Enemy Inside (Captive #1)

by Penelope Marshall

  I turned around to see her face red with anger as Ty peered through the opening between me and the door.

  “Kenzi, I came by to apologize for my crass behavior earlier. I don’t know what came over me. I guess I’ve been hanging around Neanderthals too much lately.”

  I whipped my head back around to see the smirk on Ty’s face. “I’m gonna say this one muthafuckin’ more time—” I said through gritted teeth.

  Kenzi

  “Wait, wait, wait. Before another fight starts,” I said, laying my hand on Zander’s shoulder to pull him away from the door. “Just give me a minute, please?” I asked, looking solemnly into his eyes.

  Zander threw his hands up in the air. “Fuck it. Maybe you can get through to this imbecile. I need some fuckin’ air,” he said, walking out the door, slamming his arm against Ty’s.

  Ty turned back to me. “Good riddance.” He chuckled.

  “Fuck!” I muttered to myself as I watched Zander leave.

  “I came to see if you wanted to have dinner. After that scuffle, I’m famished,” he said, slapping his hands against his stomach.

  “Did none of what happened in the last twenty-four hours faze you? Shit, even the last hour for that matter?” I asked, confused by his willingness to overlook the police, the fight, and the detective questioning him.

  “I can move beyond things when I see the prize at the end of the obstacle course,” he said, leaning his shoulder against the doorframe.

  “And the prize in this situation would be?”

  He flashed an insidious smile. “You, of course!”

  “I’m not a prize to be won.”

  Ty chuckled. “Women are always the ultimate prize to be won, Kenzi.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked.

  “It means a woman like you needs to be with a man worthy of her, and it sure ain’t no rent-a-cop,” he said with a cocky attitude.

  “Do you really think he’s just a rent-a-cop? He fights for this country. He was a goddamn SEAL in the military!” I shouted.

  “Oh, really? Then why isn’t he in the military anymore? Guys like that never get out unless they’re carried out in a box. Or—” he said as he readjusted the pocket square in his blazer.

  “Or what?” I asked, pursing my lips, shifting my weight onto one hip.

  At this point, I had thrown my mother’s etiquette class right out the window and reverted back to the sassy girl I used to be when my mother wasn’t around to stuff me into her prim and proper box.

  “What do you really know about him? Maybe he got kicked out for going crazy or something. Nothing bad started happening around here until he showed up.”

  “Get the fuck outta of here. You’re insane. He would never—”

  “How do you know?” he interrupted, backing up toward the sidewalk. “I’m just saying you need to protect yourself. You’ve known me for how long? You’ve known him two days—do the math.”

  I shook my head and closed the door. “What a jerk. Thank God we only kissed,” I murmured to myself as I glanced around the room, looking for my cell phone.

  I needed to call Zander and tell him I sent Ty away and beg for his forgiveness—again. This was probably not the best way to start a relationship. And I definitely didn’t deserve another chance or his forgiveness. Walking around the lower level of the house, I finally found my cell phone sitting on the kitchen island.

  After dialing Zander’s number and letting it ring once, he sent me straight to voicemail. Another call garnered the same response. Zander didn’t answer, and I didn’t hear from him again for another two days. I must have really pissed him off, but I couldn’t blame him.

  I was intent on calling him one last time and, if he didn’t answer, then I would leave him alone. My father taught me never to beg for a man, and I would be damned if I was going to beg for him; even though I really wanted to.

  The phone rang once, twice, and then a third time as I hovered my finger over the red end call button. Finally, the screen turned green, and hello, filtered through the speaker.

  “It’s me.”

  “I know,” he replied in a stiff tone.

  “Where have you been?”

  “I needed some time. You’re not ready for me, and I can’t afford any distractions in the field.”

  “I am ready for you.”

  “I don’t have time for your games. How do I know you’re not going to cheat on me with your asshole of a neighbor while I’m on a contract? I have too many peoples’ lives in my hands,” he reasoned.

  “You don’t have to worry about me, Zander. I would never—” I countered.

  But he interjected before I could finish. “How do I know that? Your actions prove otherwise.”

  “I can only ask you to trust me.”

  “How can I trust you when you can’t even trust me to keep you safe outside of that fuckin’ house?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Do you want me to come back?” he asked.

  “Yes, of course!”

  “Then come outside in twenty minutes.”

  “What? I can’t. It’s too soon,” I said, rebuffing his request.

  “Okay, I guess that’s it then. If you are not willing to meet me halfway…” his words trailed.

  “Wait!” I begged.

  “What?” he said in a low, monotone voice.

  I exhaled and replied nervously, “I’ll come out.” I planted my palm on my forehead, wiping the sweat from my forehead.

  “Twenty minutes,” he replied seriously.

  “Twenty minutes,” I reiterated as I slowly walked to the door.

  I opened the door and waited for him to arrive. The air had gotten cold, and the fallen leaves on my front yard had begun to swirl in the evening breeze. I crossed my arms as the goose bumps began to crawl up my arms. Around fifteen minutes later, his familiar truck parked in my driveway, and he stepped out. Dusk had already settled in by then, and the orange and purple glow from the sky danced around his manly physique.

  He leaned against the driver door and crossed his arms. “I’m waiting.”

  My stomach churned, and my arms dropped to my side as I inched my foot past the threshold of the door.

  I held onto the door frame with my right hand, glancing back toward the foyer and the staircase one last time. Shattering the invisible force field that had been keeping me imprisoned for the last two years, my toes were the first to make contact with the still sun-warmed cobblestones.

  “Zander!” I yelled, shifting my gaze up to catch him grinning from ear to ear. “I did it,” I whispered.

  He smiled and walked over to me. “You did it,” he echoed.

  “I’m outside.” I looked up at him, wide-eyed, grinning from ear to ear.

  I lunged at him, throwing my arms around his neck. He caught me and twirled me in the air, gently setting me down on the ground.

  “Don’t leave me again. Stay with me.”

  “I’ll always stay with you,” he replied in the most tender voice.

  He leaned in the rest of the way, nuzzling his nose along the bridge of mine, subjecting me to countless seconds of temptation. His heart pounded against my chest, the intensity of its beat matching mine. With each passing breath, my anticipation quickened. I wanted him in every possible way.

  Girlish Whims

  He gripped the back of my neck, stirring the sea of sexual tension which billowed around us. I raked my nails across his shoulders, wanting nothing more than to invite him into my bed, into me, but I couldn’t get the words out.

  He closed his eyes and leaned forward, crashing his lips onto mine. The attraction between us was undeniable, making me feel like a sensual woman again, an antiquated feeling I had long since forgotten. The grip on my neck tightened as he guided me in closer. His movements were subdued, but effective in igniting a visceral response between my legs. I was lost in the taste of his lips as my mind dispensed of any thoughts not concerning the ravishing moment we were in.r />
  He pulled away. “I want you, Kenzi. More than any woman I’ve ever known.”

  Gazing into his piercing eyes, I realized he knew nothing about me, or my proclivities. He probably thought I was some fragile flower in bed. I had to tell him. “It’s been a long time since I’ve been with a man, and I have certain urges. Certain things I enjoyed in my previous life. Things you’d never expect from someone like me.”

  “I’ll indulge your girlish whims for a while.”

  “Trust me—my whims are far from girlish.”

  He pulled away, intertwining our fingers, tugging me through the door as he closed it behind me. After the thrill of walking outside, stepping foot back into my prison felt so stifling. The air was thick, unlike the crisp dusk air that waited just on the other side of the door. Funny how tables turn so quickly.

  The overwhelming fear that had paralyzed only moments before had completely dissipated, leaving me with the feeling of safety and excitement of what tomorrow would bring. What tomorrow would bring with Zander in it. Trailing behind him up the stairs and down the hall toward my bedroom, he spun me around and kissed me hard.

  “I don’t know what it is about you, but you’ve taken me further than I could ever wander on my own,” I professed as my fingers meandered from his shoulders, over his hard chest, drawing an imaginary line down and over every ridge of his muscular abs.

  Clutching the edge of his shirt, I lifted it up and over his head, smiling as our lips separated to make way. Flinging the jersey material on the floor, I fastened my lips back on his, and after a few moments of lavishing him with my tenderness, I threw caution to the wind and knelt down, unbuckling his belt.

  “I think I’m going to like your urges,” he exhaled, resting his palm against my neck, squeezing it tightly.

  I didn’t respond. My pent up urges had taken over, and I was no longer in my right mind to be sweet or flirtatious. I was drunk with lust for the tight body standing in front of me. Unzipping the brass that held his jeans together, I released the animal from its cumbersome cage. I took full ownership of the throbbing flesh, working diligently to satisfy its needs. Zander gripped a fistful of my hair and squeezed tightly, growling toward the ceiling.

  I pulled away from him. “It’s my way, remember? You don’t do anything I haven’t ordered you to do,” I said as I stood up and pushed him toward the edge of the bed.

  Forcefully, I shoved him in the chest, causing him to fall on his back, bouncing a little when his body hit the white down comforter. A small smile crept over his face as he eyed my movements.

  “Why are you smiling? Do you think this is going to be sweet?” I asked.

  “You’re a sweet girl. I wouldn’t expect—” he paused when I pulled some scarves from the nightstand.

  “What are you doing with those?”

  “Don’t you trust me?” I asked coyly, yanking his pants off, tying one of his ankles to the bedpost.

  “I wouldn’t play with me like that. I know I’ve been nothing but gentle with you up until now, but you know I can kill you with one hand, right?”

  “Join the club. Seems everyone is trying lately,” I said sarcastically as I leaned over, holding back my yearning to devour him. “I know what I’m doing. Don’t hold back for little ol’ me.”

  He smiled, propping his elbows underneath him while he watched me restrain his other ankle.

  Zander

  I surveyed her body in its entirety. I wanted her—every waking cell screaming to touch her smooth skin.

  She backed away, grasping the edges of her silk camisole, pulling it over her head, revealing the supple breasts hidden underneath, which bounced as her arms fell to her side.

  “Hands above your head,” she ordered.

  “Tell me why I should first,” I replied playfully, not realizing the rules of the world I had just entered.

  “I said, lay the fuck down,” she asserted, crawling onto the bed.

  “Where did you learn all this?” I asked curiously.

  Kenzi

  I glared at him. Did he really want to know I had learned all these tricks from being turned out by one of my father’s foreign business partners? He was nearly twenty years my senior, but you would never know it from the ruggedly cut body hidden under the fine fitted suits he wore. His light blue eyes, salt and pepper hair, and finely coiffed goatee lent a certain bad boy aspect to his appearance, and he was definitely a bad boy.

  He’d met me at a family dinner and approached me a day later while I was visiting my father at his office. I had just missed him by less than five minutes. Come to think of it, approached might be a loose use of the term, as pushing me up against a wall as he hiked up my light pink pencil skirt as he told me he would be my daddy from now on, hardly qualified.

  His dominance intrigued me, and the fact that we could easily be caught by my father added to the whole forbidden affair. Back then I was willing to try anything and everything at least once. Older men, bondage, and submission were coping mechanisms that helped me deal with the burdens of being a spoiled little rich girl, or so I thought. I had forgotten how much I missed it—until now. Being with Zander was so freeing to my mind, I wanted him to experience all of me—the normalcy and the things I kept hidden.

  I straddled his stomach, yanking his wrist toward the bedpost, imprisoning him with the soft material. “Last one. It’s your last chance to back out,” I warned as I grabbed his other wrist.

  He smiled, pulling his wrist away, resting it on the thickness of my thigh. “I think I can handle a little girl like you.”

  “I didn’t know little girls did these sorts of things.”

  “I have yet to see anything,” he replied.

  “Do you like it like this?” I asked in a low, taut voice as I traced my finger from the bridge of his nose, over his chin, and down the middle of his chest.

  He growled, squeezing my flesh tighter. “All right, Kenzi, you’ve had your fun, now let me loose.”

  I smiled. “Do these still seem like girlish whims to you?” I asked, sliding myself down onto his lap, my panties being the only barrier left between us.

  Zander stared directly into my eyes as he hooked his fingers around the edge of my panties, ripping the thread from the material with one quick jerk. “Don’t start something you can’t finish, little girl,” Zander warned quietly.

  I leaned in, whispering in his ear, “Don’t you ever threaten me.”

  “You’re playing a dangerous game,” he whispered back.

  I shook my head, hovering over his awaiting flesh. “Do you want me?”

  “Yes.”

  “Do you like to be dominated?” I whispered, digging my nails into his arms, trying to hold back my need for him to be in me.

  My gaze roamed down his sculpted stomach as I waited for his answer.

  “Stop playing,” he demanded through gritted teeth.

  “But this is the fun part,” I said, nipping at his hard chest.

  “You don’t want me to show you fun,” he said smugly.

  “I wouldn’t have time for your amateur attempt to please me,” I whispered, running my fingers through his hair as I traced my tongue over the edge of his ear.

  Although I wanted to cut to the chase and jump on top of my ultimate goal, I was starting to enjoy the process of taunting him as I led up to the main event. I quivered at the thought of him dominating me, fastening his hands to my hips, and forcing himself into me.

  Zander

  I eyed the smoothness of her back, her hips begging me to clutch on and guide them to where they were meant to be.

  “Untie me,” I demanded.

  She didn’t listen, instead she slid her tight pussy onto me.

  “Fuck,” I exhaled as she began to slowly ride me.

  Wrapping my fingers around her neck, I gave it a little squeeze. “Is this what you wanted?”

  She hooked her fingers onto mine, trying to pry them away from her neck.

  “Tell me this is what you
wanted,” I repeated in a tight voice.

  “This is what I wanted,” she exhaled into the warm air.

  I couldn’t take the teasing. My body wouldn’t let me. Clenching my fists, I tensed my muscles and ripped through the flimsy material. My freed hand instantly moved to her ass, squeezing the flesh, guiding it in the rhythm I liked. Beads of sweat began to cascade down her neck, between her breasts as I watched her enjoy her first time in two years.

  I sat up and wrapped my arms around her waist, her legs wrapping around mine. I took her breast into my mouth, her breathing heavy in the background. Without interrupting our crashing bodies, I reached out and quickly untied the loose knots from my ankles, and as soon as I was loose, I threw her off of me and onto her back.

  Kenzi

  He lay on top of me, free from his restraints. I was vulnerable and at his mercy. It was just the way I liked it. His breath flowed over my neck as his tongue flicked at my pulsating jugular.

  “Now I’ll fuck you my way,” he growled, grabbing a fistful of my hair.

  The sound of my heart hammering through my chest pierced through the quiet room and the tense moment. His fierce look signaled I was no longer in charge of the situation.

  Maybe I had never been in charge.

  I knew I had miscalculated his tolerance to be pushed to his sexual boundaries. Now I would pay for that miscalculation. I held my breath and closed my eyes.

  “You’re beautiful,” he breathed in my ear as he slid himself into me. “And now you’re all mine.”

  I wasn’t prepared, but I should have been. My eyes closed as I took him in. All of him. I wrapped my arms around his neck, holding him tight against my body, his fingers tracing my inner thigh as he took ownership of me. My body quivered at each pass, trembling from the pleasure he was unleashing.

  “So fuckin’ tight,” he whispered, biting my bottom lip as he continued to slam into me.

  For a brief moment, I was living in a world with just Zander and me in it, and no matter how dirty I tried to make this experience, it was as tender a moment as I’d ever had.