His Property (Book Four)

by Hannah Ford

  I wondered why he didn’t turn the light on here, in the main part of the building. Was it because he didn’t want to get caught, or because he wanted to keep me disarmed, wanted to keep me from being able to see exactly what he was going to do to me?

  “Arms up.”

  His voice cut through the room and I raised my arms into the air obediently, almost automatically, and he pulled my shirt off, the fabric sliding over my skin with agonizing slowness. The room wasn’t cold, but I shivered.

  I glanced behind me at the closed door nervously. Wouldn’t his parents be looking for us? And what about other golfers? Wouldn’t they wonder why the door was locked?

  “Crawl to the bench, Emery.”

  “Liam – ”

  “Now. Or I will pick you up and put you there.”

  I knew he was telling the truth, could tell by the way he was looking at me, the intensity of his voice, the dark promise just under the surface of his words.

  I crawled to the bench and he made me climb on it and lay on my back. The plank of cedar was just thick enough to support me. I crossed my arms over my chest and kept my feet on the ground to balance myself.

  “Put your arms down.”

  It was a command, but he was already doing it for me, pulling my arms down so they dangled at my sides, almost reaching the floor. I watched as he reached into his pocket and pulled out the panties he’d taken from me earlier, then used them to tie my wrists together under the bench.

  Then he got on top of me, pushed my skirt up and unbuckled his pants, pulling out his cock. He pressed it to my opening, and I gasped.

  His thumb brushed over my clit, checking to see if I was wet and ready for him. His touch burned through me, instantly flooding me with an arousal that was intense and deep, the kind that pumped through my veins and overtook every one of my senses.

  His cock was still touching my opening, and he looked down and spit on it, lubricating me before he pushed inside of me in one hard stroke. No foreplay, no pretense.

  “Oh!” I cried out, surprised at the gesture, and also surprised again at how big he was.

  He pulled out of me immediately, and I instantly wanted him back inside of me. This is what he did to me. He messed with my head so much that one minute I hated him, the next I loved him. One minute I couldn’t believe the things he wanted to do to me, the next I was begging for them.

  “I’m going to fuck you so hard,” he said. “But first I have to make sure you want it.”

  “What if …” I licked my bottom lip and took a deep breath. “What if someone tries to come in?” The door was locked, but someone must have had a key. I tried experimentally to pull on the panties that bound my hands together. Of course a pair of handcuffs would be impossible to get out of, but I was hoping fabric was different. But the way they were tied was too tight. In fact, when I pulled on them, they just got tighter.

  “If someone comes in,” Liam said devilishly, “then they’ll know what a bad girl you were.”

  I should have expected that answer, and I should have expected that my hands were tied so tight that I wouldn’t be able to move. Liam Rutherford did nothing for show.

  “Beg,” he growled.

  “Please,” I said, loving when he made me do this, and hating him for making me do it at the same time.

  “Please what?”

  “Please fuck me hard.”

  He pushed into me again, this time staying buried in my pussy for a second longer before he pulled out again.

  “Harder,” I said, and he gazed down at me, his eyes turning to steel.

  It was a challenge of sorts. If he was going to tie me down and fuck me, make me beg, then I would show him I could take it. If he was going to keep me like this, if it was true that he couldn’t be saved like he claimed, then I would at least give him a run for his money.

  He pushed his thick cock harder into my pussy, stretching me, so deep I gasped at the pleasure and pain that tangled together until I couldn’t tell where one started and the other began.

  My eyes filled with tears. “Harder.”

  He gazed down at me, and then he reached down and pulled my legs up, pushing them back until my knees were bent.

  Again, he pounded into me, this time all the way until I could feel his balls pressing against my ass. He was deeper than he’d ever been into me, and my hands twisted together under the bench, the urge to reach up and grab his back, to drag my nails down him, taking him inside of me, was almost unbearable.

  “Harder,” I whispered, and a tear slid down my cheek. Not because it hurt, even though it did. But because I couldn’t understand how something so depraved, something so completely messed up and wrong, could feel so right, not just physically but emotionally.

  Liam leaned down and brushed the tear from my cheek, and for the first time since he’d brought me in here, I sensed a bit of hesitation.

  “Emery.” His voice was a warning as he pulled out of me slowly.

  “I want you to,” I insisted.

  “If I start, I won’t be able to stop.”

  “I don’t want you to stop.”

  His hands tightened around the underside of my knees. He took in a deep shuddering breath, and as he looked at me, I could tell he was deciding how fast and hard he wanted to go with me, if I could handle it.

  But I wanted it.

  “You know your safe word?” he whispered.

  I nodded.

  And then he was inside of me, fucking me, making me his.

  He fucked me hard, fast, the kind of fuck that was about nothing but sex, nothing but getting off.

  It was purely physical, and with my wrists tied together and his hands holding my legs spread, pushing my knees back to my chest, there was nothing I could do to change the act. No way I could touch him, pull him close to me.

  Nothing I could do but give my body to him, let him use me the way he needed to.

  His hands pulled at my bra until my breasts popped free, his thrusts causing my tits to bounce.

  “I want to watch your face when I come inside of you,” he growled. “Just my cock, blowing right into your pussy.”

  “Yes,” I whispered. “Yes, please.”

  He stopped fucking me, just leaving his cock buried inside of me, and my pussy spasmed just a little bit, clenching around his shaft.

  And then he finished inside of me as I orgasmed, the two of us coming together, the action leaving me bruised and raw, my whole body aching and yet sated at the same time.

  5

  I thought someone was following us.

  I couldn’t be sure, but there was a red Honda Accord behind us that seemed to be on our tail as we left the golf course and headed for Liam’s parents’ house. After we’d gotten dressed, we’d left the club, not meeting back up with Malcolm and Annabelle on the course. As far as I knew Liam hadn’t told his parents we were leaving, or that we would meet them back at the house. Instead, he’d made a phone call to Gustav, instructing him to gather our things from our room and drop them off at Liam’s parents’ house.

  “Are the… are there still guards following us?” I asked, glancing in the side view mirror of the rental car that Liam was driving. The Accord was too far away for me to see who was behind the wheel.

  “Yes,” Liam said.

  “What kind of cars are they in?”

  “They drive cars that are intending to blend in with the surroundings.”

  “What the hell does that mean?” I asked.

  But Liam didn’t answer. He seemed tense, his gaze fixed on the road in front of us, his shoulders pulled back, his jaw set. I’d been hoping that what had happened between us in that locker room would have given him a chance to work out some of his aggression and made him more relaxed.

  Instead, he was moodier than ever.

  I glanced in the rearview mirror. I didn’t see the Honda Accord anymore, and I told myself there was no way we were being followed. And unless I was sure, there was no way I was going to bring it up
to Liam. If Liam thought we were being followed, he’d probably start putting new rules on me. Instead of just handcuffing me at night, he’d probably start handcuffing me to him all the time.

  I imagined the two of us showing up to his father’s fancy party handcuffed together, and I bit my lip to keep from laughing and ended up snorting.

  “Something funny?” Liam asked.

  “Sort of.”

  “What?”

  “You wouldn’t get it.”

  He frowned and started to say something, but before he could, his phone rang, the sound echoing through the black Porsche we were in. The rental car had been delivered to us at the golf course, right after we’d gotten back to the main building. When I’d asked him if we were going to go back and play golf with his parents, the only thing he’d said was, “The time for golf is over.”

  I’d seen the rental receipt when Liam signed for the car. It was an insane amount of money for something that was only used to get you from point A to point B. Although I had to admit the leather seats were super comfy.

  The car had apparently hooked his phone up to the Bluetooth right away, because the name of the person on the other end of the line flashed on a tiny screen that was built into the console.

  Drew.

  The FBI agent.

  Liam hit the decline button, punching it hard, almost with disgust.

  A few moments later, another alert flashed.

  One new voicemail.

  “Aren’t you going to listen to it?” I asked after a moment.

  “No.”

  “But – ”

  “But nothing.”

  “It could be important.”

  “It’s not.” Liam put on his signal and guided the car down a side street that was lined with palm trees and redwoods. A wrought-iron gate appeared in front of us, like something from a movie. Thick vines of ivy twisted through the metal, and a keypad was mounted in front of it. Liam punched in a four-digit code and the gate swung open slowly, creaking as it went.

  We drove into a beautiful neighborhood, the wide streets flanked on either side with a cobblestone sidewalk. The houses were sprawling ranches or splits, the lawns well maintained, the bushes manicured.

  We drove up a hill and almost all the way to the end of the street, where Liam slowed down in front of a beige house.

  Liam’s mother was standing at the end of the driveway, staring down the road and tapping her foot impatiently. She was still dressed in her golf clothes, leading me to believe that they’d left the golf course as soon as we’d disappeared.

  “Oh, Christ,” Liam muttered, annoyed, as he guided the car to a stop on the street and slammed the car into park. “Here comes the shit show.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  He sighed and ignored my question. “Just let me handle this, okay?”

  “You know,” I said. “That’s really not fair. You just expect me to –”

  But he’d already opened the door and gotten out.

  I bit my lip in frustration. Last night he’d been so different, so attentive, so sweet. Then after Vienna had come to visit, he’d morphed back into this shutdown, controlling man who made me feel as if I was wasting my time.

  I picked up my purse and pulled out my cell phone.

  No missed calls.

  No texts.

  What was the point of having your phone back if no one was going to call or text you? I missed Maddie so much.

  Liam opened my door. He was nothing if not chivalrous.

  “You can’t keep me silent,” I said as I slipped out of the car. “I can talk if I want.”

  “Want to bet?” he breathed. “Don’t test me, Emery. Not after the day I’ve had. What happened on the golf course will look like child’s play.”

  My chest tightened as he took my hand and led me toward Annabelle, who was still standing at the end of the driveway.

  “Jesus, Liam, you could have told us you were leaving!” she said. “You just took off!”

  “We weren’t able to stay,” Liam said, sounding anything but apologetic. “Something came up.”

  “Something came up?” Annabelle repeated, throwing her hands in the air. The sun glinted off her wedding band. “What could have possibly come up in the middle of a golf game?”

  Liam shrugged and began walking up the driveway toward the house.

  “I tried to tell him it was rude, but he wouldn’t listen to me,” I said, halfway because it was true and halfway because I knew it would annoy Liam. And I did honestly feel bad for Annabelle. She’d been nothing but nice to me, and Liam was being ridiculously rude to her.

  But instead of calming her down, or at least lightening the mood, which is what I’d hoped would happen, Annabelle glanced at me with a bit of annoyance, as if she’d decided that I wasn’t as valuable to her as she’d first thought.

  “Where are your bags?” she demanded of Liam.

  “They’re being delivered,” Liam said. He was at the front door now, and he opened it, standing on the porch and looking back at us over his shoulder. “Are you coming, Emery?” It was a question, but his tone made it clear that there was only one right answer.

  “I’d like to talk to Emery for a moment,” Annabelle said. She smiled at me, suddenly warm again. “Is that okay?”

  “Of course,” I said, staring right at Liam as I said it.

  He shrugged, as if he were done with the conversation, and then he walked into the house, the screen door slamming shut behind him.

  “Here,” Annabelle said as soon as Liam was gone, rummaging through her purse and then pushing something into my hand.

  A small round white pill.

  “A Xanax,” she explained. “It will calm you.”

  I was confused at first, thinking it was a joke. “I don’t get it.”

  She sighed. “This is a very delicate time for me and for Malcolm.” She gave me another smile, and squeezed my arm as if we were old friends. “The business is… well, this is a very important new restaurant that Malcolm is opening. And he’s going to need all the help he can get for this, and for other new ventures.”

  I had no idea what she was talking about. My mind swirled as I stared down at the pill in my hand. I realized that up until now, I didn’t even know what kind of business Liam’s father was in. I also realized that Liam’s mother, who, up until this point, I’d been willing to give the benefit of the doubt to, was now acting a tiny bit unhinged. Who gave a benzo to their son’s girlfriend a few hours after meeting her?

  “I’m sorry, I don’t need… I mean, I understand. I’m sorry Liam took off like that, but I don’t need a pill.”

  She smiled, and I noticed a tiny bit of lipstick was pooling in the corner of her mouth, the only place on her face that had a wrinkle, the only place that the doctor had apparently missed.

  “You don’t understand, Emery. Malcolm can’t have any… distractions during the party tomorrow. Do you understand?”

  “No,” I said truthfully. “I really don’t.”

  “I mean that Liam is prone to…well, let’s just say that I know it can’t be easy being with him. His father and I were hoping that now that he’s older, he would be able to get control of the demons that always plagued him growing up.” She sounded stern, as if what she was telling me was something extremely serious. And yet her words had a certain hollowness to them, like maybe they weren’t coming from her but from some therapist or self-help book.

  “I’m not sure what you mean,” I said, trying to push the pill back into her hand. But she didn’t take it.

  “What I mean is that Liam’s father and I are hoping Liam will end up with a woman who will make sure his outbursts are contained. And from what happened on the golf course this morning, we’re worried you might not have the emotional stability to do that.” She smiled at me, and dread slipped up my spine. “That pill should help.”

  And then she turned and left me there, holding the pill with nothing to do but stare after her
.

  6

  Liam was unimpressed by the fact that his mother had tried to give me drugs. I found him upstairs in one of the bedrooms, after I’d wandered around inside by myself, finally resorting to calling his name like an insane person.

  The house was nice inside, the front door opening into a formal living room filled with crisp beige couches and mahogany end tables. There was a winding staircase to the right that led upstairs to a row of bedrooms, and the upstairs hallway was flanked on one side by a slatted wooden railing that allowed you to look down over the living room below.

  I found Liam in one of the bedrooms, standing by the nightstand as he plugged his phone into its charger.

  “Your mother just offered me a Xanax,” I said as I closed the door behind me. I watched him carefully for his reaction, wondering if I was overreacting. I barely ever even had a beer when I was out, much less drugs or pills. But maybe Xanax was something people just offered to each other now, the way that marijuana had become almost passé, the kind of thing you could buy on every corner in Colorado.

  “Did you hear me?” I prompted when Liam showed no reaction.

  “Do you have concerns about my hearing, Emery?” he asked as he set the phone down. “Because you are constantly asking me if I’ve heard you.”

  “You’re being a real dick.” I sat down on the bed, as if maybe my presence being closer to him would make him listen more. “Your mother just offered me a prescription drug.”

  “Did you take it?”

  “No, of course not.”

  A thumping sound came from the other side of the closed bedroom door, and Liam waited a beat before opening it. Our suitcases sat there, placed carefully side by side and upright. There was no sign of whoever it was who had brought them.

  It must have been Gustav who’d brought them from the hotel, but surely Annabelle wouldn’t have just allowed him inside of the house? Something told me she would have wanted to be the one to bring up our suitcases, that she wouldn’t have wanted to miss the opportunity to talk to us.