Page 13 of Capturing Victory

He nodded his head thoughtfully and then stepped up to her. “Yes, it would seem that my people agree. You are the best.” He ran a finger down her cheek and then circled her throat. He didn’t squeeze, but he held her pinned, trapped like a butterfly, awaiting his torment. “Even the best can be cracked.”

Her eyes widened. She knew he didn’t mean the encryption, he meant her personally.

His eyes lingered on her face and lips. “How to do that without destroying all this perfection?” he said, almost to himself. “There are so many techniques that would give me what I want quickly but would mar all this beauty.” He ran his fingers down her hair and arm. She shuddered, her stomach rolling at the implication of torture. He cupped the back of her head. “But do I want to crack this incredible mind wide open and look inside?”

Jaya licked her lips and then stopped when his eyes followed the movement. “I don’t know, do you?” she whispered.

He didn’t say anything for a moment and then a flash of disappointment crossed his face. That one look sent a shaft of terror through her heart. Somehow, she knew she wasn’t going to be sent back to her cozy little dungeon to carry on with her kidnapping undisturbed.

“Last chance, Jaya. Tell me what I want to know.”

She stared up at him, struck once more by how handsome he was. She could feel herself beginning to weaken. Not because of his sheer male beauty. No, simply because Ivan had been taking care of her. In his own twisted way, Ivan had been providing for her needs, basic and otherwise. For once in her life, Jaya hadn’t been forced to fend for herself and, as insane as it was, a part of her liked it. Sort of like being on vacation, with the downside being she was under the care of a psychotic evil crime lord.

She shook her head and said, “No.”

“Very well,” he said coldly. “Your cage has just shrunk.”

Chapter Nine

“Pssst, Haty,” Jaya whispered.

The kitten scampered to her, fitting easily through the bars. She scooped the small bundle up and held the purring creature against her chest, settling back against the pillows of her makeshift bed. Her prison had indeed shrunk… to the size of a cage. It was just high enough for her to stand up and long enough for her to lay down. She was only allowed a thick cushion and some blankets to lay on, along with a few of Ivan’s books. She wasn’t sure why he kept giving them to her. She certainly didn’t read them.

She was let out of her cage a few times a day to attend to her basic needs, to shower and to change. Otherwise, she was left alone to contemplate her new reality. Her cellmate didn’t seem to care about their predicament. Mostly because Haty was still small enough to fit through the metal bars.

“I don’t know why you like his bed better,” Jaya sighed, rubbing the kitten under her chin. “He’s an asshole and he snores.”

“I don’t snore.”

Jaya sat up so fast she startled Haty, who yowled in protest and ran straight through the bars to Ivan. Without slowing his long strides, he scooped the animal up in one hand and tossed her up on his shoulder. Haty dug in and clung to him as Ivan made his way to Jaya’s cage. She glared at him, making sure he knew via the fire in her eyes that she was not impressed with her new bedroom inside his bedroom.

“You know,” she said heatedly. “It takes a sick man to keep a woman in a cage in his bedroom.”

He shrugged carelessly and crossed his arms over his broad chest. She tried not to gaze at his bulging biceps. It didn’t help when Haty slid from his shoulder, down his arm to settle in the crook of his elbow for a snooze. Jaya really didn’t think Haty understood the concept of supreme evil yet. From the moment they were moved to Ivan’s living quarters yesterday, Haty took to Ivan as though determined to make him her new daddy. The big man didn’t exactly return the cat’s affection, but he didn’t reject it either, just accepted it as his due.

“I don’t play by any standard rules, sweetheart,” Ivan said, his tone bored. “You need to stop forgetting this or you’ll end up hurt. For now, my fascination is all that’s keeping you alive. Stop testing my patience and you may continue to breathe a little longer.”

Her mouth fell open and for a moment she was speechless. She knew he was an evil bastard, knew he played horrific games, but he’d never threatened her life so blatantly. Either this was a new game or he was tiring of her constant resistance. She curled against herself, bringing her knees up to her chest and hugging them. His sharp eyes caught the movement. He dropped Haty on his giant bed, with its fluffy white duvet, and crouched next to Jaya’s cage, only a few feet from the bed.

They stared at each other. Oddly, some of the antagonism, the power struggle that always waged between them, seemed to drain away. She saw a flash of something like regret in his face. He leaned against the bars and watched her intently. “You are the most alluring, most unique woman I’ve ever met,” he said, his voice a little rough. “And I don’t understand why.”

Jaya tried hard to keep her feelings close, to not give him anything, but when he looked at her that way, spoke to her that way, stripped bare, it was like he wanted… no needed something from her. It was too hard not to give him something in return. Perhaps if she gave him a crumb of the honesty he was looking for, he might relent and let her out of the cage. She loosened her arms, climbed to her knees and crawled toward him.

She stopped about a foot away and watched him, her eyes searching his features while she spoke. “You scare me, Ivan.”

He dipped his head in a nod, his grey gaze devouring her as though she were his next meal. “I know. It’s better this way, better you fear me.”

Tears filled her eyes and she blinked, not wanting to cry in front of him. She didn’t want to show weakness, because she hoped, no, she needed to use this moment to negotiate with her captor. She sensed that, for once, his agile brain wasn’t on the hunt, that he was willing to give her some leeway, some insight into his complicated mind.

“I’m terrified that you’ll decide I’m not worth it, that you’ll have me killed at any moment,” she whispered, searching his face for a hint of compassion. When she saw nothing but cold, bottomless grey, she slumped back on her heels, her shoulders bowing. There was no getting through to him. Not a remorseless killer like Ivan Vogel.

After what felt like endless minutes he finally spoke. He didn’t give her what she’d been hoping for, didn’t promise not to kill her, but he gave her something he probably never gave anyone else. An admission. “I wanted you here in my space,” he said gruffly. “I wanted you where I could see you, smell you, breathe you in all the time. Not just the brief moments you were paraded out on the pool deck. But I had no reason, no excuse. So I made one up and here you are.”

Jaya’s mouth fell open again. She needed to process this information, figure out how she felt. At the moment, she was feeling only confusion. “B-but why didn’t you just take me? You own everything around you? You can do anything you want. I don’t understand.”

Fire seemed to leap into his eyes creating a storm of emotion unlike anything she’d seen on his face before. She tried to back up, but he was too fast. He reached between the bars and grabbed her arm, yanking her against the solid metal. She yelped and reached out to grip the bars, stopping herself from being painfully jarred.

Though his face was still several inches from hers, she could feel the intensity, see the vein in his forehead stand out and the pulse in his neck jump in agitation. His carefully tended mask was slipping. It was falling away, showing her the monster and the man that lay beneath, and he hated it. Her heart picked up speed until it was thundering, and he nodded as if reading her thoughts.

---