Madeleine Abducted (23 page)

“No.”
A simple answer, one so true to its core, it struck Aaron to realize that he’d
become possessive of this woman, couldn’t stand the thought of any man or woman
laying another hand on her.

Nodding
her head,
Maddy
knew he wasn’t as indecent as he
believed himself to be. “If I stay, if I endure the acts of The Estate,
continue to be your slave, will the alliance that
Xander
spoke of be able to destroy your father? To destroy those vile men who watched
as I was raped by another woman?” She didn’t look up from the cord around her
wrist, too afraid to see the green of Aaron’s eyes.

Reaching
out to touch her, Aaron pulled back when he remember she wasn’t his. “It’s not
for you to be concerned,
Maddy
. Once you leave here,
you never have to worry about this place again, you can live your
life
as you should, play your instrument, get married and
make babies if that’s what you want. The affairs of The Estate are beneath you,
you are so much more than any member of this godforsaken hell hole.”

“But
I want him dead.” She finally looked
up,
saw the shock
in his eyes at the vengeance in her tone. “Don’t I have a choice? Or are you as
entitled as your father, feeling like you have the right to make decisions for
me, the right to tell me what will happen to my life.”

Aaron
shook his head, not comprehending what she was attempting to say. “I have taken
no choice from you. I’m trying to let you live your life as you see fit, not
under the command of men so corrupt they blanket the world in violence and
death.”

“Then
I choose to stay, to remain as your slave, to allow you the time that you need
to ensure that your bastard father dies. If you are giving me back my choice,
then I choose to stay.”

Shaking
his head in refusal of what she was asking, he watched as
Maddy
fell to her knees on the ground. Her head held in her hands, she sobbed so
violently, that her small body shook with the force of her sorrow. Aaron
dropped to his knees beside her and took her small body into his arms. Her skin
felt like ice from the frigid temperature outside, the small bits of light
reflecting beautifully off her alabaster skin. He allowed her to cry,
completely overtaken by the woman who dared care about him when he’d been her
nightmare. Something flickered within him, a light breaking through the black
recesses of his soul, a small glint of hope where before, there’d been none.

“They’ll
torture you. If I let you stay, they’ll get to you eventually,
Maddy
. I can’t protect you when we’re in the ballroom, it
will only be so much time before they push me too far … ”

“So
then, why let me go?” Her tear streaked face turned up to his, the blue of her
eyes glistening with her tears yet unshed. “If you release me, I have no where
to run. I heard
Xander
when he said that your
father’s reach was all over the world. You’d die and he’d come after me just to
enslave me again. I’d be right back in the same position as I am now, except I
wouldn’t have you to help me through it. I’d belong to one of those monsters …”

“I
AM one of those monsters!”

Pushing
up on her knees, she brushed her lips softly against his, the difference in
their body temperatures a startling feeling. “You may be one of those monsters,
but there’s something else inside you, a kindness that you didn’t have to show
me. I don’t believe you are exactly the same as those men.”

Aaron
stared down in wonderment of the woman in his arms. Amazed that she would
choose to endure torture, the possibility of rape, and that she would walk
naked through a building full of ruthless thieves and murderers, just to see
justice done to the man who’d abducted her.
Such strength for
such a small woman, such courage for a woman who once preferred to hide.
“
Maddy
… ”

“Please,
Master.” Her beautiful blues sparkled as she looked up into his. “Let me help
you bring down the man who torments us both.” Not waiting for a reply she rose
again, taking his mouth with hers. Her tongue invaded his mouth, shyly teasing
the edges of his tongue, until he lost himself to her kiss. Deepening the kiss,
Aaron pulled her up into his lap until she straddled his legs with hers. Heat blooming
within him, he allowed himself to become absorbed in the moment, not caring if
it was wrong to allow her to stay, not caring whether he could endure watching
her undergo torment at the hands of The Estate. Not only would she risk herself
to exact vengeance for what his father had done to her, but in revenge of what
his father had done to him. Her need for vengeance was something he could
understand. Begrudgingly he pulled away from her kiss, his hand traveling down
the cold skin of her back.

“Yes,
Mouse. Yes, you can stay.”

Two
weeks had passed since that night in the woods, two weeks where Aaron and
Xander
worked fervently to build up the alliance against
Aaron’s father; two weeks since Aaron had allowed himself to touch his captive.
Maddy
remained the diligent slave to her Master when
they’d traveled the halls, but she was allowed more freedom when safely hidden
away by the walls of Aaron’s quarters. Not quite treated as an equal, she was
allowed to roam the apartment, was given clothes to wear when she was outside
of the public eye. Aaron asked that she sleep in the spare bedroom where she’d
spent her first night here, her heart breaking at his rejection of her in his
bed. Keeping busy with work, Aaron avoided
Maddy
as
much as possible, while
Xander
kept her company most
days and nights.
Xander
had been surprised when
Maddy
had returned with Aaron that night, couldn’t believe
that she was willing to exist within a nightmare in order to ensure the death
of the man who dragged her into it. Her presence was welcomed by Aaron’s best
friend; but was also a burden because
Xander
had to
stay with her and couldn’t escort Aaron to the meetings between the alliance
members, or to the executions on behalf of The Estate. Often Aaron would return
home, his shirt stained with blood, the darkness in him still attempting to
keep tight control of his mind.

On
one such day,
Maddy
sat with
Xander
at the table. Discussing nothing of importance, they laughed easily with each
other,
Xander
still prone to calling her ‘Cricket’
rather than using her real name. While
Xander
made
jokes regarding the size of the cello in comparison to
Maddy
,
the front door creaked open as Aaron snuck inside. As usual, he silently looked
her over, as if ensuring she was well, before walking away without a word,
disappearing into the corridor that led to his room. Her heart fell when he
avoided her, her eyes tracking his path before returning to the startling blue
of
Xander’s
eyes.

“He
hates me.” The hurt of rejection stained her words, easily discernible to the
man sitting across from her at the table. “He’s barely spoken to me since I
chose to stay. I feel like he doesn’t want me here.”

Xander
sighed heavily, slid his hands across the wood of the table to
touch hers. “He doesn’t want you here … but not for the reasons you think. He’s
worried about you, Cricket, he doesn’t know what his father will plan next.” Pausing
momentarily, concerned etched its way across
Xander’s
expression. “You are his weakness and I don’t think he knows how to deal with
that fact.”

Pulling
her hands free from
Xander’s
,
Maddy
leaned back in her chair, looked down to spin the cello string she still had
wrapped around her wrist. Silence loomed over them as they sat for a while
longer.

Standing
up,
Xander
looked down at her and winked while
tucking his chair back under the table. “I’m going to talk with him. He had a
meeting today with some of the members of the alliance; I need to know if there
are any tasks I should complete as a result.”

Nodding
her understanding,
Maddy
stood as well, and walked
alongside
Xander
as they approached the corridor. “I
think I’ll go into the music room for a while, see if I can ease the pain in my
heart by playing.” When they reached the room,
Maddy
turned to enter, closing the door behind her as
Xander
continued down the hall.

Picking
up her bow, she spent a few minutes applying a healthy sheen of rosin to the
hair before picking up the cello and making sure it was in tune. Sliding her
fingers along the strings, she allowed the harmonics to take her back in time,
when life had been about nothing more than music, when the world was only a
scary place that existed on the outside of the small house she called her home.
Wondering what happened to that home, she started playing a song that her uncle
had taught her when she was a child, a soulful lullaby from some other country
for which she couldn’t remember the name.

Pulling
her bow across the largest string, the deep bass of the notes vibrated
throughout the room. Sorrow spilled from the sounds of those notes, her
emotions transformed into sound so beautiful, and she couldn’t keep from
shedding a tear as she played. A string of higher pitched notes slowly leading
down to one low, soulful tone, the vibrato tightening her out-of-practice
wrist. Slow and steady the notes changed, a touch of sunlight covered in the
black clouds of a building storm. She knew happier songs, small tunes that
would make most people smile in delight, but those were not the songs she chose
this day, her heart needing an audible expression of her melancholy, a release
from the built up tension in her muscles, bones and spirit. After going through
three or four songs, her shoulders dropped with sadness, her head not finding
the usual escape provided within her music. Placing the cello down on its side,
Maddy
sat quietly for a moment, stared at the couch
where Aaron had sat just a few weeks before, remembered watching his seductive
stride to her from across the room, the way his body and mouth felt when
touching her skin.

Finally
standing up from her chair, she moved to sit on the piano bench to look over
the music, surprise alighting her face when she saw that it was by a composer
she didn’t recognize. Reading over the music she discovered that it would be a
sad piece, but powerful in its intensity
;
fitting for
the environment in which Aaron had been raised. She reached up to the music,
ran her hand along the notes of the bass clef in the piece, imagined the song
if played by piano and cello together. Looking back down to the keys she ran
her fingers over the surface a few times, finally daring to press down on a
key. The tone of the piano was exquisite, the acoustics in the room helping it
echo throughout the space. She played another key and then another, before running
her fingers along them, not unlike a child who didn’t know how to play.

“Isn’t
that the wrong instrument, Madeleine?”

Spinning
so quickly, she nearly fell off the
bench,
Maddy’s
eyes met the emerald green of Aaron’s. A light in
his eyes glimmered, the corners of his mouth twitching as he attempted to hold
back a smile.
Maddy
looked at him, struck dumb by his
beauty, the air about him speaking of danger and passion all at the same time. He
was entrancing; an enigma of sorts, but one where the mystery within him
revealed itself when you were least expecting it, when you swore that only
darkness truly resided in the body of the man who enjoyed killing. Aaron
laughed quietly, his shoulders shaking slightly with the sound.
Maddy
just kept staring, not understanding how he could go
from being barely able to look at her to a man able to laugh at the effect he
had on her.

“Are
you going to answer me?” His head angled to the side, he continued to make
light of her shock in that moment.

Finally
finding herself,
Maddy
shook her head before saying,
“I’m sorry, Master, I … I thought it would be okay if I … I shouldn’t have
touched it.” Why she reverted back to her behavior as his slave, she wasn’t
sure. It made it easier for her to communicate with
him,
sheltered her from having to make decisions that went against her shy nature.

Shock
at her response flickered across his face quickly before being replaced by the
expression of a man who wanted nothing more than to dominate. His voice lowered
sinfully deep, the light that once glimmered in his eye turning into the
beginning of a slow heat. “You know what this means, don’t you slave?”

Her
body shuddered at that word, moisture building between her thighs, she couldn’t
believe how easily she responded to him, how much she wanted him. “No.”

“No,
what?”

“No,
Master.” The corner of her lip peeked up, this exchange placing her back in
familiar territory, a place where she knew how to associate with him, how to
communicate with him. Although she wasn’t sure why, but by acting as his
property, by surrendering herself fully to him, it made her feel safe, the
weight of the world lifted off her shoulders, allowed him to make the decisions
she was too afraid to make.

“You’ve
touched something of mine … so, now, I get to touch something of yours.” Moving
from the doorway so that he could close the door and ensure their privacy, he
slowly stalked her. Keeping his eyes trained on hers, he let the pressure build
between them so that he could watch her body tremble as he approached. Even
while she was clothed, he could imagine the curves of her body, her supple and
weighted breasts, the way her mahogany hair contrasted sharply against the pure
white of her skin.

Just
as he approached her, his hands tightened into fists as he held himself back
from touching her right then and there. Standing over her so that she had to
crane her neck to look up at him, he smiled, enjoyed the way her lips were
slightly parted from anticipation, the way her skin flushed from his scrutiny
of her face and body. Stepping quickly aside, he surprised her as he moved to
sit in her chair.

“Come
here, slave. Stand in front of me.”

Maddy
pushed
herself
up on shaking legs,
used her hand to grip the side of the piano so that she could steady herself. Her
heart raced making her lightheaded, her chest heaving as the rate of her
breathing increased. Hesitantly, she stepped toward him, moving so slowly, until
stopping a short distance from where he sat. Her eyes searched his, her body
awakening, nerves coming alive with trepidation and want.

Aaron’s
eyes slowly looked over her body. She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth,
forced herself to remain still for his perusal. She’d enjoyed this feeling,
knowing that she was his to play with, knowing that while he took his fill of
her body, he gave her such extremely rewarding pleasure in return.

“I
want you on your knees.” Broken up with hoarseness caused by his need, his
voice rubbed itself along her senses, made her quiver in anticipation of his
touch.

Maddy
immediately lowered herself to the floor, the sting of the hard
surface against her knees a sweet feeling when mixed with the eagerness for
what was to come. Aaron reached down to gather the bottom hem of her shirt in
his hands; a slight grin on his face as he pulled it up to remove it from her
body.
Maddy
obediently lifted her arms, would allow
him any liberties with her body that he wanted to take. She was so new to this,
so completely out of her league that she preferred submission, luxuriated in
the trust she granted him by allowing him to own her completely.

Once
he pulled the material from her body, he placed it on the floor beside them. His
lips parted slightly as his eyes devoured her breasts. Reaching out slowly, he
took the weight of them into his hands, pinched the tips between his fingers
enticing them into tight buds.
Maddy’s
head rolled
back with the feeling, her body readying itself for whatever it was he wanted
to do.

Releasing
her, Aaron pulled his hands back to his sides, continued to admire the stunning
woman who, at this moment, was
choosing
to give herself to him. A strange difference, her choice to give herself to him
rather than taking what he wanted; it was enough to floor him as it stoked the
flames of the inferno even higher than they’d ever been.

“Unbuckle
my pants, Mouse, stroke me with your hand.”

Maddy
hesitantly reached for the buckle of his belt, the warmth of
him against her hands a heady sensation. Loosening the leather from it’s metal
clasp, she brought her hands closer to his body, could feel the tightening in
his pants from his excitement. Satisfaction blooming within her at the
realization that she affected him just as he affected her, a smile threatened
her lips as she quickly unbuttoned his pants. Pulling down the zipper, she
found that he wore nothing underneath, her ability to pull him free made easy
and quick. Gripping her hand around the width of him, she stroked along the
satin feel of his skin, the muscle underneath engorged to such fullness, it
felt so unforgivingly solid within her hand. Her breaths now coming in short
pants, she jumped suddenly when his finger came under her chin to pull her gaze
to his. He grinned seductively, the chiseled quality to his face softened by
the expression; however, his eyes gave away the lust that burned within him.

“Kiss
me, Madeleine.” Barely a whisper, his command pleased her, let her know that
this exchange was going to end in exquisite passion.

Aaron
had intended for
Maddy
to push up, to bring the
fullness and warmth of her lips to his, but when she wrapped those lips around
the head of his cock, started suckling the tip allowing her tongue to dart out
to stroke along the shaft, he melted into his seat. The realization that she
needed more specific instruction at times, that she was so new to this that she
wouldn’t always understand what he’d intended, didn’t escape him; but he was so
undone, so completely overpowered by the feel of her mouth wrapped around him
that he let the misunderstanding go, favoring the moist heat of her mouth where
she’d placed it. He groaned, leaning back in the chair, he allowed her to
explore him with her tongue, to please him in such a selfless way that it was
endearing. She didn’t have her head in his lap in an effort to get something
from
him,
she did it out of the pure desire to please
him. So different from all the other women he’d been with
;
his angel, a woman who had unknowingly taken him captive in return.