by Sarah Bailey
There was no one else with him so I assumed he was on the phone.
“Listen, the girls are our most lucrative trade. If I fuck this up, Nick will give the business to Chuck. No one wants him in charge of operations.”
I put a hand on my mouth stifling a giggle. Daddy said a bad word. I crawled out a little way from his desk. He had his back to me, staring out the window with the phone to his ear.
“Yeah, well, we both know my brother has a loud mouth and will get us into more shit.”
Was Daddy talking about Uncle Charlie? I didn’t feel right around him. He always looked at me strangely. Daddy turned. His eyes fell on me, widening slightly. He gave me a smile.
“Look, I have to go. Something has come up. No. We can deal with it later. All right. Bye.”
Daddy slipped his phone in his pocket and crossed his arms over his chest.
“Now, Avery, you know you’re not supposed to be in here.”
I crawled the rest of the way out from the desk and stood up. I brushed my dress down.
“Sorry, Daddy.”
He squatted down and put his arms out. I ran towards him, squealing with delight when he wrapped me up in a bear hug. He set me down, putting his hands on my small shoulders.
“Where is Esme?”
“I was hiding from her. She said it’s lunchtime, but I wasn’t done playing.”
He chuckled, squeezing my shoulders.
“Are you angry with me, Daddy?” I asked, folding down my bottom lip.
“No, you’re my little angel.”
He kissed the top of my head before standing and putting his hand out to me. I placed mine in it.
“Let’s go find Esme.”
I smiled, following him from the room.
~~~
The sound of the bolts on the door jerked me awake. My cheeks felt wet. I put my hand to them. Great. Now I was crying in my sleep.
I looked over at the door. Aiden filled the frame, blocking out most of the light. I wasn’t in the mood to deal with him again. Not after that dream.
The full force of my emotions hit me like a punch to the gut. My dad was gone. I’d never see the little crinkles at the corner of his eyes when he smiled at me. Never get to have one of those bear hugs.
Aiden walked slowly towards me before coming to a stop by my feet. The shaft of light streaming in from the door lit him up. The avenging angel was back. I looked up at him.
“What the fuck do you want now?” I muttered.
I wished I’d controlled my mouth because the next moment, he squatted down and was right up in my face. His expression made me flinch. Cold and heartless.
“Do you want to rephrase that, Daniels?”
I’d started down this path. If I turned back, it’d be admitting he had control over me and I was never giving that to him.
“What. The. Fuck. Do. You. Want?”
His expression darkened. Even in the low light, I could tell he was pissed with my outburst. Served him right. His rules were bullshit. I wasn’t obeying anyone let alone the man who’d chained me up in a concrete cell.
He grabbed me by my hair and hauled me up to my feet. I yelped. My scalp burned from where he was holding my hair in his fist.
“Is this what you get off on, huh? Chaining up women and forcing them to do your bidding?” I spat.
He spun me around so fast, I felt dizzy. Slamming me against the wall, his hand wrapped around my throat. I froze, my heart thudding against my chest.
“Oh, Avery, you really have no idea,” he said, his breath dusting across my cheek. “No fucking idea at all.”
His chest was flush with my back. I could feel the solid wall of muscle, pinning me in place.
“This little tough girl act isn’t going to fly with me.”
“I’m not afraid of you,” I hissed.
“You should be.”
His other hand was at the bottom of my t-shirt. He released my throat only to tug it off me. He tucked it in his pocket.
“Clothes are a privilege. Each time you break a rule, you’ll lose something else. You think I’m playing games? I’m not.”
The concrete wall was cold. I shivered, goosebumps appearing all over my exposed skin.
“Fuck you.”
He grabbed both my hands, forcing them behind my back. I felt cold metal against my wrists. When he released me, I realised he’d handcuffed me. I struggled against them. He shoved me to my knees.
“I’m not going to give you any more warnings. If you want to do this the hard way, be my guest.”
I tried to turn to look at him, but he pushed me over on the floor. I might not have use of my hands, but I sure as hell still had use of my legs. I kicked out at him. He narrowly avoided my knee to his face. In response, he sat on both of my legs, stopping me in my tracks. I continued to try to struggle against him, but it was no use.
“Let go of me.”
His eyes raked over me. My bra was still intact, but it didn’t make me feel any less exposed. I could’ve sworn I saw a hint of longing in his expression for a millisecond before his eyes met mine.
“I will if you behave yourself. The rules are very simple, but you seem to have trouble following them.”
“Your rules are bullshit.”
He shook his head slowly as if disappointed in me.
Did I care what he thought?
Absolutely not.
“I told you not to make this harder on yourself.”
“And I told you, go to hell. If you think I’m going to do anything you say, you’re fucking delusional. You murdered my parents.”
His eyes flashed momentarily with anger. He leant down, his hands pressed to the floor at the sides of my head. I could feel his breath across my face.
“It’s no worse than what they’ve done.”
His words hit me square in the chest. That couldn’t possibly be true. They weren’t monsters like the man on top of me.
“The girls are our most lucrative trade.”
My father’s words rang in my ears. It hadn’t registered when I was a child what that meant, but now, now my mind raced with possibilities. What did that mean? Girls? We dealt in property, not… people.
“I don’t believe you.”
“I don’t need you to. The only thing you need to do is shut up, listen and do as you’re told.”
“Or what?”
“There are worse things than this cell, Avery.”
My name on his lips sent a shiver down my spine. My cheeks felt hot all of a sudden. His closeness affected my senses. His body radiated heat. The chill of the bare floor no longer seemed to matter with him practically lying on top of me.
His finger ran across my jaw and down my throat.
“Much worse.”
The air felt stifling. All the fight left me in an instant. A very small part of me wanted him to trail his fingers lower. My lips parted on a silent plea. What I was begging for? I had no idea. Something to end the tension building inside me.
His eyes mesmerised me. I was sure I wasn’t misinterpreting his expression. Burning, molten silver seared holes into my own hazel eyes.
“Are you going to behave now?” he asked, his voice strained and barely above a whisper.
I was done. I needed him off and away from me. The only way that was happening is if I did as he said. It went against all my instincts. I fucking hated him and myself for it.
“No? Do I have to give you more of an incentive?”
The words were on the tip of my tongue. All I had to do was tell him I would stop fighting him.
His fingers brushed lower, across my collarbone. My breath caught in my throat. His touch left a trail of fire in its wake. Fire which burned its way down my stomach and lower to places I tried not to think about.
“Please.”
No sooner had the word left my lips than I wanted to shove it right back in my mouth.
What the fuck?
Aiden’s eyes darkened further. He had me at his mercy and I’d just begged him for something. I didn’t even know what.
“Please, what?”
A question I couldn’t answer. I shook my head. The beautiful monster above me smirked.
“Please stop or perhaps… please don’t stop?”
The answer to that question was so complicated, it made my head hurt. Yes, I did want him to stop, but no, my body didn’t want him to stop. My body was a fucking traitor. It was time to get a grip and pull this right back.
“Please get off me. I won’t fight you.”
He cocked his head to the side.
“No? I don’t trust you, Daniels.”
“Seriously, you’ve made your point. Do I look like I’m in a position to argue with you further?”
His eyes roamed down my chest.
“Well, no. In fact, you’re rather compromised right now, aren’t you?”
I wanted to glare at him but I didn’t think it would help my case.
“Just a little.”
He shifted back, sitting up on my legs. I could finally breathe again. The tension between us slowly dissipated.
His hands found the top button of my jeans.
“What are you doing?”
“You might have given in for now, but you’ve still disobeyed me more than once.”
For now.
So he knew I was only giving in now because I had no other choice. I didn’t stop him tugging off my jeans. He had to unlock the cuff so he could remove them completely.
His eyes fell on me lying there with my hands behind my back in my underwear. It was uncomfortable and cold now he’d got off me. I didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of knowing just how embarrassed I was being so exposed in front of him.
He didn’t say a word for a long time. The two of us stared at each other. The muscles under his shirt rippled as he shifted on his feet. Did he always wear a shirt? It seemed so at odds with his nature. Almost as if he was hiding behind a façade of civility.
I knew he had tattoos on his chest because I’d seen one under his collar. Curiosity pricked at me. How far did they extend and where else were they lurking?
“I didn’t come in here to fight with you,” he said.
“Why did you?”
“Mostly to make sure you hadn’t done anything stupid like hurt yourself again.”
I wanted to say, ‘thanks for the vote of confidence’, but instead I settled for rolling my eyes. Hurting myself wouldn’t help me get through this ordeal with him.
“Mostly?”
“You are alone in here with nothing but your own thoughts. It can do things to a person.”
“I’m fine.”
Liar.
I wasn’t fine at all. My entire world had changed in the space of a day. I had no idea what was up or down any more. Nothing made sense. Nothing seemed real. I knew it was because my imagination wouldn’t dream up something as twisted as this.
“If you say so.”
“Are you going to leave these on me?” I indicated my hands behind my back with my head.
“Do you think you deserve to be let off?”
I didn’t think yes would be the right answer.
“No…?”
His lip quirked up at the side, eyes sparking with amusement.
“So you are learning.”
I wanted to wipe that smile off his face. Partly because it annoyed me how sarcastic his tone had been, but mostly because his smile made him seem human. I couldn’t afford to think of him that way. Aiden was making it his mission to break me. He’d said it himself. He needed me compliant. I had no idea why. He should just kill me and be done with it. Then he wouldn’t have to deal with me being the only witness to murder.
“Why are you keeping me alive?”
The smile left his face. His expression hardened.
“I gave you an opportunity to ask me questions. You wasted it.”
I didn’t point out he’d answered the questions before that one.
“Fine, be all mysterious about why you’re keeping me here. I mean aside from the obvious part where you took me because of what I saw.”
The absurdity of my situation wasn’t lost on me. Lying almost naked on a cold concrete floor with a man who looked at me like he wasn’t sure whether he wanted to strangle me or… fuck me.
I wasn’t about to let him do either. Not that I would have much choice. He’d already shown me how easy it was for him to overpower me. Even so, I was sure Aiden wasn’t planning on raping me. He’d had ample opportunity to do so.
“You’re not what I expected.”
I thought I’d misheard him for a moment. What did he expect? A girl who’d just lay down and take it? I’d certainly given him a wakeup call if that was the case.
In all honesty, he wasn’t what I expected either. Especially not the part about my body’s traitorous reaction to him. Normal people didn’t want their captor. Normal people fought tooth and nail to get away. Perhaps I wasn’t normal. I was going to try my damn hardest to keep from falling under whatever spell was between us because I was almost one hundred per cent sure he had a similar reaction to me.
“That makes two of us.”
He picked up my clothes from the floor and walked away to the door. I didn’t want him to leave me like this. Arguing would only land me in further trouble. I wasn’t about to lose any more clothes to him. He said nothing as he shut the door behind him.
I was alone in the dark again.
I was freezing cold.
And a huge part of me didn’t want to admit he’d left me high and dry.
Stupid traitorous body.
Chapter Four
Aiden
Holy fuck did I feel like beating the shit out of something or someone. My skin itched. Pacing the living room to stop myself from going straight back in that fucking cell, I tried to tamp down my frustration. Tried and failed.
Avery fucking Daniels had successfully fucked with my head. I’d left her alone all day, not that she seemed to have noticed. I figured I’d go talk to her before I went to bed, perhaps even feed her again. Avery had other ideas. Ones that got completely out of hand.
Taking her clothes had been a stupid idea. I didn’t think. All I’d wanted to do was show her I owned her now. Instead, I’d proven to myself just how fucked up I really was. Having her beneath me, handcuffed and half naked had done a fucking number on me.
She was so soft and delicate. Too innocent. Too pure. And I wanted her. I wanted her naked. Completely at my mercy. Legs spread wide so I could fuck her.
Sick fuck.
I wanted to fuck the daughter of the man who’d ruined my entire existence. I’d always known I wasn’t normal, but this went far beyond the rest of the shit I’d been involved in. Anyone else would think it was poetic justice after what they’d done, but to me, it wasn’t justice at all. No. It was pure fucking torture.
I might want to use Avery to bring down her family, but that was supposed to be it. I wanted nothing more to do with the Daniels when this was over.
I had to do something. Anything to stop this feeling. This need to take everything from her. Make her mine in every sense of the word. Possess her.
I stripped out of my shirt, throwing it on the sofa before shucking my trousers. I walked over to where my boxing bag hung in the corner of the room. Hitting it was better than finding some randomer to take my anger out on. It was too bad Chuck had no work for me. I growled. No way I wanted to think about that sick pervert right now.
Putting my hands up, I started slow, jabbing left and right. It wasn’t enough. I hit the bag harder, using the full force of my fists until they ached and I’d built up a sweat. My entire body radiated tension and my stupid fucking hardon wouldn’t go down. It wasn’t working.
How had this happened? A fucking day she’d been here and I was all kinds of messed up over her.
It was no us
e. I stormed into the bathroom and turned the shower on. Kicking off my boxers, I stood under the water, hoping it would help. It didn’t. The longer I stood there under the spray, the stronger the urge became until I couldn’t take it any longer.
Slamming my hand against the wall, I fisted myself and thought about Avery half naked on the floor, her hands cuffed behind her back.
Fuck.
I imagined her naked in my bed. Wet. Wanting. Begging me to give it to her.
Fuck.
I wanted her hands cuffed to the headboard so she couldn’t stop me. I wanted her to want me so fucking bad, it hurt. Only then would I let her have it. I’d bury my cock so deep in her hot, tight pussy, she’d still feel me there for days. I’d make Avery scream.
I shuddered all over as I pumped harder.
Fuck.
Images of me pounding her tight pussy with no mercy sent me over the edge. I grunted when hot, sticky streams erupted from me, mixing with the water rushing down from the shower head. Washing away the evidence of my sickening desire for someone I should never want. It didn’t stop me wishing it was all over her tits rather than down the shower drain.
I needed to get her off my brain or the release would only be temporary. There was no way I could allow these thoughts to consume me in the way they had been.
The big fucking problem with that plan?
I’d seen the goddamn look in her eyes when I sat on her. When I touched her skin. The way her breath quickened and her tongue darted out, wetting her bottom lip. The one I wanted to bite. I’d seen her just as she’d seen me.
On some level, she wanted me to fuck her.
Screw her.
Ruin her.
And she’d deny it with every breath she took.
I shut the shower off and snagged a towel, wrapping it around my waist. When I was dry enough, I stalked into my bedroom and tugged on a pair of shorts. I got into bed and lay there, staring at the ceiling. It was late and I should be tired. Instead, I was wired up to the max.
Perhaps I was still running off the adrenaline from finally exacting revenge on those sick fucks. I hadn’t slept in forty-eight hours. Sleep had never really come easy to me. Not when memories plagued my dreams. If I ever saw a psychologist, they’d have a field day with me.