Captive's Desire (7 page)

She’d complained about being cooped up in the house the last few days. He didn’t want to let her out to wander the camp, not wanting to take a chance she’d try to escape. In fact, he knew she would, he even expected her to. But there was also another reason. He wasn’t sure if she’d come to any harm. True, she wore his collar, but that didn’t mean he could ensure her safety if someone acted unexpectedly. To say people had a strong dislike to Magnus One and specifically its soldiers was an understatement. At least he’d arranged for Jenna to eat lunch with her on the days he was gone. Who knew, maybe they’d hit it off.

* * *

Livvie couldn’t stop thinking about what she and Hayden had talked about. About what they were going to do to her sister. Was it a lie? Was it another manipulation to turn her against Magnus? They wouldn’t hurt her sister like that, would they?

She paced the small space. The one thing she knew for sure was that she was useless locked up in this house. She needed to get out of here, get back to the city. But how?

She checked the kitchen drawers again, then the cabinets, looking for a spare key. She’d gone through the upstairs and found nothing. She went into the living room and even looked under the cushions of the couch, then pulled the carpet up, knowing it was useless. He wasn’t that dumb.

But even though there wasn’t a key hidden beneath the carpet, there was something else. A trap door. She knelt on the floor and tried to pull it open. After a few tries, however, she realized it wasn’t just stuck, it was locked. She looked around trying to think of something she could use to pick it just as someone inserted a key into the front door and turned the lock.

Livvie quickly threw the carpet back down and nudged it flat with her toe as Jenna pushed the front door open, stepping inside.

“I don’t understand why he doesn’t just give you a key. He’s so overprotective. No one’s going to hurt you,” she complained. They’d had lunch together the last couple of days and Livvie found herself liking Jenna more and more. She filled a small part of the gap Katie had left.

Livvie took what she carried from her hands. “He must think I’d run away,” she said.

“Would you?”

“Not with this collar around my neck,” she began. “But honestly, I don’t know where I’d go. I can’t get back home on foot and…I’m nervous how welcoming they’d be if I did manage to show up at the front door. I’m supposed to have died by now. Or gotten very sick at the least.” This was true; it just wasn’t the whole of the truth.

“Are you starting to believe Hayden then?” Jenna asked. “That the air isn’t contaminated, that we haven’t mutated into beastly creatures?” she asked, making a silly face. “I can’t believe you thought my belly was some weird growth.”

Livvie ran a hand through her hair, smiling at that. “I’d never seen a pregnant woman, Jenna. And besides, it’s what I’ve been told all my life,” she said.

“Hayden had the same, you know,” Jenna said, unpacking the sandwiches.

Livvie’s expression changed. “What do you mean?” she asked.

Jenna paused, then busied herself with getting drinks poured.

“Jenna?”

Jenna turned to face her, leaving the food aside. “I just meant that he understands what you’re going through. They brainwash their citizens in the cities, everyone knows it. And he doesn’t blame you for what you would have become if they hadn’t shot your plane down.”

Livvie searched Jenna’s suddenly flushed face and knew she wasn’t telling her everything. She wasn’t the only one keeping secrets, it seemed.

“Personally, I think you’re just what he needs,” Jenna added, effectively changing the subject. “Hey, I have an idea. Why don’t you come to the kitchen with me today? I am trying a new recipe and Mary, the woman who’s supposed to help, has a sick son. What do you think?” she asked before Livvie could even react to the previous comment.

“Are you kidding? Get out of this place? I’d love to. Let’s go!”

“Hayden’s going to be pissed.”

“Do I look like I care?” Livvie asked.

The two ate their sandwiches as they headed to the main kitchen. It was a beautiful day, a little cool but fresh. Livvie inhaled deeply. It felt good to be out of the house, but more than that, she needed this time without Hayden to look around and plan for her escape.

“So is Mary Billy’s mom?” Livvie asked, not really sure why she cared.

“How did you know?” Jenna smiled.

“I met her; no, I didn’t meet her but I saw her the other day when Hayden was showing me around. She wanted him to have dinner with her. He declined, but I got a strange vibe…” she left off, hoping Jenna would fill in the blanks.

Jenna’s smile grew huge and she looked around. “Funny you picked that up. She’s been hot for Hayden for years now. Poor guy, he was just trying to comfort her, but I think things got out of hand one night, if you know what I mean,” she finished, waggling her eyebrows.

Livvie flushed, feeling suddenly quite warm. “You mean they…did…” Had he done to that woman what he’d done to her?

Jenna nodded. “That’s my guess. He’ll never admit it though.”

Livvie had to check the emotions that tried to creep to the surface at this news. Hayden was her captor, her kidnapper. Who he did
that
with shouldn’t matter to her. She just was going to make sure it didn’t happen with her again!

“He does seem like a stubborn, overbearing, anal-retentive jerk.”

Jenna raised her eyebrows. “Wow, I didn’t mean it like that.”

“Sorry, but when he’s got me collared like some animal and won’t even let me out of the house, my mind has time to come up with these descriptions.”

“He’s a nice guy, Livvie. Really, he has a good heart. A big heart. Besides, I think he likes you.”

“No, he doesn’t, Jenna. I’m his prisoner. I’m the enemy, remember?”

Jenna threaded her arm through Livvie’s. “You’re not my enemy,” she said.

Livvie looked at her and Jenna smiled back, pulling even closer. She didn’t try to disengage her arm, but it felt strange. It confused her that Jenna could be so nice to her, so easy with her as if they’d known each other for a long time.

They walked quietly toward the kitchen. Most people were on foot and the one or two Jeeps she saw were driven by soldiers: men with guns. But it wouldn’t matter if she got her hands on one anyway. The collar around her neck would ensure she’d remain contained on the wrong side of the fence. A part of her questioned exactly what would happen if she did get close enough or even manage to break out, but another part, the part that was opposed to pain in general, didn’t want to test it. She listened to the water in the distance.

“Can we walk by the river? Hayden was going to show me the other day, but Mary interrupted my tour.”

“Sure. It’s beautiful anyway,” Jenna said, veering off onto a side street. The sound of water grew louder as they walked toward the end of the long road where a large, sandy area led to the water’s edge.

“It’s more wild this time of year with the snow melt,” Jenna explained. “By summertime, you can swim in it.”

“Who uses the canoes?”

Several of them stood tethered to posts near the water’s edge. The fence that she had thought circled the town didn’t seem to circle it at all because there wasn’t one beyond the river, a natural barrier, which led to the ridge. She could climb it, cross to the other side. It was the same in some other parts of the town, where the mountain was too steep to climb. She wouldn’t even need to cross the river, although it would be the easier of the two options. But then what? How would she get back to Magnus on foot?

The sound she heard next drew her attention. It was loud, that of a door opening, a large door. She turned, as did Jenna.

“Uh-oh,” Jenna said.

“What?”

“I was hoping we wouldn’t get caught, but we’ve just been found out,” she said, waving to the two men who stood arguing next to the huge garage door back along the start of the street.

“Who are they?”

“Shane and Marc. Arguing again,” she said, shaking her head.

“You know them how?” Livvie asked, her attention more focused on what she glimpsed behind the door than on the men outside. She stood still, watching.

“Shane’s my husband. Marc was…an old friend.”

“Oh.” Livvie wasn’t paying attention. The old model Hunter-Killer aircraft she glimpsed ignited a memory and, more important, gave her one more option. She knew her escape would come by water or air, not land.

The men stopped talking and their attention was suddenly on her and Jenna. Livvie recognized Shane from the first night. “Shane’s the one with the dark hair, right?” she asked Jenna, turning to face her friend, not wanting the men to know she’d seen what she’d seen.

“Yes,” Jenna said.

Shane nodded an acknowledgement to her and Marc just stared at them.

“I think Hayden’s going to know you’ve been out of the house,” Jenna said, looking at Livvie.

“I told you I don’t care,” Livvie answered. “Show me your kitchen and put me to work.”

* * *

Livvie switched the shower off and reached for her towel. She’d spent the day in the kitchen with Jenna assembling pies and one was baking downstairs in the kitchen now. The scent of it filled the small house. Jenna had suggested using it as a peace offering for Hayden for when he found out where she’d been all day. Jenna herself had taken one home for Shane, knowing she’d also be in some trouble since he obviously knew she’d taken Livvie out without permission.

She wrapped the towel around herself and let her hair out of its clip, wondering how they’d manage to get their hands on one of Magnus’ older jets. She’d seen them in the museum at Magnus One, had even been inside the cockpit. It was different than her modern airship, but she could manage it. She considered when she should go investigate things further, find out how easy or difficult it would be to get to the jet. She’d seen a makeshift runway, but wasn’t sure it would be enough to get the old ship off the ground.

But all she’d need to do would be to get the thing up in the air and away from the resistance fighters. She’d managed to break the lock on the window downstairs so although it still looked like it was locked, if Hayden tried it, he’d figure out pretty quickly what she’d been up to. But if she could get out within the next few days, it wouldn’t matter. She’d get to Katie and then figure things out.

“Pie smells good,” Hayden said.

Livvie jumped. “Christ, you scared me!” she said, finding Hayden lying against the headboard, one arm tucked behind his head, legs stretched out. He wore jeans, but that was all and Livvie couldn’t help it when her eyes wandered the expanse of his chest, his arms, lower across his belly to the line of dark hair that disappeared into his jeans. She noticed how the first button was undone and remembered what she’d seen a few days earlier. Her face felt hot.

She swallowed, forcing herself to ignore that feeling in her belly, between her legs. This new thing that she felt every time she was near him.

“I switched off the oven,” he said, sitting up. “Things burn if you leave them in there, you know.”

Shoot, she’d been so preoccupied with other things, she’d forgotten to wait for it.

“Did it burn?” she asked, walking to the dresser to get some clothes.

“Nope,” he said. “Come here.”

She stopped with her back to him. Had he found out about the window? No, he wasn’t mad. He looked and sounded too relaxed, like he was enjoying himself. She turned.

“Why?” she asked.

His gaze told her exactly why.

“Am I in trouble?” she asked. “If it’s about going with Jenna…”

“I talked to Jenna briefly. Shane will handle her. I’m not angry with you. I probably should have let you do that sooner. I’m not planning on going out for the next few days so you won’t be alone so much.”

“It was my idea as much as hers,” she said, her feeble attempt to protect Jenna.

“It’s ok, Livvie. Come here.” He stood.

She walked slowly over to him, moisture already collecting between her legs just at the tone of his voice.

“Put your hands at your sides.”

She’d been clutching her towel to her breast, but now slowly did as he said. Her heartbeat picked up as she stared up at him, wondering why she was standing there like she was, as if just waiting for his next command. Waiting to submit to him.

His expression told her he had some idea of her inner turmoil. Smiling, he reached for the knot that held the towel in place and loosened it. When it slid to the floor, she didn’t move to cover herself. Instead, she stood looking at him while his eyes remained on hers. He pushed her hair over her shoulders and onto her back.

“You’re very pretty, Olivia,” he said.

She swallowed, a small shiver running up her spine. As much as her desire shamed her, she wanted this. She wanted him to look at her, to touch her, to make her feel the way she’d felt the last time.

“Tell me,” he said, the fingers of one hand lightly outlining the curve of her collarbone, her shoulder, her arm. Every hair stood on end as he touched her and when he lightly brushed one nipple, she shuddered. This brought a real smile to his face. “Have you been thinking about what we did the other day?”

She found she couldn’t answer. Her voice was lost. No, it wasn’t that. She had no words to form.

“Put your hands behind your back.”

She knew she should resist, but found herself clasping her hands behind her.

“Take your legs just a little wider.”

Again, she obeyed, realizing as she did that the moisture that had begun as a humid awareness was now coating her pussy, sliding down her inner thigh. Her gaze grew wider as shame engulfed her. Keeping his eyes on hers, he reached between her legs as if to assure her that he already knew of her predicament. He didn’t necessarily try to alleviate her guilt, but instead, his acknowledgement of it only made her blush deepen as her pussy responded to his touch.

“Have you ever tasted yourself, Livvie?” he asked, bringing two glistening fingers to her mouth.

She licked her lips as if readying to answer, but remained mute, swallowing instead.