Page 28 of Twisted

Her eyes watching the approach of his long fingers, her body tense and gearing up to cry again, he cupped her cheek and smoothed his thumb over her scar. He was gentle—as gentle as he had been thus far. It was all so confusing and strange, how she craved both the torture and the affection.

“I’m a shit cook, but I made ya a sandwich. PB and J. You hungry?”

She popped her eyes open and found his through the darkness again. A strange feeling bubbled up in her chest, and a choked laugh forced its way past her lips. She was delirious—sleep deprived, starving, aching all over, an emotional wreck. His boyish charm and words, though, further calmed her. As though he could go from a monster to a teddy bear in two seconds.

“Maybe a bath first?” he continued, a small grin on his pinkish lips. His kindness was cause for her to be more wary than normal, though. When would he take it away? When would the hand that wanted to feed her also strike her?

She began to shake her head, to lean away from his touch once more, clamming up. It was safer that way. He could hurt her body, but she would make it difficult by not giving in so easily again. She had to be careful, had to shove away her insane attraction to him. She needed to get away, get to the hard drive first. Nibbling her lip in thought, she flicked her eyes up to his.

“Bathe, baby doll, then rest up. You’ll need it.”

His words made her pulse pump more hotly through her veins.

“Wh-why?” she mumbled through her aching jaw. That mischief in his eyes grew, his pupils dilating in lust as a wicked grin formed on his lips. It twisted her gut, that look.

“We’ve got a lot of groundwork ahead of us to fix your little mistake, Maisie.”

“Oh,” she muttered. God, he was confusing with all his double entendres. She shrank as he stood, his shadow dwarfing her. The taps on the bath burst to life, and her overworked mind snapped to attention. This was it; her chance to escape. While his back was turned, her eyes flicked to the discarded shirt she’d worn earlier. Reaching out with a practiced dancer’s toe, she scooted it closer, her heart beginning to thump an erratic rhythm.

Rolling up onto her knees, she clutched the fabric as he dumped a copious amount of bubble bath into the steaming water. Taking her chance, clutching the shirt, she sprang up and dashed through the open door, slamming it behind her. Into the kitchen, she fumbled with the knife block for a few precious seconds, ironically freeing the smallest one.

His heavy, furious boot steps thundered toward her, and as she whirled, she threw down the barstools to give her a few extra seconds. As she crossed the threshold of his cabin door, her eyes caught sight of his rage-filled face; the last glance of a heathen before she sprinted naked into the embrace of the forest at night.

Jaeger

Present Day

His teeth ground together as he fought a wicked grin. The very thought of chasing her down, of capturing her once more and forcing her submission made his cock ache. He rubbed himself through his rough jeans and paced quietly on the front porch. Wouldn’t harm anything if he let her feel she had the upper hand for a moment. They were far out enough and off the grid that she’d not find help.

But when he found her—when he claimed her again under the stars—she would learn her rightful place by his side. There was no escaping Jaeger Duke, not when he set his mind to something.

As he paced, the mystery of the span of time they’d spent apart deepened to a degree. A sting of pity shot through him, but it was soon overshadowed by blind rage. Rage toward himself, rage toward those who’d broken something so beautiful. He’d be more careful, he had to be. He’d not expected such a reaction to his advances. Out in the forest, she’d clammed up a few times, but after a moment of adjustment, she’d been more receptive. But after pulling the ball from her mouth? After presenting her ruby lips with the heavy tip of his cock? She’d been utterly and painfully petrified. The memory of her devastating fear seared through him, bringing to life his cold heart.

That action had triggered a much darker response. She was complicated, broken, but not beyond repair. He’d crack her open, spill all the darkness in her soul and draw it out as one draws out venom. He could handle it. He figured he was the only man capable of such a task. It would take time and patience and a steady hand to curb her wild, flighty tendencies, to prove he was steadfast and wanted more than just her body, to prove he was straightforward and not a manipulative piece of shit.

He wanted her, from her visible scars to her invisible ones, damn the consequences and damn what it meant to Linds.

He paused with a smile, all the while watching the darkened forest, knowing that soon he would claim her all over again.

Tracking her was…well, harder than anticipated. There was no mud or soft dirt to delineate a clear path, and the broken branches veered off in every direction. He smirked. She was trying to throw him off. For as brilliant as he found her, she was just as naive, and navigating the woods alone at night in black bear country was sure to have her not thinking too clearly.

He was only a football field’s length from his cabin when he could hear her dashing through the bracken, her breathing ragged. Chuckling quietly, he pushed through the bushes, quiet and sneaky as a cat. There was a small clearing ahead, and it sounded to his trained ears an awful lot like Maisie was about to barrel right toward him. He posted up against a tree, crossing his arms and legs as he waited.

Ten seconds.

Five seconds.

She burst through the trees, hair wild, scratches on her cheeks and arms and legs, her knees covered in dirt. She was limping, not paying her path any mind as she muttered to herself.

“Fuck them all,” she hissed, the glint of the knife in her small hand a tad alarming. She was no survivalist. If she tripped, she’d run the risk of impaling herself. But he could only smile a sadistic, patronizing grin and listen to her ramblings as she drew nearer, completely unaware of him lying in wait.

“Stupid, sexy, brutish motherfucker…ruining everything…fuck this…” she hissed, yanking a twig from her long dark hair. Jaeger bit back a chuckle as his heart thumped a harder beat in his chest. She was impossible to be angry with, especially when hearing her muted anger. And the fact that she had called him sexy…well…he palmed his growing cock again.

He had what he needed: the location of the hard drive.

He didn’t have what hewanted: Maisie and all the dark secrets hidden within her soul.

Stepping forward to cut off her path, the snap of a twig under his steel toed boot had her head snapping up, those stormy eyes widening in utter fear.

---