Conquer (Control) (25 page)

I rolled my eyes.  Apparently, arrogant Daemon had returned.

“No doubt, Paige.  We’ll be way out in the center of the lake.  You won’t find too many creepy crawlys out there, especially not with all the boats speeding around.  No worries, babe!”  Logan shot me a friendly smile and went to work preparing the boat.

Daemon’s hand came down on my shoulder as he directed me to a seat.  “Time to go, beautiful.  You may want to stay seated as Logan gets us out to where we’re headed.”  He winked at me again and moved up to sit opposite David on the bow.  Logan untied the boat and pushed us out from the dock. He jumped in the driver’s seat next to me, threw on a straw cowboy hat, and turned on the boat.  “Hang on Paige!  Let me show you what my baby can do out there!”  His hand came down on a lever to the side and the boat lurched forward.  Once we’d reached out far enough, Logan slammed the lever forward, causing the boat’s front end to lift and spray a wake out from behind us.  The wind whipped past us and I closed my eyes.   The feeling was similar to riding my bike.   You couldn’t hear a damn thing over the rushing wind and engine of the boat as the world rushed past us.  Every once in a while the boat would travel over the wake of another boat, bouncing us so high that I grabbed onto my seat desperately trying not to get knocked out into the water. 

Logan appeared familiar with the lake as he drove us out to his intended spot.  With the sun beating down on my face and the wind rushing across my skin, I couldn’t help but smile.  A feeling of freedom spread through me, making it sadly apparent that I’d been cooped up for far too long.  We drove for another ten minutes before Logan pulled up on the lever and the boat slowly came to a stop in the water.  “Here we are!  This is my favorite spot.  We’re out far enough that we have a good distance for skiing, but not many boats around to compete with us.”

Daemon stood up and walked over to me.  “You’re up babe.”  He pulled me into a standing position and then reached down to pull up my seat cushion.  He retrieved a ski vest out of the seat cubby and handed it to me.  “You’re going to want to wear this.  It’ll keep you from drowning in case something happens.”

Drowning?
  Oh, I wasn’t liking this.

“Listen, Daemon.  Maybe this isn’t such a good idea.  I mean, I have no idea what I’m supposed to do out there.”

“It’s not difficult, Paige.  Just put on your vest and jump in the water.  I’ll toss your skis down to you after you jump in.”

“Seriously, Paige!  Just do what the man says.  I’m getting sea sick as we sit here.  We need to get moving.”  David shouted at me from his spot at the bow.

Feeling outnumbered, I took off my shorts and top before sliding my arms through the sleeves of the vest.  After buckling the six snaps up the front I turned to walk towards the back of the boat.  “So what, do I just jump in?”

Daemon’s face was filled with amusement. 
How nice.
  “You can jump over the side, or there’s a ladder on the back.  Your choice.”

I decided to take the ladder.  As I stepped down into the water, I imagined what could be waiting for me within the murky blue depths.  “Logan, are you sure there’s no gators out this far?”

“You’re all good, Paige.  Just be sure to jump out as far as you can.  You don’t want to come down on top of the propeller.”

Well……fuck.

I let go of the ladder and used my feet to jump out away from the boat.  I landed, but didn’t go completely under due to the vest.   A little bit of lake water got into my mouth which was fucking gross.  “Okay,” I screamed.  “Now what?”  Daemon jumped over the side of the boat and swam to me.  

“Logan!  Throw me the skis and the rope!”

Within seconds, Logan had launched two twin missiles in our direction, following that with an apparent lasso.  Daemon reached out and grab the skis before they could collide with my face, however I still was clunked on the head pretty hard by the rope handle.

Logan shouted out to me from the rear of the boat.  “You were supposed to catch that, Paige!”

Daemon laughed.  “Alright, Damsel, lean back and lift your feet out from underneath the water.  I’m going to fit the boots of the skis to your feet.  We need to make sure they are tight, or you’ll just be pulled out of them by the boat.

I leaned back as instructed while Daemon fit the skis to my feet.  When he was done, he grabbed the rope and placed it so that it was running between the skis before placing the handle in my hands.  “You are ready to go.  All you need to do, Paige, is stay just like this until the rope gets tight.  Once that happens, Logan will increase the speed of the boat to pull you up and out of the water.  The skis I have you in now are tied together to help you get a feel for it, Paige, but I’m going to cut those ties after you’ve tried it a few times.”

I was terrified.  Images of being dragged along the top of the water danced in my head.  What if I lost control and landed in a bed of weeds?  What if there really was an alligator about to bite my ass as we speak?  What if I hit the water wrong and broke my neck?  There were so many possible ways for me to die that I was convinced that this was a seriously bad idea.  “Why are you trying to kill me, Daemon?  I mean, really, what have I ever done to you?”

My eyes pleaded with him, but then narrowed at his laughter.

“Paige, I don’t understand.  You have no problem driving a motorcycle and no problem chasing a psychopath through the wilderness, yet the idea of water skiing frightens you?  It doesn’t make sense.”

“First off, when I’m on my bike, I’m in control; not some beach bum with a penchant for speed.  Secondly, there are no incidents out there of an alligator attacking someone while they are on a bike.  That only happens in or near the
water
.  Third, I grew up in the woods so I wasn’t worried about getting cornered by Chris when I went out there.”  I was getting frustrated.  “Just….whatever.  Swim back to the boat so we can get my execution over with.”

Daemon laughed again, kissed me quickly on the lips, and then complied with my request.

He climbed back in the boat and took a seat in the back to watch me.  David suddenly joined him, smiling like an idiot.  He waved one time before I heard the engine start. 
Traitor!

The rope began tightening as Logan slowly drove the boat forward.  When I started getting pulled through the water, the boat sped up.  I started feeling myself being pulled forward, however I wasn’t sure what to do with my legs.  Logan increased speed again and I was pulled forward only to go tumbling feet over head.  For whatever reason, I still had the rope in my hands and lake water was being shoved up my nose and into my mouth.  I quickly let go of the rope and spit out as much as I could.  Logan circled back around as Daemon fished the skis out of the water.  They positioned themselves back in front of me.  Daemon slid the skis in my direction as Logan pulled the rope into the boat.

Daemon’s hands came up to frame his mouth as he shouted to me.  “Next time, try bending your knees as you’re being pulled forward.   Straighten your legs only after your ass is no longer in the water.”

I pulled on my skis and motioned for Logan to throw the rope.

“Try to catch it with your hands this time, Paige.”  All three of them broke out into laughter after Logan shouted to me.    I flicked them off after catching the rope.

Once again we got in our positions and Logan started pulling ahead.  The rope tightened and pulled me forward.  I kept my knees bent this time which helped to pull me out of the water.  Once my ass was no longer submerged I straightened my legs.

Holy shit!  I’m skiing!

Logan picked up speed once I was standing upright.  I held tight to the rope as I bounced over little bumps in the water.  This wasn’t so bad.  I mentally kicked myself for having been scared and closed my eyes, enjoying the wind against my face.  Apparently, closing my eyes was a bad idea.  Just as I started to relax into what I was doing, the boat took a sharp turn and I was launched over the wake.  My mouth opened to scream as I flew over the water, careening out of control.  The rope was jerked out of my hands when I’d swung out parallel to the boat.  I tumbled ass over head into the water, which at that speed felt about as hard as cement.  I went under for a second before the buoyancy of my vest shuttled me back up.  When I was topside again, I laid perfectly still on top of the water, my eyes taking in the open skies above me.

I heard the boat come back around, laughter erupting from its occupants. 
Assholes
!

“Hey, Paige, you might want to keep your eyes open next time.”  David’s voice was filled with humor as he shouted out to me. 

I finally brought my legs down and bobbed on top of the water.  They drove out for a moment to collect my skis, before returning to a position in front of me.  Launching the skis out to me again, Daemon yelled, “Let’s do it again, Paige.  You were doing an excellent job before you decided to stop paying attention.”  His body shook with mirth as he mocked me.

“I’m done, Daemon.  I think I hurt myself falling.”  I hadn’t really hurt myself, but he didn’t know that.  “Yep, definitely think I broke something!”

Logan tossed the rope out in my direction as Daemon smiled fondly at me.  “Damsel, you know me better than that.  I’m not about to let you fall without forcing you to get up again.  Now, brush it off and strap yourself into those skis.”

We went through the process another ten or fifteen times before Daemon decided it was time to cut the ropes between my skis.  He slid them to me one at a time as he called out.  “Paige, now that the skis are cut, you’re going to want to make sure you hold your legs together.  The skis will want to push out.  It’ll be your job to keep them together.”

Great.
  Well, at least I knew I was flexible.

~

My legs felt like rubber by the time I was finally allowed to climb back in the boat.  The three men had an excellent time torturing me for hours on end just for their own entertainment.  Collapsing into a seat, I curled in a ball and regretted ever having agreed to that.  Sure, it was fun when you were standing up, but the minute your face was introduced to the rock hard water, the fun times ended.

Daemon knelt beside me, removed my arms from my chest before going to work unfastening my vest.  “You looked great out there, Paige.  You should have it perfected in a few more trips.”

Even though my eyes were closed, they managed to roll at his statement.  “You’re going to put me through this again?  Why do you hate me so much, Daemon?”

He snickered as he moved my face up to look at me.  “I’m doing this because I love you, Damsel.  This was a fun way for me to help you work on your leg strength.  It was either this or using the weight benches with Joe and friends looking on.  Which would you have preferred had you been given the choice?”

I bounced the two choices around in my mind, but finally decided that this was more fun than working out in a smoky gym surrounded by critics.  “Fine.  Just let me sit here for second while I nurse my newly torn ligaments, okay?”

He wrapped a towel over me.  “So dramatic.  You’re fine, Paige.  Shake it off.”

We floated out in the water for about an hour after I was allowed to stop skiing.  Logan blasted his onboard radio and I laughed when David pulled out a sun reflector to use around his face.  Daemon and Logan jumped out in the water for a while as I laid next to David at the bow.  Clouds started rolling in when we decided it was time to get back to shore.  After tying the boat to the dock, Logan moved around the bow stowing away the ski gear.  David and I climbed out, grabbing whatever towels and bags that needed to be taken back to the truck.  We got everything put away before watching Daemon and Logan work to get the boat back on the trailer.

Before leaving, I pulled Logan aside to speak to him about Annie.  “So, listen, I wanted to let you know that Annie has been transferred to my parents’ facility in the panhandle.”

Logan’s eyes widened.  “Really?!  She’s out of the hospital finally?  Good for her.  How is she holding up?”  A sad excitement was evident in his voice.

“She’s good, Logan.  She’s not a hundred percent, but that’ll take time.”  I paused for a second. “I talked to her about you, Logan.  I mentioned that maybe you’d be willing to talk to her, you know, as friends.  She’s not going to be dating for a long time, but I know you care about her.  She said eventually, she wouldn’t mind speaking with you again, it’ll just need to be when she’s ready, and on her terms, you know?”

A faint smile played over his lips.  “Absolutely, Paige.  Whatever she needs to feel comfortable.  I don’t know why she’s still so stuck in my head after all this time. There was just something about her.  She was easygoing, I guess, fun to be around.”

It warmed my heart to know how he felt about her and I was pleased that he immediately agreed to keeping things on a friends-only level.  “That’s great, Logan.  Just give it some time and I’m sure she’ll call.  I just wanted to let you know what was going on, I know it upset you that she wouldn’t see you after what happened.”

His grin faltered for a second before reappearing.  “I understand, Paige.  She’s a tough girl, I knew she would pull through.  I’m looking forward to hearing from her…when she’s ready, of course.”  He smiled brightly at me as I promised to give her his number.  I hugged him tightly before we all said our goodbyes.

Chapter Thirteen

My eyes peaked out from above the floor of the ring.  My knees were knocking together from my shaking as my fingers gripped tightly around the rope above me.

“No…fucking…way…Daemon.  There is no fucking way I’m fighting that thing.  Uh…uh.  Get it the fuck away from me.  Now!”

It’d been two months since Daemon and I started training.   Luckily, it had been quiet with no signs of Chris.  I would rather have heard that the asshole had been caught, but I couldn’t complain. Although he was still free, he appeared to have given up his pursuit.   I’d attributed his absence to the police presence orchestrated by Detective Troy.  Not much had changed in the past two months.  David and I were still staying with Daemon, Alex and Ava were still in St. Petersburg, Annie was still at The Center, and Daemon was still attempting to kill me with his
training
exercises on a daily basis.  I had to hand it to him, he had one hell of an imagination.  Today’s lesson was learning to control my fear.  I hated today’s lesson and I was refusing to cooperate.