Dark Passions: Dark Romance Boxed Set, page 26
Then she put on the dress Nathan had left out for her. Jacqueline considered finding something else in the closet and wearing it out of spite.
Play along.
The dress ended before mid-thigh and clung to every curve. Her breasts weren’t huge, but they were ample. Fortunately, they were well-shaped and looked good in the dress even without a brassiere. It left her feeling naked and exposed, though. Her lack of underwear did the same.
Jacqueline searched in the closet and looked in every drawer. No underwear or bras. She also couldn’t find any high-heeled shoes as would be appropriate with a dress like this, and she wasn’t going to put her boots back on with it, so she stayed barefoot.
She finished the bottle of water and realized she had to pee. As she walked back into the bathroom she saw movement beyond the window. Jacqueline pulled the curtain aside to see a man standing in the yard, looking the other direction. He started walking.
“Hey!” She smacked her hand uselessly against the bars, but her voice must have carried enough. He turned, looking for the source of the sound.
“Help me!” She pecked at the glass with her fingers stuck through the bars. “Go and get the police!”
The man spotted her and rushed to the window. It was a high window, but he seemed tall. Jacqueline had to stand on her tiptoes. He beamed at her, his huge smile revealing slightly crooked front teeth.
“What’s the matter there?” he asked in a thick Irish accent. “Are you having a problem?”
“Yes, yes! I’ve been kidnapped and held here against my will! Please, get the police right away!”
“Heavens,” he said. “You just sit tight and don’t worry about a thing, Missy. Everything’s going to be all right.”
Jacqueline sobbed with relief. “Thank you. Oh, thank you so much. Please hurry!”
“Just hang tight,” he said, holding his hands up. “I’m going to do everything I can to help you, Ma’am.” He nodded and hurried away.
Playing along just became a whole lot easier, now that she knew she wouldn’t have to do it for long.
She’d only just come out of the bathroom when someone knocked on the bedroom door as they were opening it. Zane’s bulk filled the doorway.
“I’m to take you to dinner. Do I need to carry you, or will you walk nicely?”
The question would have been a smart-assed one from anyone else. But with Zane it came out softly and sincerely.
“I’ll walk, thank you. Should I have some shoes?”
“There are slippers in the closet. But Nathan worried you could put someone’s eye out with a heel.”
She snorted softly. Nathan was probably right, because using a high heel as a weapon would have been one of her first ideas. “I’ll just go barefoot. The floors look very clean.”
Zane took her upper arm in his big hand and led her down the hallway. He held her firmly, but not uncomfortably so. She tried to remember everything she could about the house and its rooms, just in case, but kept reminding herself that the Irish gentleman had promised to get the police.
The hallways were decorated as tastefully as the bedroom and bathroom. And the dining room Zane led her into was just as exquisite. It wasn’t overly large, with a small table slightly off-center and a buffet and china cabinet built into one wall. She stared at the table--a lovely round piece meant for four to six people--and for just a moment thought that it seemed odd sitting there. Like it was in the wrong place, which made no sense.
“Something wrong?” Nathan’s voice came from behind her. “Something you don’t like about the table?”
“Hm? No.” She shook her head and turned to face him. Zane let go of her and left the room.
“You were staring at it. I thought perhaps you didn’t like it.”
“It’s a table.” It was lovely, but she saw no point in saying that.
“Observant.” He winked a deep green eye at her and smiled. The effect would have been dazzling if she didn’t despise him and want to smack his face. He pulled out one of the chairs. “Please, sit.”
She sat, her hands in her lap, while he sat next to her rather than across the table. Zane and Miss Esther brought in their food. Shrimp cocktail. She’d always liked it, but hadn’t eaten it in years. She would eat it now, but she wouldn’t be enthusiastic about it. At least not where he could see.
“I hope you like it.”
“It’s fine,” she said. “But I’m hungry, so anything would do.”
“I see.” He still sounded pleased, and she hated that. “Well, enjoy.”
Jacqueline sighed. “So I’m really supposed to sit here and eat a meal with you, just like that?”
Nathan laughed and dipped a fat shrimp into his cocktail sauce. “Yes? Of course, you can ask me anything you want. We can have conversation with our meal like civilized people, I’m sure.”
“Conversation.” She dipped a shrimp and chewed it slowly. “How about why are you doing this, why me, what makes you think holding another human being against her will is an acceptable thing to do, why--”
Nathan held a hand up to stop her. “One at a time, my dear. Why am I doing this? Because I want to. Why you? Because I chose you. As for the rest . . . you won’t be here against your will for long. Any other questions?” He ate another shrimp.
“You’re sending me somewhere else? Is this one of those sex slave things, you sell me to the highest bidder or something?” Her voice went high-pitched with panic.
“No, of course not. You’ll be staying with me.” He looked at her intensely. “No one else will ever touch you. I just mean it won’t be long before you want to stay. You’ll see what’s best for you, and you’ll give in to it. That’s all.”
Jacqueline wanted to tell him he was an idiot if he believed that, but she ate another shrimp instead. There was no point in provoking him.
“You chose me and those other women because of the way we looked. Our hair, eyes, body types.”
“You could say that, yes.”
“So this is just sexual. I’m here because you want to fuck me.”
Nathan leaned back in his chair and regarded her for a long time. “I think you’re probably the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. Yes, I want you. But I want so much more than just to fuck you.”
Despite her vow to play along, she couldn’t sit by and let him say that without a challenge.
“That’s all it could ever be, Nathan. You kidnap me, steal me away from my life, and then expect me to . . . what? Like you? Enjoy being here with you?”
“Yes. Eventually.” He said it as if it should be obvious and she was out of line for questioning it.
“You’re insane. I could never feel anything but hatred for you after what you’ve done. If you touch me, it will be rape. It will never be anything more than that.”
Nathan sighed, his face looking almost sad. He must have really believed that she could come to like him. “If I wanted to rape you, I would have tied you down and done it the moment I saw you, Jacqueline. I want you to want my touch. I want you to beg for it.”
“That will never happen.” She could barely believe what she was hearing.
Nathan shrugged in a we’ll see sort of way that sent a shiver through her. His confidence was disarming. “For now, I’ll settle for a nice dinner with you. Is that all right?”
It was her turn to shrug. “Do I have a choice?”
He smiled. No, of course she didn’t. She ate another shrimp, and wondered if the entire meal would be food she could eat with her fingers. She knew he wasn’t going to give her a fork or a knife, not if he wouldn’t allow her a high heel.
“Come here,” he said, scooting his chair back a little and patting his thigh. “Sit here for a minute?”
Play along. Help is on the way.
Jacqueline rose and sat on his lap, her arm around the back of his neck. He smiled, so very pleased that she’d done as he asked and not fought him on it. Wait until the police get here and I tell them everything. You won’t be smiling then.
“Thank you,” he said. Then he dipped a shrimp into the sauce and held it up to her lips. She wanted to tell him she wasn’t a child, but instead she bit into it obediently and chewed.
“You are so beautiful,” he said, sounding breathless. He put his hand on her thigh and stroked down to her knee, then back up, pushing the already short dress almost to her hips. She was suddenly reminded of her lack of underwear.
“I really am hungry,” Jacqueline said, hoping to stall anything he might be planning to do. “Will there be another course soon?”
“Yes, soon.” He stroked her cheek. “Indulge me a little until then.” His hand slid down her neck to her chest, where he cupped one breast in his palm. Jacqueline’s nipple instantly hardened under his touch, and he laughed in delight, brushing his thumb over the nipple.
“Your body knows what’s good for you,” he whispered. He hooked his fingers into the cleavage of her dress and eased the fabric over the breast closest to him, making a soft sound as she was bared.
Jacqueline held one hand at her side, fisted, while she had to concentrate to keep the hand on his shoulder from digging into him, clawing through him to get him to stop. I can take this to keep him from doing something more drastic or hurting me. Help is on the way, just hang on.
His breath buffeted her nipple as he said, “So very beautiful.” And then took her nipple into his mouth.
Jacqueline gasped at the suddenness of it, at the stinging hard suck he gave and how there seemed to be one long nerve between her nipple and her groin. She felt her pulse between her legs as he sucked like a hungry child, his knuckle brushing up and down over her other nipple, still hidden by her dress. Not for long.
His hand slipped inside, pushing the fabric to the outside. He pinched that nipple and pulled as he sucked harder on the other. Jacqueline bit her bottom lip at the slight pain and the watery feeling in her lower stomach.
“You’re being so good for me, so cooperative.” He lapped at her nipple, the tugged with his teeth. “And I think I know why.”
Nathan gave her nipple another painfully hard suck and tweaked the other one tightly before leaning his head back and looking at her smugly. “Have you ever heard of the Irish Republican Army?”
“Yes.” The hairs on the back of her neck tickled her.
“My gardener, Miles, is a fugitive. Wanted for alleged crimes he committed while a member of the IRA. So not only is he loyal to me for personal reasons, he doesn’t ever want to be sent back to Ireland. He was impressed at your resourcefulness, though. I told him I’d expected nothing less from you.”
For a moment, Jacqueline couldn’t get a breath. How cruel had this Miles been, pretending he would help her. Why did he have to get her hopes up? So she sat on Nathan’s lap now, letting him touch her, letting him suck her, and no help was on the way to stop whatever plans he had.
She let go of his shoulder and pulled her dress back into place, feeling doubly violated, not just by his touch, but his knowledge that she’d had hope and how he’d used that against her.
“You’re disgusting,” she said. “All of you.” Jacqueline fought tears.
“No, listen to me. I don’t blame you for trying. But I’ve warned you, and I don’t expect you to try again. Everyone here wants to help you find your place among us, and see what’s best for you in the long run.”
He cupped her breast again. She pushed his hand away. “What’s best for me is to go home.”
“I hope you’re hungry!” Miss Esther pushed a trolley into the dining room filled with serving dishes. “It smells so good you two almost didn’t get any! Zane and I were going to run off with the dinner and keep it for ourselves.” She laughed.
Jacqueline felt more hopeless than ever before. These people . . . the gardener pretending he was going to get the police, Zane holding her and carrying her, Nathan touching her as if he had some right, and kindly-looking, elderly Miss Esther, making jokes about the dinner as if they were having a God damned dinner party and she wasn’t a prisoner in this house.
The smell hit her, stiffening her back where she still sat on Nathan’s lap.
“What?” he asked, taking her hand.
Miss Esther said, “We marinated the steak overnight so it’d be almost fork tender, and the potatoes are--”
“What is wrong with you people!” Jacqueline screamed and pushed herself off Nathan’s lap, looking at the food in horror. Marinated strip steaks, the spices and seasonings exactly the same as she’d been making before she ran to the store to get the new potatoes she’d forgotten--the potato dish about to be served to her now. Spinach salad, looking just the way she made it, with a little bacon grease and lots of veggies and parmesan cheese.
This was Garrett’s favorite dinner. The dinner she’d been making him when these people had kidnapped her and brought her here. What kind of psychological torture was this?
“Jacqueline!” Nathan shouted and stood, grabbing her forearms. “What? Is there something wrong with the dinner?”
She pounded her fists against his chest. “You freak! You fucking freak!”
“Tell me what it is!” he bellowed, trying to grab her arms but making no other moves to stop her. “Tell me!”
“You’re sick, you’re all sick!” She kept pummeling Nathan with her fists, until Zane grabbed her from behind and caught her wrists, holding them crossed in front of her. She tried to kick his shins with her heels, but he didn’t budge. He held her tightly until she went almost limp against him, hanging her head and sobbing.
“Jacqueline,” Nathan whispered, using both hands to push hair back from her face. “Tell me what’s--”
She spat in his face and gave him the most hateful glare she could muster. He looked shocked, maybe angry, and then his expression went blank. She hung her head again, crying quietly.
Zane lifted her and carried her back to the bedroom. He sat her on the bed. Nathan hadn’t followed, but Zane stood there waiting, as if he knew he was coming.
He’s going to rape me now. He’s angry, and he’s going to rape me.
She threw herself over on the bed and pulled her legs up. Then she closed her eyes, willing herself not to panic or give in to the despair she felt.
Voices outside the door drew her attention. Nathan and Miss Esther. Jacqueline concentrated and tried to make out what they were saying. She was picking up most of it.
“Beth wants . . . didn’t expect you to touch her.”
“Pay her whatever she asks for,” Nathan’s louder voice came through. “Enough that she never comes back here.”
She was paying Beth, the woman in the business suit that had been taken out first? Why would she be paid or would Nathan not want her to come back if her memory of being here in the first place was going to be erased?
Jacqueline didn’t have time to think about it. Nathan came in, his footsteps heavy, his stride fast. She didn’t open her eyes as she heard and felt him doing something to the bed, something with the nearest bedpost. Nathan had a hold of her wrists before she realized what was happening.
“No!” She tried to pull away, but padded handcuffs snapped into place around her wrists. They were secured to an elastic strap on the bedpost that gave her some slack. But being tied in place made her panic. She pulled at it and kicked with her legs to get him away.
One of them grabbed her ankles. She was too blinded by fear to look as she pulled at her bonds until her wrists ached. Straps went around her ankles and they were secured to the bedpost at the foot of the bed in the same way. She had slack and could lie on her side comfortably enough, but she was bound. She couldn’t get away. She would be almost helpless.
Nathan slid a longer strap under her legs.
“No, what is that? What are you doing?”
He didn’t answer, but instead fastened it just above her knees, essentially binding her legs together.
“Please untie me,” she pleaded, hoping that a change in tactics would help. “I’m sorry about before. I-I was upset. I didn’t mean it. Please, just untie me and I’ll be good.”
Nathan shook his head. “This will just keep you from hurting me or yourself.” He turned. “Thank you, Zane. I’ll call you if I need you.”
“Zane,” she cried out. “Zane, please. You know what he’s going to do to me! How can you let this happen!”
Zane turned to look at her from the doorway, a sad look on his face she didn’t understand. Then he left, closing the door behind him.
“What am I going to do, Jacqueline? You know so much. You tell me.”
“It’s rape,” she said. “You can tell yourself anything you want, but it’s still rape.”
Nathan sighed as he looked down at her and loosened his tie. He slid his jacket off his shoulders. “I’m going to lie behind you, and hold you, and we’re going to sleep, Jacqueline.”
She watched him walk around the bed, but turned her face away when he got on with her and pulled a blanket over both of them. Nathan pressed against her, practically from her ankles to her neck and put an arm around her waist.
She stiffened and tried to pull away, but knew there was no use. She could hang off the edge of the bed and he could still touch her.
Nathan used his other hand at first to stroke her hair back from her face. He kissed her ear. “Get some sleep. We’ll talk more in the morning about what happened tonight. I’m not going to punish you for it.”
Punish her? She shuddered and tried to shift her legs a little, but they were held together. The little heartbeat between her legs threatened to keep her awake.
“Tomorrow, after breakfast, we’ll begin your training in earnest. And outbursts like tonight’s will not be tolerated.” He stroked her hair some more, kissing her ear and the sensitive skin around it.
