FaCade (Deception #1) (7 page)

HER SCENT WAS ALL AROUND me, tattooing the memories of her natural essence onto my brain. The warmth of her soft, naked skin that’d had every inch touched by me was an echoing recollection replaying over and over, making my palm tingle to feel it again.

I was acting weak to my needs in front of the men who had kick-started this plan in the beginning. It was always there, plotting and festering but they had forced my hand by underestimating me.

I hated how Jonson and Davies had the audacity to mock me … ME! My head rolled from shoulder to shoulder as I tried to calm the seething boil simmering in my veins. I had proven my power to them and yet this was just the start. I brushed down the front of my shirt then adjusted my still proud cock before going to them.

“Dante! She is truly a beauty,” Jenkins said. I nodded in agreement.

“She really doesn’t recall her memory?” Davies asked.

“Nothing of who she is.”

“It’s impressive, Dante but she was hardly begging you to fuck her like you promised.” The smarmy little cunt smirked. I wanted to cut off his lips so I never had to see that cocky smirk again; however, showing anger is to show fault.

“It’s been such little time and yet she kissed me back and obeyed my command after a little foreplay.” I chuckled which was accompanied by all of theirs. I looked back at the room from which I put on the little show for them. “This is just the tip of what I have planned for her.”

I felt the creep of his presence beside me. He was a sick twisted little worm who wanted authority and respect he hadn’t earned and never would from me. He was born into money and perversion so he thought this gave him rights he didn’t have. We were men of money and we indulged in frowned upon desires but that was the only common thing that bonded us.

I was self-made; my desires were all tethered around two things. Her and revenge.

I STARED UP AT MARIA when she handed me a sandwich wrapped in Saran wrap. She nodded and smiled, encouraging me to take it from her. My eyes flicked to the small camera watching our every move. “It’s okay. It’s yours. Apparently he was pleased with your show to his friends.”

I frowned but snatched the food from her, my loud rumbling stomach not allowing me to do anything else. “Thank you.”

She shrugged and walked over to the small portable toilet in the corner of the room that had been brought in when Maria had. I diverted my gaze as she relieved herself, my cheeks blushing as the long trickle of urine into the bowl humiliated me more than it did her.

“Do you think we’ll ever get out of here?” I asked her when she flushed and ran her hands under the tiny single tap beside the toilet.

She shrugged but didn’t answer me. “So Star, tell me about yourself.”

My eyes widened. We were hardly there to become friends and I still couldn’t make out where she fit into all this. “Well see, that may be a problem since I can’t even tell myself about me.”

“You still don’t remember?”

I shook my head, answering her with a gesture as I bit into the moist cheese sandwich. The filling was thin and rubbery but the way my stomach demolished it told me I was enjoying it more than I thought.

She smiled, almost secretly and I frowned at her. It was as though she was pleased I couldn’t remember anything. “Well, let’s guess.”

“I’m sorry?”

She smiled wider at me and settled herself on her bed. “Do you feel… married?”

I stared at her, what the hell? “Uhh, sorry but how does one guess at something like that?”

“I dunno. Do you
feel
married?” she repeated, ignoring my bewilderment.

I sighed and searched deep inside. I pulled at my heart, asking it if it was full or empty. It felt stupid but she was right, something was there, something that felt like someone owned it, someone filled it. “Well, I’m not sure if I’m married but…”

“But?”

“But it feels like my heart is happy. Does that make sense?”

Her face darkened slightly as her eyes narrowed. However, she smiled and nodded. “Yes, that makes perfect sense.”

I smiled at her, feeling lighter. Someone out there cared for me, made me happy. And through all the darkness that suffocated me, that little bit of knowledge made it almost more bearable in there.

“What’s… your favorite color?”

I closed my eyes, blowing out a puff of air. I ran the colors through my mind and smiled. “Yellow.”

Excitement bubbled through me. They were only small things but they were still parts of me I now knew. “And I like savory more than I like sweet.”

Maria tilted her head in question. “Yeah?”

“Yes! I can tell from how my mouth waters when I think of certain foods. Oh my God, thank you…”

She stiffened, her face tightening when the door opened and the man who seemed to lead everyone else stormed in. “I’m sorry, Mr Troy. I didn’t mean to…”

I stared at his angry face, his teeth sheathed behind his taut lips as I shuffled backwards on the bed until my back thudded against the wall. I couldn’t understand why he was angry. But he was – very. She called him Mr Troy. How did she know his name?

“We were just talking,” I said, worry for Maria causing me to be open and quite rude.

He nodded and smirked at me but then turned back to Maria. “Get out!”

She gawped at him, her head shaking from side to side. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”

“GET OUT!”

She scrambled off the bed, her ankles twisting beneath her as she attempted to remove herself from the room as quickly as possible.

He turned to me, his stare hard and cold, his narrow eyes dark and haunting. “Care to indulge?”

I frowned. “I’m sorry? Indulge what?”

He stood still, watching me with a callous expression. “Get up!”

“Make your damn mind up,” I spat out. Fuck him and his frequent demands.

I squealed, bringing my hands up to my head when he seized a section of my hair and yanked me upright. My face flung to the side when the back of his hand connected with my cheekbone. I fell sideways when he hit me again, my head banging on the side of the bed. “What the fuck is wrong with you?” I shouted as I wiped the blood from my lip.

“You think remembering will help you out of here?”

I shook my head. “No, I was… God, I don’t know what I was doing but it was good to… to feel again.”

“You need to feel, Belle? Huh?”

What the hell was his problem?

His fingers circled my throat, his grip tight but not choking. Lifting me upright, I gasped when my back slammed against the wall. He was an inch from me, his breath hot on my face. I shivered, my body locking up when he reached further and ran his tongue down the side of my face. Pushing his hips against me, his hard erection told me this scene was turning him on.

Everything was confusing. How could hitting a woman be a turn on? How could drawing blood from someone be an aphrodisiac?

“Who are you? Why are you doing this?” I whispered as fear rendered me frozen between him and the wall.

He slid the tip of his nose along my jaw, his deep inhalations causing a ripple effect through my body, a deep throb heating my lower belly. His teeth flanked my bottom lip, his eyes securing mine as he bit gently, stunning me as the effect triggered a reaction in my body I didn’t like. “You feel me now, Star?”

I nodded, unable to form words as my body blazed in a heat I struggled to douse. Tears formed in my eyes as mortification ran deep.

His fists grabbed at my gown, pulling it open savagely. A whimper raced up my throat when he cupped my breast, his thumb causing my nipple to pebble when he slid across the taut flesh gently. “Oh,” he breathed against my neck. “You feel that, don’t you?”

“Stop it. Please,” I pleaded as more tears spilled from me. “Oh, God, please don’t do this.”

His mouth descended lower as his hand slid up the front of my neck, his fingers splaying wide. He pushed me further back against the wall, bracing me under his hold as his tongue ran across the rise of my breast. His breath chilled the dampness his tongue left. His hold on my neck tightened as his lips sealed around my erect nipple.

I pushed against his shoulders, desperately trying to get him to stop before my mind followed my body’s want, dangerously making me crave more of his touch. My heart clashed with my body which conflicted against the sensations running through me. It was like my body mocked my thoughts, dampness pooling between my thighs as my brain cried out in pain at what was happening. I wanted him to touch me but I hated that he was. I needed him to stimulate parts of me that shrank back from him.

“I own you, Star. Your body betrays you. It alerts me to your need for me.”

I shook my head furiously but shivered again when his tongue flicked out and caught my nipple between his tongue and his teeth. His hold on my neck constricted my throat, making me lightheaded. But, that only added to the way I reacted to him. My arousal intensified as my brain started to shut down, allowing the sensations in my body to heighten.

“Your body never forgets.”

My mind flashed, images shifting quickly, blurred pictures rapidly morphing into more distorted flashes.
“Your body will never forget.”

I gasped as the memory in my head disappeared as soon as it had materialized. His face had appeared with the memory. I’d never met him before, so how did I have memories of him? He was there, in my mind, and his touch had been gentle, his words a whispered promise.

The world shifted under me as I swayed sideways. Mr Troy, as I had heard Maria refer to him, slammed his hand on the wall beside me to stop me from falling. He seemed unaware of my panic as his hand swept down the front of me, his touch hot but very soft.

I clamped my legs together when he reached the apex of my thighs. “Please don’t do this.”

His eyes snapped up to mine. Fury rolled across the depths of his irises, turning his deep eyes darker. “You don’t get that choice, Star.”

He dug his fingers into my thigh, pinching the flesh tightly. Tears fell when he yanked my legs open. “Please.”

“Stop with the pitiful sobs. We both know how much you love the touch of a man.”

His teeth sank into the roundness of my stomach as his hand pushed further into me, his fingers meeting with the wetness of my arousal. I moaned my forbidden desire as a fire of lust scorched through my system, instinct driving my hips until his finger slid against my entrance.