Willing Captive (15 page)

Now, I don’t know
much about negotiating, but I know you gotta start high.

“
Half hour. Minimum.” I offered.

Nox shook his head
and made a sound of disbelief. “Um. No. Five minutes.”

I tried harder,
“Gimme somethin’ I can work with, Nox. Twenty minutes.”

A small smile tugged
at his lips, but he said firmly, “Five minutes.”

My bravado failed
slightly when my next offer sounded more like a question, “Eighteen
minutes?”

His voice turned
soft. “Lily.”

My heart pounded and
my nose tingled, the stupid shake in my voice sounded as I asked
quietly, “Fifteen minutes?”

More softness.
Softer than soft. “Lily.” His voice pleading me to not push
this.

Defeat evident, I
dipped my chin to stop my quivering lips from showing as I
whispered, “Okay. Five minutes.”

Moving closer to me,
he caught my chin between his thumb and forefinger, lifting it. My
watery eyes met his icy blues. I was momentarily stunned when I saw
something akin to sympathy there.

Using his free hand,
he stroked my hair once, dropped his hand to his side and
explained, “I’m not an unreasonable guy, Lily. I know you think I’m
a dick and that’s cool. But I need you to know, I’m not
unreasonable. Not ever.”

It took me a whole
thirty seconds to get what he meant.

Meaning if there was
leeway to give, he would consider what I was asking. But he can’t
offer me leeway when there is none.

Breaking my
thoughts, he offered, “Calls made once a week. Five minutes with
your parents.” Holding my chin firm, his eyes bore into mine.
“Fifteen minutes with your sister.”

When I flung myself
at him and buried my face into his neck, he held me tightly. My
stupid tears flowing freely.

He never rushed
me.

He wouldn’t drop
me.

He was my
shield.

He would protect
me.

Against almost
anything.

***

So I guess you could
say that things between Nox and I have both improved and declined.
In the month that passed, I managed to pry some information out of
him.

Regardless of how
minimal the stupid facts are, I feel victorious.

Fact.

Nox loves iced tea.
It reminds him of home.

Once, I made the mistake of asking him if he wanted sugar. He
responded immediately, “Sweet tea’s for pussies,” then walked
away.

Fact.

Nox is fluent in
three languages and passable in six others.

He won’t tell me
which ones.

Fact.

When Nox was
sixteen, he was caught drunk as a skunk at a strip club. The owner
called his mama and she dragged him home by his ear.

Fact.

Nox hasn’t been with
a woman in close to two years.

According to
Boo.

Fact.

Getting Nox to
reveal pieces of himself is harder than pulling a tiger’s
tooth.

Fact.

Delilah Flynn
prefers to sleep with a strong arm around her waist.

A few weeks ago I
woke in a cold sweat with my heart pounding out of my chest. When I
opened my eyes, I looked to the doorway and for once, I wished I’d
seen Nox sleeping there.

Since we came back
from our first motel room adventure, Nox had left me alone. And
although I was glad he put his trust in me, that first night back,
I missed his presence and the comfort it brought.

Since that first
adventure, there have been two more.

Both included
shrieking siren alerts. Both included me being thrown into the back
of a creepy black van. Both included me being blindfolded. Both
included finding the most obscure, small motel to stay in, hours
away.

Both times, it was
just me and Nox.

Both times, Nox
slept pressed into my back with an arm around my waist.

You wouldn’t hear me
complaining.

In fact, my rigid
body would turn soft at the contact.

I missed that.

So when I woke in a
cold sweat, heart racing at almost four in the morning, it was
clear what I needed. A shower, you say?

Hell
no
.

I needed a strong
arm around me.

Slipping out of bed,
I threw off my soaked nightie, replaced it with a tee and tiptoed
out of my room. Creeping down the hall, I reached the door at the
very end, wrapped my fingers around the door knob, and twisted.

Only to feel
resistance.

Damn it to heck!

Nox locked his door
at night.

My gut sank.

I stood there in the
hall, dressed in a baggy white tee and underwear, contemplating
what to do next, when something clicked and the door opened. Nox
stood there in boxers, looking tired and just woken. Without a
word, I pushed my way inside, walked across the room, climbed into
his bed facing away from him, and covered myself with the
covers.

Laying my head down
with a sigh, I waited.

And waited.

Patiently, I waited
some more until I finally felt it. The bed depressed, and Nox slid
in beside me.

Turning to me, his
arm wrapped around my hips, and he pulled me back into his
body.

Not a single word
was spoken.

And that was
okay.

We
didn’t need ‘em.

***

That was not the
last night I’d spent in Nox’s bed.

In fact, more often
than not, I slept in his bed rather than my own. He’d even started
to leave his bedroom door unlocked, knowing that in the wee hours
of the morning, I’d be making an appearance.

Rock walked in on us sleeping one morning, and when we both
lifted our heads to look up at him, he looked like he’d just found
out unicorns were real
.

The best part of the
situation?

Nox grumbled, “You
need somethin’?” Like it was no big deal.

Rock’s eyebrows
lifted so fast, I thought they’d fly off his face. “Nah. Just
wanted to see if you wanted to spar before work, but,” Smirking
like an ass, he finished with, “I see you’re tired.”

Backing out of the
room, he shut the door and Nox tucked me into his side, mumbling,
“Ass.”

I wrapped my arm
around his side and sighed quietly, “Mmhmmm.”

Then we slept for
the better part of the morning.

It was peaceful.

It was quiet.

It was perfect.

***

Fast forward three
weeks…

I vaguely hear
something penetrate the depths of my deep sleep.

“
Boss?”

My dream pulls me
back in and just as I get to the good part, static sounds, then I
hear a little more clearly, “Boss? Come in.”

Peeking through one
eye, I check the clock on the nightstand.

7:47am.

Oh, for the love of
God. Why are people awake at this time?

Getting more of my
bearings, I roll over on the bed. I do this with ease which
immediately alerts me to the fact that Nox is already awake.

“
The hell, Boss? Come in.” This comes from the two-way radio
on the opposite nightstand.

Throwing my body
across the bed, I press the button on the two-way. “Shower,
Vito.”

“
Lily? What the…? You know what, I don’t wanna know,” Vito
responds gingerly.

I chuckle, “Shut up,
Vito. I was asleep. And by the way, I need more pads.”

Clearly confused, he
asks, “Pads? What kind of pads?”

“
The feminine hygiene kind. Aunt Flo will be here
soon.”

I
almost
see
the disgust on his face.
“TMI, Lily. Seriously, babe. Just tell me what you
need.”

Feeling sleepy
again, I mumble, “Heavy flow.”

He chuckles, “Oh
yeah, like I could forget, huh? Got it. Anything else?”

Wow. Asking a woman,
soon to be on the rag, if they need anything is a dangerous
question.

Now that I think
about it, I add to my list. “Uh, yeah. Candy. Lots of it. And a
magazine. Or three. And pancake mix. The good kind, not the stuff
you got last time. It tasted like cardboard. Maybe some bacon, too.
And don’t forget the syrup.”

He
scoffs, “Babe, I meant the
essentials
.”

Rolling my eyes, I utter, “Vito, that
is
essential to a girl with her monthly
friend.”

Silence.

I gotta butter him
up a little. In a sing-song voice, I say, “C’mon, Vito. I’ll be
sweet to you.”

Lightning quick, he
returns, “Oh Lily, baby. You get any sweeter and I’ll get a sugar
rush.”

I’m stunned and thoroughly amused. “Vito, was that…? Did you
just…? Was that
flirting
?”

He says quietly,
“That depends.”

Confused again. “On
what?”

He mutters huskily,
“Depends on if you liked it, babe.”

Having to think
about this, I mumble, “Well, it was my first time, but yeah, it was
nice.”

Vito sounds shocked.
“No one’s ever flirted with you before?”

“
Nope.” I pop the
p
.

I can hear the smile
in his voice. “It’s a crime, baby.”

Just then, the door
to the bathroom opens and in walks Nox, wearing nothing but a
towel.

My brain smiles like
the cat that got the cream. Seeing Nox like this is nothing unusual
now. Modesty is a thing of the past.

Nox narrows his eyes at the two-way in my hand and I roll my
eyes at him. Pressing the button, I say, “Listen, I gotta
go.
Señor
Anger
just got out
the shower. You need him?”

Vito chuckles,
“Nope. Not unless he needs anything.”

Still in bed, I look
up at Nox and ask, “Need anything from the store?”

Stepping into a pair of gunmetal-grey boxers, he pulls them up
under his towel and replies, “Oatmeal. Apples. Eggs.”

Still holding the
button on the two-way, I ask, “You get that, Vito?”

“
Got it. Have a nice day, sweet, sweet Lily.” He overdoes it
with the huskiness, and I chuckle before putting on a breathy
voice, “Bye, baby.”

Still chuckling, I
put the two-way back on the nightstand and watch Nox dress.

I
love this part of the morning. He acts like I don’t exist and I act
like he can’t see me. Today is a little different for me, though. I
can’t seem to wipe the smile off my face. It doesn’t bother me
that
he
doesn’t know what today
is. It doesn’t bother me that
no one
knows what today is. I’m just happy that I made it to another
birthday safe and well and surrounded by friends.

The hot guy in my
bed?

Total bonus.

Chapter
Twelve
The
hair of the dog that bit ya

Three days
later…

Nox

I punch the bag.
Hard.

Once more.
Harder.

The feeling of pain
shooting through my lightly wrapped knuckles, up my arm, then
disappearing into my body feels good.

Pain is good.

Pain is an
indication that you’re alive. Well, living, at the very least.

Pain is also a good
way to play games with your mind. A distraction method taught to me
in the early stages of training.

And I need a fucking
distraction.

Waking up with yet
another hard-on pressed into Lily’s ass is enough to put anyone in
a bad mood.

Yeah. That’s right.
Bad
mood.

Why bad?

Because I feel like
I’m getting my prick teased every fucking day with no relief! Sure
I could jerk off, but that would leave me feeling like a creep.
Jerking off in the bathroom next to our room is just…wrong.

Fuck
me
.

Did I just say
our
room?

I punch the bag
repeatedly while growling through gritted teeth.

This is bad. Very
bad.

Nope. I don’t like
it.

Three weeks.

Three fucking weeks
of sleeping next to that girl.

That
girl
. She’s
just a
girl
.

Oh, I’m going to
hell. No doubt. Especially after last night’s dream.

Wrapping up my
morning training session, I step out of the workout room and into
the hall. And there she is. Boo has her laughing at something. She
has a nice laugh. It’s not small and sweet sounding. It’s not a
giggle. It’s uninhibited and animated. When she laughs, I feel like
I get a chance to see the real Lily. The one whose mind doesn’t
stop her from living a good life. The one who isn’t paranoid or on
edge all the time.

The free Lily.

She wears a pair of
small, black workout shorts and a baggy white tee knotted at the
belly. Then I see her feet and scowl.

Walking up to them,
we meet halfway. I say, “Take the boots off.”

Confusion mars her
face. “Why?”

Because they look
way too sexy on your long ass legs, and I can’t do anything about
it.

“
Because they don’t belong to you.” I say matter of
factly.

Her eyes widen and
she says concretely, “Uh, yes, they do.”

What?

Okay, so the
military boots have hot pink laces, but you can’t buy those just
anywhere. I feel I need to let her in on this.

“
You can’t buy those boots just anywhere, Lily.”

Boo and Lily share a
look, then smile. Lily utters, “Yes, Nox, I’m aware of that. Boo
bought ‘em for me and I love ‘em, so I’m gonna keep ‘em on.”

I don’t get it.

Turning to Boo, I
ask, “Why’d you get her boots? She doesn’t need boots.”