by Lana Grayson
“Sarah, we’ll take care of you,” I said. “We’ll provide for you, protect you, and ensure you are comfortable. In return, we ask only for your cooperation.”
She huffed. “It’s not cooperation. You’re keeping me prisoner. There’s no reason for it. You know I’ll do whatever you want to take down Darius, but you don’t have to…”
“What?”
“You don’t have to rape me anymore.”
“Have we ever raped you?”
She touched her collar. “Did you ever give me a choice? You’re keeping me here against my will. You’ve made me drop out of school. Forced me to take a leave of absence from my job. You won’t even let me leave the grounds.”
“And you won’t. Not yet.”
“Are you listening to yourself?” She appealed to Reed and Max but earned the same silence. “You guys don’t understand what you’re doing. This plan isn’t going to work.”
“Why?” A prickling suspicion tingled in my gut. I trusted my instinct in business, and I didn’t like how frantic Sarah’s breath rumbled in her chest. “What’s wrong with our plan?”
“I can’t…” Her voice wavered with hesitance. She swore and looked away. “It’s insane. You can’t hold a woman against her will and breed her like savages.”
“You said you understood. You promised your submission.”
“And you had it for those nights,” she said. “I did my part. Now you have to do what’s right and help me find evidence of my father’s murder.”
How was I supposed to find what didn’t exist? “Sarah—”
She anticipated my argument. Her hand slammed against the table. “People are going to start questioning where I am. They’ll wonder what happened to me, where I’ve been, and when I’m coming back. How do you plan to fight that?”
Reed shifted. Max gestured for me to field the question.
The family heir had many rights—I just never expected breaking an innocent girl’s heart to be one of my responsibilities.
“Your mother has spoken on your behalf,” I said. The thought sickened me, but I downed my wine to fortify my resolve. “She’s explained the severity of your asthma to your Board of Directors. She convinced them you’re still sick and seeking additional help.”
“At Darius’s request, no doubt.”
“Sarah, you sealed your own fate when you revealed the clause in your father’s will. You aren’t in control anymore, you’re a figurehead.”
“I’m still in charge.”
“Not with the leave of absence. Your Board controls hiring now, and they’ve begun nominating new candidates for CEO.”
“How do you know that?”
“I answer your emails.”
Her jaw clenched. “How dare you.”
I exhaled. “No one expected you to take the company. Sarah, you’re a twenty-year-old girl with no business experience. If a billionaire heiress suddenly drops from the public eye following a family tragedy and severe health issues, no one will question it. Your company, the public? They won’t miss you because no one will realize you aren’t exactly where you’re meant to be.”
“You son of a bitch.” She kicked away from the table. “I can’t believe I ever…”
Trusted me?
Not a single moment passed that I hadn’t shared the same disbelief.
She stalked from the dining room. Max and Reed exchanged a glance.
“That could have gone smoother,” Max said. “Let’s see you fuck her now—get that heir without her kicking the shit out of you.”
I silently swore. An aggression wove within me, ignited by the pure instinct rampaging my thoughts. She ran. I would chase. The adrenaline surged. The urge to claim her as my own poisoned me. Everything was at my fingertips. The girl. Both companies. The ultimate wealth.
I could do it.
I could have it all.
But it depended on her.
How had the Bennetts fallen so far that our survival depended on our greatest enemy?
But Sarah wasn’t her father. She wasn’t a monster. She was a beautiful, spirited, unbroken woman who surrendered under my touch and still fought me as though she had an escape.
Or a secret?
The thought burned me. Something gave her courage beyond what she should have possessed. My father terrified her. Our goal disgusted her. And yet she offered herself without a fight.
She accepted us, came for us, even flirted with us, and it wasn’t because she thought she’d seduce us and learn a family secret that labeled Darius Bennett a murderer. She had something else up her sleeve—even when we ripped the clothing from her.
I tossed my napkin to the table. “Excuse me.”
Reed laughed. “She’s gonna tear your throat out.”
“I’ll be on my guard.” I hesitated only to drink the rest of my wine in hopes it’d dull the animalistic urge to chase, seize, and dominate.
Sarah dressed before I rapped on her door. She expected my intrusion. As I entered, her robe closed, securing in an ugly knot.
The restraints still tickled her bed, dark leather tempting the delicate pink of her sheets. She followed my gaze.
“Forget it, Nicholas Bennett. You lost that privilege.”
“You’re lucky we give you the freedom to go unbound.”
She pointed to the leash strewn across the bay window. “You want to bind me? Go ahead. It wouldn’t surprise me.”
“Sarah.”
“Do you even understand how fucked up this is?” Her blue eyes paled so beautifully when she was frightened. If I was a better man, I might have taken her in my arms and comforted her against every nightmare I inflicted. “Please tell me you know it isn’t right.”
“Of course it isn’t right. But this is how it has to be.”
“Why?”
“We knew this wasn’t fair, Sarah.”
“I want to go home.”
It was the first time she said it. I knew the demand would hurt.
I didn’t know how badly.
Her plea twisted, barbed, and bled me like a blade to the side. It wasn’t the need in her voice that agonized me. It was my refusal that ripped out our hearts.
“This is your home now.”
Sarah gnawed her lip. I’d kiss her if only to spare her quiet whimper. “Don’t do this. I told you I would help. I protected your brothers. I gave myself to you. Why are you torturing me when you’re so close to taking the Bennett Corporation?”
Because I wasn’t anywhere near close enough.
And every moment spent arguing instead of taking her was another second, minute, hour, day, week, month that sped us closer to disaster.
“I have to do this,” I said.
“You don’t.”
“You have no idea what’s at stake, Sarah.”
“Then tell me!” Her frustration caught in her chest. She coughed, harsh and painful. “You haven’t told me the full truth.”
“Neither have you.”
Silence. She stepped back. Her voice hollowed.
“Am I just a prisoner? Am I just someone to breed and toss away? Or…am I…?”
I didn’t answer. She braced to run, but I didn’t hold her in place. She restrained herself.
“What am I to you?” She whispered. “Honestly, Nick.”
What was she?
Everything.
My torment. My salvation. She was the one woman in this world capable of culling my greed, allaying my ambition, and restoring my conscience. She was a delicacy more tempting than money, power, and success.
But she was also the greatest threat to the empire I planned to build, and she had no idea why.
“Dangerous,” I said. “You’re a danger to everything.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
“You are mine.” My voice lowered. “Anything else is irrelevant.”
Her breath escaped in a tremble as I touched her cheek. The heat burned my fingertips. She promised a more treacherous warmth, one that wou
ld lose me within her forever.
“You have a choice…” Her whisper silenced over my kiss. She eased away as my lips teased her chin, her neck, the hollow of her throat. “I’ll offer it once.”
“I’ll take everything you offer.”
She braced against me as I moved to the bed. Her legs locked. I growled low in my throat. She froze, but she wasn’t frightened.
“We share something,” she said. “You feel it too. A bond. I think that deserves honesty.”
“I agree.”
Her fingers curled over my arms. She wetted her lip, expecting another kiss.
“I can either be your friend, your step-sister, maybe…more?” Her words caught over a word she didn’t dare speak. “Or, I can belong to you in that perverted way and fight you with my every breath.”
“An ally or a slave?”
“Make a choice, Nick. And you better make the right one.”
An Atwood for an ally.
Sarah for a lover.
The perfect woman for something more—a relationship full of warmth and compassion, built on a mutual trust. Such a luxury was denied to my family.
Every muscle flexed hard within me.
Who was she to force me to choose?
What power did she think she had?
The thought crushed me. She had the authority. Sarah was everything I wanted.
But if she knew what power she possessed, the revenge she could take, the lives she’d ruin—Sarah would rip out my heart to destroy the Bennetts brick by brick just as she promised.
She could give me every choice, every chance, but it wouldn’t change what I had to do.
I had to protect my family.
I had to protect it from her.
And she’d never forgive me.
Her stolen kiss was a moment to savor. She eagerly surrendered, and the heat passed between us in a delicate, peaceful, uncomplicated promise.
I pulled away, only to nibble her bottom lip. She moaned.
It would be the last delight she’d offer willingly.
“You belong to me.” My words fell upon her like the strike of a hand. “From now until the day you give me my heir.”
It wasn’t the illness that took her breath.
I hoped I wouldn’t be the one to stop her heart.
“You are mine, Sarah Atwood.”
21
Sarah
“Are you ready to behave?”
Darius expected an answer? I gnawed over the ball gag—the ugly, horrible, humiliating piece of rubber clenched between my teeth. My jaw ached. My bare chest covered in my drool. Gross.
Darius, of course, loved it.
My step-brothers did nothing to prevent it.
I blinked against the blindfold. It was a good thing I couldn’t see them. The trip to the wine cellar wasn’t pleasant, and Max’s strikes with the flogger layered me in tears.
Was it worth it?
Probably not.
The profanity aimed at Darius hadn’t helped me, eased my rage, or moved Nicholas in any profound manner.
The next time I acted out, the next time Darius dared to stroke my breast when we sat down for dinner, I’d plunge a knife through his hand.
The next time.
I ground my teeth against the gag. The pain did nothing to quell the rage bubbling within me.
Even I started thinking in terms of next time.
Then again, it wasn’t hard to imagine a next time when my step-family bound, blindfolded, and gagged me, then tossed me naked into a wine cellar. My arms tied over my head and screamed with strain. The flogger’s bite did its job, but the chill hurt more.
In two days, my world shifted from delirious pleasures to untold horrors.
My step-brothers hadn’t touched me since my fight with Nicholas, but Darius planned many things. I’d be damned if I let any of them near.
“Messy, messy.” Darius pulled the gag from my mouth. “Filthy girl. Be good, and we might let you take a bath.”
My jaw hurt. The blindfold ripped off. Even the gentle light of the wine cellar shocked me. I preferred the darkness over Darius.
“Cold?” He asked. His hands brushed over my goose bumps. The chill of the cellar hardened my nipples. He liked that. I flinched as he squeezed too hard. “Apologize for being naughty, my dear.”
I stayed silent. Max approached, twisting the flogger in his hand. Darius nodded. The snap of the leather struck my breasts. I lost my balance, and my arms jerked. The bindings hurt more than the weapon.
Max was too good at this. Reed exhaled, but he said nothing. It was probably for the best. His father could sniff out weakness, and I didn’t need his bullshit promises to protect me.
The Bennetts spoke only lies.
Lies and betrayal and hatred.
“Apologize, Sarah.” Nicholas checked his watch. “We’re on a schedule.”
I fought against the chains binding me to the wine case. I’d either rush him or pull the damn shelves down and end my misery.
I refused to look at him.
I loathed the caramel rumble of his voice. I hated his penetrating eyes searching my body.
He allowed his father to rage over me.
What the hell happened to the Nicholas who woke me with whispers and promises? The Nick who rushed into my shower and took me in the scalding water in passionate, conquering lust?
How did he possess me with such unrelenting desire…and then toss me away?
Why the hell had I ever let him get that close?
I offered him a part of me. I warmed with the possibility of a connection more secure than chains and stronger than lust.
And I thought—I felt—as though he would understand. We were both heirs. We fell to the mercy of our families and the burdens that encompassed such honors. I thought he would help me.
But Bennetts only helped themselves.
The damn room was too cold. I shivered, and my mouth dried. I was hungry and thirsty. How long did they keep me tied up? Hours? It had to be.
But I’d survive it. Their cruelty burned through my confusion. I was finally thinking clearly.
My stomach threatened to heave as Darius spanked my ass. His fingers dug into my soft flesh.
“Tell Daddy you’re sorry.”
Oh, he was a freak.
His little incest perversion was getting weirder. Darius got off on it, and every time I reacted to the terms it made the game more fun for him.
“You aren’t my father,” I whispered. “Get away from me.”
“But I am your father now, my dear.” His excitement turned lecherous. “Did you disappoint Mark the way you disappoint me?”
“Let me go.”
“Good thing he’s dead.” Darius stared at the crest between my legs. “Imagine how he’d react if he knew you were too busy getting fucked by your brothers to manage his company.”
I yelled, but the flogger bit before Darius raised a hand. The tears came too fast.
“Apologize, girl,” Darius said.
I hated myself. I hated him.
“Sorry.”
“Sorry, what?”
I wished to be gagged again. “Sorry, sir.”
Darius laughed. “Oh, nothing that formal, my dear. Try again.”
My stomach rolled. Reed and Max shifted, but Nicholas didn’t react.
Heartless fucking bastard.
“Sorry…Dad.”
“Good girl.”
I shivered again. Uncontrollable. I’d throw up, but they hadn’t given me anything to eat since I mouthed off. Max released the restraints on my wrists. My arms fell, and, as the blood trickled into them, I crumpled in half, cowering to ease the pain.
Darius kicked my side. “Get up,” he said. “We’ll let you rest.”
A kindness?
No way. Darius set only traps.
I refused Reed’s hand and struggled to my feet. My chest tightened from the constant pressure of the bindings holding my arms up. I longed to grip my inhaler, just
to be prepared and know I had it under control. I bit my lip instead.
I’d never ask for it. No sense degrading myself twice.
They led me up the stairs. I stole a towel and cleaned my chin and chest from what I drooled over the gag. Darius prevented my escape upstairs. He pinched a nerve above my elbow and ordered me into the nearest powder room.
He pushed me inside. My heart thundered. He reached into his pocket, and I expected a gun.
“My dear, if you would.” Darius handed me a pink box. “Quickly now.”
It wasn’t a weapon. I flipped the box over.
“You’ve got to be kidding me.”
The pregnancy test was name brand and guaranteed for early results.
“Forget it,” I said.
Darius grabbed my hair. He threw me into the wall and sneered as I lost my balance. I crumpled to the floor. He pitched the test at my chest.
“My sons’ part in this is done,” Darius said. He pointed to my step-brothers, lingering in the hall. “They fucked and seeded you. Let’s see if you’ve done your job.”
“You are all insane,” I said. “Let me out of here.”
“Sarah, my dear. We are only asking for a little cooperation.”
That word again.
They asked for my pride, my dignity, and my family’s lasting legacy.
They deserved none of it.
“You will take this test, or my sons will bind you to the floor and fuck you until you’re raw, bruised, and visibly swelling with a child. That might take some time.”
I hoped he didn’t see me tremble.
“One of these options is more pleasant than the other.” He smiled. “If not as satisfying.”
He would order them to do it. And I knew, with every betraying confidence, he’d earn their obedience. I’d fight. They’d overpower me. Max would beat me, Reed would endanger himself to save me, and Nicholas would drive me to the brink of insanity, wrapped in his heat, scent, and cruelty.
And it wouldn’t be like the last time I offered myself.
No surrendering. No kindness. No…desiring them.
It’d hurt.
And I didn’t want to hurt anymore. I wanted time to rest, to plan, and to hide in the darkness for a few minutes.
I wanted my heart to stop breaking.