Page 19 of Keeping My Captive

I stare at my little prisoner. Aria’s hands are tucked demurely behind her back with one leg crossed in front of the other as she bites her lip nervously. She looks so damn young and innocent in that moment, and it takes everything I have in me to tear my gaze away from her.

“I’m sorry I’m not going to be much up for conversation tonight,” I tell her bluntly. I’m beyond tired. The past thirty-six hours haven’t been the easiest, and I haven’t even had time to dwell on the outcome of having Aria here with me. I don’t have a room prepared for her, which is why she is staying here with me. Although the thought of her being somewhere else in the compound makes me nervous. It’s not that I don’t trust my men. I trust most of them with my life. But when it comes to pussy, they all have a one-tracked mind. And considering I haven’t put a claim to her yet, they might see her as fair game.

Aria swallows hard at my words and gives me an imperceptible nod, and once again the smell of her fear has my cock twitching in my sweatpants. Why do I like the fact that she’s afraid of me? I suppose I’m just twisted like that.

Without waiting for a response from her, I walk over to the bed, pull back the comforter and lay down. “Are you coming?” I ask her. I don’t want to play games. I just want to go to sleep.

She gives me a nod, and I can see her hand trembling as she peels back the blankets on her side of the bed. Slowly, she climbs in, staying on her knees.

My brows furrow as I stare up at her. What the fuck is she doing? Before I can form another thought, she crawls over to me, getting closer and closer. My cock throbs in my sweatpants. I never thought she would be a willing participant in bed. Well, really, I haven’t thought much about it or what I’m even going to do with her. I bought her, but I’m still trying to wrap my head around the reasons behind it. I’ll deal with the consequences tomorrow when I’m more rested and clearheaded.

“Aria,” I whisper as she plants her thighs on either side of mine and straddles my lap. “Fuck,” I growl, as she rests her covered pussy against my hardening cock. Just the thought of sinking inside of her and taking her virginity has my dick roaring to life. I was dead tired before, but now the adrenaline pumping through my veins has me wide awake.

Ever so slowly, she leans forward. I stare at her sexy mouth, her bee-stung lips begging to be bitten and sucked on. Even though I know the kiss is coming, I’m not ready for the jolt I feel between us when our lips finally touch. It’s barely a kiss, leaving me wanting more. So much more.

Suddenly, an explosion of pain hits me right in the abdomen, and I quickly push her away from me as I try to find a source for the pain. Looking down, I see a shard of glass that’s currently lodged into my side.

“Que mierda?” I shout, scrambling out of bed to stand and assess the damage. “You fucking stabbed me?” It comes out sounding like a question rather than an accusation. I just didn’t think she had it in her to do something like this. She looks so sweet and innocent. And now I know I gravely underestimated her. She’s not a docile, little doll like I first thought. She’s a goddamn tigress.

Gritting my teeth, I angrily grab the large shard and slowly pull it out of my side. Aria watches in horror as I do this. But I don’t know if she’s more horrified by the blood or the fact that I’m not dead. She clearly wanted to do me bodily harm, and she definitely achieved that goal tonight. I just hope it’s not deep enough to have stabbed any of my vital organs.

I watch as blood begins to gush out of my wound. Quickly, I cover it with my hand, putting pressure on it. “Fuck. Look what you’ve done,” I tell her, shaking my head as a red river cascades down to my gray sweatpants, soaking the fabric. Stalking over to her, I close the distance between us in three long strides.

“You should’ve gone for the throat,” I tell her before wrapping my bloody hand around the column of her neck. She stares up at me with a frightened gaze. My thumb brushes across her full lips, painting them in crimson. And there’s just something about seeing her covered in my blood that drives me wild. But when I begin to sway on my feet, I know that I’m losing too much blood too damn fast. Taking a step back, I grimace not from the pain but for the pity I feel for Aria. She has no idea what is to come next, the consequences of her actions here tonight. Calmly, I step away from her and push a special panic button on my watch, which never leaves my wrist for this very reason.

Within seconds, I can hear my men’s footfalls running up the stairs and towards my room. Aria panics and starts looking around for what I’m assuming is a quick and easy exit. But there’s nowhere for her to go. I don’t even have windows in my room for this very reason — someone attempting to hurt or kill me.

Ignacio enters the room first. He takes one look at my wound, and then he announces in Spanish for the men filing in behind him to capture the girl.

Aria screams and struggles as they surround her and take her from the room. I hear her crying out my name, begging for my help. But she just sealed her fate. Even I can’t save her from what is about to happen.

CHAPTER11

Aria

MY SITUATION JUST went from bad to worse. So much worse. I’ve been locked in some kind of medieval-looking cell in the basement for days. I’ve only been able to keep track of the time because they feed me twice daily. A small breakfast in the morning consisting of toast and fruit, and then a dinner in the evening that is basically the same as the first meal but with an extra piece of bread. They’re barely feeding me. Only sustaining me enough to keep me alive. And that makes the fear creep even further into my bones.

It's on the third night of my captivity that Mateo finally comes to visit me. I watch him with rapt attention as he calmly takes a seat on a stool outside of my cell.

“So, youarealive,” I say sarcastically.

He glares at me with a pissed off look on his face, and I snap my mouth shut, instantly regretting my words. God, I can’t control my mouth even in a situation like this where the only possible outcome is probably death at this point. But I’ve been waiting for him for days. He’s my only lifeline here, whether I like it or not, and he couldn’t even be bothered to come see me.

Mateo’s dark eyes take in my appearance, and his lip curls in disgust. I’m sure I look like hell, considering I’m still covered in his blood, and stink like I haven’t showered in almost a week because, well, I haven’t.

He’s wearing a three-piece suit, so I can’t tell how his wound is. Not that I care. I stabbed him for a reason. I wanted to kill him in that moment but only because I wanted to save myself and my innocence. I’ve never hurt anyone before, and I’m very conflicted about it. I almost feel bad for what I did. But right now isn’t time to get into my head. I need to get the hell out of here, and he’s the only one who holds the key to my freedom.

“I have a question for you, Aria,” he starts, and I hate the way my name sounds coming from his mouth. I would find it sexy in any other circumstance. But it’s distracting, unnerving in a place like this. “What exactly were you going to do after you killed me?” he muses with a smirk on his face that irritates me.

“I hadn’t thought that far ahead,” I confess in a whisper.

He chuckles darkly. “You hadn’t thought that far ahead,” he repeats with a shake of his head in disbelief.

“I’m sorry!” I blurt out. Am I truly sorry for stabbing him? No, of course not. I would do it again if I had the chance, except I would go for the throat next time, just like he taught me. What I am sorry for is getting myself in this impossible situation because I tried to kill him, but he doesn’t need to know that.

“You’re sorry?” he scoffs, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees.

“I was scared. I thought you were going to rape me,” I confess.

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