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Chapter 2
Klaus
I didn’t speak on the drive up to Jodie’s house. After a few light-hearted jokes that we both laughed at, she went quiet too. The road was dirt and rough, and the gravel sounded like a small war under the tires of my jeep.
I guess we both were preoccupied. Considering what we were doing, I wasn’t surprised. The canopy of over-arching gums cut much of the sun as it slanted in over the sea. A glance across at Jodie revealed dappled light slipping over the curves of her face. Her auburn hair streamed backward and bared her neck. She was a beautiful woman. Desirable, but too complicated for me.
Every time I’d seen her up on stage, in the days when I used to go watch her, I’d cringed at the things she’d revealed. It had been like seeing someone trot out their soul on a plate and hold it up for the audience to laugh at. Once, and once only, she’d made a joke of something we’d shared. She’d stopped when I’d made us off limits, but it was too late for me; it had soured things. I couldn’t understand her. Willing to do that for strangers and yet she had this thing about holding back with me. Not doing dishes? What was that?
To me, giving of yourself should be more for those you loved, not less.
Was she a good comedienne? From the laughter, she succeeded most of the time, but I knew she’d never make it big. Something about her left her timing a flinch, a half-step, a gesture just shy of perfect.
I slotted the jeep into the space beside her yellow Suzuki Swift and we walked to the front door. As always, her smallness made my manners struggle to break out. I wanted to put my hand on her back and guide her, but didn’t. After all, I was to be her captor. This was so odd.
At the door, I held out my hand for the key.
“This is it, huh?” She quirked an eyebrow but tossed her keys in an arc so I had to catch them out of mid-air. “Don’t forget the caviar on toast every morning and the champagne on Sundays.”
“More like bread and water and cornflakes,” I drawled as I pushed open the door.
“Cornflakes?” She chuckled. “Guess I’m in heaven then.”
This was a nice little beach house, white with Mediterranean blue trim, a prim delusion of grandeur, a surface coating of prettiness, and buried in the basement, a prison cell. Damn, we were both crazy.
“Down to the bowels of the house, we merrily go,” she sang, skipping down the hallway ahead of me.
I smiled and watched her ass. Of the two of us, she was a little crazier.
At least her, I understood – money needs and sexual fantasies.
Me? I didn’t need the money. I could do with more, don’t mistake me, but I didn’t need it. Sexual fantasies too? There was no sex involved though, just the odd feeling that doing this would be…intriguing. Plain and simple, I was curious. At nearly forty, I had an inkling there must be more to life. I felt stagnant and this certainly confirmed that Jodie had a knack of finding things I’d never dream up on my own to do.
And yeah, admit it, man, Jodie still had this thing going. Attraction. I couldn’t pass up a chance to be around her. It wasn’t purely sexual either. Pheromones? Some special sort of catnip that zeroed in on me? Who the hell knew? I never wanted to see her hurt, even when she was the one hurting herself. Or if I was the one she roped in to do the hurting by proxy? So what was I doing? A psychologist would have a field day with me.
When I got to the downstairs room, she was slowly turning in a circle with her arms out like this was some ballet show, and smirking. “Here it is.”
“Yep.”
“Here” was a room she’d used for storage, with a toilet and shower attached. The small window up near the ceiling already had burglar-proof bars but we’d put a shutter on also and padlocked it. By the time I’d fished the wrist cuffs from the box on the single wooden chair, Jodie had calmed. I wrapped the cuffs on her wrists, checking out her widened eyes as I did so. There were little padlocks for the buckles and I clicked them into place. New leather smells good, and I took my time, running my fingertip along the raw cut edge before I released her wrists. The look of the black on her white skin said…screamed, vulnerability.
“Scared?” I murmured. I stepped back and waited while she lifted her hands and gave the cuffs a small puzzled look – as if she’d never seen them before.
“Of you? Ha.” She bit her lip and audibly sucked in air. “Nooo. Excited, maybe. There’s butterflies in here.” She laid her palm on her stomach. “I can’t believe we are going through with this.”
“Me neither. But, if we’re doing this, we do it as planned. Even the Fire Department would be upset over this arrangement.” I waved at the blocked window. “Let alone the cops. There’s no point in going halfway. This film has to be good or we’re wasting our time.”
“Yes.”
I sat in the chair and took the laminated list from the box. I held it up as if checking the words but instead sneaked looks over the top. Her little denim shorts showed a hint of butt cheek when she knelt to sit on the mattress. Damn, what was with me? Peeking at a woman…a thought hit me…a woman who, in a few minutes, I was going to lock inside this room.
For a second or two, I couldn’t have blinked if my life depended on it. I stared at nothing.
What was wrong with me?
Was that frisson sexual? I didn’t dream of locking up women. I certainly wasn’t planning on raping her. I could have sex with Jodie if I wanted to. She’d given enough hints since I broke up with her. But here I was, dissecting her every move.
I snapped my gaze back to the list. The words blurred.
