Page 33 of Bought

I will give Casey one thing, she’s brave as hell. And she doesn’t back down once she sets her mind on something, which is why she’s now in danger. Jack is circling like a shark that smells blood in the water. He wants her dealt with properly. He’s been trying to convince me of that for three days, and when my FBI contact told me that there was a woman claiming to be held hostage in my home, he was there. It was the worst possible timing.

I need that damn phone she used. I have my suspicions about how she got it, and also, how quickly she called the FBI.

I could try asking her about it yet again, but right now, she is exhausted, and I have enough security here to make sure nothing happens to her. Federal and private. This girl doesn’t know it, but she’s as well protected as I can make anyone. Unfortunately, that may not be enough.

Picking her up, I carry her upstairs and to my room. She’s already dozing lightly, the sleep of a well-fucked woman. When she wakes she will be sore. No doubt bad-tempered, but for now I take her into my bedroom for the first time, lay her down on my bed, and undress her slowly, letting her drift in and of that space that is more than just orgasm. She’s riding on a wave of endorphins released during the submission she gave me.

When she is naked, I go to the bathroom, run a few washcloths under the hot tap, and wring them out until they are nice and steamy warm. I bring them back and rub her down, removing the sticky cum that clings to her flesh, the sweat that beaded all over her skin. She whimpers softly as I work very gently over the cane lines too. I have a gel for those that will settle the skin, and I apply that with the same care.

She is mine, and I am going to take care of her, even when I have to punish her. And I did have to punish her. I’m not sure she learned the lesson fully either. Her absolute refusal to do as she was told and give me the phone is not acceptable. We will have a long discussion about that tomorrow. For now, I slip her beneath the covers and let her curl up with me again.

She hates me, but she reaches for me. She wants to be free of me, but she nuzzles under my chin and wraps her arm around my waist. She is a bundle of contradictions, and I don’t yet know her as well as I need to, to untangle them all.

* * *

Casey

I wake in the middle of the night. Ethan is fast asleep in bed next to me. Seeing him there sends flashes of memory through me. He chained me down and caned me. He fucked my ass as punishment. He made me come so hard I thought it might be the last thing I would ever do. But I didn’t give up that phone. That’s my lifeline. That’s my way out.

I need to pee, so I get up as quietly as possible. Every step is pain, but I make it to the bathroom. Ethan doesn’t seem to stir as I pad past the bed and out of his room. I am naked and I want clothes. And I want something else too.

I find my room in the maze of the house and dress myself in a knee-length skirt, a silk blouse, and one of the few pairs of flats I’ve been allowed. And then I go to the hiding place where I secreted the phone. To my immense relief, it’s right where I left it. They didn’t find it.

I turn it on, knowing how much trouble I will be in if I am caught with this. But this is no three-bedroom two-bath house. There are dozens of empty rooms to hide in. I find one of them and look at the phone.

There’s a message.

Need help, Casey?

Shit. Someone has sent that to me. Knows I have this phone. It could be a trap. Could be Ethan trying to get me to text him and give away where it is. But I don’t think so. Ethan doesn’t seem to be one for traps and tricks. He’s one to just grab you and try to make you do something. It’s more likely to be from the FBI, I reason. Maybe an agent who saw what happened to me and wanted to make it right.

Y. E. S.I tap the three letters into the message and return it.

It’s three o’clock in the morning. Whoever sent the message sent it hours ago. If I do have an ally in the FBI, I’ve just woken them up.

I’m shocked when the phone buzzes again a second or two later. The reply is a set of instructions for getting out of Ethan’s place undetected. Certain doors, hallways, certain paths. Whoever sent this knows this place well. Again my suspicion spikes. Is this Ethan?

I’m so nervous about that, I put the phone away and sneak back to Ethan’s room. He’s in bed, and I can tell from his breathing that he’s fast asleep. He’s not texting me escape routes. Someone else is.

Fuck it. This is the first offer of help I have gotten from anyone since this started, and I am not going to turn it down. I follow the directions on the phone exactly, slip out of the house, through the gardens, and find myself standing on a side road I didn’t know was there.

A car sweeps up. The passenger window rolls down.

It’s Jack Ford.

“Come on,” he says. “Get in.”

“What are you doing?”

“Helping you get out of here,” he sneers. “Unless you like being tied up and fucked publicly? Or think that it will end well once Ethan gets tired of you? You’re a problem, Casey. Vipyr doesn’t tolerate problems.”

He’s right. And I’ve been wondering what will happen to me when the novelty of fucking my ass wears off. Ethan could be with any woman. There is no reason for him to keep me around.

But still. This is Jack Ford, and he gave me a bad feeling from the beginning.

“Get in,” he repeats. “First chance and last chance. I’m risking Ethan’s cops coming down on me to do this.”

So Jack doesn’t like Ethan’s means of controlling the law either. We’re allies in that regard. I reach for the passenger door. I took a dislike to Jack, but he is the first person who has tried to help me. He was the only one who seemed to object when he found Ethan caning me. He might actually be the most sane person in miles. And he’s the only one I know Ethan can’t buy off.

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