The Taming (Wild Cats Part Two): Erotic Romance Series (2 page)

“Have you missed me, my pet?” he asked sardonically. He knew she didn’t like to be called pet, or be delegated into the role of someone less than a girlfriend. But she would have to change with him, too. She would have to learn to feel cruelty. There would be no other way, no other recourse. She has to be tamed. 

“I am not your pet,” she said angrily and tried for the door.

“Oh… but you are.”

He let the panther take over. 

He pushed her and she fell face down on the desk. He held her down with his hand on her back so that she couldn’t move, lifted her skirt, simply unzipped his trousers and invaded her from behind--viciously. He heard the first scream.

Her desperate struggling to free herself made no difference to him, nor her loud screams of pain. He didn’t care a bit if they were loud enough to be heard all over the Castle. With every scream coming out of her mouth, he pushed even harder.

The whole thing ended in a few minutes. He pulled her back to her feet, not minding that she was trembling all over, and informed her in a cold, emotionless voice that he would have to leave immediately, away for business. 

He would arrange for one of the guards to return her home safely.

“I am terribly sorry for this inconvenience. Thank you for a wonderful time,” he concluded and left the room while she was just standing there, shocked, and sobbing. 

he could feel the beast inside himself roaring…

ILIANA felt like she had woken up from a wonderful dream into her worst nightmare. 

His cruelty, his vicious attack and his total lack of remorse afterwards were beyond her sphere of comprehension. 

Her amazing, wonderful lover had turned into a dark demon, demonstrating an evil side of his personality she had no idea existed. She had to pull herself together and realized that once again, she would probably have to fight for her safety.

Next morning, the same guard who had brought her home the previous night was at her door again. He gave her a cell phone ordering her to keep it always close to her because Nickolas would call her. She instead informed her boss at the coffee shop that she was sick and would probably stay away for a few days. 

The phone rang at about 10 the same night. She didn’t answer it and it didn’t ring again.

On the second night at the exact same time, it rang again. It continued ringing every five minutes for about an hour. She only answered it to say something.

“Go to hell!” she screamed and hang-up. 

She turned it off.

On the third night she felt strong enough to confront him, so she answered it. He was smooth and polite as if they were two strangers having a civilized conversation. 

He informed her he would probably return the day after the next. And then asked what she was wearing.

“Nothing you’ve bought,” she retorted.

“Then better take it off,” he ordered.

Her mouth opened in shock at the audacity. But before she could say something to let him know exactly what she thought of that, there was another command.

“I want you to touch you fucking tits right now, and knead them, just the way I do it.”

She blinked. “What?”

“I’m touching my dick right now, pussy cat... seeing you in my head. It’s hard because I’m thinking of you. Now, take the damn clothes off and start touching yourself. Do exactly what I tell you… make me come… Iliana…”

She gulped.

And before she knew it, she was taking her clothes off with hands trembling in excitement.

Chapter Four

THEY ENDED up having phone sex without her even understanding how they got there. It was raw and to her despair, incredibly stimulating.

On the fourth night, she went out and left the phone at home. There was no doubt that she found having phone sex with Nickolas to be incredibly fulfilling sexually, but didn’t do anything to her self-esteem. She mustn’t enjoy it when someone was clearly only using her. She mustn’t come just because at the moment, she was what could make Nickolas hard wherever he was on the other side of the globe, like he’d said before he hanged up. 

There would be no future for them. He’s going to hurt her again. Hadn’t she suffered that with Ramon? At the time, she had no choice. It was either him, or a lot of men forcing her once she become a prostitute. And drugs. And suicide probably as soon as she could manage it. 

Besides, Ramon had cared in his own way. It was a cutthroat world. Each had their way of surviving. Ramon, unfortunately, was not able to survive long enough to change his life.

Now she has a choice. She wasn’t going to ruin it.

An old friend of hers from the coffee shop worked as a waitress elsewhere and she decided to go and see her. It turned out that her new place of work was a strip-club, one of the most infamous in the city. Iliana didn’t care. She had seen much worse places than this in her early years and knew well how to move in there without attracting unwanted attention. Thank god for Ramon’s lessons on that. She stayed there for a couple of hours, talked and laughed with her friend. 

When she returned home, she didn’t bother to see if she had any unanswered phone calls.

FOR FOUR days she stayed in the apartment. She hardly went out. She thought, remembered and analyzed every single day of the last two months. 

She realized she had lived in a fairy-tale with a dreamy castle, beautiful clothes and luxuries beyond compare, carefully organized for her by her handsome, charming prince. Except that she didn’t believe in fairies anymore and her prince was much darker than he showed initially.

He had never spoken about himself, not really. After two months she knew nothing about his past, his dreams, his inner thoughts. She had no idea what his feelings were for her except that he wanted to keep her. As a pet, she thought in sarcasm. As if she was a stray cat. 

Ever since they first made love, if it was love, he carefully manipulated her into becoming a personal sex pet and never accepted her as an equal companion. He had locked her in a golden cage, cunningly cut her off from all her friends, her own self, her world. 

She could see it clearly now and it caused chills all over her body. God… she had seen the cheese…how could she have missed the mousetrap? How could she have forgotten all the survival lessons she had taken as a child… as a teenager? Was she in such desperate need of love? 

Obviously
, she bitterly thought. He was like a god-given gift. He was unbelievably good, and she has never met anyone like him. She had felt a certain darkness, but she never tried to believe it would seep out and hurt her. She stupidly believed in his words that she would be safe. With him, in his beautiful castle.

The Castle… she adored the place, but she always had this weird feeling about it that she couldn’t exactly place. Suddenly, it came to her. How could she have missed it? 

Or had she deliberately tried to block it, because she never wanted the illusion to end?

Not a single photo anywhere.

Not a book left forgotten half-read on the bureau beside the bed. Of course he had people that took care of the house, but still… everything was in perfect order, clean, organized… cold. Like those model-houses the estate agencies kept. 

Perfect, dreamy. No one lived in them until they were purchased.

His past… 

No one really knew anything about his life before he came to the city. The vague story that was circulated, about being born by the sea, raised by conservative but loving parents and studied economics at a university in Boston... just didn’t fit. His body as she knew it when they make love was full of scars.

And that raging darkness inside him was not something acquired by a happy, peaceful life. 

Only in a place where she grew up would he get to be like that, she knew that well.

Chapter Five

AND HIS relationship with the press.

He complained about the paparazzi, but she knew that the press had written barely anything about him, always only about his work and his business. 

A handsome, rich and single man like him would be eaten alive by the media sharks. They would be publishing photos of him with his women companions to restaurants and theaters, gossiping about his latest conquest. 

And yet, nothing. The journalists would have had a celebration writing about his newest affair with a simple waitress. Again, not a single article anywhere. 

That wasn't possible.

Unless someone has enough money and power to shut people up.

He's dangerous
, she repeated to herself again. And she really began to feel fear, the kind that she'd only feel when she thought about the panthers. 

She shivered.

IN THE morning of the fifth day, he texted her.

“I’ll be out of your apartment at 6:30. Be outside, ready, or I’ll come in and get you.”

Fine. She would be ready, she told herself once she's gotten over the mixed feelings that assailed her at the thought that he's coming back and that she would see him again.

She'd get through this, she told herself again. She'd survived many terrible things that would have been too much for someone her age or even older. She would survive this.

He was right on time to pick her up and so was she, standing outside her apartment building. She got inside the car and they exchanged glances.

“Are you well?” He was polite and distant. She couldn’t help but notice how tired he looked, but she wouldn’t let that soften her. His face was cold and emotionless but his eyes were burning.

“Perfectly well, thank you” she answered back, coldly but politely as well.

NICKOLAS COULD tell that she was different. Her body was full of tension and her eyes were the cold blue of the sky after a winter blizzard. Once again, he wasn’t certain of what to expect from her and he wondered if maybe he shouldn’t take her out, if it would be better to stay at the Castle. 

But the rage inside him was barely uncontrollable. As well as the fear. 

For her own safety, they should be amongst people tonight.

THEY WERE both silent as they drove to the Castle. 

When they got inside, he spoke. “I’ll take you to my favorite restaurant tonight. You should dress up.”

She looked at his black suit and the green tie. She decided she would need all the weapon she could have, so she agreed. 

She chose a tiny silk silver dress, very short, with a bold neckline that revealed half of her voluptuous bosom. His eyes sparkled when he saw her choice, but he didn’t make a comment.

Her choice actually surprised him, unpleasantly so. 

Oh, she was different alright. It seemed that the little stray cat finally revealed her sharp claws. It was not a good night to do so, though. Not with the way his rational thinking and patience was diminishing by the minute. 

His choice of shoes and underwear showed his embattled mood as well. Black, high-heeled stiletto shoes were his pick. 

“How about the underwear? It’s your choice,” she reminded him with an innocent look on her face.

His look was sardonic. “Oh… I think we’ll skip them tonight. No underwear.”

Bastard. She would get him still.

She put eye-liner all around her eyes and a fire-red lipstick. 

Once dressed, she gazed at herself in the mirror to make sure that she looked exactly like a typical call girl.

GOING OUT tonight was a very bad idea. 

The tension inside the car was thick enough to hold with both hands. He couldn’t take his eyes away from her legs, since he had a very clear view of almost every inch of them with this dress she wore. 

And her breasts… one careless move and he was afraid it would all come out in the open. He didn’t know what was stronger any more, his lust or his anger. They were both mixed together in a dangerous concoction, ready enough to explode in a moment.

He shouldn’t have left her alone for so many days, not after the incident in his office. He didn’t have much of a choice, but he should have handled it differently, he could see that now. 

He had given her time to expect him, to think, and manage a reaction. Know that it would not do her any goodto resist. They came from the same place, damn it. She shouldn't even be fighting him.

Had he underestimated her? Mistakenly believed that since she lived in a neighborhood the mirror of his own, she would be like the women he'd met there? This was clearly the case.

Then he would have to regroup.

Tonight they would enter the next stage of his plan. She would succumb to his will, whether she wanted it...

Or not.

Chapter Six

ENTERING THE restaurant, they attracted too much attention they both didn’t like, for different reasons each. Nickolas saw many familiar faces among the tables but avoided talking to anyone.

Iliana wouldn't even spare a look at the men who she knew would only be thinking of breasts spilling out of the neckline of her short dress.

She attacked him right after the appetizer.

“So, how was your journey?” Her voice was ironic and aggressive but not loud.

“Very profitable, thank you."

“I’m glad for you. Now, I think we ought to clear a few things out. First, you will never treat me the way you did the day you left. If you even try to hurt me again, in any way, I will kill you. Second, I am not wearing any clothes bought by you again. If you don’t like my clothes, you don’t like me. Third, I will need more time for myself, meaning we will not be able to meet every day. I wish for time to see my friends and do other stuff. Fourth, if you really want us to continue this, you’ll have to come out in the open. You’ll have to talk about yourself, your past, everything. You will tell me everything there is to know about you. The real you!”

His words were painful and poisonous, given in a very cold, controlled voice.

“I see you have come tonight in a rather murderous mood. However, I will endure it… for a while. The incident in the library you refer to was rather unfortunate. However it was a mere attempt at blowing off steam. You couldn’t be that hurt. Otherwise you wouldn’t be here now, would you?”