Because You're Mine

by Nikita Slater

  Ashamed of her behaviour, Allie hadn’t smashed anything after her first few tantrums. Instead, she moodily walked the estate, searching for places to escape. Greg asked her to wait until he could accompany her in case she ran into trouble. She refused, so he locked her in her bedroom for a day. After that she waited until he was busy before sneaking out. She found a handy tree to climb, made it over the estate wall and all the way to the highway before Greg and a team of men caught up with her. That night Greg had the tree cut down.

  He stopped the quad several feet away from Allie, cut the engine, climbed off and approached her. Without a word he held a hand out for her. With a sigh she accepted his hand. Standing up, she brushed the grass off her backside, wiggled her feet back into her sandals and followed him back to the four wheeler.

  “Do you know what the boss would do to me if anything happened to you?” he asked in a neutral voice.

  Allie opened her mouth to answer and then closed her lips. Slowly, she nodded, her eyes lowering.

  “Exactly,” he said gruffly. “Aside from not wanting him to cut off one of my favourite limbs before I reach retirement, I don't want to see you get hurt.”

  Allie sighed and climbed onto the quad behind him. He twisted around and tugged a helmet over her head, careful not to catch her ear studs. She looked up at him and said, “Maybe you should take a vacation, Greg. I like you and don’t want to see you get hurt, but I’m not going to sit back and take his caveman crap lightly.”

  Greg studied her serious face and then chuckled. “Fair enough. Maybe I should rent a boat and go fishing on one of the islands. Been a while since I’ve done that. I don't need to watch over you once he gets his ass back here. Maybe it’s about time someone gives him hell.”

  ***

  “She’s restless.”

  Jay grunted in acknowledgment and stared out the window of his Vancouver home toward the distant mountains where Allie was hidden. Greg was calling with his daily check in. As usual, Allie had found a way to disrupt Jay’s weekend estate. It amused him that such a kind, serene woman could cause the kind of havoc Allie was managing to cause within his household. He hadn’t anticipated she would have such a temper. A part of him was looking forward to going home and experiencing it for himself as he had no doubt she would test her newfound personality trait on him.

  “What did she do today?” Jay asked, opening the bay doors and stepping outside into the spring afternoon sunshine.

  He hated being apart from Allie. Hearing about her days soothed him during their enforced separation. Though it was by choice that he remained separated from her, he knew it was for the best. He wanted her too badly. His self control with Allie was shaky to say the least, which was why he’d seen her only twice in ten years. If he was forced to be near her while she was healing, he had no doubt he would do something to endanger the wounds. Until they’d shared some level of intimacy for a while, he couldn’t trust himself to be gentle enough with her. The best thing for him to do was give her time until the doctor cleared her.

  “She walked out to the west wall,” Greg said in a low voice.

  “Alone?” Jay asked sharply.

  “Of course,” Greg sighed.

  “Of course,” Jay repeated. There was no reigning Allie in unless he put eyes on her at all times. He didn’t want to do that to Allie or Greg. And she was safe enough while she was on the property. “You made sure there were no more trees for her to climb over?”

  “Yeah, boss. She also cooked chicken parmesan and caesar salad for lunch and sent some to the gate for the guys to eat. I’ve been trying to keep her away from them, but she’s managed to wander over a few times. They’ve been respectful so far as I can tell. They seem to like her and her food. She talked to Lincoln about his beer consumption and suggested he try to keep it down to five or six beers per week instead of per day.”

  Both men laughed.

  “Not fucking likely,” Jay said, shaking his head in amusement. “She probably misses work. What else did she do?”

  “She went swimming.”

  Lust punched Jay in the gut as he pictured her new curves in a bathing suit, light brown skin shining in the water with her long dark hair streaming behind her. His hand clenched around the phone and he stood for a moment at the end of his dock next to his yacht staring unseeingly into the ocean.

  “The doctor cleared her to go in the water?”

  “I must have forgot to mention it. He saw her yesterday, after our check in. The wounds are healing nicely. He’s given her the all clear for… exercise,” Greg finished a little awkwardly.

  Jay frowned. Greg had always had a sweet spot where Allie was concerned. It was nearly impossible not to feel admiration for the lovely, kind-hearted woman he’d been tasked to watch over for a decade. However, his feelings for the girl wound’t be allowed to get in the way of Jay’s ambitions toward her. Jay was about to give him shit for not reporting the doctor’s visit earlier when Greg spoke.

  “When you come back here, I’d like to request some time off.”

  Jay frowned, his quick mind working. “Is this going to be a problem?”

  Greg answered quickly. “No. But she’s become like a niece or something. I don’t want to get in the way. I think you’ll both be happier sorting things out without the grumpy uncle hanging around causing problems.”

  And getting himself killed, Jay thought. Out loud he said, “Fair enough. I’ll be up your way tomorrow. Be ready to leave when I get there.”

  CHAPTER FIVE

  “What are you making?” Jay asked.

  Allie jumped and dropped the spoon she had been using to stir homemade noodles. It landed in the boiling water sending droplets flying. A few landed on her sleeve, but none on her skin. Jay swore and reached for her before she could snatch the spoon out of the water. He wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her away from the hot stove.

  “Careful,” he snapped, fishing the slotted spoon out of the pot for her. “Every time I leave you alone, you do something dangerous.”

  “Cooking is not dangerous,” she said defensively, her voice breathless.

  His hand remained splayed across her belly over top of her Maleficent T-shirt. His long fingers reached from her naval to just below her breasts, warming her with the heat of his palm. She twisted her head to look up at him. His face was close to hers, his grey eyes like liquid steel as they searched hers. She tilted away, her body leaning into the curve of his arm. She could feel the stubble on his chin where it rubbed against her shoulder through the thin cotton of her shirt.

  She shivered and stammered, “I didn’t know you were back.”

  “Just got here,” he said, handing her back the spoon and stepping away from her, giving her a little more space.

  Allie released a long breath and turned back to the stove, delicately skimming the short noodles from the top and into a ceramic bowl. She tried her best to ignore the dark presence at her back and the way her heart thumped in reaction. When the noodles had been dealt with she turned the element off and lifted a lid on another pot to stir the basil marinara. It was also done. She moved the pot off the heat. Turning around she bumped into Jay again. With a sigh she maneuvered around him and went to the fridge where she took out the bocconcini and tomato salad she had prepared.

  “What are you doing, Allie?”

  She glanced at Jay as she set the salad on top of the oak table where she’d set two plates earlier for her and Greg. “I would think that’s fairly obvious, or has no one ever made supper around you before?”

  Allie reached into the cupboard for another plate, but Jay reached out and captured her wrist. “He’s gone. It’s just us.”

  Her heart sped up at his touch and she let go of the plate. It clattered on top of the others. She quickly backed out of Jay’s hold and whirled toward the stove reaching for the pasta and sauce. She was so jumpy, she’d be lucky to get it to the table without dropping it. God, she was so nervous!

  “You… you s
ent him away?” she asked.

  “He asked for time off,” Jay said calmly, taking the hot marinara sauce from her shaking hand and placing it on the table.

  “He said he might go fishing,” Allie said, putting the noodles on the table and sliding onto one of the high-backed chairs.

  She allowed her eyelashes to sweep upward and her gaze to land fully on the man that took up far too many of her thoughts. She’d spent weeks raging at him while he was gone, yet the moment he was in her presence she could barely manage to speak. She’d imagined exactly what she was going to say to him when he finally came back to her. How she was going to demand he release her and send her back home. Instead, she was sitting at his table, feeding him.

  Although, technically, he was eating Greg’s supper.

  He looked good. The gauntness he’d gained with age suited him. His silver hair was brushed back off his tanned forehead. He wore a black dress shirt with dark blue jeans and a leather belt. More casual than the last time she’d seen him, but still dressier than her. Everything he wore fit his slim build perfectly and emphasized the lean muscles of his shoulders and arms. His cheekbones were sharper than she remembered from the wedding, emphasized by his shadowy features.

  Allie shivered and dropped her eyes. If she didn’t care about him the way she did, he might look utterly sinister. More so with age than ever before. He looked more than capable of doing the things she’d heard rumoured on the streets of Vancouver. Definitely capable of kidnapping a woman, drugging her and holding her captive. Allie’s breath caught in her throat and her hand clenched in her lap for a moment before she forced herself to breath and remember she was sitting and eating with a man she had known her entire life.

  Jay reached over and began dishing up her plate, giving her generous helpings of pasta and salad. He took twice as much for himself, Allie noted with something that felt like satisfaction. He also ate with gusto, which surprised her. She suspected Jay didn’t eat as much or as often as he should while running his vast empire.

  “What have you been doing while I was away?” Jay asked after a few minutes of eating. He picked up his napkin, wiped his mouth and watched her expectantly.

  Allie had opted for water instead of wine with her meal and took a sip before answering him. “I know that Greg’s been giving you daily updates so there isn’t much point in my boring you with details you already know.”

  “Don’t act like a child, Allison,” Jay said quietly. “Greg told me of your activities, of course, but you can tell me what you did.”

  Allie shrugged. “I don’t really see the difference.”

  “Amuse me,” Jay said, steel threading his voice.

  Allie shivered and put her fork down, appetite gone. She was beginning to realize that she was rediscovering Jay the way a woman discovered a man, not as a child knew a friend, as she’d once known him. It frightened her. It felt like one moment she knew him and the next he became a terrifying stranger. Like sand slipping through her fingers, she couldn’t seem to grasp this new Jay.

  “I smashed up some of your stuff,” she said defiantly, staring down at her plate, “and I climbed over a tree and tried to leave.”

  “Yes, I know,” he said evenly. “Let’s leave those for now. What did you do for fun? You like to cook?”

  She nodded and sighed. “I do. I used to watch cooking shows all the time and I love trying new recipes. Greg enjoyed my efforts and had one of the guys pick up whatever I needed. I took leftovers down to the gate, which your guards seemed to like.”

  Jay nodded, his eyes on her face. “You watch Kitchen Nightmares, shows like that?”

  “Sometimes. I liked watching the cooking, but it gives me bad anxiety. And that guy… he swears too much,” she said, standing to clear the table. It looked like Jay was done eating, too. She was pleased to see he took seconds.

  He stood to help. “What else did you do while I was gone?”

  “Well… I walked a lot.”

  “I know,” he said shortly. “Despite being told not to go out alone.”

  “I love to walk!” she protested, licking spilled sauce from her finger as she transferred the leftovers into a glass container.

  “I don't care,” he growled, “your safety is always going to be more important than what you want. You’ll have to learn to live with more restrictions in your life.”

  “That… that’s stupid Jay. I’m not a child, I can make decisions for myself.”

  “Not when it comes to your safety, you won’t,” Jay said with quiet menace, catching hold of her wrist and pulling her into the hardness of his body.

  Allie’s breath strangled in her throat. She automatically tried to pull back but he held her tightly against his body and then slowly walked her backward until her ass hit the counter behind her. She was trapped. He lifted the fingers that she had licked to his mouth and slowly, under her wide-eyed stare, sucked them into his mouth. Allie’s lips parted in a strangled gasp. Her body froze under the shadow of his, like a bird that knew if she made the wrong move she would be eaten whole.

  The heat of his lips and mouth scorched her, sizzling a path from her fingertips right down body toward her pussy and flooding her with need that she didn’t think was possible. Intimacy, the type that happened between men and women, just wasn’t for her. Yet somehow, Jay was coaxing a reaction from her. It frightened her. Allie whimpered, her knees buckling under the onslaught of sensation.

  Jay was quick to reach out and catch her, holding her body up against his. He ran his long fingers over her hair and easily released the dark mass from the messy topknot she had gathered on top of her head while cooking. Wavy locks cascaded around her head and slithered past her shoulders, reaching halfway down her back. He lovingly smoothed them out, running his fingers through the long, dark strands.

  “Jay…,” she whispered, staring up at him, both frightened and aroused.

  She didn’t know what to do or say. She’d loved this man her entire life. Yet he’d abandoned her. More than that, he’d shoved her out of his life and walked away without a backward glance. He’d spent eighteen years watching over her and then he’d hurt her in the worst way. She’d been forced to forge a path on her own, to create a life that didn’t include the man that had helped shape her. Now he wanted her back? No, he insisted on having her back. He wasn't giving her a choice.

  “Jay, I can’t…”

  He touched his lips to hers, stopping her words. It was a gentle caress, but the depth of yearning, the years of withheld feeling was so savage that is made her gasp and try to jerk out of his hold. Jay’s grip tightened and his eyes hardened in the dimming evening light as he looked down at her. It told her without words that nothing she could do or say would ever induce him to let her go.

  “It’s time for bed, Allison.”

  CHAPTER SIX

  Allie didn’t say anything as Jay ushered her down the hallway into the master bedroom. She’d known that she was sleeping in his bedroom over the past weeks. At first she’d been too injured to move. Then she decided she was comfortable and she could just move later. Now she wished she’d moved as soon as she had realized whose room she was in. But a part of her had been thrilled that she was in Jay’s room, sharing his things.

  Not that Jay had many things. His room was sparse, just the way he would have liked it. Jay didn’t like being surrounded by things. There was only a bed and a dresser in the vast room made up of doors and windows. Now the giant, dominant bed loomed large in her view.

  Allie whirled around to confront Jay, who stood between her and the door. He was eerily still and watchful, as always. Jay had a knack for looking like a predator that could read minds.

  “I… I’d like to switch rooms please,” Allie said in what she hoped was a strong voice, but suspected was more on the pleading side.

  “No,” he said.

  “I’m not staying here with you,” Allie argued, swinging her hand around the room.

  He didn’t say anything, just
watched her as she paced in agitation. She was beginning to realize why Greg thought it best to go on vacation. He knew this clash was inevitable. Hell, they all knew Jay had brought her here for a reason. What Allie didn’t know was the parameters of her new relationship with Jay or how far he would go to possess her.

  You don’t know what you want either, her torturous mind whispered. Where did her feelings begin and her morals end?

  Allie let out a choking sob and tried to lunge past Jay. He stepped back and easily blocked the door. He didn’t grab her, but she wasn’t able to get past him. She balled her hands into fists and raised them to press against his chest. She shoved, but he didn’t move. She tried valiantly to get around him, but nothing she did budged him from his position in the doorway. Finally she gave up, feeling like a child being unfairly punished. Slowly she backed up, her face red from exertion.

  Her eyes fell on one of the patio doors and she lunged toward it. Calmly, he followed behind her. Before she could get the latch open he lifted her bodily off the floor with an arm around her waist and hauled her back toward the bed. She struggled in his arms, wiggling against his body in an effort to be free. Now that she knew the patio door was a possibility, she was going to get to it.

  Jay growled in annoyance and flung her backwards on the bed. She landed hard on top of the mattress, her head bouncing against the pillows. He came down heavily on top of her, pinning her to the mattress. Allie shrieked and began fighting, but Jay clearly had a lot more fighting experience than her. Within seconds he had her entire body pinned down and her head yanked back painfully with a fistful of hair.

  Allie cried out and stopped fighting him. She lay in frozen terror underneath his him, feeling every inch of his heavy frame against her softness. The hand that wasn’t holding her head back had one of her wrists twisted over her head in a cruel grip that brought tears to her eyes. Allie was shocked. Jay had never hurt her before. Not even when he had play fought with her as a child and he’d been so much bigger than her. He’d always pulled his punches.