Condemned

by Barbara Huffert

  “She’s my mother.”

  “Yes, she is but that doesn’t necessarily make her right about you. You deserve to choose how you spend your life and what makes you happy, just like everyone else in the world. I guess your mom never saw you with a child who enjoys playing. If she had, she could never have thought you lack charisma or called teaching thankless.”

  “But…”

  “But nothing! May I ask you something? Do you like to perform?”

  “I don’t mind it but I don’t miss it.”

  “If you never saw another smile like Charlie’s that day, would it make you sad? Would you miss hearing Kiley’s enthusiasm?”

  “Yes.”

  “Do I impress you as a sub-human moron who won’t spend my life trying to make you smile? Someone who won’t try to provide you with comforts in your life? Someone who would sneer at you for doing what you love instead of what you were coerced to do by a mother who doesn’t really know her own child? Do you think my friends are shallow and two-faced, nice to your face but looking down their noses behind your back? And, if you’re so unworthy, why does Jesse bother with you? Why would a smart kid like Flynn decide to trust you enough to share a secret that could ruin his entire life? Andie, you have to give yourself a little more credit. You’re spectacular and if you don’t want to take my word on it, call Sadie and ask her opinion.”

  Andie’s tears turned to laughter. “I never had anyone defend me before. Especially not from me.”

  “You need it.”

  “Thank you.” Andie snuggled against his chest. “I know you’re right. I’ve been trying to get over being hurt by Mom’s assessment of me since I moved to Sadie’s. It’s hard to accept that my mother sees me as such a huge failure. She’s only doing what she thinks is best for me. Grandmother too.”

  “She is but she hasn’t bothered to take a good look at you so she couldn’t possibly know what that might be. I don’t want to sound like I’m putting your mother down because she will always be your mom. I won’t deny that I don’t like the way she treated you. I can’t promise not to defend you if she criticizes you in front of me. I love you and I will protect you from anything that might hurt you if I can, even if it is your family.”

  “First my beast and now my hero.” Andie smiled at him. “It’ll be okay. Mom just needs to get used to the idea that I’m not hers to command anymore.”

  “Nope. From now on, I’m the only one who gets to command you.” He grinned wickedly.

  “That’s right,” she replied. “About your question?”

  “Why do you look like I’m not going to be thrilled with your answer?”

  “Just listen. Please? I do love you.”

  “But?”

  “It’s not really a but. Being with you is already too much for me. You are my dream come true. I would love to marry you eventually. Just not right away. I want to enjoy living with my lover first.”

  “I’ll still be your lover after I’m your husband.”

  “I know. It’s just, I don’t know how to say this right.”

  “Don’t get upset. You already said the thing I wanted to hear most.”

  “What?”

  “That you will marry me eventually. Knowing that makes me happy in ways I didn’t know existed. I can wait for you to be ready as long as you keep telling me that you will be ready someday.”

  Andie sighed contentedly. “I would marry you now if you demanded it.”

  “You mean that? If I announced that we were going to Vegas tomorrow to get married, you’d do it?”

  “I’d be on my way to pack now, if you insisted. I wouldn’t love you any differently either.”

  “Now I’m really confused.”

  “Don’t you get it? When I promised I would do anything for you I meant anything. If you say we’re getting married tomorrow, then we will. But I hope you don’t decide to dictate this part of our lives. I hope you’ll give me some time to savor just being with you as me, the woman who you trust enough to know that I love you and will be with you always, ceremony or not.”

  “I do trust you. If you say you’re staying with me, you are. If you say you’ll marry me someday, you will. I won’t take advantage of you and demand that you make an honest man of me instead of keeping me as your boy toy. Why are you laughing? Or am I wrong that I’m invited to live with you?”

  “Of course we’re going to live together. Don’t you want me here?”

  “It’s up to you. This is your house, remember? If you don’t let me stay, I’m homeless.”

  “We have to talk about that. I can’t keep it. It was really sweet of you to make that gesture but you didn’t really expect me to let you give me everything you have.”

  “But I did. I assure you, each of those papers is perfectly legal. Everything is yours.”

  “But you have to take it back.”

  “Why?”

  “You can’t just give me your house. I can’t afford a mortgage like this.”

  “No mortgage. I paid it off yesterday before I signed it over to you.”

  “You’re not serious!”

  “Oh I am. I swear I paid the balance on the mortgage. Jordan’s going to be pissed that I messed with my accounts and blew the tax advantage but he’ll help you with it anyway.”

  “I won’t let you do this.”

  “It’s already done. I should probably mention that there’s a clause on each document that prevents you from trying to sign any of it back over to me without us being married. If you don’t want to keep it, you’ll have to find someone else to sell it to or give it to.”

  “Brett.” She stared, stunned.

  “What’s wrong, wench? Didn’t you think I expected you to try to refuse me? I needed a backup plan in case capturing you didn’t succeed in getting you to talk to me. If you read the fine print, you’ll discover that the only way for you attempt to convince me to take anything back is in person. You’ll see that if we both agree, I will reclaim everything I gave you without us being married. Well I won’t agree so you’re stuck with it. As of ten this morning, my total net worth is twenty-five hundred dollars. I’m homeless and unemployed unless you personally ask me to stay on at the station.”

  “Twenty-five hundred dollars? But Tish said you were worth millions.”

  “Yesterday, I was. Today, you are.”

  “Brett, this is wrong. I don’t want your money.”

  “Neither do I unless I get to share it with my wife.”

  “I can’t even think.” Andie’s mouth opened and closed several times without her saying anything. “Why did you do this?”

  “Because I love you. Jesse mentioned that Sadie was afraid you would get a call from your mother at a weak moment and let her talk you into moving back there. I wanted you to have a place of your own so you didn’t feel you had no other choice. If you were here, surrounded by all my stuff I hoped you’d at least think about me. If I couldn’t be with you in person, I wanted to stay in your mind. I wrote notes and hid them everywhere for you.”

  “What do they say?”

  “All sorts of things. They’re like my emails. I wrote down what I was thinking at the time. I’ll leave them where they are so you can read them for yourself as you find them.”

  “But Shane said you hadn’t built that room in the attic when he was helping you on Wednesday.”

  “I hadn’t. I didn’t think of this until I was driving home from Max’s.”

  “Did you sleep at all since then?”

  “Not much. I grabbed an hour here and there but I knew you were coming today. I didn’t know how long it would be before you came back again or when your mother might call so I had to get it done. The room isn’t very sturdy. You could knock down the walls with very little effort if you tried to.”

  “Were you going to do anything with the attic other than store stuff in it?”

  “The front part is my studio. The light is great with all those windows and I’m going to put in a few skylights.
Other than that, no. Why?”

  “Could you make our room permanent? I love that you created that for me and I want to keep it. We could use it as a playroom.” She blushed.

  “God you’re so adorable! You’re blushing like a bashful little girl but I can see the lust in your eyes. Sure I can turn it into a real room. I can think of a few more things we can store up there for when I hold you captive again.”

  “Does that mean you already got some stuff for us? You said you had toys you wanted to use on me.”

  “Yeah, I started our collection yesterday. If you’re done eating, I could probably be convinced to show you some. But first, I need to know if I’m staying. Do I get to keep my job or am I going to be a kept man? It’ll be different, having you support me, but I’ll give it a try if that’s what you want.”

  “I can’t believe you think you need to ask about this. Okay, I’ll say it. Brett Hudson, my handsome beast, will you please stay and live here with me? Will you drive around in my car and help me finish decorating my house? Will you please work at the local radio station where you will help make it into something special?”

  “Yes to all of it.” Brett’s grin was huge.

  “Good. Just one more question. Will you please come upstairs and play with me? I heard a rumor that you are a very imaginative sexual beast with a massive cock that creates the most delicious sensations.”

  “All true but you’re missing one little detail. The beast and cock are capable of unparalleled pleasure in unlimited ways but there’s only one woman who inspires them into action. Without her, they are both useless.”

  “Hmm, I better go up and see if I can find her. She was there a little bit ago and I don’t think she was in any state to run away after the last time the beast took her. She’s probably still too light-headed and limp to even think of escaping.”

  “Then I need to hurry. I want to keep her so sensitive to my touch that she begs me to let her stay permanently. I’ll share a secret with you. The beast has spent his life looking for a wench like her. One who is full of so much pure passion she equals his appetite and will spend forever searching for new heights for their pleasure to soar.”

  Andie had backed out of the kitchen as they spoke. She led him up the stairs and to the attic, opening the buttons on her shirt as they went. When he finished his thought, she tossed him the shirt and told him to give her a minute before he followed her into the room.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Brett stalled by the door as Andie had asked. Every nerve in his body throbbed at the thought of her, naked and waiting for him. His mind raced with the possibilities of what to do with her next. Should he toss her on the bed and take her quickly? Perhaps he should tie her face down and devote some attention to that luscious ass of hers. He wouldn’t ram into her there just yet but he could build anticipation for her as he prepared her for his entry. Maybe he would have her show him how she brought herself pleasure. Or he could make her sit on his face, open to his probing tongue while she swallowed his cock.

  Andie sat on the bed and tied one wrist to the headboard. She pretended he’d made the knot too tight for her to remove herself. When he pushed the door open she gasped and clutched the quilt more securely around her body.

  “I told you to rest, wench. Why aren’t you lying down?”

  Andie stood up defiantly. “I won’t lie there and let you think it’s going to be easy for you to touch me again. I know you’ll overpower me in no time but I don’t care. I’m not going to lay there and make it easy for you to use my body.”

  “So brave.” Brett caught her chin. “So determined to deny that you didn’t love the things we did together. Resist all you want, stubborn wench, but we both know how much you want me again. We both know you can’t wait to see what’s in store for you this time.”

  “You’re wrong! I never want you to touch me again. Please let me go. I won’t tell a soul, I promise.”

  “Bravo.” He clapped his hands. “Well done. Perfect amount of indignation. Much better than cowering. Too bad your body doesn’t believe you. I would bet my life that you’re already wet for me.”

  “Stay away from me. Don’t touch me.”

  “Now what fun would that be?” Brett yanked the quilt from her grasp and pressed her to the wall, stretching her arm against the restraint. He nudged his thigh between her legs and ran his hand along her slit, chuckling at the moisture that betrayed her words. “Care to make any more speeches or are you ready for me to get on with it?”

  Andie struggled to avoid the contact of his hand. “Please don’t touch me. I don’t want your hands on me.”

  Brett flopped backward across the bed, putting his hands under his head and studying her. She shivered under his gaze, clearly unable to tell what he was thinking. “No hands, huh?”

  “N-no hands. And no mouth or-or…”

  “Or what? You said it earlier. No need to go all timid on me now, wench.”

  Andie growled in embarrassment. “Fine. No cock either. Satisfied?”

  “Hardly.” Brett chuckled as he rolled to his feet. “All right, we’ll do it your way this time.”

  Andie shrank against the wall. “What are you going to do to me?” She watched, her expression full of desire as she tried to act afraid.

  Brett ignored her while pulling several items from the chest. He looped a rope over the hook in the ceiling, testing its strength by tugging on it, letting her see the clip at the bottom so she would wonder what she had gotten herself into. Her eyes never left his face as he stalked back to her and untied the rope from the bedpost. He swiftly made a second knot and slid it over her free hand, drawing it snug around her wrist. Brett led her to the hook, raised her bound hands and fastened the rope into the clip. Again, he tugged to be sure it was secure.

  “What are you going to do?” Andie asked again breathlessly.

  “I’m going to show you some of my toys. You said I couldn’t use my body but you didn’t exclude anything else. I’m going to demonstrate how responsive you are to me, whether I’m actually touching you or not.”

  “No. Please.” Andie twisted against the rope holding her.

  “Stop fighting. I don’t want you to injure those pretty wrists of yours. You can hide all you need to, but you know you’re lying to yourself.” Brett sifted through the drawer, choosing what to torment her with. “Hmm.” He glanced at her. “Are you ticklish? We could play with my feather.” He waved it for her to see. “Maybe you’d like to give this a try.” He held up a fingertip vibrator. “No, can’t use this tonight. Too much temptation to touch you if I can feel the heat from your skin.” Brett rattled a few more things. “Yes, we’ll definitely try this.” He showed her a small vial as he grinned wickedly. “Where’s my brush? I usually spread this on with my fingers but, for you, I’ll make an exception. What about this?” Brett extended a double-shafted object for her to look at. He laughed when Andie shook her head violently. “No? Probably not ready for that yet anyway.” He selected a few more toys without consulting her.

  Andie tried to hide her interest but failed miserably. He suspected she was already so turned on that she might melt with the first touch. And she couldn’t help licking her bottom lip in anticipation as he stood in front of her. Brett opened the vial and coated a small brush. He used it to paint her nipples without comment. Brett blew softly and knew when she began to feel heat. She obviously had no experience in this area. He watched her startled expression and grinned. She was so responsive that he didn’t know how he was going to keep his hands off her.

  “Spread your legs,” Brett instructed. Andie instantly shook her head. “Do it, wench.” No again. “Then you leave me no choice.” He returned to the drawer and withdrew a spreader bar. He lifted one foot at a time, capturing them within the loops and forcing her legs apart. With a quick twist he extended the bar, opening them even farther. Again, he coated the brush, this time painting her sensitive bud.

  Andie couldn’t quite contain her moan when
he blew on her flesh this time and bit her lip as if to keep from begging. “No,” she gasped.

  “Like that, do you wench?” Brett blew some more. “It gets even hotter when you add moisture. Want me to give that nipple you’re poking at me a lick so you can see?” Andie tried to back away from him but had no way to move. “I can’t wait for your juices to flow and make you burn. I bet you can’t either.”

  “No,” she whispered even as her expression screamed yes.

  Brett reached for the feather and began to trace patterns on her skin. Andie shuddered with each touch, clearly fighting to act indifferent. When he circled her breasts, her peaks hardened unbelievably more. He had to remind himself repeatedly of his promise to keep his tongue to himself. It was as much torture for him as it was for her.

  Each flick of the feather drew a reaction. Every touch made her shiver. She almost forgot to stay still each time he made her wait for the next caress. He played over her skin, skipping select points, knowing how he was driving her wild. Andie moaned as her moisture reached the spot he had painted. Brett leaned forward and blew as he teased the feather across her swollen flesh, watching her face for the telltale signs of her heightened desire. Her legs were shaking uncontrollably when Brett swirled the feather around her most sensitive spot. She twisted frantically, giving in to the sensations he created.

  “I can’t stand.” Andie sagged, supported by the rope around her wrists. “Help me.”

  “I would but I’d have to touch you,” Brett stated, ready to grab her if she didn’t regain her stance.

  “Please. Don’t let me hang here. I can’t take it anymore,” she pleaded as she forced her legs to straighten.

  “I think you’re fibbing again,” Brett declared. “You can take more than that. I know you can. If you try to fool me, I’ll make it harder on you. Tell me the truth, wench. Can you stand again?”

  “Yes,” Andie admitted softly, not meeting his eyes.

  “Good girl.” Brett chuckled. “Let’s see how long it takes for you to give in to this.” He set the feather aside and snagged his next toy.