Into His Keeping (31 page)

Jill’s body clenched as she swallowed hard. “We’ll, ah, you know it’s impossible to have… I mean if you wanted to… I’m sure there is someone who misses you,” Jill finished in a whisper as she watched the cunning hunter push away from the kitchen counter and glide toward her.

“Exactly what are you implying, Jilly-girl? Just come out and ask me, baby. I’ll give you a straight answer. I always have,” Holdin instructed quietly as he approached her.

Jill resisted the urge to shrink back into the chair as Holdin rounded the end of the table and came at her. What could almost be called a smile just barely marked his grim features as he approached and Jill suddenly felt as if everything were moving in slow motion. Holdin stopped beside her chair and held out his hand.

Jill hesitated taking it as she looked up at him in growing concern. “What I meant was…” she tried to backtrack hurriedly.

“Come with me, Jill,” Holdin interrupted her quietly as he waited for her to place her hand in his.

Jill cautiously placed her hand in his and stood. “Where?”

Holdin’s hand closed over hers. “We’re going to find that ghost who’s bothering you and get rid of her. Where do you feel her most?”

“Ah, I didn’t mean an actual ghost. It’s more like a feeling that there’s a woman here who wants to return. Come on, Holdin. She decorated your house. She lives in every room of it. For God’s sake, she made herself a palace of her closet in the master bedroom,” Jill explained in nervous exasperation as he began slowly leading her back through the house.

Holdin nodded and smiled. “So she’s in the master bedroom. Good. We’ll start there.”

Chapter Twelve

They were at the double doors to the master suite already as Jill frowned and tried to make sense of his actions. The heavy wooden doors clicked shut behind them and Holdin hadn’t slowed as he led her through the private sitting room. They walked through the wide arched opening to the sleeping quarters and past the bed to the empty closet.

Holdin flipped on the ceiling’s indirect lights and the room was bathed in a soft golden glow. There were brighter lights around the huge mirror and at the dressing table but he left those off. Holdin turned to her and released her hand.

“Strip, Jilly-girl,” he commanded softly.

“What?” Jill stumbled back in surprised reaction and he immediately caught her shoulders.

“You heard me. Or would you rather I did it for you?” Holdin’s hands were light on her shirt but he squeezed briefly for emphasis.

“I don’t think…” Jill glanced around nervously then back up at his calm face. “Really, I didn’t mean…”

“Start now or I will.” Holdin’s voice was calm but the steel at its core was evident. “Blouse first.”

Jill blushed as her hands went reflexively to the button on her loose blouse. “Holdin?” she breathed in question as her fingers started reluctantly working the buttons.

“Trust me, Jilly-girl. You want to know who owns this palace and I intend to show you. Now shrug that off and hang it up in on the short bars to your left.”

Jill turned away from him quickly and did as he instructed. Then she remained there facing away from him, breathing hard as she gathered her wits. The frantic scramble to untangle her thoughts and figure out why she simply “obeyed” him was interrupted much too soon.

“No, no, baby. You’re not stopping to think now.” Holdin was right behind her. Calloused fingers pulled the back of her bra away from her skin and deftly unhooked the four little latches. He slid the shoulder straps down her arms that had crossed over her chest. Quickly he flipped up the shoulder latches and pulled the straps out of them, reached around her and yanked the bra out from under her arms.

Jill gasped. His hands had worked the bra clips so quickly that she hadn’t had time to react before the garment was gone.

“I see you do want my help,” he purred as he pulled open a drawer and dropped the bra into it. Holdin gently gripped her shoulders and turned her around to face him.

Jill’s arms were crossed over her chest and her face flushed a deep crimson. He simply stood there looking into her eyes and then he smiled. It was the bone-melting grin that went to her head like vodka. “I was planning to get to it a little later but if you keep asking so sweetly, I’ll be happy to cuff your hands behind you now.”

“What? Wait! Holdin!” Jill exclaimed as his hands went to the snap of her jeans and flicked it open, sliding down the zipper in the same move. “We’re supposed to be talking.”

“We will, just as soon as we’re done in here,” he promised as he shoved jeans and panties down to her knees. “Now grab my shoulder so you can step out.” Holdin dropped down on one knee to help her, his hands pushing the jeans down to her bare feet. Jill didn’t move and Holdin glanced up at her. He took his time, his eyes mapping every inch on the way up.

“You don’t want out of the jeans, Jilly-girl? Excellent, they make a very handy hobble.” Holdin remained on one knee as his hand skimmed up the inside of her thigh. Jill reflexively pressed them together but it was too late.

Her action simply trapped his hand on its side, forefinger wedged between the dripping folds of her clenching pussy. She couldn’t control her vagina’s contractions forcing the wet evidence of her excitement onto his fingers.

“Now that’s not very nice, baby. Loosen up those thighs. My little pussy is begging for attention,” Holdin commanded, his gaze centered on his hand and the damp curls shielding her sex from view. “Jill, do as you’re told,” Holdin commanded firmly when she hadn’t moved. “You can’t lie to me about this so don’t try.” He leaned into her, breathing in deeply.

“Please, Holdin. You know you can have me anytime you want.” Jill was almost sobbing as she finally grasped his shoulders to steady herself as her legs relaxed. “Why are you hurting me this way?”

Holdin’s hand turned up to cup her intimately. He looked into her face now inches from his as she gripped his shoulders. There was no longer any attempt to hide from him. “How am I hurting you, Jill?” He gently squeezed the damp mound in his hand and Jill mewed softly before she could speak.

“You’re proving what I am for you. My body is yours to play with, you’ve always known that. This hurts me like nothing else can, Holdin. Making me this, you’ll shred my soul and the little pieces will never fit back together again.”

Holdin’s hazel eyes changed colors. Winter skies’ dark promise of a storm boiled in them as his face tightened, his voice dropped down into a snarl. “Are you saying you think I’m making you my whore?”

“What do you call a woman like me?” Jill gasped in despair. “I can’t say no to you. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you.”

Holdin’s hand left her body as he surged to his feet. Jill forgot her ankles were hobbled and tried to step back. Holdin had to grab her shoulders to keep her from falling. His hold was firm as he glared down into her face.

Cold fury rolled over him as he looked at the woman who held his soul. How could she not know his heart was hers? Why did she refuse to see him? And why was she always willing to leave him? The answer was humbling. She didn’t love him. She wanted him, loved the edgy sex they indulged in but she couldn’t attach deep emotional commitment to it because there wasn’t any there for her. The anger dissipated into determination.

If he couldn’t have her heart, he’d have her body. There was no damn way he’d let her and Drifter go off to live by themselves. He couldn’t protect them from a distance. Even if Stigzanno was in prison, that didn’t mean he couldn’t reach out. Holdin dared not let her prance her ass off to live somewhere else. Not now, not ever.

So he’d give her what she craved and tie her to him by any means. This was about survival—his. She would be his. If he had to fuck her every hour on the hour, she’d know who she belonged to. Know there was no other place for her but by his side. He’d spent fifteen years hiding the fact that he loved Jill. Doing it with the benefit of fucking her wouldn’t be difficult.

His lips actually drew back from his teeth as he answered. “The only label I’ve ever tried to put on you is wife,” he hissed softly. “Yet every time I turn around you’re looking for the nearest exit. Perhaps I’ll have better luck keeping you as a whore. What the hell, nothing else has worked.

“I brought you in here to prove to you that the only woman you feel in this house is you. I built it for you. Every bit of it, furnishing, design, it all was done for Jill. Every time I saw something I thought you’d like or wished I could share with you, this is where I put it. In this house. It’s a damn monument to the life I dreamed we could have together. But apparently you can’t wait to get the fuck out. So yeah, if making you my whore is the only way to keep your ass in my bed, believe me, I’m willing to give it a shot.”

Jill’s mouth had dropped open as he snarled into her face. The enormity of what he was saying couldn’t have shocked her more. Not the part about being his whore. She already was that. As soon as he said the words about the house, she’d realize the truth of them. The reason she loved the house was it was exactly what she would have chosen, right down to the drapes. Every inch of it reflected her personality and tastes. No wonder she’d hated the woman she’d assumed decorated it. Hated the thought of that woman living here. It would be like watching someone else live her life.

“Since you’re all ready to accommodate, we’ll use that sweet little mouth first,” Holdin continued as his hands on her shoulders pushed her to her knees. One hand fisted in her hair, being careful to keep away from the side she’d had surgery on. He held her still while the other hand ripped open his jeans with violent, jerking motions. “If I can get your damn mouth full, perhaps you’ll listen long enough to learn something,” he continued as his long shaft swung out. He let it fall on her face and held her so she couldn’t move away.

“That what you want, Jill? Show me how a good whore takes a face-fuck.” Both hands gripped her head again. He tilted her and jabbed at her lips with the slick head of his cock. She opened around it and he pushed in roughly. “Look up here. I want to see your eyes to make sure you’re listening,” he snarled as he began pumping in and out of her mouth.

“This is how a whore receives her instructions. So here it is, Jill. You’re mine. I intend to keep you in my bed and in my house. If I have to cuff you to the bed, I will. You will never run away from me again. If you do, I’ll find you. When I find you, you’ll be brought back here and when we get in this room, I will punish you. Until you can wrap your mind around the fact that I am never letting you go again, consider yourself property.”

Holdin pulled his cock out of her mouth. “Stay right there,” he commanded darkly as he quickly toed off his shoes and shoved his jeans, shorts and socks off. Grabbing his shirt at the collar behind his head, he ripped it off too. Naked, he grabbed her elbows and hauled Jill to her feet, stepped on her jeans and jerked her up out of them. Crushing her to his chest, he strode over to the section of the closet where a high, oval clothes pole hung from the ceiling. Holdin turned to press Jill’s back to the wall.

“Look over my shoulder.” He grasped her thighs and yanked them up around his hips, opening her over his cock.

Jill opened her mouth to speak and one of his hands landed on her bare butt with a sharp smack as his hips thrust forward, plunging his engorged shaft deep into her wet body. “No talking unless you’re told to,” he instructed coldly as his lower body power-fucked her against the wall hard and fast. He was thick and long and every thrust into her was forcing her body to yield to an intruder that hadn’t been there in a very long time.

The hard invasion of his cock into her needy cunt almost sent Jill over the edge. The shattering eroticism of his simply taking her because he needed to added such a sharp emotional depth to his domineering fuck that she was half sobbing in air, trying to handle the churning mix of sensation and emotion.

Holdin didn’t lie. He hated deception. Every word he’d said to her was true. Understanding that showed her how desperately in love with her he was. His emotions matched hers in every way. This harsh, burningly erotic handling was his only way of expressing the depth he was willing to go to for her. Jill felt joy splinter through her mind in a white-hot explosion. It eclipsed the fierce fuck she was receiving for a few seconds. Then nothing could distract her from enjoying the hell out of being Holdin’s whore.

His voice was cold and detached as if he were instructing a slightly dim employee. “As I said, look over my shoulder. This is where you’ll hang your formal clothing.” He flipped a switch beside her on the wall and the oval rod moved. “These are the controls.”

Holdin shut off the controls and supported Jill’s weight with his hands gripping her ass and stepped away from the wall. Still buried deep in her, he stalked to rails going up the wall. They were perfectly spaced for blouses and skirts. He lifted her off his cock and away from his body. Putting her feet on the ground, he turned her and placed his hand at the back of her neck. A firm push bent her over the lowest rail.

From behind her, he snarled, “Spread,” as his hand landed on her upturned ass before she had a chance to obey him. She realized his intentions as she automatically spread her legs at the double shock. The sharp sting of that slap radiated up her back. Jill clutched the rail on either side of her, presenting herself as commanded.

Hard and fast, his cock thrust into her cunt once more with no preliminary touches. Jill’s head jerked up and she sucked in a breath through clenched teeth. In this position, he penetrated her so deeply. Each demanding thrust slamming him into the back of her womb where seldom-stimulated nerves went nuts. Her body convulsed on him in shuddering response that milked him in fierce contractions.

The thick cock pounded into her a few seconds before he started speaking again. “These are for blouses, skirts and pants. The two upper rods can be lowered. I’ll show you how sometime when I’m not fucking your brains out.” Holdin was breathing hard now, his hips slapping against her with each demanding thrust. Again he stopped abruptly and pulled out of her gushing pussy.

His large hand closed around the back of her neck and he pulled her up off the rod to steer her as if she were a walking doll over to the built-in drawers laddering up one wall. Beside the drawers was a custom-made stepladder to enable a woman’s use of the upper tier. “These should be self-explanatory.”