Salvaged by Love (Thalia Book 3) (The Thalia Series)

by Jennifer Bene

  “Please stop.” She whispered against his shoulder. Thalia wasn’t even sure he could hear her over his grunts, the sound of his hips slamming into hers, the rocking creak of the bed. His body weight shifted and so did his angle, and when he slammed forward again he brushed against that bundle of nerves inside her that made her gasp and silence a moan. She gritted her teeth.

  Like hell was she going to moan for him.

  “Come on, you’re going to come for me. You always come for me.” He repeated that thrust and her back arched as she fought to change the angle back.

  “No! I won’t! I won’t, just stop!” She hated how pathetic she sounded, her voice breaking as she really started crying. Because heat was coiling in her lower belly, her spine tightening as he slammed into her, forcing pleasure from her as his strength worked against her.

  “I know you. You will.” Marcus bit down on her shoulder and she cried out, a moan slipping out as he chose that moment to thrust hard again. Heat flooded her cheeks, because he was right. Her hips were subtly rocking to meet his as much as she tried to hold still, and each brush of his cock inside her was winding her tighter.

  “No, no, no, no, no...” Thalia was babbling as she tried to push back the orgasm. She tried to breathe through it, let the inklings of pleasure pass by, but her body was tense and just when she thought she’d be okay the pressure in her spine snapped and she locked up as she came. He chuckled in her ear and the gasping flood of pleasure fizzled fast.

  She hated herself.

  Weak. Fucking weak.

  Marcus nuzzled into her neck, burying his face against her, pressing kisses to her skin, “I knew your body missed me, I just had to remind you of this. Of what we had together.”

  She couldn’t even respond as he picked up his pace, she was whimpering and he didn’t seem to notice. His grunts as he thrust hard grew rapid until he suddenly stilled and she felt his cock kick deep inside her. The warmth of his seed pulsing as his weight dropped over her.

  He breathed her name and it shook her to her core. His breath hammering out by her ear.

  “Get off me.” Thalia mumbled, licking her lips to try and get her voice back. As his grip on her relaxed she pulled her arms down and shoved at his shoulders. Panic threaded her voice as his weight on her quickly became suffocating and terrible, “Get off me, Marcus! Get off me! GET. OFF. ME.”

  Marcus growled against her skin and his hand was suddenly around her throat again, tightening until she couldn’t breathe. She twisted, grabbing onto his fingers to try and pry them away. “What the fuck did you say?” He relaxed his grip and she gasped for air, trying to push him off as he slid from her.

  “I said - GET OFF ME, MARCUS!” She screamed it as loud as her voice would make it. He growled and sat up between her legs and slapped her hard across the face. The pain shocked her, and she was crying again trying to shield herself.

  “Dammit, Thalia! You ungrateful cunt! Why won’t you just behave?! Why won’t you just BE with me?!” He was shouting down at her. Twisting at the waist he dug in a pocket of his pants and pulled out handcuffs. Before she could react he had one wrist trapped and was pushing her back on the bed while she screamed for him to stop. He looped the cuffs through a bar in the headboard and forced her other hand back until he could cuff it as well. “I’ve been so fucking patient with you. I let you sleep. I’ve let you use my name, and I have NEVER given you permission to use it. Now you’re telling me what to do? That rich boy ruined all my work with you, he screwed with your head! You were perfect!”

  Thalia was shaking, and when she tugged on the cuffs it only hurt. There was no way she was getting out of them.

  “I’m obviously going to have to remind you of the consequences of being disobedient. I wanted things to be different for us but YOU won’t let them be, no, I have to get you in line again first, remind you of the rules.” Marcus leaned over her, holding her face so her gaze met his, his eyes looking at her with some insane version of affection and concern, “Then we can build a relationship, then we can be together. We just have to reestablish what you can and can’t do. You’ll be grateful.”

  He slid off the bed with one more touch down her thigh, and tugged his pants back on. He stood over her for a moment as she twisted onto her side and scooted back as far as the cuffs allowed. Marcus cracked the knuckles on his hand as he watched her curl up, and then he suddenly turned and left the room.

  Thalia started sobbing the second the door shut, jerking on the cuffs and turning farther to her side trying to curl up into a ball. She couldn’t believe any of this had happened; part of her kept waiting to wake up screaming and crying next to James, and then James would turn on the light and hold his arms out, never touching her first, but being there for her. Always there to wipe away the memory of Marcus’ hands on her.

  This wasn’t just some memory though, and she had no idea where she was, and she really doubted he planned on letting her go this time. Her chest ached at the idea that she might never see James again, that he’d never be able to calm her down and tell her he loved her ever again. No more midnight snacks sitting at the kitchen island, waiting for her to calm down enough to sleep. And James never complained, even if he had work in the morning, he just held her, comforted her, until the nightmare faded.

  The door opened and slammed, the loud boom of it making Thalia jump. Marcus was looming near the door, tension etching the outline of him. There was a belt clamped in his fist.

  Shit.

  Thalia whimpered, shaking her head, “Please don’t, please -”

  “Quiet, Thalia. If you would have just been good, if you would just behave I wouldn’t have to do this. It could be so different, it will be, you’ll see. But I have to teach you a lesson first, I have to remind you of the rules or this won’t work.” Marcus walked towards her and she jerked hard on the cuffs, trying to push as far away from the edge of the bed as possible. He grabbed her thigh when he got to her and easily flipped her to her stomach, the cuffs painfully twisting as they crossed.

  Her mouth opened to beg him not to, but he brought the belt down hard and the burst of pain stole the air from her lungs. His anger snapped through each lash. Five, six, seven strokes of the belt and she was sobbing again, screaming for him to stop, her skin on fire as he paused.

  “What are you supposed to call me, Thalia?!” He shouted down at her, but she shook her head. No. She wouldn’t do that. James was her Master, she had chosen James, Marcus had never earned that, he had stolen it, forced it. He growled above her and another flurry of lashes slashed down her ass and across the sensitive skin of her thighs.

  Her fists clenched tight as she tried to breathe through the pain, to separate from it. Another too hard lash. A scream ripped out of her as the pain built into an inescapable wave that threatened to drown her. She’d never been hit this hard with a belt, Marcus was punishing out of anger. Never supposed to punish out of anger, but he didn’t care. His entire twisted view of being her Master was wrong. Another lash had her screaming again, burying her face in her arms.

  “THALIA! Say it! Tell me what you’re supposed to call me!” Marcus shouted down at her and she tried to shift away from him. The belt striped across her lower back, and he growled and dragged her back towards him by her thigh. His fist wrenched into her hair and yanked her backwards, the strain on her throat made it impossible to swallow and hard to breathe. “Say it. Say it, Thalia!”

  “NO!” Thalia screamed and he released her hair with a snort of disgust.

  “I can’t believe you let that asshole poison you against me! I showed you everything! ME!” He brought the belt down hard again and she yelped, her body trembling with fear and pain and probably a good amount of shock.

  “You fucking raped me, Marcus! This isn’t a god damn relationship!” She shouted into the mattress, preparing for more violence. Instead, he was still.

  “I only had to force you the first time, Thalia, just so you would learn. And you came for me, you enjoyed it.�
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  Thalia found herself laughing, and her tears stopped in the insanity of it. Maybe she was losing it, but on the other side of terror she found a kind of giddy relief that he wanted her to want him so badly. It didn’t matter that her backside felt like a brutal web of fiery welts and deep, aching bruises. If he was so focused on her wanting him, on them being together, then he probably wouldn’t kill her, or sell her to someone else, or some foreign hellhole. Those had been her fears the last time he had her, and they didn’t even seem possible now. And if he kept her here, if he kept her alive, she had a chance to be found. Her laughter wound down and she spat out the words, “You’re fucking insane.”

  She jumped when she heard the belt clatter against the wall, his voice booming above her. “I’m the only one who knows what you really need, Thalia! The ONLY one. But I can wait, I can give you some time to think about how you want to speak to me.” He had walked away from her towards the door and she felt her body relax slightly. “In the mean time I’ll just go talk with Katherine, see if she’s more well behaved than you’ve been.”

  Katherine. Fuck. No. He had Katherine too?

  “She’s not involved in this! You want me, not her!” Thalia turned so she could see him by the door.

  “True, but making James’ little sister call me Master? Making her beg for mercy? That’s worth my time.” He opened the door and slammed it behind him as he stormed out.

  “NO! GOD DAMMIT! COME BACK!” Thalia screamed and felt the tears on her cheeks again. This was all her fault, all of it. Katherine wouldn’t even be here if it wasn’t for her.

  The screams had lasted a while. She could hear them through the concrete walls, through the ceiling. Each time another had ripped through the space, Thalia had shuddered.

  All my fault. All my fault.

  When Katherine had finally stopped screaming, Thalia had tensed. Waiting for Marcus to return and gloat, threaten her, hurt her again – but there was only silence. It stretched and frayed her nerves. Guilt had settled like a stone in her stomach. How could she ever look Katherine in the eye again? Or James? Knowing her defiance had caused Marcus to hurt her? The realization that Katherine could be handcuffed and in pain like her, that he might have touched Katherine because of his obsession with her – it had Thalia crying again. The tears hollowing out the anger and defiance that had fueled her when he’d been in the room with her. At some point the pain and the guilt dragged her under, and she slept.

  In her dreams she was back in the Conservatorium Hotel in Amsterdam. James had taken her there for a celebration weekend just a few weeks after The Decision. Her yoga studio was being built out and he had claimed they needed a vacation before her new job absorbed her. Everything about the trip had been unbelievable luxury. He’d borrowed his company’s private jet, and put them up in that gorgeous hotel that was such a magical mix of the old and the ultra modern. Then he had taken her out to a dance club.

  James could ballroom dance like Prince Charming because he’d been taught to, but his body definitely knew how to move in a club. Women had been staring her down all night, but he’d only had eyes for her, and they had danced until they were both drenched in sweat and their ears were ringing from the music. By the time they were back at the hotel, in the wee hours of the morning, they were both drunk, laughing, and half-taking each other’s clothes off in the elevator. When they stumbled into their room, James had his hands behind her head, holding her lips in an urgent kiss. He’d mumbled into the kiss, “I want to fuck you.”

  A grin spread across her mouth, “I need you to fuck me after all that teasing on the dance floor.” James was moving her backwards towards the bed, alternately shedding items of his own clothing, and tugging at hers.

  “You were teasing me quite a bit.” His voice was a low purr as he watched her dress drop to the floor, and his hands tugged her panties down.

  “Me? I wasn’t the one sneaking a hand up my skirt!” Thalia laughed and he lifted her up against his chest, her legs wrapping around him as he walked them the rest of the way to the bed.

  “You want to argue with me right now, pet?” He dropped her onto the bed but followed, climbing on top of her and keeping his body between her legs. Thalia groaned and rolled her hips, his cock brushing her soaking pussy lips to tease her need even further.

  “No, I don’t want to argue, I want you to fuck me! Please!” Thalia grabbed his shoulders and tried to pull him down on top of her, lifting her hips to stroke his cock against her. His low laugh rumbled into her neck before his hands ran up her arms and drew her wrists above her head, pinning them in place with one hand. His other hand slid between them, the first stroke of his fingers across her clit made her jump against him. “Please, baby! James, please, please, don’t tease me!”

  “James, hmm? Normally you call me Master when I have you like this.” His voice hummed against the skin of her neck before he nipped the place above her collarbone. His fingers slid slowly inside her, stroking until she was crying out with each curve of his fingers.

  “Oh God, Master, please, I’ll say anything, I’ll do anything, just please fuck me.” Her voice was a whimper of need, and he pressed her harder into the bed as he kissed her. His tongue moved against hers and she felt the rumble of his groan as he lined up and thrust hard inside her. The kiss broke as they both moaned their relief at finally feeling the other. Thalia arched off the bed, her heels wrapping behind his ass to pull him harder into her, but he kept her wrists pinned. His mouth tracing bites and kisses along her skin, across her breasts, tormenting her nipples as he drove himself hard inside her over and over.

  When they came it was bliss, the anxious tension finally relieved in her body and she whispered against his shoulder as he leaned over her, “I love you, James. I love you so much, so fucking much. Jesus...”

  “I love you too, baby. You’re perfect, even with the language that comes out of that mouth of yours, bloody perfect.” He was smiling playfully, and then his lips were on hers again.

  It was a perfect memory. Safe, and warm, and loving - and the polar opposite of her reality. It was a gift from her subconscious, and she wanted to stay in that luxurious bed in her memories. She wanted to stay wrapped in the arms of the man she loved, who loved her, and never wake up again.

  Chapter Eleven

  “That’s the most recent picture I have of her. It’s a selfie she took with her friend Analiese back in London. She’s the one with the light brown hair.” James handed his phone over to the hired gun in front of him, his eyes not wanting to leave the photo on the phone. Thalia’s hair was catching the light, an incredibly bright smile on her face as she pressed her cheek to Analiese’s. The two of them had done yoga in the morning, and then spent hours at brunch drinking mimosas and catching up. Thalia had sent him the picture to tell him she wouldn’t be home for lunch, and he’d ended up sending a car for each of them as they’d had far too much to drink to trust them getting into, and directing, a taxi back to Analiese’s hotel or their flat. She had been so happy when she’d come home, babbling about their plans for the weekend, a trip in the summer where she wanted to meet up with Nick and Analiese. It had been so normal, and she was vibrant and alive and confident and so fucking sexy. He’d dragged her to bed as soon as she’d stopped chatting away, and he’d kept her mouth busy in other ways.

  The reminder of her absence as the man took the phone from his hand felt like a knife to the gut.

  “She’s very pretty, it’s a nice picture, but we already have a picture, Dr. Hawkins.” The man was all business. What was his name again? The whole day had been a nightmare. The realization that Katherine and Thalia hadn’t returned from running, the panicked search, the heavy realization that there was only one realistic reason for someone to attack them. He’d barely slept waiting for this man and his team to show up.

  “I need you to find them. You have to get Thalia away from Marcus.” James felt the dark hole in his stomach expand, filling him with anger and a bitter cold t
hat was better than the helpless pain he’d felt all day and night.

  “Sir, we don’t even know if this Marcus person has her. The best way to tackle this is, unfortunately, to wait for the ransom demands. Then we have something to work with.” Jake sighed and set James’ phone on the edge of the desk he was using in the library. That was his name, Jake. “It’s very likely he hasn’t even done anything yet, a lot of times the people who kidnap high income targets are too afraid to -”

  “It’s too late for that. I need you to find them and get Thalia away from him as soon as possible. I don’t care what it costs, or what you have to do. Just do it.” James looked up and he saw the flash of exasperation on Jake’s face before he masked it. His hands clenched into fists as he tried to control his temper – there was no use lashing out at the only person who could help him.