I snuggled into the towel, drying myfacewhen Darren turned me tocontinue drying my body himself.
“Lean forward,” he said, grabbing anothersmaller towel from the rack against the wall. I did as he said,clutching my towel to my body to hide from him while he began todry my hair. When he was done, I pushed my hair back with myfingers, trying to get it out of my face and even out someknots.
Darren then came toward me, his muscledchest glistening with a few drops of water that fell from his hair,and for whatever reason I suddenly wanted to connect the dots.
“Not a word of protest, you understand me?”He pointed at me, an intense glare shooting from his dark hoodedeyes.
Confused, I became lost for words. Darrentook that as a sign of my compliance, bent down, and lifted me tohis chest.
I gasped in shock and slight protest. Ifucking hated being carried, especially when Darren did it becausehe made me feel like some tiny-ass doll. He carried methroughthe bedroom, up the stairs, throughthe hallway, back up the main stairway, and finally stopped infront of my bedroom door, all the while wearing nothing but atowel. His breathing pattern hadn’t even changed from how obviouslyfit he was. Darren somehow managed to open the door and carry meinside. He set me down on the floor by the bed, pulled back mycovers, and ushered me in, but not before taking my wet towel fromme.
I slid my naked body under the covers and hepulled them up to my chin like some kind of gentleman. There wasthen a knock at my door. Darren was already at the doorway by thetime I looked over to see that it was a short older man with athick white mustache, whitehair,and round belly, wearing a dirty white apron and holding a silvertray. Darren took the tray, nodded at the man, and then shut thedoor with his foot. He must have been Pascal.
Darren walked over to my bedside and set thetray down on the nightstand.
“You missed your dinner,” he said plainly.“Eat this and I’ll let you go to bed.”
I looked over at the tray that contained asmall bowl of soup and a very large glass of water. I wasn’t in themood to eat, but the soup smelled like chicken noodle and I waskind of hungry. I could handle some soup.
I sat up, tucking the covers under my armsso that the sheet would remain in place to cover my breasts andtook the bowl from the tray. Darren sat at the end of the bed,watching me intently as I scooped up the soup in what I could onlydescribe as an actual ladle and gave it a small blow to cool itdown before taking a sip. I almost moaned aloud; it was thatfucking good. A smirk of approval began to form on Darren’s face ashe watched me finish the entire bowl and set it back down on thetray. I then completely downed the entire glass of water and set itnext to the bowl.
Darren stood and examined my bowl.
“Holy shit, you actually finishedsomething?” he said amused.
“They’ll write about it in history books.” Iyawned as I laid myself down onto the pillows.
His smile was genuine when he bent down andplaced his hand against my cheek. It was warm and took up theentire right side of my face. I stared up at him with big doe eyes,losing myself in the deep blue of his own. Somehow, his gaze hadgrown softer, and suddenly, I didn’t feel so scared. He then brokethe connection and kissed my forehead.
“Go to sleep, princess. I’ll see you in themorning … with a whole new attitude,” he said, the final part awarning.
I nodded slightly before sinking furtherinto my pillows and burying myself under the sheets. I heard Darrencollect my tray and walk out of the room, gently shutting the doorbehind him. I rolled over and looked at the clock. It was only 8:30p.m. A little early for me to go to bed, but I was exhausted andhad had enough of the day already. I closed my eyes and burroweddeep into the bed for some quiet solitude.
Chapter Twelve
Negotiate
Smack … smack, smack … SMACK. Sounds. Woodensounds clashing against each other. Strikes—bostrikes. Pain. Screaming. Grunting. Blood. And thenDarren’s stormy gaze as he took my body from me. Over and overagain.
I jolted from my bed, mybreathcoming in and out in heavy gusts, sweatcovering my face and mixing with myhairwhile my hands flew out in front of me at the ready.Adrenaline and fear spiked through my veins as I tried to calm myheartbeat from the throes of the nightmare. I looked around theroom, frantically searching for intruders. Thankfully, I foundnone, only noticing the soft light that peered through the windows.It must still be early morning. Glancing over at the clock, mythoughts were correct as it read 7:32 in the morning.
I took a single deep breath and sat up,resting my elbows on my raised knees, and placed my head in myhands. I needed to calm down. I closed my eyes and tried to breatheslowly through my nose, but all I could see was the fight I hadwith Darren in his training room—the fight that I lost. All I couldhear were the sounds of our bos crashing against each other; thesound echoedinmy ears, remindingme of my failure. I should have won that fight, should have beenable to end him right then and there, but he was just too fuckinggood. He was better than I was.
What the fuck were the odds of being boughtby someone who trained harder than I did? Who was obviously abetter fighter than I was? I really hit the motherfucking jackpotof Murphy’s Law.
I furiously tossed the sheets off my nakedbody, threw on a white silk robe, and walked outontomy balcony, deciding on some fresh air toclear my head. I stepped out onto the cement in my bare feet, thecold stone waking me with every step. The sun was beginning torise, and it was already painting the sky with beautiful palepinks,purples,and yellows. Ofall the rooms in the house, I really did love the view from myroom. I would have a perfect show of thesunsetand sunrise every day … but the thought of thatonly made my heart grow heavy.
I sat down on the cushioned bench andcontinued to gaze out at the water. The birds were chirping away totheir morning song while the seagulls sang their own tune above thewater. It was peaceful, serene … and a total fucking lie. This wasnot a place of tranquility. This was a prison—my prison—and nothingmore. With Darren as my warden, I didn’t know exactly how my futurewould play out here, but now that I knew what he expected of me, Icould learn to evolve.
I thought about the family he wanted to havewithme.The fact he wanted me ashis wife had me all sorts of confused, but I quickly realized itdidn’t matter what Darren thought or wanted because none of thatwas happening. This situation was only temporary.
Eventually,I would find a way out. I was determined and fierce, but the onething I needed to learn most was patience. I wasn’t going to escapehimovernight. I probably wasn’tgoing to escape him this month … or even this year. Escape mightnot even be a one-time thing; it might come down to a few attemptshere and there before I finally figured it out. But I fearedDarren’s retribution. I was afraid of what he might do to myfamily. If I wanted my compliance, then that was certainly how Iwould do it. Hell, that was how he’d gotten to me back at thewarehouse with Kayla, but she wasn’t a part of the equationanymore. My family was myKryptonitenow, and Darren had already threatened one ofthe most important members of that family. I had so much to lose,and he only had everything to gain.
I would have to remove my family from theequation. Thankfully, my family was small so hiding them might notbe terribly difficult. I just didn’t know how in the hell I’d beable to reach them without giving away their location. If I reachedout to Jason, I was afraid he wouldn’t listen to me and just try tofind me instead. My mother would be too hysterical to contemplateanything I said, and Jason would be pissed if I called Jordanoverhim. I would have to figuresomething out eventually, but I had plenty of time to plot andprepare.
Until then, I needed to focus on gainingDarren’s trust. I could give it to him that he had won only one ofthe many battles ahead of us and I was fine with that. As long ashe didn’t win the war, I would be okay. I could survive him. Iwould survive him.
When the sun had risen fully, I decided itwas probably best to get ready for breakfast with Darren. I took aquick shower, did my hair and makeup, and selected aburgundysundress and black flats for today’sslave uniform. I really hated wearing dresses, especially with onlyabarely-therethong to cover myass. I felt so vulnerable and exposed. With my manicured nails andattire, it almost seemed like my wardrobe was designed todiscourage me from fighting, but Darren should know better thanthat. It didn’t matter if I was wearingsix-inchstilettos or if I was bare-ass naked. I wouldfight no matter what I was or wasn’t wearing. I could kick anyone’sass in a dress; I just preferred to do it in pants.
