Control (19 page)

I
shamefully looked down when he said that.  It was wrong for me to spy on
him or attempt to deceive him.  My voice was soft as I asked, “Are you
angry?”

He sat
up from the wall and turned to look at me directly. “Why would I be angry?”

My
hands fidgeted with each other and I couldn’t look him in the eye.  I
don’t know what came over me when I agreed to this.  It went entirely against
my nature and I felt silly and foolish for having allowed my trust issues and
jealousy to cause me to act like this.  “Because I dressed up in this
ridiculous outfit and came to your work to spy on you.”

A laugh
burst out of him and he placed his finger under my chin to tilt my gaze up to
his. “Paige, I didn’t tell you not to dress like that again because you were
spying, although we do need to talk about that.  The reason I said it is
because I can’t keep dragging you in this storage room.  If you dress like
that, and I have to see men staring at you and hitting on you, I’ll have no
choice but to keep you locked in here every time you show up.”

I was
momentarily stunned speechless as he said that.  He wasn’t mad about the
spying.  I couldn’t understand how nonchalant he was being about my
attempt at espionage.  My smile broke free and he smiled in
response.  I started to say something when bass from the music playing
outside the room started rattling the walls and distracted me.  Daemon had
told me to be quiet so people wouldn’t hear us, but it didn’t occur to me at
that time that it was impossible for someone to hear us over the music in the
club. 

“Why
did you ask me to be quiet?”

A sly
smile appeared on Daemon’s face and he looked straight ahead to avoid eye
contact with me.  My curiosity was heightened even more by his reaction to
that question and I moved so I could face him while he responded.  His
arms shot out when I was closer to him and he pulled me onto his lap so that I
was straddling him.  My barely there skirt slid up to my hips again and
his hands came from around my back and began rubbing up my legs.  Daemon’s
gaze heated as his hands climbed higher and his fingers began to slightly dig
into the flesh of my thighs.  I pushed under his chin to bring his
attention back to my face and he laughed softly at my inquisitive glare.

“That’s
for me to know for now; but more importantly, why were you spying on me,
Damsel?”

My mind
raced with what I was willing to admit to Daemon about the motivation behind my
actions tonight.  I didn’t want to mention to him that Logan had warned me
against him and I was afraid that if I did, Logan would no longer have a
job.  The only other alternative was to admit to him that I had allowed my
jealousy to get the better of me, and I cringed at the thought of that
confession.  The only way to spare myself the insufferable embarrassment
of admitting a weakness was to turn it around on Daemon.

“I was
trying to determine if your demand for ‘ownership’ was a one-sided requirement.”

He
looked amused by my statement and he pulled me closer as his legs bent up to
support my back before responding.  “I have to tell you, I’ve never met
another person that has the same maddening ability as you to hear only certain
parts of a conversation, while ignoring the most important parts.”

My
eyebrow raised in question and he couldn’t contain the lopsided grin that broke
out across his face.  “Like I’ve told you before, I couldn’t care less
what or who those other women did once I had my night with them.  There
was never a question, a concern or an afterthought about them when they left in
the morning.  But you are different in so many ways, some of which…” He
appeared suddenly distant before continuing his statement. “…some of which, you
don’t know. I wanted to make it clear to you in the beginning that if this
happened between us, I wasn’t going to just walk away and forget I had known
you.”

A
silent laugh shook his body before he added, “It’s like I’ve told you before,
you are the most frustrating and stubborn woman I have ever met.  I was
intrigued with you from the moment I pulled you up onto the speaker and called
you Damsel…” He tapped his finger on the tip of my nose. “…You were instantly
aggressive and, to be honest, it was appealing as hell.  Then, when I got
to watch you shimmy down that speaker as you refused to accept my assistance,
my interest only intensified.”  I squirmed and another silent laugh shook
him. “But after seeing you fight Chris and after having to hold you back when
you attempted to break free while we broke up your little skirmish…”  His
gaze grew heated as he continued, “…well, let’s just say you had my
attention.  In all honesty, I didn’t expect to see you again after that,
at least for a while.  When you returned with Alex two nights later, I
couldn’t help myself when I approached you.  I was disappointed after you
introduced Alex as your boyfriend, but I couldn’t shake the idea that you
weren’t being completely honest.  I wanted to accept the fact that you
were with someone else, but it was impossible to stay away.  Luckily, for
me, Alex met that other woman and it became abundantly clear that you had been
lying. I’ll have to remember to thank him for that later.”

I
winced at what he was saying and bit down on my lip as guilt overtook me. 
It occurred to me that I have spent a lot of time lying to Daemon, yet here I
was, practically stalking him to determine if he had been lying to me. 
The double standard was apparent and I felt shameful to have conducted myself as
I had. 

Daemon
tugged on my lip to pull it from between my teeth.  “Regardless, you still
haven’t answered my question, and I’m not letting you out of here until you
do.  So what’s it to be, Paige, are we finishing the conversation, or
should I have had furniture stored in here to keep me from having to sit on the
floor all night?  I’m fine either way, but I do think we would be more
comfortable spending our evening elsewhere.”  His eyebrow cocked up in
silent inquiry.

I huffed
out a breath of air.  What the hell did he want me to say?  I had
already told him why I was here tonight and why I had been spying.  Where
was he going with this conversation?  “What do you want to know,
Daemon?  I’ve already told you I was here to see if you were still
sleeping with other women.”  My confession was mortifying and I looked
away to break his stare.  “There’s not much more I can tell you.”

He
grabbed my chin and turned my head to look at me directly, “Do you want to be
with me exclusively?  Is that why you were concerned about what I was
doing tonight?  I said I would own you and I will if we continue this, but
I won’t force that upon you without your consent.  If you want me, Damsel,
I’m yours, but you have to let me know.”

Two
opposing armies were battling it out in my head.  I could clearly imagine
them as they rolled in their cannons and blasted small iron balls at each
other. It was a battle between logic and emotion and the discomfort it created
in me was alien and disturbing.  Alex was right when he accused me of
acting in a way that completely went against my character.  How could I
trust Daemon not to shatter what was left of my heart?  In the end, there
was only one answer I could give him.

“Yes.” 
My voice was quiet as I said that and his eyes narrowed at my response.

“Yes,
what?”

Sonofabitch,
this was annoying the crap out of me.  Why did he always make me voice the
confessions that were the most difficult for me to even admit to myself? 
This was uncharted territory for me and I had no idea what I was doing or why I
was even doing it.  My first instinct was to leave the club and return his
bike to him as I had planned to do when I attempted to leave earlier.  His
words and questions were difficult for me to process and I was angry that it
had grown as complicated as it had.  Speaking my mind had never been a
problem before, but something about those crystal blue eyes that were currently
burning into mine…intimidated me.  Daemon had somehow forced his way past
my walls and I couldn’t grasp how he had been able to do so in such a short
period of time.  There was no other choice left in me but to relent and
admit that he had affected me as deeply as he had.

My
words were spoken slowly as I reluctantly confessed.  “Yes, I want to be
with you, only you, and I want you to feel the same way about me.”

His
arrogant smile wasn’t helping matters.  My body tensed immediately and I
was about to pull myself up and exit this room as quickly as I could. 
Daemon must have sensed my flight instincts kicking in because his hands
grasped around my waist, essentially holding me in place.

The
timbre of his voice deepened and he spoke softly when he said, “I’m glad to
hear that, Damsel; in fact, you have no idea how happy it makes me for you to
finally admit that.  I will point out, though, that had you communicated
that to me earlier, we could have avoided this entire incident.  Although,
in all honesty, I’m glad you showed up.  If for nothing else, it has been
enjoyable
in so many ways.”  His head angled as he flashed me a brilliant, all teeth
smile.  I couldn’t help but laugh.

“Keeping
in the spirit of communication, I guess I should admit that I’m glad I showed
up as well.  It has been an experience, to say the least.”

“That
it has, Paige. However, I regretfully need to cut the rest of this conversation
short.  I have to get back out there and my ass has fallen asleep from
sitting on this hard floor. Besides, you need to go home and put on some more
clothing before I have no choice but to take you again while we are in
here.  Unfortunately, I have work to finish up and your presence is very
distracting.” 

He
stood up and turned to reach for my arms and pull me up beside him.  He
wrapped me in a warm embrace and kissed me on the forehead.  “Would you mind
if I came by to see you after I leave here?”

I
didn’t mind, so I shook my head and said, “Not at all.”  He smiled in
response and took my hand to lead me back into the club.

Daemon
and I left the storage room and he escorted me out to David’s car before
heading back to the club to finish up whatever last minute jobs he had to
perform. He assured me that he didn’t have much to do and that he would be at
my place within a couple of hours.  I started David’s car and reached for
my phone to make sure I hadn’t missed any calls.  It was just after one
o’clock in the morning and my roommates had been expecting me home hours
earlier.  I fished around in my purse for the phone when I discovered that
it was missing.  Sighing to myself, I climbed back out the car and made my
way into Tomb in search of my phone. 

Hoping
Daemon wouldn’t see me and start up round two as he threatened, I hurried back
to the storage room and found my phone on the floor near where he and I had been
sitting earlier.  Picking it up, I hit the little button to power it on
and an indication popped up that David had called earlier and left a
message.  He must have been checking to find out if I was successful in my
spy mission and I decided that I would wait to inform him of my failure when I
returned home.

While
passing the left bar to head back out of the club, Logan waved me over to
talk.  I grudgingly stopped to talk to him and assumed he wanted to know
why I was dressed like this.  “What’s up, Logan?”

He eyed
my odd choice in clothing and I could see the question he was wanting to ask by
the expression on his face.  Not wanting to explain, or rather, admit why
I was dressed this way.  I smiled brightly and raised my eyebrows to dare
him to comment on my apparel.  He momentarily appeared to be considering
if he should ask, but then shook his head and decided against it.

“Hey,
Paige. I was just wondering if you have heard from Annie.  She was
supposed to get here over two hours ago but hasn’t shown up.  I tried
calling her, but she hasn’t answered her phone or responded to my texts.”

I
checked my phone again to see if Annie had called as well as David.  She
hadn’t.  It wasn’t like Annie to stand up a date and it definitely wasn’t
like her to not respond to texts.  Earlier, she had been overly excited
about seeing Logan tonight and the fact that she hadn’t called or showed
concerned me.  Had something happened and that’s why David called
me?  I pulled my phone from my purse and hastily hit the button to return
David’s call.  Placing my finger over my other ear to hear better I became
nervous when David’s phone rang five times and then went to voicemail.  He
had a date with Matt tonight and it was possible they were busy, so I hit the
button to check my voicemail.  David hadn’t left me a message and all I
could hear was a loud crashing sound on the recording. 

What
the hell?!

My body
raced out of Tomb so fast, I didn’t even bother with social pleasantries by
explaining David’s voicemail to Logan or even waving a quick goodbye.  My
feet instantly took me back to David’s car before slamming on the gas pedal to
get home.

~

My
front door was ajar when I finally arrived to the apartment.  It hadn’t
taken me long to get here and I believe I broke just about every traffic law
known to man to make the quick transit happen.  I cautiously approached
the door and stood outside to see if I could hear anything within the
apartment.  Nothing.

I toed
the door open as I poked my head in to inspect the entryway.  All appeared
normal so I opened the door further.

Oh
my god.

The
living room in the apartment was completely destroyed and there were broken
lamps and vases littering the ground.  The furniture was knocked over and
the coffee table was broken down the middle.  I moved towards the living
room to investigate further and, due to the broken glass spread out over the
floor, I chastised myself for having left my shoes in the car.  I
carefully walked around the broken pieces when I noticed a trail of what
appeared to be blood leading to behind the couch.  Tiptoeing over to
follow the trail, I remained quiet as I attempted to listen for movement in
another part of the apartment.  My jaw dropped when I found Matt balled up
behind the couch with a nasty looking gash on his head.  My purse fell
from my hand as I ran over to kneel down and check to see if he was
breathing.  His chest was moving and when I pressed my fingers to his neck
I found that his pulse was still strong.  I shook him awake and his eyes
momentarily fluttered open before closing again.  He groaned while
conscious for that split second and I could have sworn I heard a faint sound
coming from near the bedrooms.

Deciding
that Matt was okay for the moment, I jumped up and hurriedly crossed the room
to look down the hallway leading to the bedrooms.  My face fell and a gasp
escaped me when I saw David’s battered body lying near Annie’s bedroom. 
His face was covered in blood and his arm was twisted in an unnatural position
and my heart shattered at the sight of him.

No,
no, no, no, no, no, no.  Not David.  Please not David.

I
dropped to the floor and crawled on my hands and knees to get to him and I
began to check for any signs that he was alive.  His breaths were shallow
and his chest barely moved as he inhaled.  My fingers came in contact with
his weak pulse and I carefully nudged him to see if I could wake him up. 
Tears began pouring from my eyes when he wouldn’t respond and I called his name
in an attempt to rouse him.  His face was almost unrecognizable and his
body twitched every so often making me afraid to move him in an attempt to
encourage him awake.  I couldn’t tell if he was in pain and my lips
trembled at the thought that I couldn’t wake him.

“David?
Come on David, wake up for me.  Please David, please wake up.”  My
voice was strained and it quivered as I begged him to let me know he was
okay.  My entire body slumped and I felt like a hundred pound weight had
been placed on my shoulders. I was desperate for him to speak to me, to somehow
communicate with me that he was still with me.  I was upset about Matt,
but losing David would be too much for me to bear. My agony was crippling me
and I struggled to get my emotions under control.  He needed medical attention
and it took everything I had to leave him to call for help.  Fear overtook
me that he could die while I went to retrieve my phone, but I had no choice but
to attempt to get him the help that he needed.

I
started to turn to go back and call for help when I heard a groan coming from
Annie’s bedroom. I instantly remembered Logan’s concern over her absence and I
realized that she would have been home as well.  I nudged the door to her
room open and spotted her lying on the bed, half dressed and in the same beaten
state that I had found David.  Her body and the white bed sheets were
stained with blood and she lay face down over the mattress.  Pushing up
from the floor I raced to her side and tried to cover her with the blanket on
her bed.  She was unconscious like everybody else and I started to rush
back to the living room to call 911. 

As I
turned to exit the door, my hair was grabbed from behind and I was pulled
backwards off my feet.  The floor impacted instantly with my back and my
breath was knocked out of me briefly.  My lungs struggled to gasp in air
when I felt someone heavy straddle my midsection. My eyes flew open to discover
Chris looking down at me.  He had an evil smirk on his face and his hands
and body were covered in blood.  A few dark bruises were beginning to form
on his face and I was thankful that someone was able to get in a few good shots
in the struggle.  How in the hell had he fought and won against all three
of them?  Matt and David weren’t small guys and I didn’t understand how Chris
was able to beat them so badly while still incapacitating Annie.

“Hello,
Whore.”  Disdain dripped from his lips as he spoke to me.  My body
clenched at the sound of his grating voice and I struggled to lift him from my
body.

“I’m so
glad you have finally made it home.  I was starting to wonder if I would
have to keep pleasuring myself on Annie while I waited for you to return.”

I
remembered Annie’s half-dressed state and was instantly sickened when I
realized what he had done to her.  I opened my mouth to scream but he
forced his grimy hand over my mouth to silence my voice.  He pressed down
on my face so forcefully that I felt my teeth cut into the inside of my lips.

Adrenaline
graciously began to course through my body and my shock gave way to allow anger
to drive me. I reached up and pressed my fingers into his eyes, attempting to
blind him.  He howled in pain and released my shoulders when he reached up
to remove my hands from his face.  I let go quickly and then began hitting
him with my fists in an attempt to force him off me.  He slapped me across
the face and the impact caused my head to spin to the side.  My jaw where
he had hit me was pounding and tears welled in my eyes. My rage kept me going
and my knee came up from behind him, impacting with his head with enough force
that it knocked him sideways.  Once I was freed from his weight, I
scrambled to roll over and crawl away on my hands and knees.  Why did I
not call for help when I first got here?!

Chris
swiftly recovered and grabbed one of my ankles as I was crawling.  My foot
instinctively kicked back and caught him in the forehead.  The impact of
my kick jarred him enough that I was able to crawl far enough to push myself
off the floor and out of Annie’s bedroom.  If I could just make it to my
phone I could call the police and hold him off until they got here.  I
started screaming for help as I ran towards the living room and I hoped that
one of my neighbors would hear me.

My
phone was in reach when Chris tackled me back down to the floor.  He
turned me over onto my back and straddled me again and I hit him with as much
force as I could.  Broken shards of glass on the floor tore into my skin
and the pain from the cuts was excruciating.  It was unfortunate that he
weighed so much more than me and was apparently built like a brick
shithouse.  My own muscles started to burn from the exertion of my
actions.  I started to scream again and Chris covered my mouth with his
hand.  My teeth tore into his fingers as I bit down on him trying to free
myself.  He snarled when I bit down and grabbed my head with his other
hand and started beating my head into the floor repeatedly.   My head
screamed in pain and I bucked my body up trying to shift him off of me. 
My efforts were useless and after a few more hits to the head, my vision
tunneled, until all I saw was black.

~

“Wakey,
Wakey.”

Drops
of water sprayed over my face as my head was being assaulted with the worst
headache known to man.  My thoughts were jumbled and I came back to
consciousness, rapidly remembering my current circumstances.  I tried to
move but found that my hands and feet were bound and a gag was tied tightly
over my mouth.  The cords used to tie me were cutting into my skin and
they stung every time the water washed over them.  I opened my eyes to
discover that I was lying down in my bathtub.  The porcelain was freezing
and it didn’t help that Chris was spraying me down with ice cold water.

“Since
a bad little whore decided she needed to fight, she got herself all
dirty.  I’m just going to clean you up so that I can do
my job
and
dirty you up all over again.”

Oh,
this guy was a sick bastard.  I’ve known he was abusive, but I could have
never guessed the depth of his depravity.  My limbs continued to struggle
against the cords but whatever he had used to secure me was
effective.   The water was freezing and it felt like knives were
raking over my body.  He continued to wash me down and I jumped when he
began rubbing his hands over me.  His fingernails scratched into me and I
cringed at the feel of his calloused hands touching me.  He placed one
hand on my ass and squeezed so hard a cry escaped my lips.  His lips
turned up into a nasty sneer at the sound of my pain.

“Wouldn’t
let me touch this before, would you?  Well, now sweetheart, I’ll be
touching a hell of a lot more!”  He hit me with the shower head and then
threw it into the tub by my feet.  After turning off the water, he pulled
me up by the cords around my hands and dragged me up and over the lip of the
tub.  My body impacted with the floor again and my feet slapped against
the floor uselessly.  The pain in my wrists was making my hands go numb
and I thrashed back and forth in a hopeless effort to break myself free. 
Chris reached down and grabbed me by the hair and dragged me out of the bathroom
by my hair and my hands.  My head hit the door frame as he pulled me past
it and I cried out again from the blow.

I
opened my eyes as he dragged me into my bedroom and I was stunned to see that
he had lit at least three dozen candles.  The room was dark except for the
dancing light and shadows and it made Chris’ face appear even more sinister
than before.  How long had I been unconscious to give him time to do
this?  Rage coursed through my system and I was thankful for that emotion
smothering my fear.  I wouldn’t give Chris the reaction he was looking for
and I glared up at him after noticing what he had done to the room.

“Do you
like it?  I hope you don’t mind that I helped myself to Annie first. 
As I recall, she would have given it to me willingly if it hadn’t been for you
and that fucking faggot out there!  If it makes you feel any better, I
know I’m going to take my time and enjoy you more thoroughly.  I don’t see
your buddies waking up anytime soon, so we should have
hours
before I
finally kill you.”