Madeleine Abducted (9 page)

"I
just am, the reasons aren't important." Aaron pushed himself to a full
stand and walked briskly to his desk. While sitting down, his hand flicked out
to open the laptop on the center of the desk, effectively dismissing
Xander
.

Knowing
he'd been excused,
Xander
stood to leave. He paused
while crossing the room. Looking back at Aaron over his shoulder, he asked,
"What would you like me to buy her? I've never been shopping for women's
clothes."

"Nothing
fancy. Just something she can wear that isn't five sizes too big. See if she'll
give you her sizes; if not, just guess."

"Aye,
aye, Captain." After a mock salute,
Xander
 turned
to exit the room. Shutting the door behind him, he left Aaron to his work.

As
soon as he was alone, Aaron attempted to keep his mind focused on business, but
eventually found himself online researching his unintended
guest.
Other than pages and pages of news reports regarding her disappearance, there
wasn't much beyond praise regarding what some termed a 'musical savant.'
It
was obvious Madeleine had been sheltered. Even in her adult life, she’d not
agreed to many photos, and those that were taken always had her placed behind
an instrument large enough to hide her from the world; an instrument that she’d
mastered in a way that no other person could dare compete.

Aaron growled at the thought of what he would have to do to
her, what he would have to allow others to do. But he’d protected her from the
worst. She would not be a toy to be passed around. No. As long as she was
Aaron’s, Madeleine would not be assaulted in the worst possible of ways. Her
embarrassment was certain, her privacy would be shredded to tattered rags, but
her body would remain whole. Of that, Aaron would make sure.

Slamming the laptop closed, he stood up from his chair. Crossing
the large room with wide steps, he set out to take care of the various business
meetings he needed to attend that day. Before leaving, he couldn’t help but
walk back to
Maddy’s
room. Quietly, he unlocked the
door and pushed it open just enough to find that she’d fallen back to sleep on
the large king sized bed. Her body lay soft and luscious atop the silken, goose
down comforter, her nakedness exposing curves so feminine that the maleness in
him couldn’t help but react. His breath caught as his eyes moved over her still
form. She would be a practice in self-restraint, the toughest challenge he had
yet faced, but he silently promised her that no harm would befall her while in
his care. She stirred suddenly, a soft, yet frightened cry escaping her full
lips. He winced as he watched the skin between her sleeping eyes furrow.

His heart tearing itself from his chest, he regretted the
fact that he was her nightmare.

A
door softly sliding against the carpet wrestled
Maddy
from her slumber. Jumping up from the bed, her arms immediately went to cover
her naked breasts as her eyes locked with the deep, sea blue of
Xander's
. His eyebrow arched as he observed her attempt at
modesty.

"Normally,
Cricket, I'd reprimand you for your attempt to cover yourself, but it seems your
Master is allowing it while in his quarters."

His
hand moved from behind his body and Madeleine could see that he was carrying
two brown paper bags. Moving quickly to the side of her bed, he noted her hurried
movement to place as much distance between them as possible. Placing the
packages down, he opened the bags and pulled out clothing for her to wear.

"You
were asleep when I left, I had to guess at your size. The clothes may be a
little big, but nothing like what you wore last night."

"Why
give them to me at all?"

Xander
was surprised at the sound of her voice. Slowly he turned his
attention away from the clothes and to a small face that held defiance behind
the blue of her eyes.

"Now,
now, Cricket. It's best you hold your tongue. I wouldn't want to see you thrown
in a cold shower again."

Raising
his eyebrow at the seemingly defiant, small woman, he decided to let the
transgression pass as he pulled out a pair of blue pajama pants and a matching
camisole.

Turning,
he placed the clothes by her still body as she watched him. "Aaron will be
back shortly, you should get dressed to await him."

Xander
was surprised again to see a sudden depth to her gaze, one that
concerned him; made him believe that Aaron had underestimated his mouse and
that she wouldn't be ready for presentation once the week had ended. It would
be to Aaron's dismay should she fail to prove she'd submitted, been trained to
live within the rules set for the lowest member of the Estate.

"Why
do you call me that? I'm not someone you care for, why use an endearing
term?" Although, her voice was soft, it carried an air of authority, a
challenge that should not be included in the tone of a slave.

Xander
shrugged and moved away from the bed to lean against the
adjacent wall. He indicated to the clothing with his hand. "What have I
told you about questions?" When she did not answer,
Xander
simply commanded, "Get dressed."

Madeleine
eyed
Xander
, inwardly contemplating the beautiful man
who operated without concern, without a heart with which he could discern the
cruelty that he was inflicting on her by his mere presence. It was unnerving to
be confronted with the type of face that would make any normal woman crawl just
to be near him while knowing that inside, there was only brutality and
disregard.

"Will
you watch as I dress myself?" Her voice dripped with contempt as she
crawled backwards off the bed, intentionally putting even more distance between
herself and the man she considered her captor.

“Such
brave words for a woman who is obviously scared out of her mind.”
Xander's
hands fisted as he struggled against correcting
her behavior. But this was Aaron's fight, his mouse to bring under control.

"I'll
ignore your mouth this one time, but understand, it would be best you get your bursts
of temper under control before you face Aaron again. He won't be as kind."
Xander's
mouth twisted into a sardonic and mocking
grin. "But, I guess, you already know that, don't you?"

Madeleine
shivered at the forced memory of her encounter with Aaron that morning. The
salt of a single tear seeped into her mouth as it trailed along the crease of
her lips. She was sick of crying, of tasting the evidence of her hopeless
state. Locking her eyes with
Xander
,
Maddy
pulled the camisole over her head before gripping the
material of the pants and pulling them up her legs to cover her body.

Moving
to the window, she glanced outside, turning her back to the monster behind her.
She watched as men raked up fallen leaves, grabbing large armfuls and placing
them in hefty black bags. She wanted
Xander
to leave,
his presence only further infuriating her. The silence between the two was
uncomfortable. Finally after several moments,
Xander
cleared his throat and began to speak.

"You
know, now that you are here, there truly is no return to the life you had
before. If you accept it, things will go more smoothly for you. I didn't like
what I witnessed this morning." His voice carried a hint of remorse,
however, even that was not enough to extinguish the small flame of anger that'd
begun to burn within
Maddy's
soul.

She
turned to him suddenly. Realizing that death could only be an escape from this
life she'd been forced to now live, that small flame burst forth, raging within
her blood, through her cells, through every part of her body. What did she have
to lose? Her life? That'd already been taken from her the night of the concert.

"I
will never accept what you've done to me. I will get free, if it's through my
death than so be it, but I will never comply."

Xander
grinned at the sudden fire in her eyes. It was unexpected, but
glorious at the same time
;
this little woman,
beautiful and talented, but also harboring the spirit of a fighter. Aaron would
have one hell of a surprise on his hands when she finally let loose.

"You
will comply, Cricket. There is no other choice."

Without
another word,
Xander
strode to the door, letting
himself out of the room and locking her in with only her thoughts for company.
Maddy
never turned; she simply watched his reflection in
the glass as it disappeared out the door. When he was gone, his words rang in
her mind. She knew he was wrong, knew that there was always a choice.

Futility,
a suffocating weight on her chest, she held back the tears that burned behind
her eyes. Crying wouldn't save her; she knew that. Escape was her only true
hope and the choice she would make. Suddenly driven by a fight for her life,
Maddy
searched the room for anything with which she could
break the glass. There was nothing. She panicked, thought that maybe if she could
get the attention of the men who worked just a few feet from where she was
held, they might call the police, might recognize her as the woman who'd gone
missing just a few days before.

In
a moment of desperation,
Maddy
banged on the windows
with her fists, screaming for help as loud as she possibly could. She didn't
fear the cuts she knew would occur if she were to break the glass. She didn’t
care if she shed her own blood, if it would help her escape. The workers turned
to look and she screamed louder, feeling that, maybe, this would be the moment
she was pulled from her unending nightmare.

The
bedroom door slammed open.
Maddy
didn't bother to
turn to see who entered, she just kept screaming, kept banging against the
glass so hard that the shock against the glass hurt the fine bones in her
hands. Two large arms came around her, pulling her from the window just as the
men outside began to talk, began pointing back in her direction.

Tossed
to the floor, the impact reverberated through her hips and shoulders as they
forcefully met the ground, even the plush carpeting not enough to absorb the
shock. A large hand came over her mouth, her lip splitting where it met with
her teeth. Having lost complete control, she thrashed against her assailant,
the tears in her eyes obscuring the identity of the person fighting above her.

"What
the fuck are you doing
?!
"
Xander's
voice bellowed
out,
echoed through the ringing in her
ears. A hard slap, the sound of skin against skin, and a sharp pain across her
cheek followed. Continuing her struggle,
Maddy
didn't
care if he hit her a thousand more times, she couldn't exist in this life
they'd chosen for her. Escape had to come.

Xander's
hands found
Maddy's
and wrapped
tightly around her wrists before pinning them above her head. His legs came
down on hers, the weight of his body securing her in place. She continued
screaming, refusing to submit to the monster above her.

"Cricket!
Stop right fucking now before I have to chain and gag you!"

Barely
concerned with the threat,
Maddy
kept fighting, the
animal instinct for survival taking over her logical thought. Releasing her
wrists,
Xander
moved his hands to her head before
saying, "forgive me." The impact of her head with the floor jarred
her thoughts, sent shooting pains through her skull and down her spine. The
next blow left her again in darkness, the tunnel wrapping around her, wrenching
her from the present.

~
    
~
    
~

Maddy's
body went limp beneath
Xander
. Her
eyes rolled back as her eyelids fluttered closed. He winced when she finally
lost consciousness, but his violence toward her could not be avoided. Turning
her head to the side he watched as the evidence of his slap grew across her
cheek, red and angry. Letting out a slow breath he removed himself from her,
left her lying on the carpeted floor as he moved across the room. Walking out
into the hall, he quickly traversed the long corridor to retrieve the chains
he'd brought into the apartment the night before.

He
knew Aaron would be furious, would become enraged to know that not only had he
struck the woman, but bound her like an animal while awaiting his return. But
Xander
had no choice. Those men outside
Maddy's
window would undoubtedly talk, would spread the rumored truth that Aaron was
allowing a slave to wear clothes, to move about a room unrestrained. Grabbing
the chains, he walked back to find
Maddy
still
unconscious where he'd left her. Quickly, he moved her small body to the bed,
binding her hands above her, only to bring the chains down below the bed so
that he could also bind her feet at the base.

Once
her body was stretched taut across the mattress, immobilized by unconsciousness
and chains,
Xander
grabbed another camisole from the
bags now lying on the ground from where he'd knocked them off placing
Maddy
on the bed. Ripping one of the thin shirts into
shreds, he fashioned a quick gag to tie around her mouth, to keep her silent
until Aaron could return to decide how they would handle this less delicate
side to their captive.

Satisfied
that she could no longer make a spectacle of herself,
Xander
closed the curtains, blanketing the room in a hazy gray, not quite dark, but
not quite light. His eyes traveled over
Maddy's
still
form once more as he noted how her chest rhythmically moved with her shallow
breath. She'd wake eventually, probably injure herself trying to free herself
of her binds, but until she understood her place, there could be no mercy for
this small woman who had the hidden spirit of a survivor. Closing the door,
Xander
moved quickly to the living room and sat back into
the leather sofa. A sigh escaped him as he enjoyed a moment of peace.

Within
the hour, Aaron walked through the front door. The hem of his shirt hung
partially out at his waist, the top buttons were undone and the splattered
stain on the crisp white of the material was unmistakably blood. Instantly,
Xander
was on his feet, an unspoken question in his
expression.

Aaron
turned and walked to the bar, picked up a decanter of dark liquid and poured its
contents into a crystal tumbler. Slamming down the first drink, his eyes never
left the decanter as he quickly poured another. Finally, Aaron turned to look
at
Xander
. Death haunted Aaron's eyes, the cold and
empty shadow of another life ended, absent of regret for having been the one
who sent that poor soul into the bowels of Hell.

"I
take it the business meetings didn't go well."
Xander
spoke without emotion. It wasn't unusual for Aaron to return home covered in
the evidence of someone else's violent demise.

Aaron
slammed back his second drink, the muscles of his throat moving to push the
alcohol down. The sound of the glass hitting the surface of the bar top broke
up the resonating silence between the two men as
Xander
patiently waited for an explanation.

"Theo
Hollis regretfully met his maker this afternoon. He thought it was wise to
steal from the business over the past year. The accountants finally discovered
how he'd been pinching off small amounts here and there, until there was no
doubt he'd acquired a small fortune by his efforts."

Xander
nodded, not in the least surprised. "Theo was never a
smart man." He paused, reluctant to inform Aaron of the incident with
Madeleine. Breathing out a deep breath, he confessed. "Your mouse caused
quite the scene while you were absent. You'll undoubtedly be pissed once you
see what I had to do to contain her."