Page 20 of Power and Possession

“As much as I enjoy it when you hit me, I have a meeting with an important client today, and it wouldn’t bode well if I looked like I’d been in a bitch fight.”

I simmered, like a pot about to boil. I was over his arrogance. I drew back my free hand, planning to smack him again, but he rolled, and instead I ended up underneath him. He held me in place with his hips, his cock jutting against my thigh.

“Tsk tsk tsk,” he teased, raising an eyebrow. “I must say, I’ve never been so turned on by someone who hates me so much.”

Before I could retort, or supply an even nastier insult in his direction, he spread my thighs with his and raised my handsabove my head, effectively pinning me to the mattress. I could feel him against my thigh, feel his arousal wet my skin.

“Let me go—”

His lips met mine, and he crushed my words, rendering them meaningless as he explored my mouth. He kissed my lips softly, much gentler than he did the night before, and then licked a path down to the hollow of my throat.

“I don’t want you,” I spat, trying to buck him off of me.

He snorted, and then glanced at my naked body possessively. “Shall we make a bet, Ashlynn?” He practically purred when he said my name, and I tried hard to ignore the crazy things his voice did to my insides. “If you’re not soaked for me, I’ll roll off of you right now and grant you your freedom. But if you’re wet…” he trailed off, snaking his hands down to my warm center.

“You’ll do what? Force me again?”

He dropped his hands and rolled off of me instantly, fury in his eyes. He stood at the side of the bed, towering over me.

“Force you? You threw yourself at me. You practically begged me to fuck you.” His entire body shook as he tried to hold back his anger.

“In case you haven’t noticed, I’m your prisoner. It’s not like I actually have any rights here.” I stood up, pulling the sheet up to cover myself. His eyes followed, and I could see his pupils dilate at the sight.

“You had every right to say no. I’m not a good guy, I’m a criminal who cheats, lies, murders and steals. But I’m not a rapist.”

He grabbed his pants and stormed out of the room, his footsteps like thunder against the hardwood floor.

I got dressed in my soaked, borrowed clothing. As the sun came up, the room became stuffy. Quincy finally came along and moved me to a room on the ground level, which was preciselymy aim when I flooded the bathroom. Just as I’d hoped, my new room was closer to the street, and there was a window in the bathroom. It was small and above the toilet, but I knew I could manage it. I rummaged through the drawers next to the bed and found nothing to aid me, but the closet had several heavy hangers, a few with metal attached to them. Perfect. I’d just have to wait until the evening hours and then I could escape.

I’d never needed to escape more than I did tonight. I’d made the worst mistake of my life, sleeping with the enemy. And even worse, I’d enjoyed it. My entire body turned hot just thinking about it. Where had things gone so wrong? I usually made smart decisions, thought with my head and rarely gave into impulses. But last night…I let Steele have his way with me, and a part of me ached for him to do it again. And again. I shook my head, trying to clear the thoughts of him between my legs and focus on my escape plan.

I didn’t have shoes, but it didn’t matter. I would run barefoot all the way to Derbyshire if I had to. I also needed to find a way to remove the implant Steele had the doctor insert, because I had a strong suspicion that it was some kind of tracking device. I’d just have to make it to the police before he could find me.

I spent the next few hours trying to fine-tune my plan, to run through every scenario I could. Steele underestimated me, and I was hoping that our night together had helped increase his confidence that I wouldn’t run. I knew there was a chance that if I was careful, I’d be able to get help before he caught up to me.

At two o’clock in the morning, I decided to act. I hadn’t heard any noises for at least two hours, and I would still have plenty of darkness to hide in. I’d plotted out the route I was going to take once I crawled out of the window. There were several trees staggered alongside the house, and I planned to skirt among them, undetectable. Once I hit the far side of the fence, I’d shimmy up the tree, and then hop over. There was a possibility I’d injure myself in the fall, but it was a chance I was willing to take. Odds were, I’d find someone in the city who would help me.Even if I had to crawl.

Grasping the hanger, I pounded on the glass window, quietly at first, but then more urgently when it wouldn’t budge. I was trying to be as quiet as possible, because the only way I could make this happen was to get a large enough head start. When the hanger wasn’t enough to get through the thick glass, I looked around the guest room. A large lamp was on the nightstand, and I unplugged it, then decided I could use the cord as well. I couldn’t find scissors, but I frayed the edges on the metal part of the hanger until it broke. It could come in handy to make the fall from the edge of the fence smaller.

I counted to three, trying to give myself a little pep talk. The second the glass was broken, I would have no choice but to act. I’d have minutes to get off of the property, and that was if I was lucky. I stood on the toilet and heaved the lamp towards the window.

It didn’t break completely, but it did crack. I took one of the monogrammed towels from the bathroom and wrapped it around my hand as I used the hanger to fully break the glass and clean the edges.

I placed the towel along the ledge of the broken window, hoisting myself up. I gasped as a shard of glass poked through the towel and punctured my hand. I didn’t have time to stop though, and continued to pull myself up and through the tiny window. The drop to the ground was nothing, and I was practically giddy at how easy it was. I was outside.

I dodged between the trees, my heart hammering in my chest. My bare feet stung as I ran across the gravel at the edge of the house, but I didn’t want to risk running in the lawn where there was no cover. I kept moving silently towards the iron fence. It was only two hundred feet away. I was almost there.

Suddenly, flood lights came on, illuminating the perimeter of the house. Damn it. I moved even faster, knowing I had a few seconds to get over the fence before I was spotted. I scrambled up the tree, my hands aching as I climbed the branches, the cut on my palm bleeding freely. But it didn’tmatter. I was almost there. Throwing the lamp cord over the topmost bar of the fence, I pushed myself over on to the other side, hovering about four feet off the ground before I let go, landing on my stomach. I didn’t have time to nurse the ache, and I pushed off the concrete, running for dear life down the streets of London, sprinting towards the first alleyway I saw.

I’d barely gotten ten yards before I heard the engine of a car gaining speed on me. I went down an alleyway, trying to hide in the shadows. Steele—or his security crew—were out in full force looking for me. The alley that I had snuck into was actually a narrow street, with tiny gardens on each side. I ducked behind a garbage can, just as I saw a car approach. Steele threw open the door, his face contorted in anger. I continued down the alley, my feet getting cut on the cobblestones, but I didn’t care. Ahead of me, another car pulled up, and a crew of men stepped out of the vehicle.

Shit. I was trapped. I looked above me, but there was absolutely nowhere to go. The men on the opposite side of the alley called to me. They were decked out in full military gear and oozed with competence.

“Miss Phillips! Your father sent us!” Their accent was Irish, but it didn’t matter. I was sure they were contracted to rescue me. My father had come through, after all. I wanted to cry in relief as I ran toward the men, eager to get myself to safety. Maybe my father was even inside the SUV. He’d get us to the airport and fly me wherever I wanted to go. I was three seconds away from safety.

“Ashlynn, NO!” Steele yelled, and the panic in his voice was enough to make me stop in my tracks.

But it was too late. A dark hood was thrown over my head, and all I could hear was Steele’s angry roar before I was dragged into the waiting SUV.

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