Jared was back with her in a heartbeat, a glass of water in his hand. “Sit up and drink this.”
With a sigh, she complied, compelling her arms to bear her weight as she forced herself up from the pink bedding. Taking the glass from him, Sophie drained the contents in one sitting and lifting her chin, their gazes met once more.
“Thank you, Daddy.”
“You’re welcome, little girl.” He looked serious as he took the glass from Sophie and placed it down on the bedside table. “Lie back now.”
Sophie’s gaze flitted to him at the order. Somehow, she could never just comply without the urge to protest filling her head, but she was so weary, she fell back against the soft covers anyhow. Jared lifted his hand and stroked the stray hairs at her face, his touch surprisingly good considering he’d been the source of all her torment over the last day and night.
“Get some sleep, Sophie.”
She inhaled at the purr in his voice, trying to ignore the way it affected her. The man could be such a brute, and yet, at times like this, it was easy to be fooled by him. When she was this exhausted, it was easy to be lulled with a few softly spoken words and caresses. It was easy to lose sight of what was truly important.
“I’m not tired, Daddy.”
Though Sophie didn’t know why she said it. It was patently clear that she was full of fatigue. She couldn’t have gotten much rest last night, and so much had happened since she was last asleep in her own bed. So much emotion and trauma. And so much carnality.
Jared laughed at her, shaking his head with a smile. “Go to sleep, little girl.”
She blew out a breath, intending to get up and counter him. She might be tired, but she didn’t need to sleep in the day. Sophie wasn’t a baby—she’d be fine. What she actually needed was another glass of water and maybe some food, but then that wasn’t true, because what she really needed was to get away from Jared’s gentle caresses altogether. Her eyes closed at the thought and still his fingers stroked at her temples, somehow easing the tension from her.
Even though it didn’t make sense.
Even though he was the perpetrator.
The last thing Sophie remembered before a shroud of sleep landed over her, was the brush of what she thought were his lips against her shoulder.
Sophie wandered into the kitchen, sighing at the mess she found. It looked as though a week’s worth of plates and bowls had been left on the side for her to deal with. Shaking her head, she turned and strode back out of the room.
“Jason!” She called his name from the hallway, hoping her voice would travel throughout the house to wherever her husband was. “Jason, have you forgotten how to use the dishwasher?”
She scowled at her own question, rolling up the sleeves of her dress as her hands landed on her hips. What the hell was happening in this house? Sophie had only just cleaned the place up and now the kitchen looked like a bomb site. She crinkled her nose while her irritation at the state of the place surged. Where was Jason? He should be home at this time of the day. It was always down to Sophie to look after their children these days and frankly, she was getting fed up with the status quo. Her husband should be here—his family needed him just as much as his job did.
“Jason!” she hollered his name as she stalked up the staircase, but no answer came.
Turning left at the top of the landing, she peered into Billy’s room, but there was no one there. Sophie blinked at the scene. The children weren’t downstairs and they hadn’t responded to her calls for their Daddy.
Where was everyone?
Striding toward her daughter’s room, Sophie found the space was also empty—Lucy wasn’t there—and that’s when the panic began. Like a seed, it grew roots in her belly and quickly, it began to bloom.
“Mummy!”
Sophie gasped. That was Lucy’s voice. There was absolutely no doubt about that, and if Sophie wasn’t wrong, it sounded like fear in her daughter’s voice. “Lucy?”
She turned, heading back out into the hallway and walking down toward the family bathroom. “Lucy, where are you?”
“Mummy!”
Sophie’s feet halted in an instant. That was almost a scream and for sure, it had come from the bedroom Sophie shared with Jason. She spun on her heel, turning right toward her bedroom door only to find it closed.
That was odd.
Sophie never closed her bedroom door during the daytime, preferring to let the air circulate around their home. Reaching for the handle, she pushed the door open slowly.
The room was empty.
Her floral bedspread was laid out over the bed, just as she’d left it and everything seemed normal. Sophie’s brow furrowed. She was sure she’d heard Lucy’s voice from in here.
“Lucy?” She stepped inside, looking around for the doorstop that would prop the bedroom door open for her, but it was nowhere to be seen.
With a second sigh, Sophie allowed the door to close. She’d have to find the damn thing later, once she figured out where everybody was, and why that growing sense of dread was still burgeoning in the pit of her stomach. The door slammed closed behind her and all of a sudden, it was like Sophie was being watched. She couldn’t explain it, but she sensed it alright, the small hairs on her body raising with the feeling of alarm.
“Mummy!” Billy’s voice was loud and clear and it had come directly from her ensuite bathroom.
With her heart pounding, Sophie dashed around the bed she and Jason shared, heading for the ensuite bathroom door. It was also closed, another thing that just didn’t feel right.
“I’m coming, Billy,” she blurted, yanking the door toward her, and without even taking in the scene that awaited her, Sophie paced inside.
“There you are, Sophie.”
Her heart stopped at the same time as her feet, and then it began to hammer again, beating so fast Sophie thought she was going to pass out altogether. Sitting on the edge of their large corner bath was a man, his grin wide as he appraised her, but it wasn’t the man who was supposed to be there. It wasn’t Jason.
It was Jared.
He dropped one hand into the bath, swirling around the water and finally Sophie dragged her eyes from him in the direction of the tub.
“Mummy!”
Lucy lurched forward in the water, but Jared’s palm moved to stop her. Behind her daughter, she saw the terrified expression of her son, Billy.
Her kids were here—with Jared.
Why in God’s name was he here with her kids?
He shouldn’t be here at all!
Fear paralyzed Sophie as that thought reverberated. Her children were here with Jared. They were in the bath while he was sitting there with them. Sophie’s throat dried, that sense of dread rising until it started to suffocate her.
“Mummy, please help us. Please!” Billy’s plaintive cry snapped her from her desperate inertia and she pulled in a deep breath.
“It’s okay, baby.” Sophie took a step toward the tub before her gaze shifted back to Jared. “Take your hands off of my child.”
Her voice had lowered to something like a snarl and Jared’s lips twitched at the sound. He raised the palm that obstructed Lucy and rose to his full height, towering over Sophie. Reflexively, she recoiled at how bloody big he was, but even his physicality couldn’t stop the anger pulsing around her now. Jared was threatening her children. She didn’t understand how or why, but instinctively, Sophie knew it was true, and her every focus shifted to protect them.
“We’ve been waiting for you, little girl.”
Sophie’s heart raced harder at the way he made that sound, and when Jared took a step toward her, her head began to spin. On the one hand, she wanted him away from Billy and Lucy and out of the house altogether, but on the other hand, she wasn’t stupid. How the hell was she going to get him out? Sophie wasn’t strong enough to remove him, and reaching into her pocket, she realized her phone was gone. She couldn’t even call for help.
“Just leave.” She spat the words at him
with as much ferocity as she could muster. “Just get out of here!”
Jared smirked. “Not without you, little girl. Never without you.”
He edged closer again, stepping away from the bath, but even nearer to Sophie. She was trembling now, though she couldn’t say if it was fury or fear which inspired the reflex.
“Please.” Sophie could hardly believe how desperate she sounded.
How uncertain.
How pathetic.
This was her house—and those were her children. How dare he just come in here and take control. What gave him the right?
“Oh, but I have every right, baby. Don’t I?” Jared’s gaze was knowing as he loomed over her. “You gave me the right when you talked to me, didn’t you, Sophie?”
Sophie’s throat dried. “No,” she whispered hoarsely. “No, it’s not like that, I—”
“You gave me the right when you told me about each and every one of those dirty little slut fantasies, didn’t you, Sophie?”
She gasped, turning back to her children in the tub, but to her panic, Billy and Lucy were gone. Genuine panic flooded her brain and she glanced around the room frantically. Where were they? They were just there, in the tub—where could they have gone?
“Didn’t you, Sophie?” Jared’s voice was sterner now, his blue eyes glaring at her while her head tried to make sense of everything that was going on.
“What? No!” she huffed, turning back toward the door.
Sophie had to get out of here. She had to find the children.
Pushing the door open, Sophie strode back into her bedroom, only to crash straight back into Jared’s towering frame.
“Where are you going, little girl?” He arched an eyebrow at her, folding his arms across his broad chest.
Sophie panted now, her mind not able to keep up with everything that was going on around her. How the hell was Jared in the bedroom? Hadn’t she just left him in the ensuite? What the hell was—
“I. Asked. You. A. Question.”
He was right up against her now, his arms unfolding and wrapping her up in a tight embrace. “I suggest you answer me, Sophie. Where are you going?”
She fought against the bonds of his arms, straining to be free, but inevitably, he was too strong. Jared was always too strong. “Get off me!” she screamed. “Let me go!”
“I don’t think so.” His tone was soft and taunting. “I don’t think I’ll ever let you go, little girl.”
Sophie was crying now, hot tears stinging in her eyes as she filled her lungs full of air. She glanced up at him, their gazes locking for a long moment before finally, her lips parted. And then, in one protracted breath, Sophie let out a scream.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Jared
Jared had been sitting with her for a while, caressing the side of her face long after she’d fallen into a fitful sleep. He’d cleaned himself up from the incredible sex downstairs before watching her doze, enjoying the way her tits rose and fell with every exaggerated breath and for a short period, everything was perfect. Sophie was there, she was his and she was safe. He’d cared for her, fed and bathed the woman. Daniel had said she was medically fit and Jared had fucked her just about every way he could think of from the first moment she’d opened her eyes in this very bed.
He closed his eyes.
Perfection.
Or about as close as Jared would ever come to it.
Once Sophie settled into a more rhythmic pattern of sleep, Jared set about securing her to the bed. He wanted her to rest, but he wasn’t gullible. He knew as soon as she woke, Sophie would be in top form again, looking for a way out. Looking to flee, and that just wasn’t acceptable. He pulled one wrist and then the other into the pink cuff at either side of her head, and buckled them both while she slept. Then, taking a spare blanket from the bottom drawer of the dresser, he covered her naked form before he stared down at her once more.
Sophie was so beautiful.
Naturally, the sex and all the delicious humiliation were glorious, but when push came to shove—or rather, after it had—it was the striking natural beauty of the woman that floored him. How any man could have taken her for granted was completely beyond Jared. If Sophie had been his first, he knew categorically that he could never have fallen into the trap. She was just far too wonderful—far too compelling—to allow that to happen. He smiled, perching on the edge of her bed again, watching her sleep, and that’s when Sophie began to move. It started with just the occasional jerk of a leg, her foot rising under the cover before crashing back down again. The sudden motion made Jared jump, his heart racing while his gaze flitted to her face to see if Sophie had woken up, but no—she was still fast asleep—though he noticed her features had scrunched into a ball, as though she was in pain or afraid.
After a moment, she seemed to settle again, the tension easing from her expression, but almost as suddenly as before, her arms jerked in the cuffs and this time she fought against them. It was like an unseen force was holding Sophie down and she was writhing, pushing against it with all her might. She struggled so hard that part of the pink blanket slid from her breasts and for a moment, Jared was transfixed by the look of her. Her wonderful body, bound and wriggling in his bondage, hardening his cock even though Sophie had no idea what she was doing at all.
And that’s when the screaming started.
“No! Get off me!” she screamed. “Let me go!”
Sophie blurted the words out emphatically, her lips parting, before falling closed again as whatever she was dreaming about overwhelmed her once more.
Jared reached for her forehead. Sophie’s skin was clammy with the terror of whatever was capturing her dreams, and for a fleeting moment Jared was filled with envy. He wanted to be the one who filled her every subconscious moment, just like he could control her waking ones. Somehow, it pained him to think there was nothing he could do to exert himself over Sophie’s dreams.
“Get off me!” she was screaming now, genuine terror, like the sort she’d shown in her bedroom yesterday, but even then, Sophie hadn’t sounded as frantic. At least not before the sedative had kicked in.
She thrashed about against the cuffs. “Let me go!”
Jared’s brow knitted. Perhaps, he should wake her up? It was one thing to need sleep, but this nap didn’t seem very restful, after all. She panted, her lips parting again as if in panic and then, after one giant breath in, Sophie let out the loudest scream Jared had ever heard. He stumbled back from the bed, stunned by the volume of her cry, and watched as Sophie’s eyes finally flew open. She locked gazes with Jared, panting harder before she began to tug at the binds which held her to the bed.
“Let me go.” She sounded hoarse and afraid. “Please.”
Jared arched a brow at her, slowly wandering closer. “What was that, little girl?”
Sophie shook her head as though she was trying to shake off the remnants of the nightmare. “Please, Daddy, please, let me go.”
“It’s just a bad dream,” he soothed while he moved back in her direction. “You’re safe, Sophie.”
She pulled in a shaky breath, and he saw real panic flashing in her eyes. “But my children?” Sophie shook her head from left to right. “They were in the bath and they need me.”
Jared sighed, perching on the edge of her covers next to her chest. “Your children are at home,” he told her flatly. “They’re safe. Relax, baby.”
She blinked at him at that, her breathing beginning to calm. “Are you sure, Daddy?”
He laughed gently. “Of course, I’m sure. It was just a bad dream, beautiful—nothing to worry about.”
Sophie swallowed, exhaling as she eyed him. “I’m sorry, I…”
Jared trailed a finger down the side of her face. Sophie’s skin was wet with the intensity of the emotion the dream had evoked. “It’s all right,” he reassured her. “We all have bad dreams sometimes, little girl, but Daddy is here for you.”
Her eyes widened and she gulped up at him.
“N-nothing, Daddy,” she mumbled. “Just my children.”
He eyed her skeptically. Somehow, Jared wasn’t sure he believed Sophie’s explanation, but there wasn’t much he could do to prove the point either way. “Well, you’re safe now.”
Jared offered her what he hoped was a reassuring smile, scrutinizing the way Sophie pressed her lips into a hard line.
“I’m sorry I screamed.” Her gaze flitted from him to the cuff at her left wrist. “Why did you bind me again, Daddy?”
“I’ll always bind you, little girl.” He met her gaze when hers darted back in his direction. “You’ll always be safe and secure in bed.”
Sophie bit her lip, evidently unconvinced about his idea of security. Not that her opinion mattered one jot.
“How’s that head now?” he asked, suddenly remembering her earlier ailment.
Sophie closed her eyes. “Not brilliant,” she admitted. “Daddy.”
“Not enough sleep in the end,” he mused aloud, tracing a line over the curve of her breast while he spoke.
Sophie’s breathing accelerated at his touch, her arms straining to be free of the cuffs, though that was a futile endeavor. She would never be able to get free of them without his help.
“Is my little girl still wet for me?” Jared’s brow rose with the inquiry and idly, his finger trailed over her nipple, down past her midriff and along the area he’d shaved for her earlier. Sliding between her legs, Jared circled her clit gently, smiling at the way her hips jerked in response.
“I don’t know, Daddy.” She licked her lips, lifting her head to try and watch what his fingers were doing.
“Relax that neck, little girl,” he warned her. “You’ll end up hurting yourself.”
Mastered By Daddy: A Dark Daddy Romance Page 15