Page 29 of Capturing Victory

“Father,” she said again, her voice drifting as the dark fuzz surrounding him began to take over her vision.

His fingers clenched into her cheeks, hurting her. She whimpered and shifted her shoulders wanting to push him away. His grey eyes bored into hers as if trying to reach into her skull and yank the answers from her brain. She couldn’t even remember what they’d been talking about. It had been a pleasant conversation until he got all intense and annoyed. She frowned, Ivan was always intense and annoyed though, he needed to loosen up, take some of whatever he gave her. She was drifting on clouds and he was leading her, talking way nicer than usual.

“Am I going back in the cage?” she asked, her voice wavering and her eyes closing.

Just before she fell asleep she heard him say, “You will always be my caged bird, Jaya.”

Chapter Eighteen

Jaya moaned and rolled over. Her head felt like someone was beating it from the inside out. She reached up and grabbed it in both hands to stop the crazy spinning. It helped a little, but then she realized her hands were free of restraint. She pried an eye open, slid her arms down to eye level and double-checked. Yes, she was no longer handcuffed. She shoved a fistful of thick, dark hair off her face and looked around. She was laying on a king bed, filled with fluffy blankets, located in a big, airy room. It was similar to the one on Ivan’s island, except there were dark red hangings covering the balcony door, which she figured must be open since the hangings were fluttering in the breeze.

Jaya pushed herself up and sat. Her wrists jingled. She looked down and saw several gold bands interwoven together and wrapped around both of her wrists. She held her left one up and examined it. The bracelet was beautiful, intricate and barbaric. Very much an Ivan gift. And there didn’t seem to be a visible latch.

“Hello Ms. Jaya,” a soft voice said from near the door.

Jaya nearly jumped out of her skin. She glared suspiciously at the newcomer, an older woman, probably in her early eighties, sitting in a chair. She had dark brown skin, darker than Jaya’s and steel grey hair, pulled back in a low ponytail. She wore a blue dress with an orange and red scarf wrapped around her thin shoulders. On her lap sat a content looking Haty.

Jaya narrowed her eyes at the kitten. “You’ll go to anyone that cuddles you,” she grumbled and said under her breath, “Lap slut.” She scanned the room, cataloguing escape routes. The woman was definitely no obstacle. She was fairly surprised that Ivan hadn’t tied her down or put her in a cage. Hadn’t she proven to him on the island that she was dangerous when left to roam free? Oh well, his bad. If he couldn’t learn, then he’d have to deal with the consequences.

Jaya was in the process of sliding off the bed when a slight pain hit her arm, jolting her. She hissed and grabbed her arm over top of the bracelet. Her quick mind instantly figured out what had happened. Her gaze snapped up to the woman who was calmly holding a device in her hand. It looked like a smart phone. Jaya’s mouth fell open and her eyes bulged.

“Why you sadistic old bitch!” she snarled and lunged out of the bed, intent on grabbing her kitten and taking the frail looking octogenarian down. The lady zapped her again, harder this time, hitting both arms. Jaya growled and grabbed her other wrist. “Stop doing that!”

“You need to sit down, young lady, and start listening,” the woman said calmly. She placed Haty on the floor, who ran to her mistress and began frantically jumping at her, not at all pleased with the shouting. “Mr. Ivan was very clear that you were only to be disciplined in extreme circumstances. He will not be pleased about this at all.”

“I don’t give a flying fuck what Mr. Ivan wants,” Jaya yelped, cradling her wrists against her chest, the kitten held firmly under her chin. “You’re both insane. Everyone he associates with is insane! You fucking electrocuted me! What will his evil mind come up with next? That’s it, back to plan A, stab the shit out of him and get the fuck out of this madhouse.”

The woman nodded sympathetically. “You are understandably upset, I can see that.” Jaya rolled her eyes and opened her mouth to start shouting again, but the lady held her hand up. “But let’s not make it worse with words and plans you cannot take back. Please keep in mind that you are holding precious kitty, who will also get the zap if you must be brought to heel.”

Jaya saw red and nearly lunged for the woman despite knowing she was in for a nasty shock if she did. The old woman seemed to sense Jaya’s precarious mood because she took a firmer grip on the device and put a soothing hand up. “I am not here to harm you, Miss Jaya, simply to ensure you adhere to Mr. Ivan’s rules. This way you will not be able to escape and bring harm to yourself again. Nor will he have to cage you anymore.” Jaya opened her mouth, then closed it and lifted her wrist, shaking it significantly. She raised an eyebrow. The woman sighed. “You believe your cage has merely changed, perhaps become crueller even.”

Jaya growled and stalked to the windows, shoving the hangings viciously to the side. The bright Indonesian sun streamed through the open doors, flooding the room. Jaya blinked several times, her face smoothing into a look of awe as she faced Jakarta from what, as far as she could tell, was the top of an extremely tall luxury high-rise. Looking down, she saw two more tiers before the high-rise seemed to drop off. Men that clearly belonged to Ivan were patrolling the floors below her. He must own at least three of the top floors of the building if not the entire thing.

She stiffened as she felt the woman come to stand beside her. “Ivan can be a cruel captor. In fact, from what I have heard, he usually is,” she said softly. “But you are different. And it’s not his captivity that is the problem, but the cage you’ve built within your heart and mind. He only seeks to protect you.”

Jaya turned away and let the hanging fall back into place. “That’s some kind of steaming pile of shit. You don’t know me.” She glared down at the old woman before shoving past her and stalking toward an open door she suspected led to the washroom. At least she hoped it did and wasn’t about to get her ass shocked again. “The second I find a way to electrocute that psycho, we’ll find out just how much he enjoys a dose of his own protection.”

Jaya made another awful discovery while she was showering in the ensuite washroom. She was running a bar of soap over her shoulder when she touched a sore spot. “Ouch!” She frowned, set the soap in the tray and explored the tender spot with her fingertips. She wasn’t totally surprised given the way she’d been tossed around by Ivan, the helicopter crash and the exploding castle. But this didn’t feel like a bruise, it felt like a small cut with a bump underneath the skin. A suspicion took root in her mind and she decided to find out if she was correct.

She rinsed, turned the taps off and stepped out of the beautifully carved, stone shower stall. She wrapped a bath sheet around her body and swiped her hand over the condensation obscuring the mirror. Turning, she balanced her ass on the counter and tried to look at the back of her shoulder. When she couldn’t quite see it, she tried gathering her wet hair around one hand and wiggling closer. She yelped in dismay when her hair tangled painfully in her new bracelet and she started to fall into the sink.

Strong hands gripped her waist, stopping her fall. Her eyes flew up to meet Ivan’s clear grey gaze. She opened her mouth to yell at him, to tell him how much she despised him for everything he’d done to her and was continuing to do to her. He bent his head and captured her lips, thrusting his tongue into her open mouth. She made a sound of outrage and tugged on her hand to shove him away but ended up pulling painfully on her own hair. He held her by the back of the head and continued to kiss her while using his other hand to extract her hair from the bracelet. As soon as the strands were free she tried to give him a push but he took her wrists in his hands and pulled them behind her back, holding them firmly in one hand.

She tore her lips from his. “I hate you,” she growled angrily. “You’re a monster.”

“I know,” he said and swooped in, shoving her head back against the mirror so she couldn’t retreat from his kiss again. His lips were warm against hers, his tongue like hot, smooth steel forcing its way into her mouth and conquering the territory within. She wanted to deny him, but her resolve began to melt as arrows of heat shot through her, stealing her breath and her denials.

She could feel the familiar swirls of heat swooping and curling within her belly, begging her to open up to him, to accept his kisses, the sweep of his hand across her body. She moaned and tried to jerk her legs closed when he stepped between them, shoving his hips in, and forcing her legs wider. It was like magic, the way he could touch her, seduce her and make her forget the horrors he could play out with his hands and his mind. He kissed a path down from her mouth to her throat, to her chest. He tugged the bath sheet until it fell away, revealing her breasts. He latched onto her nipple and sucked.

“Ahhh,” she moaned and relaxed the tense muscles of her legs, resting them against his muscular thighs. “I-Ivan,” she gasped wiggling on the counter, trying to get closer. She accidentally hit her shoulder against the mirror. Pain streaked through her and she cried out.

He lifted his head, frowning. “What is it?”

“It’s the goddamn tracker you put in my back, asshole,” she snarled, tugging to get her wrist free so she could feel the bump again. “It hurts!”

Some of the heat from his eyes cooled. He kept his grip on her wrists, holding them tight behind her waist. He tilted her forward, into his chest, pushed her hair to the side and examined the wound. “It’s healing. You’ll be fine.”

“Fuck you!” she yelled up at him, her face inches from his. “I’m not fine. You’re an evil murdering monster, and every move you make just proves how fucking bad you are.”

---