Hope Restrained (Estate Series) (11 page)

“Fuck you.”

His eyes darkened and his chiseled jaw pulsed from his
clenched teeth. Eventually he tore into the thick silence, by admitting, “That’s
one of them — yes.”

Her heart fluttered in her chest and her mind reacted with
uncertainty and dread. Had he taken her body prisoner while at the same time
capturing her heart?

His expression grew serious. “Is your sister like you? Does
she kill?”

A single tear slipped down her cheek. “No. She’s innocent … an
artist. She wouldn’t hurt a fly.”

The murderous expression that manifested on his face took
Hope by surprise. His skin reddened and his body quivered with anger. “How long
have they had her.” His words were like cold steel slicing across the thickness
of the air.

“I’m not sure anymore.” Softer, she added, “Thanks to you.”

He looked at her with twin blue gems floating within the
white fire of his eyes. “It’s been three days. You should have told me when we
first caught you!” Rage lit his eyes impossibly brighter.

“Would you have cared about my reason when you first took
me? I’m nothing more than an assassin, a threat. And my sister is of no use to
you either. You would have killed her along with everybody else in that house. You
may still. If I can get back to her, I have a chance of getting her out, of
saving her life.”

His face softened, sympathy obvious behind the blue of his
eyes. “I’m sorry to say this but more than likely, she’s dead already; and if
not, she’ll want to be.”

Fury bloomed in Hope’s chest. But her shock at his next
words, was like ice through her veins.

“And we wouldn’t have killed everyone, we have no desire to
take innocent lives. You can choose to believe me or not, it doesn’t matter,
but this information needs to be given to Aaron. He’ll make the final decision
regarding what will be done.”

She opened her mouth to respond, but placed a finger against
it to silence her. “You’ve lost. It’s time you accept your defeat — fighting
will only lead to further embarrassment and injury.” Uncovering her mouth, he
leaned in and placed a light kiss on her lips. “I prefer not to have to punish
you further.”

Her ability to speak was stolen by what he’d said. Anger
tickled along her spine, but something else, something she’d never felt and
couldn’t recognize grew inside her — simultaneously frightening and
exciting her.

He moved away from her and off the bed. “I’m going to call
Aaron. I’m sure he’ll want to discover what you know as soon as possible.”

When he left the room, he took the feeling of strength and
control with him and Hope balled over herself wondering how she’d gone from
absolute hatred, to a weak kneed response when he was near. She was angry, she
didn’t know whether she could believe him or if she could trust him, but given
that he’d obliged her, that he’d proven his ability to dominate and overpower
her, she knew he was the only chance she had to save her twin.

Honor’s body felt
broken, her bones and muscles battered and bruised, the scalding water burning
the areas where her skin had been torn. She didn’t dare smile even though she
knew she was being prepared. Whenever they bathed her — her angel came to
her, gave her another chance to prove her obedience.

They pulled her from
the cement slab, the metal slats of the grate imprinted across her legs where’d
she been sat over it. Even though she could barely move, and even though her
body had been pushed to a point where she could no longer fight, could no
longer resist the actions of the monsters that held her — she smiled. It
no longer bore the crimson stain of their punishment. Her skin was washed clean
and he would be pleased with her beauty.

Thrown into a corner
of the room, they no longer bound her arms and legs; realizing that her body
was too frail and her mind was too far gone for her to attempt escape. She knew
that her angel was the only person who had the power to remove her from this
place. She wanted to please him — HAD to please him. She was tired of the
nightmare. She wanted to be good.

She heard a noise at
the door, the knob flicking once … twice … three times … until finally the dark
wood broke away from the wall and his body filled the broad expanse of the
doorway.

She wanted to call to
him but knew better than to speak. He liked her to moan, to cry … but never to
scream or talk unless told. She hated the pain, hated having to bite her lip
against the splitting agony, to taste the bitter iron on her tongue.

“Are you ready for me
today, pet? You’ve been punished enough for your last failure.”

She nodded, not daring
to make a sound or disappoint him. She knew she was ready, her body numb to the
abuse of the monsters, only her angel taking the part of her that led inside.

He lifted her by her
arms, supporting the weight of her body where her legs now failed her. She
cringed in fear that he’d be angry about her weakness, but he carried her,
granting her a reprieve from her shame of not being strong enough to move in
front of him.

Placing her over the
ice cold, metallic surface, he secured her in chains, exposing her in all
places he cared to explore. She was his pet, his to do with as he pleased and
to do so without the complaint of her screams.

His hands rubbed along
the bruised muscles of her ass. “It’ll be a shame to damage this body further. Behave
my pet so I can take you away, so I can rebuild you into the most perfect of my
possessions.

Slowly he walked
around her, eventually moving in front and holding a rubber strap in his hands.
“Open your mouth.”

Placing the strap in
her mouth, he instructed, “This will protect your mouth. You can bite down
without breaking your teeth. Thank your angel.”

Speaking around the
strap through her mouth, she responded, “Thank you.”

After he fastened two
small chains to the ends of the strap where it stuck out at the sides of her
mouth, he walked behind her, using the chains to pull at her like the reins on
a horse. Her head lifted, the skin of her neck stretched taut and overextended
from the position.

He pushed inside, not
slowing to give her body a chance to accept his width. She bit down, but didn’t
scream, however she wasn’t yet happy with herself — they reached this
point before. It was what came next that scared her.

Moving within her, she
heard the skin of his body slapping against her, felt his width rubbing along
the walls of her core. Her moans joined his, her mind in a state of elation
that she’d behaved, her body trembling at the force of his strokes within her.

“Let me know how you
like my gift, pet.”

She moaned, the
release of the sound causing him to swell within her — her body quivering
violently around him as he moved.

Heat blossomed inside,
building like an avalanche about to cover her completely, her breath stolen by
the peak over which he drove her. Just as she neared the edge, just as she was
about to be lost to the oblivion of primal pleasure, he pulled out. She wanted
to cry, but bit down in frustration knowing that her complaint would not please
him.

His hand rubbed over
her ass again, his finger finding the small delicate space. She trembled,
knowing what would come.

She felt him position
himself, pushing forward one quick time before pushing again, burying himself
fully within. The skin ripped and despite biting into the strap, she couldn’t contain
the scream that burst from her body.

Ignoring her pain, he
powered against her until he found the release he sought. When he pulled free,
her sobs shook her body more than what he’d just done. She heard his boots
across the floor as he came around the table to face her. Once he’d removed the
strap from her mouth, she felt where her lips had torn from the thickness of
the rubber. He grabbed her hair, pulling her mouth open again.

“Remove your shame,
pet. Perhaps next time you’ll be ready for me.”

Xander stood by the side of the bed, his eyes raking across
Hope’s back when he instructed: “I’ll need to restrain you for the walk. When I
remove the shackles from your wrists, I want you to sit up and put your arms
behind you without struggling against me. The wound on your shoulder needs to
heal.”

Aaron had ordered that Xander present Hope in the ballroom. His
body had flinched in reaction to the words, resonant of a time when being
summoned meant you were about to be introduced to unspeakable horror.

Hope looked up at him from the bed. Behind the metallic
color of her eyes, he could see her struggle with whether she would do as told
or continue to fight against him. The warrior had not yet been tamed within her
and Xander was pleased that her spirit wasn’t so easily broken. She continued
to impress him even now that she’d been cornered and broken down. He hoped the
glint of rebellion never truly left her eye, it was what attracted him, made
him so intoxicated with heat and desire that he could barely control himself
when he was near her.

They stared at each other; their eyes exchanging words
without breaking the silence in the room. He willed her to do as she was told
and she fought against him. The beauty of her eventual submission was more
exquisite than Xander could imagine. Slowly, acceptance passed over her
expression, her eyes still alight with a small flame not easily extinguished. But
her body turned, the long, lean muscles moving over her frame as her hands came
behind her, the backs resting on the mattress as she resigned herself to his
dominion.

Extracting the key from his pocket, he quickly released her
from the chains and replaced those with handcuffs. But even those actions,
simply touching her skin as he removed her from one binding just to replace it
with another — his body burned with need and he grit his teeth to pull
his hands away in order to comply with Aaron’s orders.

Once she was secured, he walked around the bed, noting how
she sat with her legs bent beneath her, her face turned down and her mahogany
hair a curtain hiding the expression she wore. His clothes hung loosely over
her shoulders and he wished to dress her in attire more suited to the spirit he
knew existed within her. He stood in front of her, watching as she sat
reverently and completely still. He didn’t want to take her from the room, wasn’t
sure he wanted to share her splendor with the occupants of the ballroom.

Grabbing her by the elbow, he led her off the bed and to the
front door of his suite. Leaning into her, he covered her back with his chest,
his breath trailing down her neck when he said, “Behave when in Aaron’s
presence. He is not as patient as I am, he won’t tolerate rebellion and I
guarantee you that his methods of ‘correction’ are not as
generous
as mine.”

The walk was familiar; nothing but the sound of his booted
steps echoing through the empty corridors as they made their way to the
ballroom. Xander felt ill to look upon the foreboding wooden doors when they
neared their destination — memories and flashbacks of the nightmares
played out on the other side of the doors, the haunting sound as they opened
before him and the terrifying sound as they closed at his back.

Entering the space, he noticed the absence of the members of
The Estate, the tables sitting empty where an audience once sat. Looking
towards the raised platform at the front of the room, he saw Aaron, Maddy and
Jason standing together talking; awaiting the arrival of a woman they
considered to be their enemy, a person not worthy of respect or remorse.

Aaron turned away from the group first, Maddy taking that as
her cue to sit down and Jason taking it as his to exit the stage and take a
seat amongst the empty tables of the room.

Xander walked Hope to the center of the room, the same space
where Maddy had been presented to Joseph — where she’d been introduced to
disgrace and shame on a scale unbelievable to even the most cruel hearted of
men. A thick blanket of tension settled over the barely occupied room, the
smallest sounds echoing across the walls. Light flickered over Hope’s hair and
skin and Xander looked up at the crystal chandelier in the room, wondering if
it cast its iridescent spark upon her body as a sign of pardon or in
condemnation.

“Thank you for joining us, Ms. Delacroix.” Aaron’s voice
rang throughout the room, his tone and demeanor inflexible in its reproach. “Xander
has explained that you are ready to tell us the reason behind your attempt on
my life.” No emotion existed within his words; the absence of which hinted
towards the dark anger to which he’d fallen. Xander looked up into the
concerned look on Maddy’s face — she’d also recognized the deep black
that wrapped itself around him. Hope didn’t respond, didn’t even bother to look
up from the floor, the shame of having been defeated resting heavily on her
once proud shoulders.

~
   
~
   
~

Dread trickled along her spine when Xander walked her
through the empty halls and through two large doors that led to the place where
all of this had started. That dread warped and twisted as soon as the doors
closed and she listened as each person took their place in the room and her
skin crawled at the sound of Aaron’s voice, a warning hidden within his words.

Her mouth was suddenly dry, her throat swelling with anger
and resentment, with fear and regret. She felt Xander behind her, the warmth of
his body rolling over hers, an unsettling comfort. The muscles of her body
tensed, her instinct screamed for her to fight, but her mind — her spirit
— those felt broken and dissolved.

“I suggest you speak quickly, Ms. Delacroix. I’m losing my
patience.”

She felt Xander’s hand against her back, his touch softly
goading her into a response. She raised her face to look at Aaron, her hair
falling back from her forehead and cheeks, her eyes opened wide against the
brilliant light played across the surfaces of the room.

Her mouth was dry when she finally answered, “You were
attacked by your own men. I’m as much a victim in this as you.”

Aaron’s shoulders rolled back on his frame and his mouth set
into a thin line. The emerald green of his eyes shot quickly to Xander and
Jason before returning to Hope. “Explain.”

She sighed, finally resigning to the fact that she had no
choice but to speak. “My sister was abducted three weeks ago. I was contacted
by a member of your network demanding that I enter The Estate compound and meet
him if I wanted to see her alive again. I complied and I was told that either I
killed you or she died. Given that I like her more than I like you, I made my
choice.”

She could see every muscle on his body tense, but then he
relaxed again, not truly affected by the insult. “Who was he?”

“He never gave me a name, or, at least, a real one.”

“You could have come to us with the information.”

“And sit back and watch you slaughter every person in that
house, including my sister? Your network is known for the sick and depraved. I
doubted you’d concern yourself with the welfare of a forced whore.”

“That’s a shame, Ms. Delacroix. We might have been able to
help you retrieve your sister. As it stands now, I doubt she lives given that
you weren’t successful in your attempt on my life and that fact has undoubtedly
spread throughout the entirety of The Estate.”

His words were another blow to her chest, the pain underlain
by the question of whether or not he told the truth.

“How many people were in the house when you arrived.”

“Fifteen guards — fourteen after I removed one’s head.
Seven women, all drugged, including my sister.”

It was dead quiet in the room as Aaron appeared to think
over the information he’d been given. Hope jumped a little when he finally
interrupted the silence.

“Jason, I put you in charge of the searches. How did the slaves
go unnoticed?”

A man approached the raised stage, his hair a shock of white
atop the sun-kissed skin of his body. He was the same height as Hope, but three
times as wide. There was something about him that disturbed her; the way he
moved, or the way he held his body; she couldn’t be sure. He turned to look at
Hope as he passed and the eerie silver of his eyes stole her breath momentarily.
He stared at her for a moment, looked at her with more familiarity than he
should.

Glancing back to Aaron, he answered, “Patrick and I both ran
the searches. I can only speak for the houses I personally entered. I guarantee
you, slaves were not being kept. I’m unsure how they would have escaped Patrick’s
notice as well.” He looked between Aaron and Hope, before adding, “I’m not sure
that what she tells us is entirely accurate, Aaron. It could be a ruse to
create a problem within the network, in order to weaken the whole by setting
the individual units against each other.”

Aaron stood frighteningly still following Jason’s
suggestion. A snake ready to strike, his green eyes shifted between Hope and
Jason. When she didn’t cower under his burning gaze, he appeared surprised that,
even though she should be terrified of what would happen, she refused to show
fear in the face of her biggest threat. She stood taller, rolling her shoulders
back in response to the suggestion that she was lying. She couldn’t understand
how the women had been missed, if searches were conducted, but she would make
sure it didn’t happen again.

“I’ll take you to the house. Right now, if need be. If you
intend to remove my sister without harming her, I’ll do whatever it takes to
assist you.” Struggling to keep her voice calm, Hope allowed herself to sink to
a dark place, to separate herself from the soul crippling fear that something
had happened to Honor — that something could happen now that she’d
involved Aaron Carmichael.

His green eyes were impassive when he turned his attention
to her. When he spoke again, he did so in a formal and controlled manner. “You’ve
attempted my life once, and now, you expect me to have you at my back? I’m
sorry, Ms. Delacroix, but I haven’t survived as long as I have by making foolish
decisions.”

She felt Xander’s hand against her, somehow knowing that
Aaron’s words had upset him. Feeling his anger like a cloud at her back, she
shivered against its heat, pulling her from the unfeeling void to which she was
attempting to escape.

Since Hope had entered the room, Maddy had been quiet in her
chair behind Aaron. However, when Aaron grew quiet, she finally punctured the
silence with her delicate voice. “If what she says is true, you should go
tonight.”

Aaron twisted his body to look her at her, before she
continued, “No woman should have to live as a slave.”

Hope’s jaw dropped and she looked between Aaron and Maddy,
not understanding how she was a slave speaking out against the very thing Aaron
had done to her. Noticing how Aaron’s expression softened at Maddy’s words only
served to confuse Hope further.

Turning back, he asked, “Are you able to describe the house,
location and features?”

Her stomach twisted over itself, she didn’t want them going
in without her, didn’t want them handling her sister not knowing what would be
done with her. But what choice did she have? “Yes.”

“Xander, I want you to obtain the necessary information from
Ms. Delacroix and place her back in the cell. Once that’s accomplished, meet me
in my suite. Jason, you will be coming with us as well. If what she says is
true, I want any men involved killed on sight. The Estate no longer tolerates
acts against innocent lives. Dissension will result in death.”

Xander’s hand wrapped her bicep almost immediately and he
pushed her along through the ballroom towards the doors leading into the west
wing. When they’d closed behind him, he stopped before pulling her back to his
chest. His mouth rested against her ear, creating tremors through her body. “I
promise you, no harm will come to your sister. I will make it my personal
mission to see to her safety once we enter that house.”

Her heart sank. Turning her head to stop his breath from
rolling across her like silk, she asked, “And will she become your property as
well?”

The blue of eyes churned like a mercurial sea when he
responded. “It would distract me from taming you. No offense, Sunshine, but it’s
not a distraction I want at the moment.”

The quiver that ran along her spine and down her legs only
intensified the fire ignited within her core by his words. Her mind reeled
against the reaction.

He must have noticed her struggle because he stepped into
her, the size of his body completely covering hers. “I’d take care of what your
body craves right now if I didn’t have to go correct your fuck up.”

Like ice melted to extinguish the building flame, her
expression twisted with anger, every muscle in her body tightening in its
desire to fight. “How fucking dare you?”

He winked. “I have no problem speaking the truth, especially
if it serves to piss you off.” He leaned over and nipped at her earlobe before
saying, “You’re much more responsive when angry.”

He didn’t give her time to respond before walking her down
the corridor and through a doorway she recognized as the room where she’d initially
been held. He immediately bound her arms and legs, but left her enough slack in
the chain where she could sit or lie down.”

Looking her over, his eyes heated at the sight of her bound
and rendered helpless. He knelt before her, grabbing her by her hair and
pulling her face towards him. His mouth brushed across hers before pushing
again — taking control of her body while silencing the confusion, anger,
and insurrection that swirled like a storm within her mind.

Pulling away, his voice dropped to a deep timbre when he
admitted, “I hope the spark of rebellion never dies inside you. I enjoy
stripping you of your fight every time I light you up inside.”