by Riley Ashby
She actually laughed, and while she was distracted, I grabbed her chin and kissed her once on the corner of her mouth before pulling away. She gaped at me in surprise, then scrambled out of the chair and up to her room.
She was still upstairs when Vin and Colby pulled up outside. I darted up to fetch her as Vin walked in, already yelling. He was worked up and eager to get going. He always enjoyed scaring people, and he thought he had Quinn where he wanted her. Maybe he did.
So do I.
“Let’s go,” I said, opening the door without knocking. She was sitting on the edge of her bed in jeans and a nicer blouse. Her hair was in a tight bun at the top of her head, and she had put on some makeup. Why did we bring her makeup? She’d covered up the bruise, and Vin would be pleased that she felt the need to hide it. She walked over to me, and I took her upper arm. “Don’t put on makeup next time,” I growled to her as we walked down the stairs.
She looked at me, frowning. “Why?” she asked, but I didn’t get a chance to respond.
“Well, would you look at that? Sleeping Beauty is awake!” Vin clapped his hands, beaming. He was in his element. “Colby, would you do the honors?”
Colby stepped forward with a black scarf. He moved to put it around her eyes, but she jerked back the moment he got close. I snatched it from him and glared. “Keep your hands to yourself,” I growled. He’d be the first I took down once I was ready. He stepped back, and I turned to face Quinn again. “Close your eyes,” I said, then wrapped it around her face without waiting for her to do so.
She swallowed but stood still as I tied the blindfold. I grabbed her wrist. She was shaking slightly but twisted her hand to grab my wrist as well. For a moment, we stood face-to-face, my eyes on her while she stood blinded, and her fingernails pressed lightly against my skin as she clutched my wrist. A day ago, she’d be pushing me away, but now she tugged me slightly closer as she swallowed her nerves. She was completely at my will, and she trusted me. I couldn’t help but imagine her blindfolded on my bed, naked and wanting, begging for my touch while I teased her with light fingertips.
“What’s happening?” She whispered so softly I almost didn’t hear.
“Same as yesterday.” I barely got the words out before Vin was pushing at my back, guiding me toward the basement.
“Let’s go,” growled Vin. He charged down the stairs, but Colby waited for Quinn and me to go first.
“There are ten steps,” I murmured, placing my other hand around her waist as we began the descent. She counted quietly under her breath but still stuttered once we touched the floor, reaching forward with her foot to make sure there wasn’t another drop as if she hadn’t trusted me to tell her the truth. The push and pull were enough to give me whiplash—first staring me down, then seeking my comfort, then losing trust in me. To be fair, I wasn’t sure which response was the correct one.
I pulled her into the same cell she had been in before, then closed the door behind us. Vin grabbed her arm and yanked her away from me, then threw her onto the bed. The metal frame thudded against her shinbone, and she grimaced as she fell onto the mattress. I opened my mouth to tell him to be more careful but shut it just in time.
“Chain her,” he said, and Colby stepped in front of me to do as he ordered.
That was unnecessary. “You don’t—”
“This is a hostage situation, Gunner. If her parents think she’s living in luxury up here, they won’t pay.”
Colby snapped the chain around her leg and grabbed her shoulder to pull her up to sitting while Vin snapped pictures on his phone.
“He’s got enough,” I said and pushed Colby aside. Blood was seeping through a small tear in Quinn’s jeans. “We don’t want damaged goods.”
“Like it matters,” he muttered. I shot him a glare.
Quinn raised her hands and pulled at her blindfold “Why are we—”
Vin slapped her hands down before she could finish. “She can’t see, Vin.”
He was busy on his phone, not looking at us. “That’s half the point.” He finished what he was doing on his phone and nailed me to the wall with his gaze.
I was toeing the line if I hadn’t already crossed it. I took a step back and let him do his work.
There was another brief phone call to her parents that went much the same as the last one. I hadn’t thought she was going to cry, but the blindfold and the rough treatment she received did its work. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t keep the tremble out of her voice, the fabric around her eyes darkened with moisture from her tears. Her father threatened to tell the police everything. Vin told him if he did that, he’d send him Quinn’s finger.
She ripped the blindfold off herself once Vin hung up the phone, and I knelt to free her ankle from the chain. “I’ll take her upstairs,” I said and hustled her out of the room before anybody could fight me on it.
She stumbled behind me up the stairs, struggling to keep up as I pulled her along with me. She didn’t speak until we got to the second floor.
“Why did you let them do that?”
“I have a job to do.”
“I thought you were supposed to keep me safe.”
“When did I ever say that?”
“Every time you step between one of them and me.” She pulled me to a stop as we approached her room, clutching my arms, holding herself too close to me. “Please keep Colby away from me. He’s too volatile.”
“I hate that asshole as much as you do—”
“I doubt it.”
“But I still have a job to do. Now stay up here and be quiet.”
I shoved her into her room, perhaps a little more forcefully than was necessary, and pulled the door shut with a slam.
“Gunner!”
I paused with my hand on the doorknob, listening to the creak of the wood as she leaned against the door.
“Don’t let any of them up here.”
Never. “They’ll be gone soon.”
“Am I safe in here?”
I closed the lock on the outside of the door—just a slide lock, easy enough to open. It was meant to keep her in rather than someone else out. “Turn the lock on your side. I’m the only one with a key.”
There was a light thump from her side; I imagined her pressing her forehead into the door. “You didn’t have to let them be so mean to me.”
Don’t you understand? “It’s not up to me.” Nothing is. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
“And then what?”
I walked away rather than try to think of a response.
Colby was already gone, but Vin was waiting for me by the front door. I stopped a few feet from him, and we stared at each other eye to eye. We were the same height, but he had a presence that tended to take up the entire room no matter how many other people were in it. He wasn’t exactly old, but he’d been in the business his entire life. Born into it. His good looks combined with a family history of ruthlessness made him the perfect man to charm or destroy you, depending on his goals. He’d chosen destruction for Quinn, and I wasn’t sure if I preferred that.
“You know I don’t give a shit what you do when I’m not around. I couldn’t care less what goes on when you two are alone here, as long as I get my cash. But part of our agreement on doing this was that when I step foot in this house, it ceases to be yours. So unless you want to end your participation in this little adventure sooner rather than later, I suggest you shut the fuck up and let me run the show.”
He took a step closer, but I held my ground. If I let him push me around too much, he wouldn’t take me seriously anymore. “If you’re having a problem letting me be in charge here, I’ll go upstairs, and it’ll take me about five minutes to remind each of you that you answer only to me.”
That was an empty threat, mostly—there was a reason he wanted her untouched—but something told me he’d make good on it if he thought it would put me in my place.
“I’m sorry I overstepped.” The words sounded flat to my own ears, bu
t they were good enough for Vin. He knew the hit to my pride it took to apologize. Usually, all he wanted was to hear someone say the words, proving we could set our egos aside for him.
He nodded. “Why did you allow her to go upstairs so soon? We’d discussed waiting much longer.”
“You saw the basement. That plumbing is shit. I threatened to leave her down there without a working toilet, and her attitude changed real quick. She’s been a dream ever since.”
That made him smile as he slapped me on the shoulder, then backed up toward the door.
“Behave for a few days. You’re doing well. I’m glad I can trust you with this.”
I stood in the foyer for a few minutes after he left, catching my breath. He’d given me a compliment at the end, but fuck, I nearly blew this whole thing. Vin was my boss. I couldn’t stand up to him, not yet, not while this hostage situation played out. I rubbed at my mouth and thought about how I needed to shave. My cheeks were too rough.
The creak of the floorboards overhead alerted me that Quinn hadn’t settled. She probably wanted her book back. When I unlocked the door, she was standing on the other side of the room, and she looked past me into the hallway.
“They left,” I said, and her shoulders relaxed for a microsecond before they tensed again.
“Why the hell did you let them do that?”
“Don’t think that just because I brought you upstairs and gave you a book that I’m on your side.”
“Then why did you do those things?” She crossed her arms and took a few steps closer as I crossed the threshold into the room. “Why did you start treating me nice only after I gave you problems?”
“I felt bad for you. Unlike those guys, I still have a heart. You should be—”
“I know, I know, grateful it’s you and not one of them.” Disdain dripped from her words. “If you felt bad, you wouldn’t have taken me in the first place.”
We’d each come halfway across the room and were now only an arm’s length from each other. She snapped back as I shot out my hand, but I caught her arm and pulled her across the rest of the distance until we touched. I grabbed her behind the neck with my other hand, holding her eyes on me. “You ought to realize how good you have it here, and how much worse it could be if I hadn’t fought for you to stay with me instead of Vin or Colby.” My hand pressed against the tight muscle, savoring the rapid beat of her pulse against my fingers—a butterfly fleeing the collector’s net. That tough attitude was fading now as she tried and failed to break free. “You’d better fucking believe you wouldn’t even be afforded the luxury of clothes if you were with one of them.”
She fought against me, trying to dig her elbows into my stomach, but I kept us pressed together so tightly she could barely move. I put my face against the base of her neck and smelled her hair, resisting the urge to bite her. This emotion she displayed right now, this raw passion—it might not be caused by the same emotions, but it sure as hell took me right back to a few nights ago when she screamed out in pleasure and not pain or fear. Not much separated us here—some fabric, a few words. I could have her.
Her tears were sweet on my lips as I whispered in her ear. “I’ve kept you safe.”
“Just because you haven’t raped me when you had the chance?” She kicked at my shins, but without shoes on, she barely made an impact. “What do you call what happened in your car?”
I had to fight back a growl as I leaned back to look her in the eye, holding her neck with one hand while my other arm kept her so tight against my chest she couldn’t move her arms. “I’d call your participation in that more than willing.”
“You tricked me!” Her spittle landed on my face, but I didn’t care. I wanted her all over me. “You tricked me, and then you hurt me.”
“And still you gave me your pleasure again.” I pressed our foreheads together, and she closed her eyes, gasping. I spread my hand wide across her back. The ridges of her spine pressed into my palm like precious stones beneath the surface of the earth, waiting to be discovered. “You wanted more.” Was her heart racing as fast as mine was?
“I was out of control.” Her voice was strained as though she was trying to convince herself. “Whatever there might have been between us is gone.”
“You don’t believe that.” I tugged at her neck, tilting her lips toward me. For a second, her eyes fluttered closed, and she leaned toward me just a hair. But then she snapped out of it and fought against my pull with a strength I didn’t know she possessed. Still, I tried to pull her back. “Let me make things better for you. I can do more than spank you. I can reward you for being good, for doing what I ask.”
She gritted her teeth as her nostrils flared. Her hips bucked backward, trying to create space, but I walked her back to press her against the wall and keep our bodies flush.
“I love that you fight me, but you don’t have to.”
“I want to.”
“Everything about you says differently.” I ran my nose up the curve of her neck, and goose bumps appeared in my wake. Her pulse beat so fast it felt like a hum.
And her heart…
I let go of her neck and slid my hand beneath her shirt, running my nails lightly over her stomach until my hand stopped right beneath her breast.
“Tell me this is from fear.”
She whimpered and grabbed my arm, halting me from going any higher but not pulling me away. I pressed my thumb into her rib cage, the soft skin begging to be tasted.
“Tell me you haven’t wanted me to touch you again since we got here.” I wanted to slip my fingers between her ribs and touch her heart, control the beating and send her soaring whenever the mood struck me.
“Please stop.” Her fingers tightened. “I can’t breathe.”
Her lower lip trembled as I watched. Everything about her felt warm and alive and begging to be a part of me, and I was ready to take it no matter what protest she could come up with. The fear in her eyes was too delicious, but it was time for her to shift. To see that I would make her happy and give her pleasure if only she’d let me.
“You’re not fooling me,” I said. “Only yourself.”
“Why are you doing this?”
“Because I want to be close to you,” I murmured. “Is that really so hard to believe? You’re beautiful. You’re sexy. Didn’t you enjoy our time dancing?” I gripped her ribs harder, pressing into her with my short nails. “I did.”
Her breathing was shallow. “I don’t want you to touch me.”
I put my lips right against her ear. “I don’t believe you.”
She wavered on her feet, and I pressed my other hand into her shoulder to steady her.
“Let me go,” she whispered.
“You’ll fall.”
“It’s too late.” She gripped my arm. “Gunner, I don’t feel good. I’m not messing with you.”
She fell into me a little more, and I put my arm around her back to support her. “Did you eat today?”
“Not since breakfast.”
“Goddammit.” I picked her up over my shoulder and carried her to the bed. “Wait here.”
I ran downstairs and fixed a quick sandwich, then brought it upstairs. She thanked me quietly and ate it bite by bite while I sat on the edge of the bed. The color slowly returned to her cheeks as she finished.
“You need to tell me what the hell just happened. I’ve never seen someone almost pass out because they missed a couple of meals.”
She set the plate on the table next to her bed, then folded her hands in her lap. “I’m hypoglycemic,” she said. “It’s not a big deal.”
“Yes, it is. You almost passed out.” I resisted the urge to shake her. She should have told me sooner if she didn’t feel well. “What causes it?”
She was chewing on her lip like it was a piece of gum. “Hypoglycemia? I don’t know why it happens. Sometimes, a few hours after I eat, my blood sugar just—” She lifted one hand above her head and then slapped it on the mattress. “Drops.”
Why didn’t I know? “Do your friends know about this? Your parents? A doctor?”
She shook her head. “I didn’t want to worry anyone.”
“You should have told me.”
She looked up. “Why?”
“So I can take care of you properly.”
She looked down again and picked at her nails. “I wasn’t sure if you really cared.”
I gritted my teeth. “You have to be fucking with me right now.”
“No. Until you brought me this book today, I didn’t think you cared much about me beyond—” She squeezed her eyes shut. “Beyond my body.”
“I see.” Everything I’d done—from getting her off to giving in to her demands for something to do—and she doubted my feelings? How could I possibly make it more clear? “You don’t think I could make your life worse if I wanted? I told you, I can still put you back in the basement.”
“Gunner, that’s not—”
“You let yourself suffer for no goddamn reason! For what? To spite me?” I stood and paced the room. “Why do you keep doing this? I’ve tried to help you. Made this comfortable for you even though I didn’t have to. But you still think I don’t actually care about you?”
She was biting her lip again, fumbling with a thread on the comforter and not meeting my eyes. She opened her mouth a few times, but nothing came out.
I threw my hands in the air. “Fucking forget it. I’ll leave you alone with your precious book.”
I left the room before I could do anything else. How could she doubt me? Plenty of other men would have taken advantage of having her helpless at their fingertips, and here I was walking away. It was not acceptable for her to treat me like this. I had half a mind to remove the door so she had nowhere to hide. Or she could go back on the chain for all I cared, if this was her attitude.
I went to my bedroom looking for some form of relief—maybe I needed to jerk off in the shower. But I caught my reflection in the mirror as I tried to pull my shirt over my head. I didn’t recognize myself. At first, I thought it was how quickly I was moving, but then I saw what was different. I saw my anger. The man in the mirror was a beast, completely transformed from the person who had stared back at me my entire life. I didn’t know I could ever become that angry.