Five miles later, I finally stepped downfrom the treadmill and practically collapsed on the floor. I neededto rest, and I needed water. Looking over to the corner of theroom, I saw a mini fridge. Wobbling back and forth, I made my wayto it and pulled out a bottle of water. Nearly downing the wholething, I sat back against the wall and started stretching again. Ineeded to lower my heart rate if I wanted to lift weights. I knew Ioverdid it with the running, but damn, I needed to stretch my legs,and it felt good to finally unleash them properly.
I looked over to my left to see the doorDarren had expressly forbidden me from even standing too close to.Fuck. What I would give to get to train with the weapons he had inthere.
Once I was finally able to calm down, Ilookedaroundand noticed I hadplenty of room to practice some acrobatics. I smiled as I got up,walked to the end of the room, and startedintoa running pace, dipping down for a cartwheel andthen folding back into abackhandspring.Damn,that feltgood. I did a few more of those, landing perfectly every time asthough I had never stopped practicing. It was like riding a bike. Iworked on some front flips and front handsprings; even my kip upsand butterfly kicks came back to me easily. It felt so amazing tobring it all back into the light. I hadn’t forgotten my skill afterall.
I then looked over at the line of punchingbags on the opposite wall. Pumping my legs hard, I charged at thebag and jumped high into a flying sidekick. I landed it squareagainst the bag, sending it flying back on its chains. I didn’thave any gloves, but I didn’t care. I wailed into the bag, bouncingback and fortharoundit, light onmy feet, and kicking it with everything I had. Following throughwith some open palms and elbows, I tried to keep the thin skin ofmy knuckles intact. I didn’t need Darren bitching at me if I fuckedmy knuckles up any more than they already were. I’d ask him for apair of gloves and wraps later.
With every hit I made, my ass pulsed fromthe bruisesonmy skin. I ignoredit; too busy expressing some love on the bag to bother with thatshit. I had a feeling I would have to learn to live with that kindof soreness often until I learned to shut my mouth. I had betterget used to the pain then.
After a few minutes of unleashing hell, Ifelt a sharp snap on my fingernail and instantly pulled my handback from the bag, pain throbbing in the tip of my finger. I felt aslight twinge of fear as I looked down at the broken edge of thenail onmy middle finger. Fuck, I just had these done!
Realizing I was still probably beingwatched, I looked away from my hand and pretended nothing hadhappened, even though I had no idea how I could possibly hide itfrom Darren. There would probably be a fight later.
Forgetting about it, I continued kicking thebag, throwing some reverse hook and sidekicks, knocking the bag inall sorts of directions until my legs were sore. I then headed overto the weight machines and started lifting. Nothing I could doabout the stupid nail now, and Iwasn'tabout to let thelittlebustedthing ruin myworkout. I worked my arms and torso hard, and the burn inmy muscles felt so good as I pushed myself to the brink. I wouldpush myself harder every day until I became stronger and stronger.Fuck, Darren. If becoming a body builder was what it would take tobeat him, then I would do it.
After about a half an hour of lifting, Ifinally felt exhausted enough to end myworkoutand head upstairs for a jet bath to relaxmymuscles. As I headed for the stairs, I decided topeekout the window of the frontdoor, but only Scott stood out there smoking another cigarette.Wait ... was there blood on his hand? It was deep red still, so itwas definitely fresh. My stomach twisted into tight little knots asI turned away and headed up the stairs, trying to block the imagefrom my head.
I knew I was dealing with dangerous people,but I didn't want to think about how sadistic they truly were. Iwondered if Darren had partaken in the bloodshed or if he justdirected it. I decided I didn't want to know.
Once I got to the top of the stairs, I madea beeline for my room. I stormed into the bathroom and turned onthe bathtub, taking my sweaty clothes off as I waited for it tofill. I first stepped into a short, cool shower to bring theswelling of my muscles down and then hopped into the warm jets ofthe tub. The water felt amazing as it massaged my muscles, and Irelaxed until they felt like butter under my skin.Afterward, I switched to the removableshowerhead at the side of the tub to wash and condition my hair andthen washed my face and body. Once I had thoroughly rinsed myself,I stepped out and quickly dried off.
Looking down at my busted nail, I tried tothink of a way to fix it, but the only thing I could do was file itdown to dull the sharp edges. I searched the entire bathroom untilI finally found a nail file and vigorously filed the shit out of ituntil it was as smooth and dull. It would have to do until myRussian nail team returned. If they returned.
I did my makeup in the other room, my moodsuddenly lifting a bit when I realized I didn’t have to put muchmakeup on my chest anymore to conceal the bruise from Darren’s kickto my chest. It was finally nearly gone. I regretfully decided togo for a tighter light pink and dark pink striped tank top dressand selected a simple pair of nude flats. I dried my hair with thediffuser, keeping my natural curls intact and smoothed them outwith some hair oil. I then stepped out into the hall and decided todo some more exploring of the house, hoping to prolong Darren'ssearch of me.
I wandered the halls downstairs, passingrandom guards who remained steady as I walked by them. They neverlooked at me, but I knew they were carefully watching me and Ihated how uncomfortable it made me. Eventually, I came across a setof double doors I had not seen before. Why hadn't Darren shown methis room?
I pushed on the handle, and it actuallyopened. Stepping inside, I looked up only needing to pick my jawoff the floor. It was a library. A massive, elaborate, old as fucklibrary. Red and gold tile checkered the floors and the dark brownshelves reached as high as the ceiling, which stretched to thesecond floor of the house. Numerous large windows let in anabundance of natural sunlight, warming the room while heavyburgundy drapes hung from bronze curtain rods. An old metal spiralstaircase led up to the second level while several comfy couches,desks,and tables were scatteredabout the room. There was even an old school chalkboard and a fewcomputers. I didn’t bother turning one on. I knew Darren hadalready rigged his house to prevent me from having anycommunication with the outside world.
Well, duh, Jaden, as if he's going to letyou wander around the house with the ability to contact anyone.
Defeated, I walked along the bookshelves andstudied the books in Darren's possession. I found fiction, history,non-fiction, autobiographies, and even children's books. I was inawe of his collection, but even though everything was as clean as awhistle, it looked like no one had touched a book in ages. Inonchalantly selected a random book from the shelves and looked itover, analyzing the age of the pages and catching the old scent ofdust that lingered in the bindings.
“There you are,” a deep male voice came fromdirectly behind me.
I instantly dropped the book and nearlyjumped out of my own skin.
On instinct, I jolted around, gasping inshock as my hands swiftly flung out to strike whoever it was behindme, but my wrist was stopped dead in its tracks as I came face withface with Darren directly behind me. He was now clutching my wristand giving me a dangerous look. But my heart rate was already goinga mile a minute from shock and panic.
“Jesus Christ, don’t do that!” I yelled athim, fairly relieved now that I knew where he was but now justangry from being caught off guard. “Didn’t anyone ever tell youit’s not smart to sneak up on a black belt?”
Darren chuckled as he beamed down at me inamusement while I snatched my wrist out of his grasp.
“Sorry. Did I scare you?” He laughed.
“No, you just caught me off guard,” Icountered, eying him as I bent down to pick up the book I haddropped.
“Maybe you should learn to become more awareof your surroundings then.” He smiled deviously as I placed thebook back on the shelf.
As if my situational awareness wasn’talready on par. I just found it hard to believe a man of his sizecould successfully sneak around unnoticed.
“Or maybe I should just put a bell on you,”I replied crossing my arms. “Problem solved.”
“Well, considering you’re the one with thecollar, a bell would seem fitting for you, don’t you think?” hereplied slyly.
I narrowed my eyes at him, noticing how hehad showered, shaved, and changed. He wore jeans and a blackt-shirt with an opengraybutton-down with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows.Goddamn,he was sexy, especially with thosefriggin tattoos. I loved a man with ink.
“Nah,” I replied, shrugging my shoulders.“I’m not really the jingly type.”
