Kept (Bound Book 1)

by Leona Keyoko Pink

  Once he was on the bed he attempted to eat the blankets and pillows before he chased his tail right off the bed. Autumn wondered if he was hurt when he fell, but he seemed to shake it off and started running around the room. He didn’t seem interested in chewing on his toys so much as the bed post and other things he could find.

  Autumn barely slept that first night. He woke her up nearly every hour barking or getting into something. When she woke up in the morning she found the dog had peed in the bed. Autumn shook her head and sat up to someone turning on the lights.

  An older woman stepped into the room. She had her hair in a tight bun and wore a black dress like she was attending a funeral. She had a sharp nose that seemed to point up when she saw Autumn and the dog. Without a word she walked over to the curtains and opened them. The sun was barely up as the woman turned back to Autumn and said, “You’re late getting up. Get yourself dressed at once.”

  Before Autumn could ask who this woman thought she was, the woman noticed the dog had peed in the bed. She yelled at it, “BAD DOG! BAD DOG! GET DOWN RIGHT NOW!”

  The dog was frightened and quickly jumped off the bed before it hid under it. Autumn scratched her head as she again wondered who this woman was. The woman looked at Autumn and then the bed. Shaking her head she said, “You shouldn’t sleep with animals. Your bed has been ruined and you're covered in filth. Go take a shower!"

  The woman quickly texted something on her cell phone as Autumn got to her feet. She didn’t go to the bathroom. Instead, crossing her arms, she asked, “Who are you?”

  “I am Adel.”

  “What are you doing here?”

  “I am here to assist you. Get in the shower. You’ve got a lot of things to do today. You're already twenty minutes behind schedule. With your shower it'll be even longer.”

  Autumn realized she had some piss on her. She quickly used the bathroom and took a shower. When she came out her clothes had been set out. Autumn changed. As soon as she was dressed Adel was on her, staring at her disapprovingly. “If you don’t hurry you'll lose your first hour of garden time.”

  “I want to see Cage.” said Autumn as she realized this woman was meant to replace Penna. There was no way anyone was replacing Penna.

  Adel turned her nose up at Autumn and asked, “Why?”

  “It’s none of your business.” said Autumn.

  “You can’t be bothering him at all hours of the day. Now, what do you want?”

  “I want to talk to him.” said Autumn, refusing to tell her why.

  Adel shook her head and said, “Not without a good reason. He’s not currently home. He won't be back for the next three days. And he doesn't want to be bothered with trivial problems.”

  Autumn scowled. Adel looked at her for a moment before saying, “If you want to sulk in your room until he gets back, that's up to you. But you don't get time in the garden if you don't complete your lessons. And he'll stay locked in here with you.” She pointed at the dog.

  Autumn glared at her. “Fine then. Three days.” She went to breakfast and barely touched her food as she stewed with anger. When it was garden time, she found the dog was already there. It chased the birds and squirrels, and nearly caught a rabbit. Autumn didn’t know if she wanted it in her garden. She called out to it to come to her but it didn’t have a name. The dog looked at her when she made sounds for it to come over, but Autumn was still a stranger to it.

  A few minutes later she went to her dance class. She was too tired to keep up the pace and after a few minutes she started to stumble and fall as she attempted to keep up. When her class was over her teacher told her she would have to give her bad marks. Autumn was upset and wanted to talk to Cage even more. She asked the staff and nearby bodyguards if they could call him for her, but no one would.

  Autumn wanted to yell at Cage for forcing Adel on her, and making her get back into things so quickly after Penna’s death. When Autumn got back to her garden for lunch she found the dog had dug up all of her flowers and had eaten several of her vegetables. There were random holes all over the place. Autumn was mad and yelled at the dog, who didn’t understand why she was shouting. She had a quick lunch and spent the next hour filling in all the holes.

  That afternoon she had her first training session with the dog. Cage had hired a trainer and Autumn was asked to give it a name, but she didn’t. The trainer attempted to teach her how to tell the dog no and how to praise good behavior. They worked on making it sit as she didn’t have a name for it. The dog was really wound up and didn’t really understand most of it. Whenever Autumn had a treat in her hand, it would just bite her going for it.

  By bedtime Autumn didn’t think it was going to work out. Autumn’s bed had been replaced and a crate was bought in to hold the dog. Before Autumn went to sleep Adel locked the dog up. It cried through most of the night and Autumn found it hard to sleep in the new bed. She felt like she had barely shut her eyes before Adel woke her.

  Adel and the dog kept her busy with thing after thing through the entire day. While Autumn was miserable, she found she didn’t mind it so much. It kept her distracted from thinking about Penna every minute of every day.

  After dinner that night, the dog trainer attempted to teach Autumn how to potty train the dog with a crate of dried pellets. It reminded Autumn of a kitty litter box. The dog didn’t seem as interested in peeing in it as much as he found it fun to play in. He rolled all about, spilling it everywhere before he finally pooped in the garden. Autumn felt frustrated, but the trainer assured her that it would take time for her and the dog to train each other. Eventually the dog would know how to communicate with her and she would know how to understand it. Autumn wasn’t sure and felt really discouraged.

  On the third day when Autumn had some free time she watched the rain outside and looked at the cloudy sky. She wished Penna was there, wished she had someone to talk to. The dog came over to her with a ball and wanted to play. She was too upset to play with it but threw it anyway so that the dog would go away. Over and over again the dog brought the ball back.

  Eventually Autumn stopped throwing it. The dog bugged her over and over again to throw it until Autumn yelled at it to go away. It whimpered and ran away from her. Autumn apologized to the dog. She knew this wasn’t his fault. She wrapped her hands around her knees before she laid on the ground. When Autumn started to cry the dog came over to her cautiously. It laid down next to her and slowly licked her as if it were attempting to comfort her. Autumn petted it and apologized again as she laid in the grass.

  She knew the dog had no idea what was going on. He didn’t know what had happened and he didn’t know better. He just wanted someone to love him. Someone to play with him. He didn’t know that his life had cost Autumn her friend. Autumn reached out and hugged the dog as it began to lick her tears away. She sat up and let it sit on her lap. It fell asleep there a few minutes later as she petted it. She finally decided she’d call it Poppi, after the flowers it seemed to like tearing up.

  **********

  When Cage came back Autumn could barely wait to speak to him at dinner. As soon as the food was served she turned to him and said, “ADEL HAS TO GO!”

  Cage had been reaching for the pepper when she said this. He paused for a moment and sighed before continuing to pick up the pepper. As he peppered his lemon chicken, Autumn went on. “I don’t need you to replace Penna.”

  Cage spoke as he set down the pepper, “Let's face it, you do. We both know if you didn’t have someone to keep you on task you would just wallow in your grief.”

  “I have every right to. Penna was my friend.”

  “She was, and you do have the right to grieve for a reasonable amount of time. But you can’t stop living your life.” said Cage as he picked up his fork. He dug into his chicken, taking several bites.

  Autumn glared at Cage and said, “I’ll live my life and I’ll do things in my own way and time, but this woman…This woman doesn’t help me. I don’t like her! She’s nothing like
Penna. She’s mean, she’s rude, and she’s strict. She’s always on the clock and she makes me get up at the crack of dawn and go to bed before the sun goes down.”

  Cage didn’t seem to find anything wrong with that as he continued to eat his food. He stared forward like he couldn’t be bothered with Autumn's problems. She sighed and said. “Listen, if I have to have someone, can’t it be someone nice?”

  “No.” said Cage, chewing his food. He pointed his fork at Autumn and said, “Eat.”

  “No, I want to know why I can’t have someone nice.”

  Cage swallowed his food and said, “Eat and I’ll tell you.”

  Autumn stared at her lemon chicken and picked at it. She took several quick bites before she gave him a look. Cage drank some wine and then set it down before he said, “You had someone nice and they lost focus. They got too friendly with you and forgot what their job was. Penna let you do things she shouldn’t have. In the end, you nearly got killed. You need someone strict to keep you on track. Especially if you’re going to go out again.”

  “I don’t need someone strict. I need someone with compassion. Someone who can understand me. I need Penna.” said Autumn, as she nearly burst into tears. “I don’t like Adel. I don’t have to be friends with the next person, but I need a person who can understand me. Or better yet, just give me a chance to take care of myself.”

  Cage groaned and looked like he was losing his patience. “Stop acting like a spoiled brat when you don’t get what you want, Autumn. Some things happen in this world you won't like. You just have to deal with them and move on.”

  Autumn wanted to snap at him and yell but she decided to listen to him instead and move on right then and there. Without a word Autumn stood up and stormed out of the room. Just when she was starting to not hate him, he had to go and be an ass. Autumn went to her room. She was sure Cage was going to storm after her or send someone after her, but he didn’t.

  Autumn went to her bed and sat down. She watched Poppi finishing his dinner. The food was long gone but he kept licking the bowl, moving it around the room. She watched him for a few minutes before he came over to her and barked for her to let him up on the bed. She picked him up and stroked his back as she looked at a picture of Penna and her smiling together.

  Autumn sighed. She knew she couldn’t keep fighting Cage. She knew she couldn’t keep getting frustrated and throwing fits. This was her life now and she needed to face it. Penna was no longer there to help her through the worst of it. She had no choice but to carry on alone. First thing was first. She needed to fix Byron's situation. It was because of her that he was in this mess and she needed to set him free. Even if she had to force herself to smile every day. Even if she had to work her hardest not to hate Cage. She had to get him to let Byron out of his family’s debt.

  Autumn sighed, putting Poppi on the floor. She left her room and went back to the dinner table. Cage was still there, nearly finished with his meal. She sat down next to him and picked up her fork and knife. Without looking at him she said, “I’m sorry.”

  Cage looked at her but didn’t say anything. She ate a few bites of her meal before he finished his. He pushed away from the table and left without a word. The next day when they had lunch together Autumn attempted to be nice to him. She asked him how his day was and what he was up to. She had a full conversation with him and when she wanted to talk about Curtis she held herself back. She knew she would have to hold her grudges back and do whatever it took for Byron...for Penna.

  For nearly a week Autumn was kind and sweet whenever she came into contact with Cage, but she knew that wouldn’t be enough. Especially since he’d been distant, occupied with business lately. She knew she had to do more. She had to really get his attention. And one afternoon during her garden time she made her move.

  She snuck away from Adel and made her way to Cage’s office. She knocked on the door and Fredric let her in. Cage was doing paperwork and he barely looked up at her as she entered the room. He quickly asked, “What do you want?”

  Autumn didn’t say anything. She walked up to his desk and then around it. He lifted his head when he saw her coming around. He turned in his chair to face her and again asked, "What do you want?” This time his voice sounded more annoyed. Autumn wondered if this was the right time to attempt it, but again she didn’t say anything. She just fell to her knees before him. He looked at her curiously then.

  Hesitantly at first, and then more assured, Autumn reached out for Cage’s pants. She reached for his zipper and when she began to pull it down he realized what she was doing. He let her take him out of his pants. He was limp, not expecting this, and she took him into her mouth. At first his member just sat in her mouth as she reconsidered her idea.

  She’d given Cage blowjobs before, but they'd always been unwanted and forced, for the most part. Usually he set the pace and the rhythm. Autumn would just attempt to get through it as fast as she could. This time she wanted to do it willingly, yet as he grew in her mouth she found herself regretting her decision. Maybe she should have gone for a handjob. Autumn looked up at Cage and he stared down at her awkwardly, wondering why she wasn’t moving.

  Autumn pulled back and then pushed herself back on him. It was a feeble attempt to bob her head. Her mouth was filling with saliva as she had yet to swallow. When she did, she figured she might as well keep going. She pressed her tongue to his skin and licked it, moving it back and forth.

  She’d willingly given other men blowjobs before, but it was hard for her to give one to the man she hated. Usually she liked or even thought she loved the man and lost herself in it. Autumn found it hard to lose herself in the moment as she attempted to think of what would please him. She attempted to pretend he was a lollypop or a popsicle. She licked and sucked as she moved her head back and forth. Cage grew but didn’t get really hard like he normally did. She poked at his balls and moved a bit faster using her hands, but all of it was just awkward. She found it hard to focus. It felt mechanical as she attempted to remember what the other men had seemed to like.

  Cage continued to stare down at her, feeling awkward. He looked around the room and eventually tapped his fingers on the desk, not really knowing what to do. This had to be one of the worst, if not the most awkward blowjob he’d ever gotten. He thought to reach out and assist her but when he raised his hands, she pulled back from him. When she stared up once more, he finally decided to just end it. He closed his eyes and concentrated his mind on something that was actually pleasurable. He came sooner than Autumn expected and filled her mouth.

  She hadn’t really thought about what she was going to do when it came time for him to cum. She assumed she’d just swallow it, but as it seeped into her mouth she knew that clearly wasn’t an option. She looked around and saw a trash can nearby. She rushed to it and some of Cage’s semen dropped on his shoes as she spit it out in the trash.

  When she had spit as much of it as she could out, she wiped her mouth. Cage quickly grabbed some tissue from his desk before he went to the restroom connected to his office. He cleaned himself up and put himself away before cleaning off his shoe. When he came back Autumn was sitting on his desk. He looked at her and sighed as he made his way to his chair.

  Autumn knew it hadn’t been the best blowjob, but surely he would take notice of the effort she was making. As he sat down she politely asked, “Can we talk about Byron?”

  Cage sighed heavily. He'd had a feeling she was up to something. He knew Autumn wouldn’t just suddenly give him a crap blowjob out of the kindness of her heart. He didn’t even look at her as he said, “Learn to swallow. Then maybe we’ll talk.”

  Autumn couldn’t believe he was brushing her off after all she’d done. He should at least give her a few minutes of his time. Cage’s phone rang and he picked it up. Something had happened. He yelled, “No…fuck…Yes, get over here right now!”

  Autumn wondered what had happened but Cage didn’t say anything to her when he hung up the phone. He motioned to Fred
ric and a few seconds later Fredric stepped up to Autumn. Without a word he pulled her from the room. When Autumn got back to her garden Adel was standing there with her arms crossed, tapping her foot. “You shouldn’t bother the boss when he’s busy. If you sneak away again, I’ll have your garden time taken away.”

  Autumn didn’t think Adel could do that, but she didn’t want to test her. She went back to her classes. That night at dinner Cage didn’t show up. He was gone for two days. When he came back he seemed stressed. Autumn realized he was never going to let Byron out of his family’s debt if he was in such a sour mood.

  That night at dinner, after she watched him smoke his third cigarette in a row, Autumn suggested he take a break and relax a little. She told him that taking some time off might clear his mind a bit. Cage nearly blew her head off as he flipped the long table over. He stood up and shouted, “IF I HEAR YOU TALK ABOUT BYRON ONE MORE TIME I SWEAR…I SWEAR, AUTUMN!”

  He raised his hand and she really thought he was going to hit her, but he didn’t. He looked around realizing he’d lost control. He quickly reassessed the situation and left without another word. Autumn hadn't even mentioned Byron's name but she realized she needed to back off. In her attempt to help him, she only seemed to be making things worse. At this point it was getting her nowhere.

  For nearly two weeks Autumn didn’t mention Byron or the situation he was in. It was hard for her not to, knowing another day past was another day gone. But she needed Cage to be in a better mindset. She didn’t see him for a few days after he flipped the table and when he came back he was quiet. He didn’t apologize for yelling at her. They just moved past it as if it had never happened. They had a few pleasant conversations about the weather, and Autumn’s outings. Though they hadn’t been pleasurable since Penna had died.

  One afternoon Cage and Autumn were supposed to have lunch but he was running late. Autumn was asked to wait in Cage’s office as he worked. It wasn’t the first time she’d sat on the couch and was glad she had her own bin of things to do. She picked up some sewing, knowing that while he said it would only be a few minutes it could end up being hours.