“Complicated? Elaborate, Cass.”
It was a fantasy. And it was real. He was gentle. But something wasn’t adding up
“Cass?”
She needed a distraction.
“It’s just complicated, Iris. But I’m fine. What’s going on with you?”
Iris sniffled again.
“Same old,” Iris said.
“How’s…” Cassandra struggled to remember his name.
“Adam?” Iris interjected.
“Yeah. Is he complicated?”
Iris nervously laughed.
“No! Of course not!”
Iris sounded too eager to strip Adam of the description.
“So… what then?”
Cassandra waited through Iris’ silence.
“Adam,” Iris finally said, “is just great. Really.”
Cassandra barely believed her.
“What’s the catch, Iris?”
“No catch. I… I just miss you, Cass.”
The feeling was mutual. With all that she now had, Cassandra still longed for her best friend.
“Then come for a visit. Like you said.”
She didn’t know if that was allowed. Should she have run the invitation by Oliver before extending the offer? But he said he wanted her to be happy. He implied that she could have anything that she wanted.
That could include Iris.
“I don’t know, Cass.”
“Come on! Town’s called Stephens’ Point.”
She had gleaned that much from her trip to the house with Jeff.
“It’s like less than an hour from the city. Bring what’s-his-name along for the ride. It’ll be fun.”
Cassandra heard a door open on the other end of the phone.
“Sure. Maybe. I’ll call you, Cass.”
“Okay. Love—”
And the call ended. Iris had sounded strange. Something was up. But maybe Cassandra was simply under the influence of Oliver and this house, and she could no longer comprehend the Iris’ shifting moods. Permission or none, Cassandra hoped that Iris would come for a visit and bring a small part of Cassandra back to herself.
She heard Oliver’s laughter ring out from below and made her way to the top of the stairs.
He was sitting in the great room, rattling off numbers and appointment locations into his phone. The soft highlights in his brown hair glistening under the rays of sun that poured into the room. A part of her wanted to rush down the steps and press him into the strongest embrace imaginable. But after the pool, after he had carried her to the bedroom, dried every part of her, and guided her down to the bed where he pleasured her again until they slipped into sleep, a dark thought was nagging at her brain.
Whether it was the exclusive shopping spree bought and paid for or the refusal to agree to a return to the city, two things were clear.
He desired her. And he desired her constant presence within these walls.
She leaned against the railing as he concluded his call. Oliver sipped a mimosa and turned his head to where she stood. He raised the glass to her.
“Morning!”
She smiled but couldn’t make a move. Oliver was on his feet in a crisp green shirt and perfectly pressed khakis. He beckoned for her to join him on the first floor.
“Cassie? You okay?”
She nodded and drew her hand through her ruffled hair.
“Fine. I… I slept well.”
“Good. I want you to keep your strength up.”
He laughed and moved to the foot of the stairs. Cassandra grasped the railing tighter. She wanted and feared his ascent. As he had been from nearly the start, Oliver was in sync and stopped where he stood.
“Cassie? You sure everything’s alright?”
If she didn’t make a move, he’d know why she was worrying. She released the railing and descended to his side. Oliver took her in his arms before she hit the last step and pulled her into a kiss of orange flavored champagne. He pulled away and stroked her cheek.
“So you slept well? Was that the highlight of your evening?”
Hardly. She could still feel his hands and the rest of him in all the places that he had touched. She had never known anything like him. And she was certain that when and if it ended, there would be no one else who could hold a candle to his skill. If she was accustomed to this kind of thing, if he wasn’t her first client, she would probably just delight in the prize and strip off her robe so he could mount her against the banister.
But she was green enough to still ask questions.
She moved past him and seized the other mimosa that seemed to be waiting for her mouth. She drank it down in one gulp and felt him at her side again.
“If you tell me that, I won’t believe you,” he said.
His nearness was too much to resist.
Cassandra reached for his face and kissed him again. He held her close as his lips left her mouth and grazed the surface of her hair.
“This I believe.”
He took her hand and kissed each finger. She followed with her lips on his palms and wound her body around his. She was afraid to meet her eyes if she was going to say what had to come next.
“Oliver?”
He stroked her back.
“Oliver, can we… can we just talk for a minute?”
She felt him stiffen as he lifted his head. His eyes were suddenly cold as he nodded and left her side. Cassandra slowly sat at his side and reached for his hand.
“I… I just want to say…”
This was harder than she had imagined. His hands at her back seemed to make it easier. But when their eyes met again, she was at the point of losing all of her resolve.
“I…”
“Let’s have it, Cassie.”
His voice didn’t hint at the anger that lurked behind his eyes.
“I… I’m getting the feeling that you don’t really need me.”
His eyes softened. He laughed again and pulled her close.
“How can you even think that?”
She inhaled his scent and struggled forward.
“Because… I mean… I’m obviously not here to see to the house.”
His hold tightened around her. Cassandra didn’t dare look up.
“Then why do you think you’re here?”
“I don’t know. But you seem to want to keep me here. And—“
He made a move and lifted her face to his.
“And what?”
She took a deep breath before she spoke again.
“And I’m… kind of scared.”
She saw her words slice though him, and he quickly collected her back into his embrace.
“No, no, no. I don’t want that. Cassie? Cassie?”
She lifted her head and found him full of kindness, the way she liked him best.
“Cassie, don’t be afraid. This is all so you won’t ever be afraid. It’s for us. I need to know that you’re here, and you need to know that I’m always coming back to you.”
It sounded perfectly straightforward. He walked and she waited and they would make love in every room until they reached the end of the line and had to rechristen each room. But Cassandra couldn’t help feeling like a caged bird only waiting for his return with treats in the way of lavish gifts.
She still had the yellow diamond about her neck.
“I… I understand, Oliver. And I promise. I’ll always come back to you, too.”
He shifted in his seat and stretched to his feet. He bypassed another mimosa and poured himself a scotch, neat, from the bar. He drank it quickly and returned to her eyes.
“But where do you have to go? Everything you could ever need is here.”
“Oliver—”
“And if something, if anything’s missing, name your poison. I’ll have it here like that.”
He snapped his fingers, and she could feel him wanting her to just believe and get on with the act of breakfast. But Cassandra had more questions. And if she didn’t ask them now, she feared that she’
d never have another chance.
She slowly stood.
“Of course. I know. But when you… proposed this, I thought we’d be… you know.”
He took a step towards her.
“I don’t. Enlighten me, Cassandra.”
Now she had the feeling that she was in real trouble. She had to talk fast.
“You know. Doing things together. I mean… I’ll go back to the opera if you want. I loved the sound of the music.”
He smiled and reached for his phone. Did he finally understand what she was trying to say in the pool and about to give her yet another aspect of her heart’s desire?
Oliver keyed in the number and held the phone to her face.
“So send it, Cassie. I’ll have a string quartet here before you can blink.”
He wasn’t getting any of it.
“Oliver, I can stay in bed. I have. And… and it’s not all it’s cracked up to be.”
She saw him nodding, almost following along.
“This is different, Cassie.”
And she was losing him.
“Okay. Sure. This is like paradise. We can do whatever we want to and always come back.”
He approached her slowly and took her hand.
“Can we?”
Cassandra’s argument was unraveling within her mind.
“I… I’ll come back. I’ll go with you. Oliver.”
She tried to hold him, but he backed away.
“No guarantees when it comes to that, Cassie.”
She saw the fear in his eyes and longed to touch him. But he was already refilling his drink.
“No… what about the contract.”
Point Cassie.
Oliver looked at her with what she would simply take for love if she didn’t see the fear bubbling beneath the surface.
And the potential rage.
“The contract? Cassie.”
He laughed as he finished his drink. Cassandra obviously wasn’t getting the joke.
“I… yes. I mean, it says I’m yours. At least for the month. Isn’t that a guarantee?”
He set his glass down with a smile.
“In some ways.”
He touched her face, and she was on the verge of melting. Her eyes closed against the feel of his hands.
“But you obviously didn’t read the fine print.”
She opened her eyes.
“And it’s all in the details, Angel.”
He kissed the top of her head and smoothed his hand down her back.
“Give it another look. And then we’ll see if this conversation is even relevant.”
He moved away. When he was out of the room, she was able to move again, and there was only one place she wanted to go.
Chapter Nineteen
She flew up the stairs and reached for her laptop. It was one of the few things in the house that actually belonged to her. Cassandra steadied the computer on her knees, and her fingers hurried towards the LeaseALady home page.
Cassandra took a deep breath and logged on.
Her profile awash in stars. She read Oliver’s compliments from their first, fateful date.
Charming and lovely. Would DEFINTELY see again.
And he did. He had secured her services again to make his offer.
More stars.
Sweet in EVERY way. I look forward to a LONG TERM arrangement with Trixie.
Cassandra could kill Iris for what now sounded like a ridiculous and dangerous username.
She clicked the tab that opened a new browser of her ongoing jobs.
Domestic cohabitation.
It had seemed so harmless when Cassandra signed on the digital, dotted line. Oliver had laid everything out in such clear terms, and Cassandra was so eager to see him again, under any terms, that she hadn’t read the fine print.
She did now.
The lady in question will agree to remain in the domicile for a period of one month. ANY protests with regard to that particular point automatically extend the contract. An additional month is automatically added without question.
Oh God.
She’d left the house when the new clothing arrived. She’s protested again just last night in the pool.
It was already a three month sentence.
Cassandra trembled and pushed the computer from her lap. She hadn’t been as bright as he’d smugly given her credit for. He had seduced her away from the one room that was hers and shown her a mansion to get lost in. But despite the opulent furnishings and immense space, it was a place from which it now seemed impossible to leave.
It was a prison.
Cassandra fell to the computer and continued scanning the contract.
“Where’s the out?” she pleaded to no one. “There has to be…”
There was something else.
Any attempt to discontinue this contract before all time accrued is honored EXACTLY will result in the lady in question responsible for a refund of all monies already paid for previous services rendered.
How… there was no way. She’d spent the first three thousand dollars in an effort to dial down the debt that was swallowing her whole. And once she’d stepped across the threshold of the prison palace that Oliver had so carefully constructed, all of her obligations were wiped clean.
There was only one way that she could pay him back.
She had to stay.
Cassandra sank back into the many pillows. She felt the fool her parents had always told her that she was. Oliver had dangled a carrot, and she bit down hard at what tasted like salvation. But she had only stepped into another trap from which there was no foreseeable escape.
She held her knees close to her chin and cried at the plush nightmare that was to be more days than she could bear to count. She spied her phone on the end table and considered calling her parents or better yet Iris for any kind of aid. Iris at least would hurry to the house beyond the city streets and show Oliver a thing or twenty. She’d have Cassandra on the next train back to her studio, the rent momentarily paid in full. But what was the use? Oliver had her signature on the contract, and there was no way that Iris could rid her of the incurred debt on the tips of a waitress.
Cassandra was lost.
The bedroom door eased open, and she shot up and saw Oliver though her tears. His smile seemed tender, but Cassandra instantly regretted every place and way that he had touched her. She reached for the blanket and concealed everything but the base of her quivering face from his view.
“So you’ve read it,” he stated, plainly.
Cassandra wiped her eyes.
“I did. Why… why are you doing this to me?”
Something in her words seemed to sting him, and he started towards her.
“No don’t. I don’t want you to touch me.”
Oliver flinched under the force of his words, and she didn’t care if he was hurt. Let him know just what it was to be trapped.
“Cassie,—”
“And don’t call me that!”
Oliver swung a chair around and sat with his hands folded across the front.
“Fine. Is Trixie more your speed?”
Cassandra had thought that she was special in his arms. Was she just one in a long line of indulged games? He had the money and the power to subject anyone to his suspect desires. Yet somehow she felt that she was the first to receive this particular treatment.
She summoned the strength to leave the bed and neared him to the point that she could bear.
“It’s Cassandra,” she said. Oliver smoothed his hands across his head.
“Okay. Cassandra. Let’s talk it out.”
She sat on the edge of the mattress and clutched the bedpost tightly out of fear that she would fall or lunge towards him before she knew what was happening.
“Talk it… okay. Sure. Let’s. Why did you bring me here?”
His eyes went warm.
“I don’t know. To give you everything you could ever want?”
Like he really knew her.
&nbs
p; “You think I want this?”
“Who wouldn’t?”
“I don’t.”
She was on her feet and reaching for his neck. Oliver stood and kicked the chair away. Cassandra’s breath quickened as the chair shattered against the wall.
“Could have fooled me? You seemed happy last night.”
She had been. She was awakened to wet, suspended ecstasy that promised more of the same night after night.
But it was a lie. Cassandra was little more than a toy. A slave.
“You weren’t straight with me,” she said.
Oliver sighed.
“Fine. Apologies. So you’re only now understanding the terms. Is it so bad with me?”
In some ways it wasn’t. He could be generous and skillful in every way imaginable when the flesh was willing. But Cassandra wasn’t. Not when it was all built on a trap.
“It wasn’t,” she started. “But I know you better now.”
“Cassie—”
“I said don’t—”
“Angel then! Give me that much!”
She wasn’t about to give him anything.
“So what was the plan? Keep me confined until I couldn’t deny you anything? I’m arguing the terms now, Oliver. How many more months have I added to my sentence?”
Cassandra prayed for him to see reason and end this as he was but a breath away.
“I’d say nearly a year. And I’m holding you to it. Cassie.”
She shook her head and saw no end to his plan. Especially now. Any cross look or cold world could and would be interpreted as a protest, and she imagined years with only these walls for friends. There would be no other contact save for Faye and Jeff. The former had to know what Oliver was aiming for. Was a visit from Iris even a possibility? Even it if was, Iris would always be able to leave.
Damn you, Iris.
Cassandra fell to her knees and sobbed at unspeakable hopelessness of the hand dealt. A part of her had always known that it was too good to be true. Now it was even worse.
“Cassie.”
He was with her on the floor, and he wrapped his arms around her. For a second, Cassandra could do nothing but sink into his arms. But she didn’t return his embrace. Oliver stroked her and lowered his lips to her ear.
“Please. Please don’t. It’s not to make you sad. It’s… it’s to keep you safe.”
The Bound Bride Page 10