by J. C. Cliff
“Hello, Princess; my name is Nick.” Even his voice exudes deep, rich, masculine power that demands your attention. He pauses a moment, staring me down. “Are you feeling better, now?” I timidly nod my head yes, afraid to speak.
“I’m glad to hear that. I was a little concerned to find you so abused this morning, my apologies.” I shift my eyes between the two men. Are they for real? He’s sorry about me getting hurt in a scuffle that he most likely created? My mouth’s connection to my brain has checked out for lunch, leaving me speechless. What does he want me to say? ‘Oh, that’s okay; it was my fault for struggling in the first place.’
“I wanted to let you know I properly dealt with the animal who mistreated you. You didn’t deserve that.” He’s right; I didn’t deserve that, among a lot of other things that happened last night, namely being ripped from my home.
Nodding his head to the side, he acknowledges the man with him. “This man here is Travis. Travis is my right-hand man, and I have instructed him to be your personal trainer over the next month or so.” He takes a slight pause in his introduction as he gives me an evil grin, making me shudder.
I dig down deep within, searching for my voice. I have never been so scared in all my life, but I know knowledge is power. I’m not sure I want to know the answer, but I ask the most obvious question anyway. I clear my throat and ask in a meek voice, “A personal trainer for what?”
He looks pleased I’ve started conversing. “Travis is a renowned trainer in the field of…” he swirls his hand in the air, searching for the proper terminology, “…shall we say, creating deep desires of many avenues.” Confusion, I know, crosses over my features, which seems to delightfully entertain Nick. I watch the man’s professional demeanor change before my very eyes. He relaxes and beams the most buoyant and bright smile. The man is damn beautiful; his smile just changed his looks rating from a nine to a twelve-point-oh.
“You and Travis are going to spend a fair amount of intimate time together. He will train you with baby steps for a month or two before we move you on to...bigger things.” He exaggerates the last words with a brief snigger, alluding to his own private joke.
I’m not sure I want to be in on that private joke, like, at all. But really, what the hell? Is this for real? There’s got to be a friggin’ hidden camera. My eyes narrow, trying to make heads or tails out of Nick, and I believe the man is truly serious. Of course, who expects to be captured by criminals believing they will treat their captives with kindness and respect? This isn’t a holiday vacation, Jules. Get real. All of a sudden, my curiosity about this man wanes, and instead, I find myself glaring daggers at him.
Nick tilts his head to the side as he mimics my narrowed eyes. He just stands there, studying me as if I’m a puzzle piece. He then crosses his arms, bringing one hand to his face, stroking the sides of his jawline with his hand.
“You know…it’s really not nice, Princess, to not acknowledge me properly after I’ve introduced myself.” He pauses for me to catch up to the fact he knows my nickname. My heart stops beating and I feel frozen. “I do expect a little gratitude, since I’ve taken good care of you and have given you such elaborate accommodations. I believe a simple ‘thank you’ should be in order, as well.”
His words are laced with slight displeasure, and it puts my senses on high alert. Shrinking back under the safety of my covers a little more, I bring my legs up to my chest and find myself clutching the sheet underneath me in a death grip. I don’t have it in me to thank him for ripping me from my home, my only family.
With my lack of response, Nick decides to gracefully meander his way to the other side of the bed, like a lion stalking its prey. His movements portray a self-assured and confident man who is comfortable in his own skin. He stops right beside me and leans over my trembling form, studying me with his rich, caramel eyes. I swallow hard; his cologne assaults my senses. This close, I can see the lights above catching sun-streaked highlights in his dark-brown hair. Oh, yes, he’s definitely a handsome man; he even looks freshly-shaven, but my body is screaming at me to run. My heart rate picks up as his eyes narrow on mine.
He reaches out with the back of his knuckles and begins to trace over the curve of my jaw, which serves to send shivers down my spine. I sit there mute and frozen before him. I think the lion is toying with its prey, batting it back and forth; he’s the cat, and I’m the injured mouse.
“What’s the matter, Princess? You don’t seem as rambunctious as you did last night. Surely you haven’t given up the will to fight. I live for girls who misbehave. I love the naughty ones.” He leans in farther, bringing his lips only inches from mine. He unleashes a wild Cheshire grin and shifts his gaze across the room to indicate what might be behind Curtain Number One. “I would love nothing more than to see you display an act of defiance,” he whispers over my lips seductively. “Do you like to be punished for being a bad girl, Princess?” A wildfire of goose bumps erupts out over my skin, and I’m so damn scared I can’t see straight. Oh, hell, he’s into some kinky shit, I groan to myself. “Do you have any idea what that does for a man like me?” he asks.
He eyes me with pure, unadulterated lust, leaving no question about his unabashed fetish. Now that the cat is out of the bag, he gets even bolder. His fingers quit grazing over the side of my face to tangle his fingers into my hair, caressing the back of my neck.
He crosses the line of my personal space, leaning in to brush his lips lightly over mine. He half-whispers, half-growls over my closed lips. “Does that thought turn you on? I’m getting hard just thinking about my handprint on your bare ass as your pussy is helplessly spread wide open while you’re chained to my saltire.” He pauses, making sure his words are sinking in, and I find I can’t breathe. “I’m imagining your sexy body bound in restraints, writhing with wanton desperation, screaming out my name for a release you have yet to comprehend.” He slips his tongue out, grazing lazily over the seam of my lips. “I get off on that shit, Princess. I expect by the time Travis has completed his training with you, you’ll get off on it, too…literally.”
My stomach rolls with a sick queasiness, and I close my eyes tightly, wishing him to go away. I mash my lips together in an attempt to keep him out and my churning vomit in. I’m sure this is an act of defiance in his book. I wish I could just make myself puke on command, letting it rip all over him, but I have a true aversion to vomiting and would just as soon rip my fingernails out rather than toss my cookies. But now? Right now, I would love nothing more than to go all Exorcist on him; I’m sure it would deflate that hard-on he was just talking about and work wonders to get him away from me.
I move my lips away from his, shrinking back into the headboard to ask the key question everyone wants to ask in this situation. “What do you want from me?” My whisper sounds shaky and fragmented.
“Well, that’s a pretty uncomplicated question and easily-answered. I just simply want you; you and you alone, nothing else.” His caramel eyes twinkle with knowing inches before mine, letting me digest all of this information.
Confused thoughts run rampant throughout my brain. I search his eyes hovering so close, looking for any ray of genuine kindness lurking in their depths, but seeing none. I can’t let panic or confusion prevail; I’ve got to keep my head on straight and not freak out. Maybe I can negotiate strategically; he reeks of intelligence, so he’s got to have reasoning skills.
“I don’t understand. If it’s money you want, my father will work something out. He truly will.” I blink hard, shaking the fear from my mind, keeping my thoughts focused. “He is a very influential man. He’s to be feared, and not to mention the fact he’ll make sure you pay with your life for kidnapping me,” I plead with a confidence I don’t have. “But really, I am nothing special, not enough to want to steal anyway. I mean, really...please...just let me go. I won’t say a word to anyone; I promise.”
A frown forms across his lips while he shakes his head, and he lets out an audible sigh. “Princess…my sweet
princess, I am a man who makes thoughtful and calculated decisions, not hasty ones.” He starts stroking the back of my neck. “I’m a very smart man, and I’m shrewd enough to know who I want, what I want, when I want it, and how. You, my dear, have been a long time coming and were properly planned for.”
I’m stunned at that comment. He’s been planning for me? This does not sound good. I try one last, futile attempt and speak as demurely as possible. “Not to say you’re not a smart man, a really astute man, but I’m rather high-maintenance. You see, I have to live with a very restrictive diet. I’m gluten-free and lactose-intolerant, and really, that mess is so outrageously expensive. So very expensive, it’d be cheaper for you to let me go.”
“What the fuck is gluten-free, Nick?” Travis pipes in, asking with his brows furrowed.
Nick breaks out with subdued laughter. He ignores Travis’ question, keeping inches from my lips. “Yes, Princess, I already know of your dietary needs, and I have made the proper accommodations for your arrival.” He nods his head toward the food tray Travis is holding.
My mouth drops open in incredulous disbelief, and my eyes widen with building anxiety as I glance between the two men. Freak-out mode engages within me, and I find some inner strength. “You’ve been stalking me? You’ve planned this all out? Wh-what?” I want answers, but I’m too flabbergasted to ask anything more. “I don’t understand. What are you guys planning on doing with me?”
“Well, that all depends on you, now doesn’t it?”
His cryptic answer provokes me to raise my voice in frustration. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?” I have no idea why they’d want Travis to train me to be a sex toy for this bigger dick here beside me. Oh, and if I’m naughty by Nick’s standards, I get to be tied to his salt-something-or-other? Holy hell! They are both insane! Suddenly, my eyes spark with unleashed fury.
“Language, Princess,” Nick scolds sternly, gripping the back of my hair. “I won’t tolerate you speaking to me that way. What it means is if you do exactly as you’re told, there will be rewards, but if you fight and defy, there will be punishments. It’s that simple.” He pauses, searing my eyes with heated energy. “Let me also clarify, because I can see you wondering behind those pretty blue eyes of yours, just how long you’ll remain in this relationship of ours.” He shrugs indifferently. “You’re my forever. I’ve wanted you from the first moment I laid eyes on you. I’ve been watching your every move for years, strategically planning.”
Strategically planning? Relationship? “What business is it that you have with my father to make you do this?” I ask, fighting through the arctic shock of his previous statement. Who does this? What kind of person plans with painstaking calculation to rob another of their freedom? A narcissistic, selfish bastard is who. I could understand if I was a celebrity being stalked, or someone of great importance, but I’m just a simple nobody, a young adult wanting to finish college, get married, and have a family.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Yes…yes, you do.”
He shakes his head and continues like he hasn’t heard my argument. “I can see I have given you quite a bit of information to absorb.”
That’s a huge understatement, Nick, very perceptive of you. Lying bastard.
“I can also imagine you have quite a few questions running through that pretty little head of yours. Travis can answer most of them, but in due time and only as I see fit.”
He finally removes his hand from the back of my neck, only to slide it around to my face. Using his thumb, he caresses my bottom lip, his palm cupping my cheek. His eyes have dropped to half-mast in a look of lust, and I inwardly cringe. “Trust me, Princess, you will be happy with me, with us. Our relationship will blossom beautifully with time,” he whispers then closes the distance between us, kissing me.
I hear myself yelling through my haze of anger, “Stop!” My brain-to-speech capacitor snaps without thinking. I glare hatefully at Nick. “Stop! Just stop calling me princess. I am not your princess!” I can’t help it, he’s pushed the ‘princess’ button one too many times. That name is reserved for one person in my life, and it’s not Nick.
Before I can hail more words down on him, he grabs me painfully by the cheeks with one hand in a storm of fury. He’s so fast I don’t even realize I’m being held in a vice grip until my brain catches up with the pain. He’s making my head spin in fear with this Jekyll and Hyde move. His caramel eyes have morphed into an ominous dark brown, blazing in anger as they narrow on mine. “You should never bite off more than you can chew, Julianna, because I am a lot to swallow.” Then his lips twist in a cruel smirk mere inches from my face as he breathes out his next statement with certainty, “Let’s get one thing straight here and now, Princess. If we only get one thing straight in this room tonight, let this message sink in loud and clear, shall we? I own you now. You are mine. I control what’s mine. I even micromanage how many hairs you grow on that perfect little body of yours. It’s simple: I speak, and you obey my every command. I. Own. You.”
While my jaw is still in his excruciating grip, I glance my eyes over at Travis, whose eyes fall on mine expressionlessly. Even he seems to be totally unaffected by this arrangement. Who was I kidding? Just what did I suppose yesterday’s touches and caring concern meant anyway, other than him giving me a false sense of security? I was a fool to presume he’s anything less than another monster masquerading around in a human form.
Nick lets go of me, standing to his full height beside me. Reaching into his front pocket, I watch as his fingers search for something. “Ah...yes, I almost forgot.” He pulls a small object from his pocket and holds it up against the light as if he’s inspecting it. I see it glittering against the overhead light and my brows furrow, trying to figure out what he has. Then it hits me—my engagement ring! My heart begins pounding anew.
“I wonder if the one who gave you this will come to your rescue.” Pure cynicism drips from his mouth. “Will he prove himself to be a true knight in shining armor? Or will he run, like a cowardly lion with his tail between his legs?” He shrugs his shoulders, confident that no one would be such a fool to challenge him. “Looks rather cheap wouldn’t you say, Travis? Almost looks as if it came out of one of those coin machines. You know, the ones grocery stores had when we were kids? What were they called?” Pausing for effect, he then continues, “Ah, yes, gumball machines. That’s it.” He shifts his gaze back to mine and smirks with a devious, knowing look. “You see, since you’re mine now, you won’t be needing this anymore. I am the Prince Charming you’ve been destined for, Julianna.”
I move my shaking left hand out from under the comforter to see for myself. My precious ring is, in fact, gone from my finger, and I try to suck in a gasp, losing my breath. It feels like I’ve been sucker-punched in the gut by a prize fighter. The hollow feeling in my stomach suddenly leaves me needing to fill that empty space with anger.
Nick’s beauty tries to hide a God-awful, vile, and viciously-evil spirit. I will never let a man like him have the opportunity to own or control me. I would rather die first than give him the satisfaction of reigning over my unwilling soul. I feel a raging animosity building pressure in my gut over his sheer audacity. That ring is everything to me. Never before did I understand what it felt like to shake with rage. My eyes go wild with an animalistic craze. The hot anger erupts from my volcanic mouth, spewing hot and furious words into the atmosphere.
“Give it back to me! You motherfucking asshole! You psychopathic, arrogant, egomaniacal prick! Does it make you feel like a real man to prey on helpless, innocent females? It must! I see you have to steal one and hold her captive, because no other female in the entire human race could stand to be within five feet of you!” I point a shaky finger at his body, as if I have a gun in my hand and am firing into him, willing him to die. I am so enraged I can almost feel the steam spewing out of my ears. “You! You are a spineless and dick-less shit-hole, Nick! You. Will. Never. Own. Me!”
Nick’s eyes go savage, and he explodes like a nuclear bomb being detonated. My hand automatically clasps over my mouth as my eyes go wide. I have never in my life rattled off so many curse words, and I shudder to think of what the fallout will be. Imminent doom spreads over the room, and I can almost see black clouds swirling above Nick’s head. Oh, shit!
He deceptively camouflages his approaching wrath with a calm dominance as my little world comes to a screeching halt. He’s radiating pure confidence and self-assurance of what’s to come, and it reflects in his speech. “Oh, baby, you will be mine. Make no mistake—you will want me, and you’ll beg me to take you soon enough when you find out just how big my dick is.” The calm and arrogant tone in his voice gives me pause as he steps closer and lowers his voice, staring directly into my panicked eyes, “The Blyss will consume your mind, and biological urges at every turn, twisting your sexual appetite into something frenzied and unquenchable. You won’t be able to control it, and I for one, can’t wait to hear you scream my name out in pleasure. You’ll be pleading for me to put my cock in orifices you never even knew could be used. Yes, Princess, I will own your body, your mind, and your soul and never forget—I always get what I want.”
He slowly and gracefully hovers his strong, lean body over mine, a possessive fire burning in his eyes. I have no idea who or what Blyss is, but the lie of his calm illusion lingering around me raises my hackles, putting me on high alert. Bracing his left hand against the headboard above my head, his right hand roughly seizes my cheeks again. He crushes them together ruthlessly, forcing my lips to open for him. Nick heartlessly crashes his mouth over mine, forcing his tongue inside uninvited. I feel a paralyzed fear wash over me as this man sets out to prove he will take what he wants from my body. His tongue slips under and over mine in a heated battle to dominate. His tongue is merciless, and I know he will not quit until he perceives he’s the victor.