Steele (4 page)

She had no idea why his words were hurting her so badly, and she could only stare at him when he looked around the room. She looked around as well. It wasn’t that bad…she’d been in worse places, but she looked at it from his point of view.

The window had been card boarded up and taped in place with duct tape, most of which was peeling back, and someone had put big nails in its place. The dresser was only a shell of its former self, as all the drawers had been removed for some reason. There was a mattress but no bed. The sheet that had been on the bed she’d rolled up and thrown in the corner, as it smelled like urine. The closet, really just a tiny hole in the wall that someone had put a bar across, held one hanger that looked like at one point it had been used to jimmy a car window. Then there was the stain on the floor. She knew it was blood and from the scent, it was fairly fresh. When he turned back to her, she lifted her chin. It might not be up to his standards, but it was her home for now.

“There’s a woman here with me.” She looked at Ray and the other two men. Ray was herding the other men out as Steele continued. “Not them. It’s the woman who died right there. She wants me to tell you something.”

“Go to hell.” She started to go around him, but he moved to stop her. “I’m supposed to believe anything that comes out of your mouth? I don’t think so. Go away and leave me alone. And tell the woman I’m sorry for her death, but it doesn’t involve me.”

Steele put out his hand and then curled it around something. Almost as soon as she realized what he was doing, the arm and hand appeared in his. Then as she watched, Kari saw the woman form, her body becoming solid and her wounds visible too. Christ, he was showing her the dead woman.

“They broke in when I was sleeping.” Her voice was tinny and soft, but Kari could hear her just fine. “I’d run from my abusive husband, finally, and this was all I could afford. But the barrier that I’d put up didn’t even slow them down.” The woman looked around the room. “The first one raped me right there. He didn’t care that I screamed, didn’t even pay any attention to my fists as I tried to beat him off my body. But he took me hard enough to make me bleed. Then the second man rolled me over. His penis was in my bottom before I could think what he’d been about. The third then the fourth man took me too, sodomizing me over and over until I was hurting and bleeding so badly. When the first man came back, he pulled me from the floor and pulled me to his penis. He said for me to suck him. I tried to—”

“Stop.” Kari didn’t want to hear anymore and the woman nodded. “You should have had help.”

“I screamed and screamed but no one cared. They looked in at what they were doing to me and left me to die.” Kari looked at Steele when the woman did. “He is a good man. We all know him. There is not a person on my side of the world who has not heard of Steele Bennett.”

The woman pulled from his hand and disappeared. Kari wondered if she was still there, but knew that there was little to nothing she could say to the woman. She didn’t care that this man was known to every spectrum in the world. He didn’t want her any more than she did him.

“I suppose you think that’s going to change my mind and I’m going to simply do as you say now.” He nodded and crossed his arms over his chest. “And do you usually get your way?”

“Usually. And when I don’t, I get it eventually. I’m like that.” She didn’t doubt it. And with women too. She’d bet that they’d do whatever he wanted to him or with him. “You’ll save yourself a lot of time if you simply do what I told you now and not make me have to resort to brute strength.”

“In the event you didn’t realize it, I’m not one to simply do what someone tells me. Especially big overgrown men who think that they’re king shit.” He smiled, and she felt her heartrate pick up. Christ, he was gorgeous when he did that. And she had a feeling that he didn’t do it often. “I’m a big girl, and I can take care of myself.”

He had her pressed against the wall again so quickly that she nearly let her cat go, and he was moving his mouth over her throat in a way that had her hoping he’d bite her. But he lifted his head and stared down at her.

“No biting. No intercourse without protection.” Her body didn’t just freeze up, but it felt as if he’d taken a frozen pike and slammed it into her heart as well. When he let her go, he took a step back and she fought hard with herself to not lose it. When he moved to the door, she realized he thought she was going as well. But she wasn’t and it was high time he realized she was not at his beck and call. He turned to her again, and she could see that he’d take her with or without her consent.

“They have your things. Your money too.” She looked around the room and realized that he was right. “Come with me now and I’ll find you a place to live and a job. No strings attached.”

“There are always strings attached to everything.” He shrugged. “There will be no sex between us?”

“Yes, there will be sex. Plenty of it, I think. Hope. But protected and no biting. I don’t want to be marked by you, and I certainly have no intentions of marking you.” She wondered if stabbing a verbal knife into her heart was considered marking. But he continued before she could ask him, if she would have. “You’ll live in my house like the rest of them do, and follow the rules that are there until such time as we can get you someplace to live on your own. Once we tire of this thing between us, we’ll move our separate ways. Neither of us will be hurt by this if there is no marking. Right?”

“And the job? What will you have me doing? Servicing you and the other men?”

He moved so quickly that she had no time to back up. “You let any of them touch you and I’ll kill you both.” Her body was on fire again but not from wanting him. This time she wanted to hurt him in the same way that he had her. Right in the heart, tearing it out as he’d done to her. But she only nodded to him, and he moved away. “You’ll only be my bed partner until we both agree we’re finished. Both of us. There will be nothing more, I’m not going to marry you, fall deeply in love with you, nor am I going to beg you to stay with me at the end. It’s just sex.”

Kari knew when she was beaten, and beaten she was. It felt to her as if he’d taken her body and her heart and had stomped them into the ground, then for good measure, he’d put her back together bleeding and dying inside. She nodded to him and left the room just ahead of him. Kari was so afraid that if she spoke to him now, she’d beg him to end her life.

The trip to the car was made in silence. No one spoke to her once they were in the vehicle and even if they did, she wasn’t sure what she’d say to them. Trapped. She was trapped and there was nothing, not a damned thing she could do about it. The drive was long and the big car, a limo, was very comfortable, and she might have enjoyed it even a little had it not been for the company she was with.

The house was huge, bigger than she’d expected. But then, since the first time she’d met these men, she knew they all had money. What she didn’t expect was the woman that met her at the door. This woman looked like she ran a tight ship and didn’t take prisoners. But she pulled Kari into her bosom for a hug, and Kari felt her tears threaten again.

“Ray called me to tell me you were going to be visiting for a while. I’ve put you in the room next to Steele’s, but you can have another if you’d like.” She told her she would, and as far away from the man as possible. “I understand. Ray said that the two of you had some working out to do. I’m Izzy, by the way. I’ve worked for the Bennett family for years and years.”

Kari stopped on the step when she heard the name. “Bennett? This is his house? Mr. Steele Bennett’s house?”

“Yes.” Izzy stood there waiting for her and smiled. “You’ve come to a very wealthy man, my dear. You’ll never have to worry about money again.”

“I’m just his fuck partner.” She flushed when she realized what she’d said to this woman. “I’m sorry. We’re not…we’re not a couple. He and I just like to have sex. He’s laid out all the rules, and we’re going to go our separate ways when he’s finished with me.”

“We’ll see about that, now won’t we? And everyone has to start somewhere, dear.” She started up the stairs again. “There’s two bedrooms on the main floor. One is the master suite, which I’m sure you don’t want, and there’s a little room in the back that is nice but about as far from Steele as you can get. He’ll have to work at finding you for his pleasure. You’ll do nicely in there, I think.”

There was no pleasure going to be had by her, she thought. Release sure, but no pleasure. He’d taken that away from her the moment he told her that there would be nothing between them but mutual gratification. And she’d rather die than to beg anything of him that pertained to her staying with him.

The room she was shown to was beautiful. And if this was small, she’d hate to see what the other rooms looked like. The bed was a big four poster sucker that had a canopy over it. The dressers were all old but well maintained, and their surfaces clean of even a speck of dust. The en suite bathroom, as Izzy called it, was as big if not bigger than the entire room she’d just left at the hotel she’d been at. After Izzy left, she sat on the floor and curled her knees to her chin.

“You’re so fucked, Kari. You know that, right?” Kari lay down on the floor and let the tears fall. “You will need to guard your heart tightly. If you don’t, he’ll rip it from your chest while it’s still beating. And if he does that, you’ll be nothing but a shell of the self you are now. Broken and wondering how you’re all alone. Again.”

She knew a little about being a mate to someone. Not a great deal, but enough to know that she’d fall in love with him no matter what he did to her. It was written in the stars or some shit like that. As she lay there thinking of all the mistakes she’d made that brought her to this point, Kari wished she’d gotten on the bus yesterday and never looked back. But now—she had no idea why she knew this—it was far too late for her to run. Steele Bennett was her mate, and there was little she could do about it.

Chapter 3

The work could only keep his mind off her for so long before thoughts of her in his house would come to him. He knew she was in one of the bedrooms. He’d asked Izzy but she’d never told him which one, and he’d never asked further. But finding her and sinking into her were all he could think about ninety percent of the time. And the other ten percent had him wanting to taste her so deeply that he’d hopefully get his fill of her.

“She’s not coming to eat.” He looked up when Izzy spoke to him. They were sitting at the table about to have lunch. “Miss Briggs, she asked that she be left alone for the day. She said she’s exhausted.”

Steele stood up to go to her to…he had no idea what he was going to do, but Izzy pushed him back into his chair before he could take a step. She glared at him, and he felt his temper start to rise.

“Last time I looked, I was still owner of this house and you worked for me.” She huffed at him. “What is so wrong with her that she won’t come out of her room? And where the hell is she anyway? In one of the suites near my room?”

“No. She’s not even on the second floor. Any of the upper floors.” He started to ask why she’d given Kari the master suite when she poked him in the chest with her long finger. “You say whatever is rattling in that empty head of yours and I will take a switch after your hide. She’s not in your parents’ bedroom either. She’s in the little maid’s room behind it.”

“Why?” Izzy didn’t answer him, but he guessed. “You stuffed her in that room because it was as far from my room as you could get her, and that’s what you came up with. Damn it, Izzy, I’m a grown man, and I’ll have women in my bed if I want.”

“I would have put her in the barn if I had thought it would do any good, but I didn’t stuff her there. She asked to be there.” It took him a second to realize she’d requested to be away from him. Before he could tell her to move Kari to the room next to his, Izzy spoke again. “And she is exhausted. And hurt too. Did you know that someone tried to get at her where she lived before? Her ribs are all bound up. But she said she’d be fine. She’s…where are you going?”

He had no idea, but he had to see her right now. As he approached the door to the room she was in, he stopped. She was in there. Reaching his hand into his pocket, he felt the condoms. He’d only had one in his pocket at first, but he’d gone back to the box and taken out five more before leaving his room after he’d gotten back from the store. Right now, standing there knowing that she was on the other side of this door, he felt his cock swell with the need to empty in her again. With a bed close at hand, he wondered if it would be enough to take her so hard. Would he ever have enough of her? Instead of knocking, he pushed the door open and could only stare.

“Well?” He looked at her from the top of her head to her toes peeking out from beneath the too big robe. Steele didn’t know where it had come from, but he was pretty sure that no one in his house had it. The color was…blinding was all that came to mind. The neon green of it hurt his eyes and the pink, equally blinding trim reminded him of that stomach medicine he’d taken as a kid.

“Izzy said you were hurt.” He looked behind him for Izzy to confirm what she’d said, and found that he was alone in the room with Kari. “She said you were tired too.”

“I was just going to bed.” He looked over at the bed and thought of her in it. Naked. Screaming out his name. “Stop.”

Steele hadn’t realized he was moving until she spoke, and by the time he did get his feet to obey her, he was standing close enough to her to smell her. Lavender and mint…she’d put some on her body, or it was her shampoo. Moving his nose to see if it was her hair, he gripped her arms when she started to move back.

“You smell good enough to eat.” He wanted to test his theory right now. “Let me fuck you.”

Steele felt her move and stepped back. Not letting her go, he watched as she pulled the tie around her waist open and let it fall. The robe opened up, and he could see her pussy and the curves of her breasts. Letting her go, he stood there while she let it fall from her shoulders and join the tie on the floor. Steele knew that he was in real trouble here.

“You can’t eat me, if that’s what you really want. I’ll mark you with my juices.” Steele looked at her to see if she was kidding. “It’s the same with your semen. It’s a marker. And I know how much you don’t want that to happen.”

His mouth watered to taste her. Licking his lips, he wondered how much he’d have to take for it to be too much. Then he realized that he’d never stop once he started. The thought of drinking from her, fucking her pussy with his tongue, nearly made him say fuck it all and drop to his knees in front of her.

“I need to be inside of you.” She nodded and moved to the bed. Her naked ass was just as gorgeous as her front. When she lay over the bed, he moved toward her like she’d tied a string around him and led him to her. But when she spread her legs, slid her hands over her body, he knew the real meaning of torture. He tore his shirt over his head as he watched her touch herself.

“Do you have condoms?” He nodded and pulled them from his pocket as he took off his belt. He tossed them to her. The long strip of them lay over her body like a brand, and he wanted to snatch them back. She picked them up and tore one off before taking it to her mouth. She had it opened before he got his pants off.

She slid it over him. His cock, so painfully full, seemed to have a mind of his own as he moved to her mouth. Pulling back, he found that he wanted to fuck her mouth more than he did anything, but she reminded him about him coming. When she lay back again, he moved to settle between her thighs and looked at the bounty before him.

“Izzy said you were hurt.” She nodded and moaned when she cupped her breast. “Are you? Hurt?”

“I shifted. That took care of them. I’m fine.” She looked up at him, and he could see her desire. “Are you going to fuck me or not?”

He moved over her, and fisting his cock so he wouldn’t hurt himself, he slid the tip over her heat and was disappointed not to feel the wetness over his cock. She moaned again and again, and he moved deeper into her until she lifted her hips to take more of him. Steele couldn’t wait any longer and filled her with his cock.

She was so tight around him that he had to breathe twice before he chanced moving. When she rolled her hips up to meet his thrusts, he quickened his pace until he felt as if he were going to explode at any second. The moment her mouth moved over his throat, her teeth scraped him gently, and he felt his balls tighten to his body, ready for her bite. But when she turned her head from him and wouldn’t look at him, Steele knew that he’d missed something so profound that he’d regret it forever. As soon as he came, pounding her as hard as he could, she cried out, her fist into her mouth keeping the sound buried deeply within her. He found himself disappointed in that, wanting to hear her scream as she released. Steele dropped over her as she went limp beneath him.

Steele rolled to his back and took her with him. She didn’t move when he reached over and pulled the cover over them both. He closed his eyes, wondering why he felt no satisfaction in what they’d just done. He’d come, hard as a matter of fact, but he knew something was missing. When she moved as if she was going to leave him, he pulled her to his body and held her, not having a clue why her leaving him right now scared him.

“I want a shower.” He heard the words and their meaning tangled up with his confusion, and he was pissed. Before she could move off his body, he rolled her to her back and fucked her hard twice before lifting his head.

“We’ll be finished when I say we are.” He slammed deep into her again. “And when we’re done, then you can wash me off you all you want.”

He pulled from her body then, his cock so full, so ready to empty that he nearly took her again. But the condom was full, and he wanted to teach her a lesson. Moving from the bed and her, he pulled his pants up from the floor and took them to the bathroom with him. He didn’t let go of what he was feeling until he turned the lock. Then he leaned on the counter and tried to think.

He was being unreasonable. Not only that, but he wasn’t sure what had happened to make him this pissed. Lifting his head, he looked in the mirror at his still bruised face and wondered if he went back out there, would she hurt him again.

“It’s no less than you deserve. You’re an asshole.” He could hear her in the other room but not what was going on. She could have been laughing or crying for all he knew. Turning on the water to as cold as he could get it, he pulled off the condom and dropped it in the toilet. Stepping under the cold spray took his breath away.

He washed himself twice before he turned the water to a much warmer temperature. Then for good measure, he washed his entire body again. As he turned off the water, he thought about taking her against the tile wall and had to put his hand around his cock again or risk hurting himself. Christ, he wasn’t even this horny as a teenager. Steele dressed as slowly as he could, then moved back into the bedroom.

The first thing he noticed was that she was gone. Then he looked around. The bed had been stripped and clean linens were laying at the foot of the bed. The robe she’d had on had been picked up and now lay on the back of the chair near the closet. The condom wrapper had been put in the trash can and other that that, it was as if they’d never had sex in here.

Moving to the large walk-in closet, he opened the door to it and looked at her meager belongings. There were two shirts and a pair of pants. Nothing else. Not even a coat or jacket. The top drawer to the dresser had two pair of panties, a white bra, and a pair of socks. The next drawers were empty. There was a brush in the bathroom, and that was the extent of her personal items in this room. He sat down to pull on his shoes as he wondered what kind of life she’d lived. It must have been sad indeed. He left the room and went back to the office. He had work to do and it wasn’t going to get done mooning over what might have been. Besides, he was afraid if he found her right now, he’d be inside of her before he could get her naked again.

~~~

Izzy told her that dinner would be served at six, and as much as she wanted to skip the meal that would no doubt be some fancy affair, she knew that she’d have to show or he’d hunt her down. It was already in her mind not to be caught with him in a room with a bed again. There lurked pain and humiliation. Instead, she wandered outside and into the dreary day.

The grounds were surrounded by a tall fence. The landscaping made it look very lovely, but she was trapped here no matter how much it was prettied up. As she made her way to the little fenced-in area deeper into the woods, she thought of the man who had taken her in.

She knew who he was now. A quick search on the computer that had been in the kitchen had cleared that up. Kari had also read the papers about everything that had happened to him that day a long time ago. His father had been found guilty of murdering five women and three children, and had killed himself too when he was found out. Steele’s sister had also been killed that day, stepping off the sidewalk into the path of a fast-moving vehicle. The mother had been tried and found guilty of helping her husband murder and dismember the four woman and their bastard children, all of whom were children of the late Mr. Bennett. Kari wondered if Steele had worked for Mr. Hancock before or after that.

“Hello.” She turned to see one of the other men who lived in the house sitting by a large tree. “I didn’t want you to be frightened if you saw me first. I’m Mitch.”

“Kari.” He nodded and she looked at the small cemetery that the fence surrounded. “Is his family here?”

“His sister is. Not his father. I think he’s in a cemetery on the other side of town.” Mitch looked to his left and then back at her. “I’m having a conversation with his long-dead grandmother. She’s not at all happy about the arrangement that you and Steele have yourself in.”

“I’m not all that thrilled about it either.” She thought about having him tell her to mind her own business, but she was only a guest here and needed to stay until she had a job. “You’re all necros, Mr. Hancock said.”

“We are.” She heard the humor but said nothing. If he wanted to make fun of her, then he could damn well enjoy it. “She wants to know if you’re happy.”

“No.” There was no point in lying to them. She’d certainly done so enough to herself lately. “But I need a job and some money before I can move on. And once he’s tired of me, then I should be all right.”

Kari opened the gate and moved into a well-maintained area. There were perhaps fifteen headstones here, all of them made of a light colored marble and each of them the same style and cut as the next one. She stood in front of what she thought was the grave of the woman Mitch was speaking to.

“Her name is Aster, Constance Lilly Aster. I suppose his sister was named for her.” He told her she was right. “My name came from the note that was left with me; my last name, the make of the lawn mower I was found on.”

“You were an orphan then.” She told Mitch she had no idea. “I’m sorry. I assumed since you said you were named from a note that someone had left you somewhere.”

“I was, but I have no idea if my parents are dead or not. For all I know they could be living it up in some exotic island with ten other children.” She turned to look at him and noticed he was staring off again. “Tell her that I don’t care what they’re doing. I was being a smart ass.”

Mitch laughed. “She said that you’re very good at it too. Also, they’re both dead. She can check on those kinds of things. I don’t know how she does it, but she can. I’m sorry.”