AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“The Marquis didn’t lie, Laney. You are as bound to him as you ever were. As much under his power. You are still wearing his bracelet, aren’t you?” He stared right down at it.
“Yes.” She fingered it, trying to smile. Her nerves were shot and still her heart was racing and her lust was once more on the rise, despite the feeling that she should keep her desires in check.
“You didn’t trust me on the island, when I told you to stop your quest. But it’s time to trust me now. You made the right decision. You do not want to submit to three years in the Marquis’ house. You do not want that grief. You may have a hell of a submissive streak that leads you into terrible temptations, but you don’t need the Marquis’ brand of slavery. You would suffer, Laney. Suffer. The rage in you would build, you’d come up gasping and snorting, trying to fight your way out, but trust me, every time you did, your rebellion would be squashed. I’ve seen it and I’ve seen the results, and I would hate to see that happen to a woman with your spirit, your talent, your lust for adventure, your desire for life…”
“Alex, please stop!” She put her hand on his arm. “It’s okay. I can see what you’re saying very clearly. I mean everything came clear to me in that last conversation with the Marquis. I saw how foolish I’d been in this ridiculous odyssey. And I DO wish I’d removed this damn bracelet. You were right, I’m just too head-strong.”
He smiled kindly. “But maybe not too headstrong for me?”
“That’s the part I haven’t figured out yet.”
“Something else that’s true. I wasn’t lying when we were on the island. I don’t wear the Marquis’ mark. You can search every square inch of my body,” his eyes sparked playfully at that idea, “you won’t find the mark. If you submit to me, it’s because you willingly give yourself to me. Just as it was before.”
“I don’t understand? How can that be…who are you if you’re not in the man’s intimate circle?”
He shook his head and sighed. “The man’s my father, Laney, …my stepfather yes, but he’s the man who raised me, the only parent I’ve had since my mother died when I was twelve. Of course, I knew nothing about his kinky life when I was young. I didn’t learn the truth until I was in college. By then, I actually think he hoped I would share his sexual tastes. But that didn’t happen. Now, I’m a bit of the black sheep in his demented world. The only reason I was in his house was because you were there. I wasn’t about to see him take you in…and turn you into one of his properties. I don’t mean the nice little fantasy you had with Erik, as you can see, the reality is really nothing like that. Those women are his slaves in the truest sense of the word.”
“So, you just showed up?”
“I did. I was hoping after the island that you weren’t going to run off to Paris…but you did, then you went to Prague. I had to track you…although I knew by then where you’d end up.”
“Yes, straight into Kafka’s world.”
“No, I didn’t expect that. We had a very similar scenario to abduct you, but then Kafka suddenly played his hand. Scary, was it?”
“I was worried I would die.”
“I’m sorry about that.”
“Sorry? Like you could have prevented it?”
“No. I had no power to prevent anything. This was not my game. My only interest was in seeing that you were safe.”
She could not believe she was hearing this. “You said ‘we’ … that makes it sound as if you were very much a part of the Marquis’ scheme.”
“At that point, I was, to some degree. I had a vested interest in you and I certainly had my father’s ear.”
“But why?” This still made no sense.
“Because, I…uh…” It wasn’t like him to stumble over his words. “Oh, c’mon, Laney, I liked you. I mean, I really enjoyed that night on the island. It was invigorating, maybe the first time I’d taken a page from my father’s playbook and pulled out all the stops.”
“What about the girlfriends you took to the island?”
“Strictly vanilla sex. I know I alluded to other things, but I was into your game. What’s a little subterfuge when you’re trying to seduce a woman? Is it so different from a woman seducing a man? The point is: I walked away from that night unable to forget about you. So, I sent you the postcard—like hanging the bait in the water, hoping you’d bite—which you didn’t.”
“Excuse me if I’m a little stunned,” she shook her head, bemused, “So, you really want a relationship…like a regular man/woman relationship?”
“That’s how I think, despite the way my father thinks. Yes, I admit, I may have picked up some of his kinky sadistic appetites—but basically, I’ve stayed clear of his extremes…then you come along, and that was what you wanted, what you so obviously needed…and you were so beautiful…so wanting, so sad, so ready to begin life again…”
“Well, now you have me really flustered.” She could feel herself starting to cry.
“I didn’t mean to. I just thought I should lay my cards on the table.”
“So, am I really bound to the Marquis, or not?”
“To a point, yes, you’re his. He does wield a lot of power that I don’t think any man should have. And if provoked he might exercise that power with you. But as far as I’m concerned… and regardless of what happens between you and me—and I don’t plan to rush anything, understand that, you won’t have to go back to him…unless you want to. I will make sure of that. I have that much power over him. I mean, look at us now. We are on this plane together. This was my idea, Laney, not his.”
“And if I’d chosen differently?”
