparently.

  “I never thought of myself as a hero,” she said slowly, but found herself smiling. The smile fell away as she thought about the ones who hadn’t made it. “There was a girl there. I called her Sandy in my head. She was a real hero.” Julianna pressed her lips together before more words could tumble out. She knew if she started talking about Sandy, who had apparently disappeared into the vast ocean without a trace, she would start crying, and that was the last thing she wanted to do.

  “I’m sorry,” she said. “I’m not really good company right now.” She shifted on the bench, angling away from Jake so he wouldn’t see the tears in her eyes.

  “Hey, I understand. You came to the park for a nice peaceful chance to get some reading done,” he glanced at the unopened novel in her hand, “and we just came barreling over. I’ll tell you what. There’s a nice outdoor restaurant near here, Sadie’s Café. It’s just two blocks up on Fairfield Avenue.” He pointed that direction, adding, “They’re cheap, and dog-friendly.”

  He stood, scooping the little dog into his arms and setting her down on the grass. “Gracie and I are heading over there for some iced coffee and some of the best chocolate pound cake in the city. We’ll probably be there a while—I have the whole day off and no plans other than to enjoy this spring sunshine. So if you change your mind…” He smiled and shrugged. “And if not today, well, Gracie and I come to this park whenever we can, now that the weather’s nice. So maybe we’ll see you around.”

  Julianna nodded. “Thanks,” she managed, wondering if she’d simply lost the ability to connect to another human being, or if it was something she could retrieve, over time.

  Jake stepped around the bench, reaching for and pocketing the little red rubber ball while Gracie yipped excitedly by his feet. He attached a leash to her collar and turned back to Julianna, smiling. “Don’t be a stranger, okay?”

  Julianna nodded and Jake began to walk away, the little dog pulling him along in a frenzy of puppy enthusiasm. Without looking back Jake called, “Sadie’s Café. Fairfield Avenue. Best chocolate pound cake this side of the planet.”

  She found herself grinning, something
she thought she’d forgotten how to do. She watched them leave the park, her mind whirling. Jake had been so nice, so easygoing. He was good looking too, without being too pretty-boy-handsome as Anders had been. More importantly, though he knew of her ordeal, she hadn’t felt that wave of pity and horrified curiosity most people seemed to approach her with.

  What would it be like, to talk to someone about what had happened who didn’t leap to analyze or judge or recoil in horror and disgust? Someone who would just listen? She sensed Jake would be a good listener.

  Suddenly a memory came to her, sharp and clear, of the first night she’d spent in the slave quarters. She’d been terrified, the full impact of her situation really hitting home as she lay, chained and collared in the tiny cell. She had told herself then that she wouldn’t let her life end before it had really begun. She had promised herself she would find a way to escape, and that once she was free, she would live her life as if each day were her last.

  Yet she’d spent the last two months wallowing in self-pity, nearly paralyzed with depression and lingering fear. Where was the celebration—the joy? She had done it! She had escaped and she was free! She was young and strong, with her whole future still ahead of her.

  She looked around her, noticing for the first time a cluster of bright yellow daffodils that seemed to have sprung up overnight. She stood, tucking the novel under her arm to be read another day. With a smile, she headed down Stanhope toward Fairview. Iced coffee and chocolate pound cake?

  Why not?

  Chained

  She’s a good girl… They’re very, very bad boys…

  When Gina is captured by two mysterious men and trained to serve their darkest desires, the boundaries between pleasure and pain, between fear and longing, between love and hate, begin to blur. Sometimes the only way out is to become someone new…

  Chapter 1

  Gina was a nice girl. She was perhaps a little plump—pleasingly plump, her fiancé Dwayne assured her. Some of the mean girls back in school had called her prissy, but she preferred to think of herself as proper and demure.

  Though she’d been out of high school for five years, and had a pretty good job as a secretary at a bank, Gina still lived at home with her parents while awaiting her marriage to Dwayne, whom she had known since kindergarten. They attended the same church and it had never occurred to her to want someone different. Not that she actually wanted Dwayne—not sexually—but then, she had never particularly wanted anyone that way, at least not anyone in the small, insulated community in which she had grown up. Ryan Gosling was another story…

  But she would marry Dwayne, because her parents wanted her to, and because he wanted her to, and she did look forward to having children someday. Not to mention, it would get her out from under the thumb of her parents. That couldn’t happen soon enough.

  That Saturday she ended up staying several hours later than usual at the Outreach Center where she volunteered, as two key staff members on the evening shift had called out sick. It was already dark when Gina stepped out of the building and made her way to the bus stop. She pulled her coat tighter as the wind whipped the air, and glanced nervously around her. She wasn’t used to being out alone at night. She thought about calling her dad and asking him to come get her, but immediately nixed the idea, as it would give him the excuse he needed to forbid her from continuing her volunteer work in “the bad part of town.”

  “Excuse me, ma’am.”

  Gina turned to see a skinny, disheveled woman with something not quite right about the eyes. Drugs, she thought, mentally shaking her head in disapproval. But she was a polite girl, and she smiled and said, “Yes?”

  “My baby.” The woman pointed toward a car parked on the other side of the road.

  “Pardon?”

  “My baby. She’s stuck in the car seat. I can’t open it to get her out. She’s crying like crazy. Would you try?”

  What an odd request. The woman didn’t look particularly upset, as Gina would have been if her own child were stuck somewhere. She was probably high on pot or meth or whatever it was these people did. She had no right to even have a baby, much less lock the poor thing in a faulty car seat.

  Gina strode indignantly across the street with the woman, prepared to save a crying child. The woman had left the motor running, another stupid move. She pulled open the back door and Gina leaned in, expecting to hear a squalling infant, but she heard nothing.

  Before her eyes could adjust to the dark interior of the car, she was suddenly and violently shoved from behind. She fell heavily against the seat with a startled cry as the door slammed shut behind her. As Gina pulled herself upright in shocked surprise, the driver’s window rolled down, a hand extending with an envelope. The bedraggled woman scuttled around the car, snatched the envelope and vanished into the night.

  At the same moment, Gina became aware of a presence beside her in the back seat. Though she didn’t yet understand what was happening, panic hurtled through her gut, and her mouth opened, a scream rising in her throat.

  All at once, a hand was clamped over her mouth, muffling her cries. A strong arm wrapped around her as the car pulled out into the empty street. Terrified, Gina thrashed and jerked, desperately trying to get herself free. Her dress rode up her thighs in her struggle, and something jabbed into her leg with a sharp sting, followed by a burning sensation in her blood. The world went woozy and strange as black spots spread like ink over her vision. Her bones turned to rubber and she slid down the seat with a sigh.

  Gina opened her eyes. Her head was pounding, a sour taste in her mouth. She had no idea where she was. The room was totally dark, except for a crack of light showing under what must have been the door. As she came fully awake, she found she was sitting upright in a chair, her hands bound tightly behind her.

  Her heart began to beat wildly against her ribs as the terrifying memories flooded back. She’d been abducted, just like in the movies!

  But her family wasn’t rich. Who could possibly want to kidnap her?

  A strand of hair had fallen into her face. Unable to use her hands, Gina tried to blow it away, but it fell back again, ticking her nose. She tried to shift in the chair and found she couldn’t move. Rope wrapped around her knees and ankles had forced her legs wide apart, and she could feel a draft on her bare skin.

  Her bare skin.

  She was naked.

  “Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh,” she began to moan. No one had seen her naked since she’d been a child, and then only her mother. She didn’t even look at herself after a shower if she could help it, not until she was fully dressed.

  She blushed hotly from head to toe, as if her body were on fire. The sheer embarrassment and humiliation was so acute it temporarily overrode any fear of being kidnapped or killed. She began to cry in great, gulping sobs, which ended in a startled hiccup when the door suddenly opened.

  A man stood in silhouette against the light in the hallway. “Finally coming out of it, eh? That sedative can pack a pretty powerful punch, but don’t worry—no lasting side effects.”

  All at once, bright fluorescent light illuminated the room. As Gina’s eyes adjusted, she saw she was in an empty room, the walls of which were covered in mirrors from floor to ceiling. The man in the doorway was tall and broad-shouldered, somewhere in his late twenties or early thirties. He wore a white cotton T-shirt over faded jeans. His thick dark hair was cut short. His face was handsome, with brown eyes and a strong jaw, but his mouth was twisted into an unpleasant leer.

  “Please,” Gina cried, almost forgetting she was naked. “You have to let me go. What are you going to do to me? Please don’t kill me!” Her voice broke, and she began to cry again, tears and snot running down her face.

  The man stepped into the room. “Relax, babe. We aren’t going to kill you. We don’t plan to, that is, as long as you do what you’re told. Just relax,” he repeated, as if that were remotely possible. “You can make it real hard on yourself, or you can relax and enjoy it.
You’re our new toy, Gina.”

  Gina was unable to take in most of what he was saying. Her name. He had used her name. How did he know her name? Her eyes darted anxiously around the empty room. Of course—they had her purse, with her wallet and her ID.

  As the man came closer, Gina squeezed her eyes shut, praying with all her might that she might just disappear, and reappear at home, safe in her bed. But the prayers fell on deaf ears. When she opened her eyes, he was standing right in front of her. He crouched down between her knees and placed his hands on her bare thighs.

  Gina squeaked, too terrified to scream or even draw a breath as his hands moved toward her. When he touched her there, she gasped, and as the air filled her lungs, she let it out in a high-pitched wail.

  The man withdrew his hand and slapped her across the face, stunning her into silence.

  “Sorry,” he said with a shrug. “Sorry I had to do that, but you’re becoming a pain in the ass. Gordon gets really pissed off if someone disturbs him when he’s napping. One more sound out of you, except for answers to direct questions, and I’ll duct tape your mouth shut. Got it?”

  Terrified, Gina nodded mutely. Her heart was smashing against her breastbone. He lifted his hand to his mouth and licked his finger. He brought his hand between her legs again, and then, before she realized what he was doing, pushed the finger inside her.