Bound: A Caged Novella Read online

  He narrowed his eyes on her and clung onto me harder, but Jeanie, clearly used to shy children just smiled even more. “You’ve been a very brave boy, and I think brave boys deserve a huge bowl of jelly and ice-cream.”

  His eyes grew with excitement. “Breakfast?” He gave me a quick questioning glance, and I nodded. Shit, he could eat jelly and ice-cream for the rest of his life if that’s what he wanted.

  He jumped out of my arms and flung himself at Jeanie, wrapping his tiny arms around her neck.

  “Bought so easy, huh?”

  Jeanie laughed, hoisting Sam up onto her hip. I didn’t miss the faint wince of pain on her face when Sam’s foot kicked at her backside. The animal in me preened its coat with pride. I was a sick fuck.

  “Let’s go raid the staffroom, Sam. See what we can find.” She held a finger to her lips. “But we have to be quiet. This is our adventure, and we can’t get caught stealing all the ice-cream.”

  Sam giggled and held a finger to Jeanie’s lips. “Sshhh.”

  Watching them both brought an ache to clutch at my chest. The loss of his mother had taken so much from his life. I was selfish, and although I felt the chasm Kloe had left behind in my life, I had downplayed the loss to Sam’s. I knew he didn’t understand, and I’d always said you couldn’t miss what you’d never had, right? Wrong.

  And watching Sam with Jeanie slammed it right home.

  I stumbled on to the bed when they disappeared out of the door, their laughter disclosing their secret mission to everyone on the ward.

  I’d made sure Sam never felt unloved, I told him I loved him as often as I could throughout the day, and although I knew we’d be okay by ourselves, Sam was still missing so much without his mother around.

  They both reappeared with huge bowls of strawberry jelly and chocolate ice-cream, their giggles as happy as the food.

  As they settled on the bed and curled up with a Disney film, I looked up towards the ceiling, and smiled.

  “Thank you, little wolf. I love you.”

  Then, in the loud happy laughter of my son, I heard her echo my words.

  Twelve

  Jeanie

  Anderson smiled gratefully when I placed a large bowl of pasta and salad on the table after he came down from bathing Sam and putting him to bed. “You didn’t have to cook.”

  “It’s the least I can do while I’m staying here.”

  He dropped into the chair, a long yawn conveying his exhaustion.

  “He’s definitely a livewire,” I chuckled as I scooped a heap of pasta onto my plate. “But he’s a really good kid.”

  “He is,” he agreed.

  “And you’re a good dad.”

  His gaze caught mine before he shrugged. “He makes it easy.”

  “You miss her a lot.” There was that broken filter again. I clenched my teeth together, wishing sometimes my mouth would just remain closed.

  “Yeah.” He nodded, seemingly unoffended by my directness. “I’d be lying if I said it doesn’t get easier, because it does. But, some days, today especially, I miss her so much that every part of me aches.”

  “I read a little about her in some of the newspaper reports. That she was your rehab therapist.”

  This time he tensed, but continued to eat. “Yes, for a short while.”

  A tension shifted into the atmosphere and for a while we sat in silence and ate.

  “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to…”

  “It’s okay.” He looked up at me and gave me a genuine smile. “You have nothing to apologise for.” His smile turned sadder, and he sighed. “Kloe was my therapist, yes. But her job took her away, and, at the time, I was very… insecure, and scared.”

  “I can get that, it must have been terrifying.”

  “I blamed Kloe for that. And when I found her a few years later, I was still that same scared and angry person. I was cruel to her, for a very long time.”

  Placing my cutlery down, I smiled. “But you married her, I’m sure it wasn’t all cruelty and insecurity.”

  “No, it wasn’t. Kloe was patient, and so much stronger than I gave her credit for. She taught me how to let go of the past, and to embrace the future, whatever type of man I was. I just regret…”

  “You regret what?” I urged when he clammed up, but he shook his head and started to clear the table.

  Picking up my own plate, I placed it on the side. “Leave those, I’ll do…”

  The rest of my sentence was swallowed by his kiss, his tongue twisting around mine and hungrily devouring my thoughts along with the words. His hands surrounded my waist and I was lifted onto the worktop. His teeth nipped at my bottom lip and he caught the trickle of my blood on his tongue.

  He moaned, satisfied with his reward when I grabbed at his hair and pulled him in deeper. “Jeanie.” My name was whispered but laced with so much emotion that I had to bury the sensation that jolted inside my chest.

  Taking my t-shirt in his hands, he tore it open with so little force, and I couldn’t help but wonder what sort of damage those fists did in the cage.

  The fierceness in his eyes caught mine when he reached over and picked a small knife from the kitchen block. My heart stampeded in my chest but I forced my lungs to accommodate the rapid intake of air, and blew out the excess to calm myself down.

  When I gave him a reassuring nod, he narrowed his eyes on me. “You don’t seem so sure.”

  Reaching behind me, I unhooked my bra and dropped it to the floor, then taking his hand in mine I directed the tip of the blade to the swell of my breast. “I trust you. I’ve never played with knives, so I’m giving you all my faith in this.”

  The smile that crept up his face made the pit of my belly throb. My nipple puckered under the point of the blade when he very sensitively circled it, both of our gazes hypnotised by the eroticism as his course changed and he drew the blade down over my stomach.

  Securing myself with my hands behind me when he lifted me slightly to remove my jeans, I watched in complete awe when he tracked the inside of my thighs. The journey he took was leisurely, unrushed, but the need in me was growing unbearable.

  I squirmed, causing the blade to nick a tiny bit of my skin. Blood bubbled on the surface and, instantly, Anderson leaned in and licked it.

  I’d never witnessed anything more beautiful, the slight sting of pain caressed by an adoring touch. The tiny drop of my life, being devoured so eagerly, was so sensual, so intimate, that when he circled the tip of my clit, smearing it with my own blood, I climaxed so hard I slipped off the counter.

  Catching me in one arm, he swiped his other arm over the table, clearing it in one wave, before he softly laid me down on it.

  “Lean up on your elbows and watch.” His voice was rough but his eyes were clear and intense.

  Doing as he asked, I propped myself up and looked down as he brought the knife back up to my breasts and very lightly sketched a line down the space between them.

  I whimpered, but not because of the pain, because the sting was like nothing I’d ever experienced before. Unlike a normal cut to the skin, the adrenaline and desire inside me manipulated the sensation into one of extreme pleasure, like a tickle to the clitoris, or a tender kiss to the edge of a nipple. It was so very euphoric, so heady, that my lungs emptied in one long release of breath.

  Anderson’s eyes lifted to watch the pleasure on my face when he once again drew another line, symmetrical to the first.

  Two perfect, rich, deep scarlet tracks ran the length of my chest, the beauty of them intriguing me. Trailing a finger along one of the paths, I collected my own blood and slid it between my lips. Anderson did the same, but with his thumb. His eyes locked onto mine when he sank it between his lips and sucked hard. Then, slowly, he moved himself between my open thighs.

  His first thrust was hard, causing me to shift up the table, but he grabbed my shoulder and pulled me back down. Like the previous night, his movements inside me were slow and steady, building me up until I thought I wou
ld go crazy.

  “Anderson, please!”

  His smirk lit the fire in my belly and without thinking I struck out, the insane desire needing some sort of release. He caught my wrist effortlessly, his reactions so fast, if I had blinked I’d have missed him move.

  “Careful, Jeanie.” His warning wasn’t threatening, but I didn’t miss the underlying message in it.

  “I’m never careful.”

  His smirk widened and I sucked in a breath when his hand circled my throat. His cock throbbed inside me, his excitement at the way he had me pinned down beneath him showing me just how hard Anderson liked to ‘play’.

  He squeezed gently, applying pressure little by little to gauge my limit. I kept my gaze locked on his so he could read me. After all, my eyes were all he had to go on. I couldn’t shake my head, or voice the word ‘no’.

  Expertly, just when I thought I was going to struggle, his grip loosened and I was flipped over.

  He was back inside me with another hard thrust. Except, this time, he didn’t take me gently. He fucking owned me. He annihilated every thought in my head. He took me to the edge of euphoria and dragged me back before I could touch nirvana.

  His hands firmly held me in place as he drove into me with a force that liquefied my bones, his unforgiving fucking taking me prisoner in the realms somewhere between heaven and hell.

  My fingers clawed at the table as I bucked back against him, using him, begging him.

  And then he let me fly.

  The scream that tore from me was raw, almost feral, when he leaned over my back and sank his teeth into the edge of my neck. The pain catapulted me into ecstasy, snapping every muscle in my body until I thought I’d pass out from the overwhelming pleasure.

  His growl was animalistic, wild and loud, as he forced himself even deeper and spilled inside me, his fingers now digging into the table so he didn’t hurt me. I had to smirk at that thought.

  His breathing was loud and untamed as he dropped his head to my shoulder and fought for control. “Jeanie Carlson,” he sighed in my ear. “You mesmerise me.”

  We both tensed at his whispered words and a strange silence descended over us.

  But, then, he swallowed and pressed his forehead into the groove between my shoulders. “She never heard me say that I loved her.”

  The agony in his confession cut at my heart like the knife on my skin.

  “Sometimes,” I whispered, unwilling to move in the precious moment. “It’s not what we say with words, but how we say it with our gestures, or the special things we do. The way we look at someone, or the way we smile at them when they laugh. Sometimes, we hear I love you in the silence we share, or the songs we sing mindlessly to each other. We feel it with a gentle touch, or a passionate kiss.”

  Taking the courage, I manoeuvred beneath him so I was staring into the grief in his eyes. It was devastating, stormy and turbulent, but so very beseeching.

  “She knew, Anderson. I have no doubt she knew. I feel every one of your emotions. I see them in your eyes, and every one of your facial expressions. You’re so very open with them.”

  He appeared surprised, his brows lifting slightly, and I chuckled. “You think you’re the only one who’s good at reading people?”

  His gaze softened, and he nipped my chin. “Seems we have more in common than being utterly tactless.”

  “I’m not tactless,” I defended. “I’m just…”

  “Refreshingly candid,” he finished with a wink.

  I nodded. “Yes. I’m refreshingly candid.”

  He chuckled, and walked away, but stopped at the door and looked back at me. “I rather like your refreshing candidness, Jeanie Carlson.”

  “I rather like your amazing arse, Anderson Cain.”

  Rolling his eyes, he huffed, but I didn’t miss the smile he tried to hide before he disappeared.

  Thirteen

  Anderson

  The next morning I was fixing breakfast for Sam when Jeanie skipped into the kitchen. Her smile was so infectious I couldn’t hold the grin that spread over my face at the sight of her customary flushed cheeks.

  She’d slept in my arms all night, and although, at first, I’d felt the sting of guilt at bringing another woman to my bed, it soon slipped away when she turned into me and snuggled her sleeping face into my chest. Her soft rhythmic breathing had lulled me to sleep, giving me the best night’s rest I’d had in a long while.

  “Let’s go to the park! I have a day off.”

  “Park!” Sam squealed before I even had a chance to open my mouth.

  “See,” Jeanie grinned. “Two against one. We could take a picnic, and a ball. Come on, Cain, let loose for once.”

  “Let loose? You make me sound like an uptight arsehole.”

  A quirk of her eyebrow gave me her reply, and I glowered at her. “I’m counting.”

  Confusion dipped her brows. “Counting what?”

  “Strikes,” I quipped, smirking smugly when her cheeks reddened and she coughed, flustered.

  “Right. Okay. Umm… Park!”

  “Park!” Sam shouted.

  Oh, the joy.

  ***

  Jeanie rolled onto her back on the rug as I placed a sleeping Sam into his stroller. “Oh, I could get used to this.”

  Her pert tits sat upright, the tight material of her t-shirt revealing the buds of her nipples. “And I’m growing to really like these too,” I groaned into her neck as I gave the girls a stealthy squeeze.

  “Pfft,” she snorted. “And I thought you liked me for my intellect and quick wit.”

  Looking up, I saw her pretty, smiling face watching me, her eyes alive with delight. Her smile was happy and natural, her gaze on me easy and content. The smattering of freckles across her nose were highlighted from the touch of sunshine, and her plump pink lips were damp with strawberry juice.

  Her smile dropped as her gaze deepened on me. I couldn’t look away, her hypnotic, beautiful soul more open than I’d ever seen.

  “It’s okay,” she suddenly whispered, leaning into me for a soft kiss. “It’s okay. I have the rest of my life, Anderson. I won’t run…” She curled her lip and sighed. “Well, that’s not technically the issue. I can’t, physically, run. My legs are too uncoordinated.”

  A burst of laughter broke from me and I shook my head. “So, you’re refreshingly candid, and uniquely ungraceful.”

  “Very uniquely ungraceful.” She pouted and I dug a finger into her ribs.

  “Anything else I need to know?”

  “Oh.” The twinkle in her eyes brightened. “I do have a gun licence though.”

  “What the hell? Who in their right mind would give a gun to someone so….” I bit into my tongue when her glare pierced me. “…Someone sooo…”

  “Daddy!”

  God bless you, Sam!

  “Hmm,” Jeanie mused, “Perfect save, Sam.”

  “Daddy!” Sam screeched. “Poo, Daddy. Poo!”

  “Whoever said toilet training was easy, lied!” I grumbled as I unclipped Sam after his thirty-second nap, and went in search of some toilets.

  “Daddy!” Sam whined, giving me the initiative to break into a jog.

  “Okay, cookie, not long.”

  He tensed in my arms, and I froze when he said quietly. “Uh-oh.”

  The joys of children!

  We were gone seven minutes. The longest seven minutes of my life.

  That’s all it took him to take her.

  Fourteen

  Jeanie

  The pain was so bad that I daren’t move my head, the screeching pain behind my eyes making my stomach twist with nausea. My eyelashes were glued together from where the blood had dried, and one side of my mouth felt like it was bigger than the whole of my face.

  I hadn’t seen him until it was too late. Anderson had nipped Sam to the loo, and I had laid back and closed my eyes for a matter of seconds.

  I should have known my life was running too smoothly. It was me, God damn it, the clums
y, plump girl who never got a fucking break at life. I was always the one looking after others, and when the tables were turned, who was actually there for me?

  That wasn’t fair. Anderson had been there, and Mel would have been if she wasn’t caring for her sick mum. I was just feeling angry at myself, and scared.

  “Not so fucking perfect now, are you Miss Carlson.”

  His voice forced my eyes open, the rip to my eyelashes making me wince. The light hurt my head but I couldn’t look away from him.

  He was pale, sat in a chair to the far corner of the room. The manic look in his eyes triggered a kick to my heart, causing it to beat wildly inside my chest. I was sure he could see the thud from his position across the room.

  “Frank.”

  Slowly he pushed himself up and walked towards me. The pain in my head amplified when he took a handful of my hair and yanked me across the room, throwing me in a corner and into a small, round barrel.

  Fear shook my heart when I saw, and heard, what it contained.

  Attempting to scramble away, I gawked at Frank and shook my head. “No, please.”

  “Not a nice way to go, is it?” he sneered. “Anaphylactic shock is crucifying. Slowly being suffocated by our own body’s stupid weakness.”

  The huge vat of bees buzzed loudly, their terrifying song a nightmare to my soul. “Frank, please.”

  He dropped to his knees in front of me, circling my throat with a huge tight fist. “That’s what you did to my boy. You suffocated him slowly, painfully.”

  I shook my head, fighting through his hold to breathe.

  “Yes. You dosed him up with poison, and left him to die. While you took a fucking piss!”

  His anger was the only thing that released his hold on my neck – so he could punch me in the side of the face. Pain exploded through my body, each bone a buffer for the severe blow.

  “I tried, Frank. I tried so hard to save him.”

  He scoffed, turning his back on me.