Fiendish: A Twisted Fairytale (13 page)

I smiled at his compliment while fighting back the urge to ask him for his jacket.
 We walked around, looking at some of the other pieces, and for the first time that evening, I felt more at ease. The MC announced the auction was beginning. Seth placed his hand on my back to lead me towards the main gallery, making my body come alive. I saw Patrick walking towards us, and my good feelings faded. He didn’t look happy.

“I have been looking for you. Your job was to stay close, not wander off.”
 

“Mr. Thorn, I
’m sorry. You…you left with that woman and…”

“It doesn
’t matter, just come,” he snapped, cutting me off mid-sentence.

I felt Seth
’s grip tighten around my waist. “I do believe you need a lesson in how to properly speak to a lady,” Seth stated calmly.

I didn
’t think Patrick was a man that got intimidated, but he took an involuntary step back as he cleared his throat, “I don’t believe we’ve had the pleasure of meeting. I’m Patrick Thorn.” Patrick extended his hand towards Seth.

“It
’s not been a pleasure at all,” Seth responded curtly as he ignored Patrick’s gesture. Seth brought my hand to his lips. “Enjoy the rest of your evening,” he said, smiling at me.

“Calida, the auction is starting, and there are purchases I wish to make for the office,” Patrick said, holding his hand out to me. Reluctantly, I stepped away from Seth.

“It was nice to see you,” I said quickly before Patrick led me away.

I kept searching the crowd the rest of the evening, hoping to catch a glimpse of Seth, but he was nowhere to be found.
 Patrick partook in several more glasses of champagne as he enjoyed the auction and bought several items totaling about nine thousand dollars. I lingered by the exit while he paid his bill and made arrangements to have them delivered to the office. He was very annoyed at being out-bid on one of the pieces he really wanted, the painting I’d been admiring earlier. From where I was sitting, I couldn’t get a view of the winning bidder, but I smiled over his loss, especially since he’d been so rude to me earlier.

The thought of Seth brought a smile to my face. Knowing that he
’d shown up just to see me set the butterflies aflutter in my stomach. He was complex and threw out a plethora of mixed signals, but it was strangely intriguing. I felt almost as if I was being courted, and that was a nice feeling.

Cool hands made contact with the exposed flesh on my back, causing me to jump. I turned; ready to cuss out the stranger touching me only to see it was Patrick.

“Time to go,” he said, letting his hand slide further down my back until it rested just above my butt.

Stepping away, I started down the steps, wanting to get away from him and his unwanted touching. Patrick was wearing a frown when he reached my side again. I wanted to tell him I
’d just take a cab or something, but I knew that wouldn’t be a wise decision for varying reasons. When the driver opened the door for us, I climbed in, sitting as close to the door as possible. Patrick got in and sat directly across from me.

“I told the driver to go to my place, hope that isn
’t a problem.”

The way his eyes roamed over me when he spoke let me know the intention behind that statement.

“No,” I replied, forcing a smile to my face. “It makes sense for him to drop you off first since you probably live closer.”

Patrick
’s brows furrowed together when he picked up on my rebuff. I turned to look out the darkened windows of the limo, holding my breath and wondering if I’d just gotten myself fired. The remaining ride was filled with tense silence. When we pulled up in front of his building, twenty-five hundred Peachtree, I silently prayed he didn’t invite me up.

***

When the limo pulled up to the pricey high rise building instead of Calida’s house, I felt my temper surge. The way that man had spoken to her made me want to slit his throat, but a quick death would be too good for him. From the moment they arrived at the High, he had his hands on her, and it took enormous self-control not to walk over and break every bone in his hands. The fact that she kept moving away from him, attempting to keep the touching to a minimum, had an unexpected calming effect on me.

I impatiently waited to see if she would step out of the limousine. I couldn
’t fathom that she would have sex with that man after watching how uncomfortable she was with him.
It could have been an act.
That sort of behavior couldn’t have been faked, and since she didn’t know I was watching, she’d have no reason to anyway. The seconds ticked by slowly, but Patrick eventually walked into his building alone.

I followed the car until it dropped her off at her small house. I felt better as I watched her enter the dark place alone
.
 
I should have driven away, but I sat watching. When the lights came on, I pictured her walking down the hall to her room undressing, slinking out of that dress. The image of her standing nude caused a tightening at the crotch of my pants. Her roommate wasn’t home. I could very easily knock on the door; she would let me in without question. I could take her, make her mine tonight. Thoughts swirled in my mind about what I would do to her, how she would feel. My hands tightened on the steering wheel.

No, not tonight.

Chapter 12

My legs were tired, but I forced myself to keep running.
 No matter how fast I ran, I never seemed to get to safety. The house in the distance never got any closer. He was gaining on me, laughing as he closed the space between us. Suddenly he caught me. I tried to scream, but no sound came out. I kicked and tried to fight for my release, but he was too strong. He started dragging me back; back towards the darkness I was trying to escape.

“No!” I woke up screaming and breathing heavily as if I had really been running for my life.
 

This dream was becoming increasingly disturbing.
 I was too old to be having nightmares, especially a repeating one. Sitting up, I ran a frustrated hand through my hair after glancing at the clock; it was three in the morning. I was glad Macy wasn’t here since I woke her up last time and felt foolish for reacting to a dream so intensely. Falling back against my pillow, I closed my eyes and tried to clear my head of the remaining flashes of the dream.

“Happy
thoughts, think happy thoughts
,
” I chanted to myself, but my thoughts were not happy. They drifted to my evening with Patrick. 

I had to figure out a way to set boundaries without risking my job because I was not comfortable with the way he touched or looked at me.
 I was proud of myself for being able to politely reject his unspoken request that I join him at his house. Adjusting my pillows in order to get more comfortable, I tried once again to drift off to sleep. 

No luck.
 

My thoughts went to Seth. I was very pleasantly surprised to see him there, even more so to find out he
’d came only to see me. Then, when he sort of stood up for me with Patrick, that was the highlight of my evening. Sitting up, I leaned over and took a long whiff of the roses that sat by my bed. The sweet scent brought a smile to my face.

Turning on the lamp beside my bed, I looked around my dreary room.
 Now that I was working a better paying job, I could hopefully afford to start making this place feel more like home. Swinging my legs over the side of my bed, I slid my feet into my well-worn slippers. I headed towards the kitchen in hopes that a nice warm cup of chamomile tea would help put me back to sleep. The house felt eerily large and quiet since Macy wasn’t here. She’d been gone before, and I’d never felt uneasy about being home alone. However, with that nightmare plaguing me, I was a little more on edge.

As I stood waiting for my tea to brew, I thought I heard rustling in the bushes outside.
 I held my breath, waiting to see if I heard it again. I did, but it was followed up by a soft meow. I let out an anxious laugh.

 
“You’re really spooking yourself,” I muttered to the air. 

Shaking off my crazy thoughts, I finished preparing my tea then went to curl up on the couch.
 The warmth of the cup felt good in my hands. Softly I blew on the hot liquid before bringing the cup to my lips. Grabbing the throw off the back of the couch, I picked up the remote to turn on the TV. Some background noise would help fill the silence.

***

You need to admit you’re losing it with her.
“No, I have everything under control,” I spoke firmly, trying to convince myself I still had control.

I descended the stairs, hoping some time with Pet would help put things right again.
 I’d believed that time at my piano would give me clarity, normally that was my solace, but even playing didn’t calm the unrest I felt.
You need to quit whatever this game is with her.
 I shook my head at that thought. I never quit, so that was not an option.

“I know what I
’m doing.”

I wanted to continue to believe that, but there was something about Calida that was starting to mess with my head. She was changing the way I did things.

When I reached the landing, I saw Pet sitting in the middle of the bed, waiting. She was a thinker, and it looked like she was up to something. As I entered the room, Pet got up off the bed, trying not to wince as she moved.

“Good morning Master,” she said with a smile. She was definitely up to something.
 I watched as she took a confident step closer to me. “How may I serve you today?” she asked running her hands up my chest.

Her hands started moving farther down my chest to my stomach.
 I closed my eyes and thought of Calida. My brief distraction was all she needed. I felt a knee in my groin then she bolted towards the door.

“Shit!” I bellowed, ignoring the pain to run after her.

I barely caught one of her feet as she tried to climb the stairs. It caused her to slip, banging her head on the metal steps. Giving a strong tug, I pulled her back down. She flipped onto her back and frantically kicked her legs trying to get free. I pinned her to the floor, straddling her to keep her in place. With her legs now useless, she began throwing punches, and when I grabbed her arms, she turned her head and sank her teeth into my forearm. I grimaced at the pain, using my free arm, I leaned forward putting pressure on her neck until she let go.  

Spit flew from her mouth, and her eyes were wild like some rabid animal. She continued to try and fight me, but since she
’d refused to eat the food I’d provided, she was getting weak. I flipped her over in order to put her in a sleeper hold. She kept struggling, but eventually she lost consciousness. Her head hit the cement floor with a soft thud. I glanced down at my arm. She’d bit me so hard she drew blood. 

I laughed at the amount of fight she had in her but cussed myself for being distracted.
 Leaving her on the floor, I walked back into the cell and washed the blood off my arm. Looking at the severity of the bite, I knew exactly what her punishment would be. Dragging her towards the back room, I secured her in the chair that sat in the middle of the room. I got sloppy; I never got sloppy. Something would have to be done about Calida. She was becoming a distraction, and I didn’t like distractions.

Pet started coming to while I was laying my tools out on the table beside her.

“Ow…,” she moaned. She attempted to lift her hand to her head only to find it was strapped to the chair. “Wha…no…let me out of this thing!” she screamed frantically when she realized her head and feet were also held in place by a leather strap.

“I have a few things I need to adjust first, and then I will let you go back to your room.” I picked up the needle-nose pliers from the table.
 

“What...what are you gonna do with those?”

“Just a little dental work,” I replied with a smile.

She instantly pressed her lips tightly together and tried to turn her head as much as she could against the restraints.

“Come on. Open up,” I teased.  “We can do this the easy way or the hard way.”

Her eyes grew large as I came closer with the pliers, and she pressed her lips even tighter together.
 Her hands gripped tightly onto the arm of the chair, and her whole body was tensed in defense of the pending attack. It was going to be the hard way. I put down the pliers and let my fingers walk down the back of her hand. It took a little effort, but I pried her pointer finger free from the arm of the chair. She watched me, lips still tightly sealed. I closed my eyes and smiled as I yanked it back. 

I felt the bones snap, and she cried out in pain.
 I looked at her, tears were streaming down her face, but she had those lips pressed together again. I moved over to the next finger. The fear in her eyes fueled me as I pulled back on the second finger. When she screamed out this time, I forced the Ratchet Gag into her mouth then cranked it open. She tried to talk, but the beauty of the contraption prevented her from doing so.