by Ryan Michele
It was time Laurel Conrad got with the program. She was mine, and I wasn’t letting her go.
3
Laurel
“Where are you taking me?” My words were ground out as the frustration of this situation got the better of me. I tried the damn doors to his SUV, but he smugly laughed explaining they were child locked. This only proving that he’s an even bigger dickhead than I originally thought. Not to mention the metal around my wrists biting into my flesh.
Pax was so calm, one hand on the top of the wheel while the other rested on the ledge of the window. His side profile displayed his strong jaw and nose. It also showed a stupid sexy grin tipping his lips. All of this just pissed me off more.
I thought he was hot all those years ago, now there was no question about it. Why did all the hot guys have to be such assholes? I knew how men like Paxton worked, and my mind kept playing out the worst scenarios. He got what he wanted and left a trail of heartache in his wake.
He reached over, pulled out a pack of cigarettes, slipped one between his lips, then lit it. The smoke puffed up filling the cab, and he opened his window to let it out, the sound whipping through the SUV. Smoking was never my thing. I tried it back in school but didn’t like the taste of it, and I chalked it up to experimentation.
With Pax though, he’s one of those men that every little thing he did made him sexier. The way his lips curved around the filter. The way he inhaled so deeply that his pecks pressed the front of his shirt. The way he exhaled, the smoke riveting around him like a sexy shield.
It made me want to stab him. Hell, I should’ve pulled the damn trigger when I had the chance.
All I wanted was my money. Nothing could ever be simple, easy, or comprehensible with Paxton Williams. Honestly, I should’ve known Pax was playing a dangerous game with me. I should have seen it before I reacted. The money was just a way to lure me in. A way for me to chase him.
A power play.
Plain and simple, he made his move knowing what I would do, and I played into his hand exactly as he predicted.
That was his favorite past time—pushing limits just to see how he could make the next move to come out on top. It had been said that some people were all bark and no bite. Well, I knew for a fact that his bite was much worse than his bark.
Neither of which I wanted to deal with a second longer, unless he was taking me to my money, but as we drove further out into the trees, I knew that wasn’t happening. While these backroads were familiar, I’d never actually been on them before. I was left with this eerie feeling. I didn’t like it. Change was not something I enjoyed. I liked my own routines and my own space. I didn’t need to explore or find new areas which was how I knew I wasn’t too far from the city, but I didn’t have a clue where we were headed.
“Paxton,” I called out once the silence got to me. He might have me here, but he would damn well talk to me. I calmed my voice, not wanting to give him anything more to feed off of including my emotions. “Where are we going?” I tried for the old saying, you catch more bees with honey than vinegar. The problem was there was nothing sweet about Paxton Williams.
His chuckle was deep and rumbly. My mind wanted to go to the wrong place with him, it always did. The feel of his lips on mine or the way he held me so tight like he didn’t want to let go, but I pushed it away because every bit of it was a figment of my imagination. He may want my body, but that was all he wanted. Not me. Laurel the woman.
“It’s a surprise, but don’t worry, no one will hear your screams.”
A shudder went down my chest, through my arms, and down my legs to my toes. Paxton had never hurt me before the gunshot today, but that didn’t mean I didn’t fear him. While I never let it show, he had this part of him that lingered under the surface, and it scared the living shit out of me. I just refused to let him see it. He had this dark side that he kept hidden beneath his expensive suits. It was a façade getting you to think one way, but the devil was there ready to strike at any moment.
The way things were looking, this strike was going to be me.
I was the one to hold a gun to him, letting my better judgment sit on the backburner. What was I thinking? It wasn’t like he was going to hand me access to my accounts or something. I knew better, but I reacted. Which was exactly what he wanted. Like a child, negative attention was better than no attention, and I played right into his hands. Frustration and hopelessness had a weird way of controlling your emotions and actions without your brain thinking things through first.
Pulling on the metal at my wrists, they didn’t budge one bit, only cutting into my skin, making them red and raw. I’d never been in cuffs before, and oddly I wondered why Pax, an accountant, had a pair in his desk.
Maybe he’s a bounty hunter. A chuckle escaped at the thought as Paxton’s head whipped to me.
“What?” His focus went back on the winding road. “What’s so funny, angel? Happy to be here with me?”
Breathing out deep, the laughter died. “No, just trying to figure out why you have cuffs.”
He clicked his tongue. How can that noise wake my body up? “Never know when you have to punish a beautiful woman.”
Trying desperately not to roll my eyes, a habit I got from my little brother, Riley, I kept my focus forward. My thoughts went to him. My brother would always roll his eyes, getting him grounded, mostly from our father when we were young. After he bailed on our mom, it was our mom’s biggest pet peeve from Riley. At this point neither of us had seen or heard from our dad for more years than we had him around. Our mom, well, she didn’t give two shits if we rolled our eyes just so long as we didn’t include her in our lives. She checked out the day I turned eighteen.
Riley and I were close because of the family dynamic shifting. With our mom stepping up to provide, we had a lot of time left just with each other. And the way our mother changed, spending more of her free time working to the bottom of a bottle, we learned we could only rely on each other.
Of course, I grew up and found boys—well, Paxton. Riley and I were still close, but I lost years giving so much attention to Pax. Then when he left my heart in a million pieces, my brother was there to support me. Even now, I didn’t go more than three to four days without talking to him.
The twinge of fear hit me, but I threw the mask on my face not letting it show. When we were in school together, I learned what made Paxton tick and that was fear in others. He fed off of it and craved it. For him, everything was a power play. The quicker he got the upper hand the better, and he wouldn’t let go once he got it either. Therefore, there was no way in hell I’d give it to him, even if the thought of him punishing me had me twisted inside.
I felt like that damn Katy Perry song being Hot and Cold, but it was no surprise. It was the main reason I stayed far away from Pax.
That didn’t mean he kept his distance from me though.
No, it was him who showed up outside of bars or clubs I attended. It was him who stood outside of my house when I got home from work. Hell, it was him who came to my office and had everyone practically falling over themselves to get a look at him.
What it wasn’t, was me chasing him or showing up unannounced where he was. Except for today. Dammit. Now I was as bad as him. I stooped to his level. I stepped into his game.
“You’re not going to punish me, Paxton. One, I’ve done nothing wrong. Two …”
“You held a gun to me,” he interrupted on a low chuckle.
I cut him off. “Two, you forged legal documents and can go to jail for that. Three, you took every dime I have just so you can have fun with me. Well, let me tell you—I will get my money back, no matter how long it takes.”
The SUV hit a large bump, pulling my ass off the seat as I gripped tightly to the window ledge, unable to do anything else with my wrists cuffed. My body jostled around, then righted with the vehicle. Deep laughter came from the driver seat.
“You think this is funny?”
He inhaled his smoke and blew out
the puff. “Now who’s askin’ the funny question?”
“Shut up.”
His hand came toward me brushing my shoulder. The heat from that touch sent my heart racing just like every other time this man had touched me, but this time I had trouble ignoring it. We needed space. I needed space. My hands began to sweat, and I could feel slight rolls of perspiration down my spine. If he weren’t so close to me, I wouldn’t have this problem.
I pulled as far away as I could, only giving Pax more enjoyment.
“You need to turn around and take me home now Paxton Williams.” My demand came out stronger than it felt inside me, making me proud. “You don’t get to kidnap me and take me to God knows where!”
We hit another bump, and this time my head came very close to hitting the top of the car as I braced my confined hands against it. “And stop hitting those on purpose!” He was letting me flop around this car just to show me he was in control, and that pissed me off even more. Fuck him.
“When will you learn, my Laurel? Everything I do has a purpose.”
“God, I hate you. You don’t think I know your purpose? It’s the same one you’ve thought over the years was fact, and let me make this crystal clear—you will never have me.”
His fingers came up as he traced his jaw, and I felt the damn wetness pooling in my panties and clasped my legs shut tight.
“And how do you think you’ll get your money back, angel?”
On a scowl, I rested my head against the seat. “They’ve already started the paperwork at the bank. It shouldn’t be long before everything is resolved and I promise you—you will get what’s coming to you.”
I would not be his whore just to get what I earned back. It might take me some time and I might lose things in the process, but I would get back on my feet again and without Paxton Williams.
Looking over, amusement lit his eyes which I knew deep down didn’t bode well for me one bit. I should have left him alone. I should have trusted the process and let the people at the bank do their jobs. Then again, they were the ones who took my shit away without even a courtesy call.
“Too bad the paperwork filed mysteriously got lost only to be added with another contract that wipes you out from ever getting it back.”
My insides twisted, and I felt like I was going to get sick. There was no doubt in my mind that he did exactly that. Guess my thought about waiting on the bank wouldn’t have worked anyway. My heart sank. Paxton had all the control here, and I was doomed.
“What do you want, Paxton?” The wash of resignation flowed over me like a soft sheet momentarily allowing the feelings inside to bubble out in my words. “Why do you feel the need to play with my life? Over and over again, you push me, you mess with me. Why can’t you leave me alone?”
The vehicle turned down a very dark road. Even with the sun out, there were so many trees linking the path it covered up the light like a cloak. Fear spiked inside of me along with a shot of adrenaline kicking the resignation I felt only moments ago going to the damn curb.
No way would I go down, however it may be, without a fight. I’d been fighting my whole life to make something of myself, and Paxton wouldn’t change that part of me.
“Who says I’m playing, Laurel?”
“If you think bringing me out to God-knows-where, you’re going to …”
The SUV hit a few more bumps, but these weren’t as bad as before. My words were cut off by a very lit clearing. It was as if the trees parted magically and cast its rays down on an exquisite cabin.
It was two stories tall, made of logs and large rocks, everything perfectly aligned. The huge wrap-around porch immediately caught my attention because it was large and predominate. It reminded me of when I was a very young kid and my mother would take my brother and I to visit her mother.
They didn’t get along very well, but Grandma Nadine sure loved us kids. We only went a few times, but I could recall it like it was yesterday. My brother and I would run on a porch just like this one, playing tag and seeing who could hop over the three logs that held up the banisters. Neither of us could hit it. Many cuts, bruises, and scrapes were formed at that old cabin.
This one looked state of the art, with huge windows that were tinted in a way there was no glare. There were a couple of satellites on the top of the shingled roof with only a few wires coming into the place above.
Hope for a phone blossomed since I’d stupidly left mine in the car at Paxton’s office. The SUV stopped, and Pax turned it off. A sense of foreboding hit me with the realization that I was out here alone with this man. The one man I’d tried my entire life to stay away from.
“Ready to see your new home?”
This caught my attention. “New home? What the hell are you talking about?”
“You’ll see,” he said mysteriously and jumped out, slamming the door behind him. Now that the locks were disengaged I could make a run for it, but I had the feeling no one would be around for miles. Suddenly, I wanted the doors to stay locked and for me to stay in. It felt like my only security from him.
Hitting the automatic locks, Paxton laughed, holding up his key fob and unlocking the door once again. Only this time he was there to open the door wide. “Come, my angel.”
“No. Take me back, now. I don’t want to be here.”
Paxton lifted me with ease then threw me over his shoulder and carried me into the house. Even though I struggled, I didn’t get far. Everything with Paxton was a losing battle. I should’ve know better than to fight him, but my instincts wouldn’t stop me.
The door lock clicked, then it opened as Paxton walked in and set me on my feet. I darted to make a go at running, but his arms wrapped around me tight, his warm front against my back. Inhaling, I sucked in the scent of his cigarette mixed with his cologne. My body came alive, craving more while my mind knew this was the danger zone.
“Now, now. I’ve already told you, you weren’t going anywhere.” He kicked the door shut and locked it, using a key that he slipped into his pocket. Paxton then turned me around, and I got a bird’s eye view of the place.
The air was taken from my lungs, and I felt like I was going to faint. It couldn’t be. Could it?
4
Paxton
“Take it in, angel,” I instructed, watching as her eyes grew as big as saucers while she slowly looked around the open room. It had a beautiful wide open floor plan where the living room connected into the kitchen and dining area. There was a small bath on the main floor and two other rooms. Up the stairs, there was an enormous master suite with an en suite bathroom, along with two extra bedrooms.
“Pax, what have you done?”
She went a little pale as she swallowed several times like she had a dry throat. It was expected. I felt the smile build on my face at her astonishment. I knew this would shake her up, and that was the reason for doing it.
“It’s an exact replica of your grandmother’s cabin on the inside with some modern upgrades because I’m not living with seventies olive green toilets and appliances.” Everything was as precise as I could make it with all the updates I wouldn’t live without. It was lucky for me that the floor plan was open because most homes back thirty years were not. This cabin was different, like her grandmother was before the times of today.
She took three steps into the space. “You take creepy to a whole different level, Paxton Williams.”
I nodded as she seemed to be torn between fear and amazement. I relished having the upper hand. I thrived on her confliction.
“Yeah, I do.”
She looked at me. “Why can’t you just let me be?”
I paused for a moment, thinking on her request. She was asking the impossible of me. If I could walk away and not look back, I would, but life didn’t roll the dice that way for us. “Once upon a time, there was a girl.”
She lifted her hands stopping me. “Don’t go there, Pax.”
“You’re mine, Laurel. Always have been.”
“People aren’t posse
ssions, Pax.”
I shrugged, deciding not to give her a response. Taking her hand in mine, she followed reluctantly.
“Let’s go upstairs.”
She stopped, and it forced me to halt my movements. “I’m not staying here.” She was firm.
“Yeah, babe, you are,” I countered.
She shook her head back and forth at me. “No, Paxton, I’m not. I have a life, and it’s not here with you.”
My laughter was sinister. “You act like you get a choice. You want your money, you stay here with me. Easy as that.”
She studied me for a moment like she was weighing her options, which didn’t matter to me because she had none. I made sure of it. “How long?”
Now if that wasn’t the million-dollar question. On one hand, the truth was she would be here forever. I wasn’t letting her go. I saw what Onyx had with Torryn. I knew it, the feeling, the all-consuming hold a woman could have on a man. Laurel had that on me.
From the beginning she had me. Owned me. And she tossed me aside. Repeatedly.
I was done being on the sidelines.
I was done having her out of my grasp.
I was done playing her game.
Now it was time she played mine.
I would keep her here until she broke. Every bit of willpower she had to resist me, I would beat back. Every wall she built to keep me away, I would crumble. Every bit of space she tried to put between us, I would close in until we were one. Until she saw what we could be, would be.
“Until you submit,” I finally answered her.
“That’ll never happen,” she fired back. Her spirit. I loved it. The challenge of her mind, the fight she had inside, it was everything I craved.