BLAKE: Captive to the Dark (28 page)

I pulled up the site I used and typed in the number. “You can say that. Look, back up. I need space. You’re hovering.”

“Whoa.” He leaned more over my shoulder to get a view of the screen. “That address is like two blocks away.”

My eyes jerked back to the monitor. There were perks for having him here. I knew nothing about the city. He could help me find Harvey faster, and from what I saw, he did know his way around a knife. I reached over, grabbed a pen, and wrote the address down.

“Let’s go.” I stood, walking over to my black bag. It was time to gun up and get my slave back
. There wasn’t a limit to what I was willing to do. I wasn’t sure what type of location the address was taking us to, but I didn’t care. I’d walk through hell for Kaitlyn, and I was ready to prove it.

Chapter 20

Kaitlyn

One by one, the girls disappeared until all that was left was me. That had been what felt like a few days ago. We had clung to each other until the bitter end, each one braver than the next. I promised them a million times that I wouldn’t stop searching for them. They had believed me. The moment I got out of here, I’d scour the depths of the earth for the seven whose names and home towns were scabbed onto my skin. Tara, Amanda, Jessica, Tamera, Claudia, Hannah, and Raquel. Seven girls. The oldest, nineteen. The youngest, thirteen.

My eyes went to the mattress. The blonde was dead. We’d discovered that when she
had never woken up and rigor mortis had set in. The kidnappers left her there. Left her with me. The smell was unbelievably sickening and the bugs had come in by the droves. Flies and gnats. I couldn’t move from my corner. Couldn’t bear to go anywhere close to the body. The silence and constant buzzing that surrounded me was driving me crazy and I found I was talking to myself just to stop the sudden panic attacks that left me shaking for hours.

As for tears, I hadn’t shed a single one. I was past the p
oint of crying. My emotions were spent. Gone. Numb from the sights I’d seen. It didn’t stop my body from going through the motions that I should have felt though. The trouble breathing. The nausea. The feeling of impending doom. They hit hard. Making me rock back and forth and shake until I dry heaved. When they passed, I slept. At least until swatting the bugs woke me up. I had to get out of here. Had to at least hear something aside from the door opening and stale bread getting thrown in once a day. They hadn’t given me fresh water in, I couldn’t remember when. The small dirty amount that swished at the bottom was a combination of germs from my and the other girls’ hands.

I stood, facing the wall as I
side-stepped to the door. To walk normally would allow me to see the rotting body out of my peripheral vision. I couldn’t do that again. I’d done it once, and like a dumbass, had to glance over. The caved in cheekbone with maggots crawling from the skin haunted my nightmares. No, I couldn’t turn.

My hands trailed against the wall as I got closer to the door. I was still sore, but nowhere near as bad as I had been. I was healing and it was time for me to try to escape. That was, if anyone would come to the door.

“Hello?” I gave three hard knocks. “Hello?”

Nothing. My hand gripped around the handle, but it wouldn’t budge. I banged some more. “Open the door.” My fist continued to pound and my screaming got louder. “Open the fucking door!” With one last hit
, I stepped back. My hand throbbed as I placed my palms against the wall and leaned my head down. What I wouldn’t do for some fresh air.

My eyes stared
down. My blue dress was more light brown now. My hair felt like an oily, dirty mess. My skin even darker due to the filthy surroundings. I was half surprised I didn’t have an infection again. Between the cuts I knew I’d had on my face, down to the deliberate earring incident, I was sure the fever would have come. It didn’t. So far, I’d been lucky.

“Get me out of here!” I screamed before I realized I had even wanted to. My mind was hanging on by a thread. I knew this, but I tried not to face the facts that I wasn’t strong enough to cope. I wouldn’t last
this long just to turn into some broken slave for Blake. I wouldn’t. He deserved better than that. He was looking for me right now, and I wouldn’t make it a failed mission on his part. He’d have me. Whole. Not crazy. Not…ruined for good.

I saw that now. Appearances were nothing. I’d keep the scar and be happy for the rest of my life if it meant
being with Blake. I would. I’d have him. That was all that was important. If my looks didn’t bother him, why should it bother me? I loved him, and I knew he had to love me. He had to. If not, he at least cared for me a lot. I could work with that. I could try to make him love me.

“Please!” I sank
down and leaned into wall directly next to the door, hugging my legs up close to my chest. I’d wait until they brought my food. Then, I’d fight. I’d run and escape. I could do it. I’d find my way back to Blake.

My eyes closed and I let myself doze. Flashes of my
Master taunted me. He appeared in the distance and I ran to him, but I could never reach him before he disappeared. Darkness once again took over until I heard him again.

“Crawl to me,
kitten.” Blake crouched in the distance, his crooked finger motioning for me to come. I smiled, feeling my heart leap in my chest. I started forward, watching as I got closer. “That’s my girl. God, I love you, slave. Come to me. Keep coming.” I tried to crawl faster, but my legs felt like they were sinking in quicksand. My body leaned forward and I fought to make headway. “Such a good girl.” His hand reached out and I made a sound of frustration as my legs got stuck.

The sudden movement had my eyes flying open. The ceiling above moved and my eyes locked on a man’s back. The dark suit he
wore confused me and it took a few seconds for me to kick into action. I was in a hallway.
Out
of the room.

My body twisted until I was on my stomach and I kicked my legs with every ounce of strength I had. The grip dropped and I surged to my feet,
knowing that if I was going to get free, I had to make it past the stranger who’d turned to face me. Nothing about him looked the least bit familiar. A trimmed goatee shadowed full lips. His nose was thin like a blade and he had deep set brown eyes. Almost black. The dark hair that rested on his head was on the shorter side, but was styled fashionably. I didn’t understand. What happened to the Mexican men that had been taking the girls? Bringing us food and water? 

“Who are you?” My voice sounded scratchy from the screaming and I cleared my throat
, feeling how dry it was.

“You know who I am. Come, it’s time for you to go to your new home.”

“My new home?” I fought whether I should try to rush past him or comply with his orders until it gave me a better chance of escape.

In two strides he made it in front of me. I stood straight, not cowering like a part of me wanted to do. Blake wouldn’t want me to
appear weak. He was going to make me the strongest I’d ever been. Maybe he already had.

“
When I tell you to do something, you do it.”

I froze. I knew that voice when it was deeper like that. My eyes rose and I studied him even more. He didn’t move and neither did I.

“Kaitlyn.” The warning was evident, but my name was like a trigger. I wanted to hear him talk more that way I could put it together.

“Do I know you?”

My body was slammed into the wall, crushing my breasts. I placed my palms flat and kept my head to the side as he fitted his body into mine. “Close your eyes,” he said, lowly. “Feel what I can do to you.”

Flashes blinded me. Not of his face, but of the darkness the blindfold had cloaked me in. Of that smooth, deep voice so close to my ear as
the Dom ordered me to touch myself. To enjoy the pain he was going to bring me. “Master X,” I whispered.

“Yes, slave. I told you I’d take care of you.”

Even then, he’d called me slave. The promises he’d whispered I assumed were nothing more than pillow talk. Trembling shook me as I tried to process everything. This man had been attracted to me. I knew that, but nothing had ever come of it. I didn’t even really know him aside from our meetings. Not that I hadn’t teased the idea. I’d liked what he’d given me. So much that I continued to go back.

“Are you my new Master?” The words were like razorblade leaving my throat. I had a Master, I didn’t want another, but I had to know his intentions.

“You’d like me to keep you
. Unfortunately for you, you had your chance.”

“When
?” I breathed out. “You never came to me. Never asked for anything permanent.”

As his hand cupped my breast
, I tried not to fight. Not yet.

“You’re wrong.” He pushed my head into the wall harder with his
own. The expensive smelling shaving cream lingered while he whispered against my cheek. “Think,” he hissed. “You had a choice. I gave you that.” He grew louder. “Think!”

I jumped at the explosion of his voice right next to my ear. My mind scrambled to the times I’d been at the club. Nothing really stuck out. I replayed the last time up until the night I was taken. A sound came from my
throat as I remembered the two of us in the private room. The best one the club had. The one reserved for me every single time I called to let them know I was coming. Fuck. He’d played me from the very beginning.

W
hat started out as curiosity had led to this very moment. All I had wanted to do was watch a show. The message that came, asking if I’d like a private session with the club’s best Dom, had been delivered by the waitress. I’d never done anything like that. It was my first time ever. The one that got me hooked. That kept me going back to the same man who now was doing nothing but trying to make my life a living hell. God…

Vision
s of him whipping me replayed in my head. I’d moaned and moved against him as he traced his fingers over the welts. The restraints on the St. Andrews cross had been tight around my wrists, but he’d left my legs undone. Touching my pussy, but never breaching my opening.

A sob left my lips. “You said you wanted to make me yours. I thought you meant you wanted to fuck me. You never had before.”

“And you said what?”

My
closed eyes squeezed tighter and I hated the tear that escaped. “I was tired. I was being blackmailed. I wanted to go home.” I froze at my words, already knowing.

Pressure gripped my breast.
“You took what I gave you and turned your back on me. On what I offered. You fucking used me for over a year and not once did I get shit out of it. I was the blackmailer, Kaitlyn. It was all a test, and you failed. You’re just like the rest.” He pinched my nipple, sending jolts of pain to the core of my stomach. “Now, you‘ll join them. Again. You’ll be a real slave. Not one who plays the role for their own satisfaction. Greedy fucking bitches. All of you.”

I reached back, raking my nails down the side of his face. I was barely able to
turn around before he pinned my back against the wall. Blood ran down his cheek and I thrashed against him, feeling my side lock up from the pain of my previous attack.

“You’re going to rot in
Korea. I’m going to make sure of it.” Both of his hands came around my neck and air was immediately cut off. Flashes of Blake blinded me.
I got you, Kaitlyn. You can’t breathe. What do you do?
His hands were grabbing my throat just like the man who was responsible for me being here. The self-defense move came crashing back into me, fresh from the training he’d put me through the week before I was taken. I brought my hands together and pushed up right between the would-be Dom’s hold, throwing my arms down hard on top of his. They bent in, loosening his grasp and bringing his face right within my reaching distance. I didn’t hesitate, I threw my head forward, connecting with my attacker just like Blake said I would.

Lights flashed before me, but I pushed myself around his hunched over frame.

“You fucking bitch,” he groaned.

I
kicked him hard in the side and scrambled to the door, holding my ribs. My forehead tingled and burned where I had made contact. Ignoring the pain was nearly impossible, but I focused on escaping. The door at the end of the hall got closer and I pushed through, blinded by the midday sun.

Where the fuck was I? The structure I escaped from sat in the middle of a large parking lot. As if it were an old office building that now wasn’t in service anymore. Only one car rested in the large space and that was a black limo. Who the fuck was this man? Who had been the ones speaking Spanish? Confusion made focusing even harder. I didn’t know which way to go. If I went toward the limo, the driver wasn’t going to take me anywhere
I wanted to go. Somehow, I knew this. He worked for my kidnapper. But past the parking lot was nothing but dirt fields. I’d have no cover. I was fucked.

The right answers wouldn’t come, but I had to take my chances. I pushed myself to the limo knowing I wasn’t going anywhere near fast enough. Footsteps pounded behind me, but I managed to grab the handle before my hair was jerked back.

“You…are going to fucking pay for what you did.” I was hauled back while he opened the door. I went crazy, feeling my hair rip as survival kicked in. It was the least of my worries. I couldn’t go to Korea. Couldn’t endure another Master. The limo was my only chance. If I could just get in and lock the door.

Hands grabbed around my waist and I screamed, more from
the pain in my ribs, than surprise. The interior of the limo blurred as I was pulled into the car. Tape pushed against my mouth, instantly cutting off the majority of sound. One man held me down as the other wrapped my hands and feet together. As the Dom climbed in, I didn’t miss the malice pouring from him as he wiped the blood from his nose and mouth.

“
Home.”

One word. A location
that wasn’t the airport. That, I could work with. I wouldn’t think about what he had planned. It was unimportant. The only thing I needed to focus on was what could lead me back to Blake. What would help him find me.