by Lana Grayson
“You focus so much on me.” I caressed him, loving his honest shudder. “Let me treat you for once.”
“Really, I don’t need it.” His voice deepened. “Sarah, I’m ready to go.”
“It’s not about being ready. It’s about being pleasured.”
“No. It’s about filling you up with seed. Nick’s orders.”
“Well, this is a…roundabout way of getting there.”
Reed might have refused, but the instant my lips lowered to the heated head of his cock, his fist wrapped solidly in my hair. I took him in my mouth, but Reed yanked my curls, refusing to let me sink fully around his shaft.
A test?
His grin turned wicked.
No. A trial.
Reed wasn’t an oppressive, sadistic lover like Max, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t curious about the power he wielded, the delights he demanded, or the control he commanded over my body.
I licked the thickness of his shaft, tasting his salty strength. His growl encouraged me. I tickled my tongue along the underside of his length—down, down, down—until his fist gripped my hair too hard. My teasing returned to the head. He liked that too.
Then again, Reed was always the most agreeable Bennett.
And the easiest to manipulate.
Christ, did I hate doing it.
Every gentle lick and timid swipe of my lips became an apology. I sucked, using my hand to pump more of his length. It worked. Reed abandoned his hold of my hair to lean back, his arms crossed behind his head.
At least he’d be happy for a moment.
At least he’d be savored. At least he’d know I never meant to trap him in the middle of it.
“Sarah.” His voice rasped. “You gotta stop that now.”
Every muscle tensing his perfect body glistened with a lover’s sweat. Reed wasn’t a patient man. It was amazing he let me torture him as long as I did, especially as he normally buried inside me just to hear my cry. He was greedy. He was demanding.
And he was my Reed.
I didn’t stop. My hand curled over his shaft and tugged harder, tasting his heat and the delicious warning of his excitement. I flicked my tongue, mimicking every tease he ever gave me. He grunted a profanity.
“Sarah, I gotta fuck you.”
No way. I couldn’t. I wasn’t about to reward myself with his warmth, touch, or the delicious fill of his cock inside me. This was for him. About him.
He hissed my name, but his grip knotted in my hair too late. I sunk low against his shaft and tried to swallow every bit of his jetting seed.
It was the first time I ever did that. I grinned. Reed didn’t.
“Shit.” Reed fell against the pillows in a shudder of relief and misguided anger. “Fuck. We weren’t supposed to do that.”
I didn’t pull away from his cock, and Reed didn’t push me off. He rubbed his face and enjoyed the lasting tremors of my tongue. I flicked a figure eight as he groaned.
He didn’t see me reach for the handcuffs.
“Christ, Sarah.” He pulled me up to his side. “Give me like…ten minutes. I’ll fuck you then.”
“It’s okay, Reed.”
“No, it’s not. I promised Nick.”
I slid my hand with the cuffs under the pillow. “Nick won’t care.”
“He wants you pregnant. Swallowing my load doesn’t do that.” His hesitation was cute. “At least…I don’t think so. I hope not, or I got a couple girls to call.”
“You guys refuse to believe me. I’m very, very infertile. So just…enjoy it.”
Reed exhaled. I wished my stress melted as easily as his. “Well, I did. Thanks, I guess.”
His reflexes dulled from the release. I launched, slamming one cuff around the brass metal of his bedpost and the other around his exposed wrist. He laughed as I did it, the dimple almost encouraging me.
“Sarah, babe, I’m not into this.” He winked. “You aren’t either.”
“Just…listen to me.”
He clattered the cuff against the railing. “Easier ways than this.”
I shifted from the bed, gathering my lost dress on the floor. He watched me, eyebrow arched.
“Reed, promise you won’t get mad?”
“Oh, shit.”
“Reed—”
“What the fuck are you doing?”
I swallowed. “I have to go.”
“Go?”
“But I’ll be right back.”
“What?”
“It’ll be really quick. I promise.”
He jerked forward, but the handcuffs caught on the bedpost. I didn’t recognize his scowl. “You’re leaving?”
“I promise I’ll come back.”
“Why the fuck would you come back?”
“Okay, look,” I said. “I’m meeting with Roman Wescott.”
Reed grunted. “That asshole?”
“Yes. He’s the only one we need to amend the trust to award it early.”
“Are you insane?”
“I’ll be in and out. Darius won’t know I’ve gone to meet with him.” Neither would Nicholas. The dress slipped over my head. I couldn’t find my panties, but that wasn’t unusual. “I have to do this. If I can get him to help me—”
“Now you’re asking for help?” It was a good thing I cuffed him to the bed. “I offered to get you out of here. You told me no. You couldn’t leave Nicholas. It was impossible.”
“And it was. Then.”
“What changed?”
“Everything.”
Reed tested the cuffs. “I’m a good listener, sweetheart. I can’t do much else now. Enlighten me.”
“You did offer to help me once,” I said. “Letting me do this is helping me.”
“No,” he said. “It’s helping yourself.”
“Right now? It’s the same thing.”
“Nick won’t see it that way.”
Like I didn’t already know that. Like I hadn’t already endured that betrayal and ignored every rational warning in my mind. Like I didn’t realize Nicholas couldn’t rescue me on his own, not with the board determined to burn my fields by slashing through me.
He warned me to stay away from the one investor in Josmik Holdings that could end Darius’s rule.
Did he assume I’d jeopardize the trust? Or did he keep me away because he feared how much power, stock, and hatred I would possess when it was done?
His reasons didn’t matter. He wouldn’t stop me.
I had to live long enough to watch Darius lose everything. This was how I was meant to do it.
“Nick will have to understand,” I said.
Reed nodded. “You think he trusts you?”
“I don’t think any of us trust the others.”
“You know you could always trust me.” He softened his voice. “Come on, Sarah. Unlock me so we can talk with my boxers on.”
I didn’t free him, but I tossed him the boxers and the TV’s remote control. His jaw tightened. Without his smile, the scars on his face and cheek and ear were suddenly visible.
I rifled through his discarded pants. “I’m sorry, Reed. Where are the keys to your car?”
“Porsche?”
“Sure.”
“Under the visor.”
I nodded. “I’ll be back before you know it. And I’ll fill her up with a full tank. I promise.”
“Don’t bother. He’ll find you anyway.”
“Darius won’t know I’m gone.”
“Not talking about my father.” Reed’s voice darkened. “I’m talking about Nick.”
I didn’t want to imagine it. “He’ll understand.”
“I doubt it. I’d rather run from the man who thought he lost you than from the man who thinks you stole everything. If you go and talk to Wescott, he’ll know you’re seizing the company.”
“I am seizing the company. What difference does it make if it’s today or if it’s on my birthday?”
“A couple months is a big difference,” Reed said. “Enough time for N
ick to save the day.”
“Well, I can’t wait.”
“You have to.”
“Reed, they’re going to kill me if I don’t conceive.”
He tilted his head. “They?”
So he didn’t know. Nick kept it secret, even from his brothers.
Was he that desperate to protect me?
Or did he really think he could stop it?
“The Bennett Board of Directors knows about me,” I said. “They sided with Darius. They voted to have me raped and bred so they can save the company. And if you refuse? They’ll look the other way while Darius kills you.”
Reed paled. “Jesus.”
“So, if anyone asks where I am, just tell them I’m taking care of some errands.”
I turned to the door. Reed swore, tearing at the cuffs on his hand. The bed shook as he yelled for me.
“Sarah, wait! You can’t go! If that’s true, it’s suicide!”
And that fear made my decision for me. I took a breath.
“I’d rather kill myself then give Darius Bennett the satisfaction of pulling the trigger.”
Reed’s voice hardened. “Yeah, that’s great. But remember where else he’s aiming the gun.”
My insides chilled. I stilled.
“See the problem? You march out that door, you kill us both.”
“But...I handcuffed you.” Why did I argue? Why didn’t I just go? Why couldn’t I leave without Reed understanding? “He’ll think I trapped you. He can’t blame you.”
“My father has never missed an opportunity to blame one of his sons for their failures.”
I didn’t have any other options, and Reed was always too honest with me.
“If I let you go, will you try to stop me?”
“Yes.”
It hurt. I knew he’d say it, but it still hurt.
“Then you are just keeping me prisoner here too.”
He didn’t hide it. “Yes.”
“That isn’t fair.”
“Sarah, you said you’d submit to keep my father happy.”
“And get raped?” My voice shrilled. “Is that worth keeping Darius happy? Watching him destroy my farm and my family’s honor? My mother?”
“It’s better than being dead.”
“Not if Darius wins.”
“The only victory is the one you’re imagining,” he said. “We are talking blood. Life or death. Forget the company. Forget the feud. Vengeance won’t save you.”
“It’s more than just vengeance.”
“Yeah. This feud is about people too. The ones killed in car crashes. The girl stolen in the night.”
“You don’t get it, Reed.”
He tried to soften his voice and failed. “Yes, I do, I know you’re afraid of him—”
“I’m not.”
“Sarah, you are so afraid of my father you aren’t thinking clearly. Admitting your fear doesn’t make you weak, it makes you human.”
“If I get scared it means I’ve given up.”
Reed tugged the handcuffs, but not to escape. He wanted to hold me. That was worth running from. I wasn’t admitting anything. I wasn’t letting Darius get into my head. I was doing this to save myself.
And nothing he could say would stop me.
“I’ll come back,” I said. “And we’ll pretend like this never happened.”
“That’s not possible.” Reed stared at the ceiling. “If you leave, we’re gonna have a problem, and I won’t be able to fix it.”
My chest ached, but it wasn’t asthma. “It doesn’t have to be fixed. Nothing is broken.”
“Do you know why I fuck you, Sarah?”
I stiffened. Reed didn’t mean it to be harsh, but it was the roughest he ever dragged his words.
“It’s not about knocking you up. It’s not about obeying Nick. It’s because I’m trying to give you a taste of pleasure, something that will give you the strength to fight.” He shrugged. “I told you before I’d protect you however I can. Sarah, I told you. I’d rather meet my father in hell than let him hurt you.”
“I remember.”
Reed looked away. “But I can’t protect you from Nick.”
I stilled. He stopped struggling against the cuffs, but with his surrender came something else.
Anger. Insult.
Betrayal.
“I hope to God you can control Nick,” he said. “Because I don’t care who you ally with in this house, if you cross Nicholas Bennett, no one will be able to save you.”
“I have to try.” I hesitated. “Can you forgive me?”
He didn’t answer the question. “You’re just as ruthless as they are.”
“Only because I have to be.”
“No.” Reed’s voice stung. “You’re choosing to be. You don’t realize how much blood will spill.”
“I didn’t draw it first.”
“But they’ll draw it last.” Reed tucked his arms behind his head, but only I flinched as the metal clanged. “Trust me, Sarah, my father will make it hurt.”
“I’m not afraid of him.”
“Yes, you are.” His voice layered with remorse. “But you haven’t seen half of what my father is capable of. If you leave, he will give you a real reason to fear him.”
“Sarah Atwood has escaped.”
It wasn’t the first time it happened, but it was surprising it took this long for her to attempt it again.
My father didn’t agree. His voice corroded with venom.
“I’ll find her,” I said.
“Yes, you will, after you’ve returned to the estate. First you will free your brother, and then I will meet with all of my sons to discuss what must be done.”
“…Free my brother?”
“Don’t delay, Nicholas.” His words sliced with a familiar rage that would split the long-healed scars on my back. “The little cunt’s final fertility treatment is tomorrow. I will have her home and bedded or it will be the last time I give her the opportunity to escape.”
Christ.
I slammed the phone on the receiver only to immediately call for my helicopter.
What the hell was Sarah doing?
If she was lucky, my father would break her legs and chain her in the basement to be fucked.
If she truly angered him, he’d do the same and then kill her.
The thought shredded my heart, and the threat of madness fueled my veins with rabid fury.
If my gut twisted and blood poisoned when my father merely looked at her, what monster would I become if he dared to lay a hand on her?
And how could I prevent it? Sarah didn’t listen to me. Willful disobedience made for a sensual challenge but a terrible epitaph. Her safety depended on my one command.
Submit.
And still, she defied me.
At each and every turn, she disobeyed me.
And now she had escaped.
It was hard enough controlling her when she was at my side. She fled from our home to go…where?
Anywhere.
Anywhere she could free herself from the Bennetts.
Anywhere she’d be rid of me.
Sarah was slipping away. I held her in my arms, promised my love, and damned her to a life of captivity and horror. She blamed me for all of it—my father’s attempted rape, the fertility drugs, the conspiracy of the board. And she was right. I’d vowed I’d do whatever I could to keep her safe.
Except free her from my possession.
And the instant she realized it—when she truly understood my obsessive devotion—I’d lose her forever, no matter the restraints, seclusion, and madness that bound her within the estate.
All the more reason to find her before she did something reckless.
Something more reckless.
The helicopter arrived within a quarter hour. I texted Max from the air.
Where are you?
He responded with a slight delay. The estate. Enjoying the show.
What show?
You’ll fucking see.
I didn’t have time for cryptic games—not from my father, not from my brother, and not from Sarah Atwood endangering herself in a foolish attempt to return home or hide from my family until she inherited the trust.
The trust.
Christ.
Sarah never retreated, she only delayed to arm herself.
The helicopter was halfway to the estate, but I didn’t order the pilot to return to San Jose. I knew exactly where she was. If she had any common sense, she’d hurry to the mansion before my father traded the last of his patience for a loaded gun.
If she wanted to survive, she’d leave me and never look back.
But the thought of losing her was a pain that surged with dark desperation and unjust rage. Sarah Atwood was the true cornerstone of any empire I’d ever build. Nothing else tempted me. Nothing else moved me.
I needed Sarah in my life, at my side, in my bed.
I didn’t trust myself to deny the selfish desires. My love endangered her more than my father’s wrath.
The helicopter landed. I met my brothers within Reed’s suite.
Nothing prepared me for it, and yet, somehow, I knew this was how it would happen.
“Oh, Christ, the cavalry’s here.” Reed knocked his head against the headboard. He wore only a pair of blue boxers. The color matched the light bruising on the wrist trapped in a handcuff.
Max snickered from the corner, twirling a set of keys in his hand.
“Would you tell him to fucking unlock me?” Reed clattered the metal around his wrist. “This isn’t as comfortable as it looks.”
I surveyed the room. No signs of struggle. No sign of Sarah.
Just my youngest brother, handcuffed to his own bed.
Like a jackass.
“How…did this happen?” I imagined it quite vividly, but I hoped I was wrong. Sarah slamming a chair through a window and running was acceptable panic. But overpowering my brother? Her escape was premeditated, and it would enrage my father.
“I’ll let you out,” Max said. “Just gotta say your own little safe word.”
“Fuck you, I have to piss.”
“That’s not it.” He dangled the keys in front of him. “Say Sarah Atwood made me her bitch. Then I’ll uncuff you.”
Why weren’t they worried? “Where is Sarah?”
Reed shrugged. The handcuffs jingled. She managed to restrain a man twice her size.
Sarah was as impressive as she was idiotic.