Uncovering You 4: Retribution (3 page)

“Well…” I blink, amazed that we’re having this conversation despite his rules. “…Yes,” I finally answer.

He exhales and puts a hand over his heart. “Lilly, you wound me. Do you really think of me as such a monster?”

Before I can stop it, my hand starts moving toward the collar. Stonehart notices.

“Ah,” he says. “
That
. Yes, I can see how that little device might warp your perception of me. But you have to understand, Lilly, that I have to retain some control over you. We both know that you can be quite… willful.”

I just stare.

“The takeover’s not going to go smoothly, of course,” he continues. “There is going to be backlash. From within the government. From the employees. The United States and Israel pretend to be great friends, but it is an uneasy alliance that both countries wish they could forego. The Israeli people will not take well to a foreign conglomerate taking over one of their most treasured technology firms.”

“And you want me….” I swallow. “You actually want me to…”

“To take Esteban’s position as CEO, yes,” Stonehart sighs. “Really, Lilly, is that such a difficult concept to understand?”

He stands up. “It will be a year or more before the company is ready to have you at the helm. That gives us plenty of time to work out any lingering kinks that might make my proposition difficult. Issues of trust, perhaps.” His eyes harden as he looks at me. “Remember, Lilly, that the contract you signed can be amended at any moment by myself. Do not make me force you to take the position at Dextran by adding a new clause. I would rather have you come into it of your own free will.”

I don’t know whether to laugh or cry.

This has to be a joke. Right?

Stonehart looks outside. “My,” he says. “It’s a marvelous day out there. How would you like to go for a picnic? It seems like such a shame to waste the weekend indoors.”

I swallow as I remember the last time Stonehart tried to lead me outside.

He turns back to me. “No?” he asks. “I think the gift of proper employment should count as more than a single TGB, don’t you? In fact, I’d say it’s worth about… four
.
”

My eyes widen. I do a quick sum in my head. The dove head was TGB number six. That means I have ten.
Ten
means… a brand new freedom.

The freedom to go outside.

“Really?”

“Yes, really,” he says, smiling. He walks back to me and offers his hand.

After a second’s hesitation, I take it. His strong, warm fingers wrap around my palm, cradling me and making me feel safe.

That is the
last
feeling I should be having around Stonehart.

But I can’t fight it. I can’t. I can’t change the way my body reacts to him.

I may not like it, sure. I may know, logically, that it’s all types of wrong.

But I still can’t do anything about it.

He pulls me up. Without warning, he raises our linked hands overhead. “Do a spin,” he breathes.

I do. A giggle bubbles up as I twirl around once.

Stonehart smiles at me with warm, gentle eyes. He pulls me into him, so that our hips are touching. I’m thrown so off-balance by his radical shift in behavior that I decide it’s better to simply not think about it.

Just go with the flow
.

He kisses the crown of my head, then says, “Come on. Let’s see if Charles can’t pack us some lunch. I’ve waited a long time to show you the grounds. Today feels like a day for celebration.”

I let go of Stonehart’s hand as he steps over the threshold at the front door. I can hardly believe this is happening.

He looks back at me. “It’s perfectly safe, Lilly. Come on.”

I touch the black, smooth collar. “This is off?”

“No,” Stonehart sighs. “You know that. But the range is extended. As long as you stay on my property, you’ll be fine.”

He comes back and takes both my hands in his. He tugs me forward in a gentle pull. “Come on.”

I nod, and take a step through the open door. As soon as I’m across, my entire body tenses in anticipation…

But, nothing happens.

Stonehart graces me with an indulgent smile. “I told you you’d be safe.”

I look down at the ground. I see my feet, spread on the concrete steps leading out the front door. I take another step forward, then look back over my shoulder at the house now
two feet
away from me.

Two whole feet. Twenty-four inches.

It feels like a light year away.

Stonehart watches it all with a proud smile.

I touch the collar again. It’s still dead.

Then, in a sudden rush of exhilaration, I run forward. I feel the wind in my hair, the warm, early morning sun on my skin. I feel freer than I have in ages. Nothing can take this moment away from me—

I’m jerked to a stop by Stonehart’s hand tightening around my upper arm.

I look at him. In an instant, my happiness is gone.
Cold
Stonehart is back, and he looks furious.

“Trying to run?” he growls.

“No, Jeremy,” I say, panicking, “I was just—”

And then his mask breaks. The fury flies away, replaced by pure mirth as he starts to laugh.

“I’m kidding,” he says, grinning at me like a school boy. “After all, if you run, where would you go?”

“Ha, ha, very funny,” I say dryly. Still, something about Stonehart—Jeremy Stonehart, CEO and President of Stonehart Industries—cracking a joke makes all the panic I felt shrivel up and die.

“Would you like a tour of the estate?” he asks, offering me his arm. “I have a feeling you’ll be spending quite a bit of time outside from now on. Unless I miss my mark…?”

I smile up at him. “You’re very right,” I say, taking his arm. “And I would love a proper tour.”

My life is so screwed up. It’s impossible for me to tell what part of it is reality, and what part is an act.

Stonehart’s estate is vast. Massive. As he leads me around, I can’t help but wonder how much he must have paid to own this much acreage in California. The house is so far away from the property entry gates that it takes us twenty minutes just to walk there. We follow a winding road that curves through the trees.

It feels wonderful to walk. Just to walk. With no worries about being shocked or harmed. Under cover of all the trees, I can forget where I am.

Even having Stonehart beside me does nothing to hamper my spirits. In fact, I can probably say that, right now, I would rather be
with
him than without him.

It’s such a strange and bizarre sentiment. But Stonehart is a strange and bizarre man. One moment, he can be cruel and angry; the next, sweet, kind, and compassionate.

I’ve said this before, but being with him right now almost makes it feel like everything that happened last night was just a bad dream. There is no lingering animosity between us.

He teases me for the way I leap out of the way when I hear a bee approaching. Every once in a while, with absolutely no warning, he pulls me into him and kisses me with a passion that leaves my head woozy.

Stonehart’s good mood is infectious. I’m laughing and joking with him as easily as if we were old friends. For those precious moments, I don’t feel like a prisoner, but an equal. Or, at least, like his actual lover, and not just a… whore.

Stonehart’s dual personalities concern me. Who is he? Is he the man beside me right now? Or, is he the one who cut my clothes off and fucked me raw?

Could he be both? I mean, he obviously
is
—it’s not like he has an evil twin who carries out all the horrible things he’s done to me—but I mean it in a different sort of way. The two personalities do not remind me of someone who is bipolar. I would know. I studied this stuff.

No, the two personalities seem more
secure
than that. More tightly bound to who Stonehart is as a person.

He’s always in control. I know that. It’s not like he loses control when he becomes domineering. He always knows
exactly
what he is doing.

It must be a conscious shift, then. He must decide that he wants to treat me a certain way, and then do it.

That means he is scarily in control of his emotions. That type of restraint has to be a burden.

Again, I come back to the same question as always:
Why?
Why is he doing this to me? Why, if it’s in his nature to be both cruel and kind, doesn’t he forgo the cruelty?

I look at him out of the corner of my eye. He is beaming, his hand tight around mine. He’s telling me a story that I’m listening to with half an ear. It has to do with some previous takeover…

Wait. I come to myself with a start. I just heard him mention Dextran.

“I’m sorry. Can you please say that again?” I ask.

This is the type of thing to which Stonehart would react horribly if he were in his other mind. Instead, he just chuckles and says, “Daydreaming again, are you?”

“It’s the fresh air,” I say. “After breathing air conditioned air for so long, nature is making me euphoric.”

“Hmm.” He smiles. “I’ll make sure to ask nature if she can give me a few pointers, then, next time I see her.”

I smile. “I think it might just be a girl thing.”

He throws his head back and laughs. “Don’t tell me you haven’t experienced the magic of these fingers?” he asks. Then, without warning, his hands dart out and he starts attacking my armpits and all my most ticklish spots.

I shriek and fight him off. “Stop! Jeremy, stop! Stop it!”

“What’s that?” he laughs, chasing after me when I slip away. “You want more?”

“No, Jeremy! Stop it!” I laugh when he catches me and wraps his arms around my waist. I’m reduced to doubling over and giggling hysterically as his fingers keep darting in and out to tickle me more and more.

“No, no, stop, it!” I beg. I try to defend myself, but he is relentless. My knees give way and I fall onto the soft grass.

Stonehart collapses on top of me. I’m breathing hard from laughter, but as I’m lying there, looking up at him, I see something change in his eyes. They become hungry. They roam over my face, pausing at my lips, hitching at my neck, before moving down to take in the expanse of my cleavage.

I feel a sudden surge of arousal rush through me. Stonehart must feel it, too, because his cock gives a sudden twitch against my leg.

Our eyes meet. His hands slowly move down my body, grazing over my breasts. He pinches my nipples beneath my shirt—I’m not wearing a bra, as per his rules—and I give a short, tiny gasp.

“I love seeing you flustered,” he says in a rumbly voice that makes my insides writhe with boundless arousal. “But even more, I love seeing you breathless.”

And his head dips down, and he kisses me.

Our mouths connect with real passion. I am as hungry for him as he is for me. I am as desperate for him as he is for me.

Maybe even more so.

I moan into the kiss as Stonehart’s hands knead my breasts. His thick, solid body is plastered over mine, making me feel small and feminine and—again—protected.

I don’t question that feeling anymore. If I feel protected when I’m with him like this, so be it. It’s a
good
feeling to have. Better than being on-guard all the time.

Those thoughts are interrupted as Stonehart grabs me around my back and rolls us over. Now, I’m on top of him.

I break free of our kiss to gasp for air. He looks so sexy on the ground. His wavy hair is a mess—courtesy of my hands. His eyes are filled with a mix of lust and greed that makes me feel absolutely desired. His nostrils flare with every heavy breath.

His large hands curl around my petite waist. His fingers are long enough to have both his thumbs and forefingers touching. Or maybe I’ve just lost some weight. I
have
been on a strict diet since I arrived.

“Strip,” he commands.

I blink once. “What?”

“Strip for me, Lilly-flower,” he says. Gently, he guides me up so that I’m sitting on him. I can feel his straining erection beneath his jeans.

I give him a shy smile. It becomes mischievous when I see the growing desire on his face.

Slowly, I pick up the hem of my shirt and raise it overhead, exposing my naked belly inch by satisfying inch.

Stonehart’s hands let go for a moment to free the cloth. Then they clamp down right where they were before, just above my hips.

I roll forward and back over his boner, loving the feeling of control it gives me as I continue lifting my shirt. When my breasts drop free, Stonehart exhales in boundless lust. His eyes zero in on my raised nipples, but his hands stay right where they are across my waist.

I lift the shirt over my head, and then shake my hair out to give it a wild look. Fueled by my own desire, I put my hands on his tight stomach and start rolling his shirt up.

“Your turn,” I say.

Stonehart does not protest. He lets me take off his shirt, exposing his glorious body in the process. My hands trail over the ridges of his abs and up the midline of his chest. His hands
still
haven’t moved, but I can feel his eyes glued to my breasts.

I sit back up and start to play with them. “You like these, don’t you?” I ask, using my most lilting voice.

“Like you wouldn’t believe,” he growls, and reaches up to grab my neck and pull me toward him. Suddenly he’s kissing me again. A moment later, we’re both rolling on the ground, our bodies a tangle of arms and legs.

We end up on a patch of grass a few feet away. My insides are roiling with heat, and I’m consumed by the passion Stonehart is stirring within me.

“Have you ever been fucked outside?” he asks, his voice a heady growl.

I bite my lip and shake my head. It’s all I can do to stop myself from begging, “Do me. Do me, now!”

He looks down at me. His eyes leave a trail of heat on my skin as they explore my body.

“Get up,” he says. “We’re not doing it on the ground.”

He gets off me and pulls me to my feet. He searches around us and focuses on an evergreen. “There,” he says.

“Against the tree?” I ask, uncertain.

“That’s right,” he affirms. “Go.” He propels me forward by slapping my ass.

I jump. When I look back at him, I find him grinning diabolically.