Chapter 18
EIGHTEEN
FLORA
I glare up at Dax as he unlocks the chain from the bed. All night, I have been thinking of ways to escape.
“All the doors and windows are locked. So don’t try anything stupid,” he mumbles with his deep morning voice.
He pulls on the chain, leading me to the toilet. I feel like a slave, like a dog. I stand there with my arms crossed while he holds the chain and opens the toilet seat for me. “Go on then…” he gestures.
I scoff and utter, “I’m not pissing in front of you.”
“Flower…I’ve seen your pussy many times. Even cleaned blood from it. Seeing you piss is nothing.”
His words cut deep, a reminder of how I once trusted him. How he once looked into my eyes with tenderness. I pull down my panties and sit on the toilet. I’m surprised when Dax turns around and gives me privacy.
“What happens when I need a shit? I am definitely not shitting in front of you.”
I can see Dax's body shift up and down as he chuckles. “We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”
I pull on the chain as I reach for the toilet paper. Dax looks over h is shoulder to see what I’m doing. I quickly wipe myself and pull up my panties.
“Done,” I say in a defiant tone.
Dax turns around. He doesn't say anything as he tugs on the chain out of the bathroom.
How the fuck do some people find this sexy? I feel like a fucking animal!
He leads me to the kitchen, the chain rattling with each step. Lyka stands in the kitchen, plating up food with a calm demeanor. Dax pulls me to a stool and chains me to the island. I glare at him, my eyes filled with hatred and defiance.
“Oh, stop glaring. I know you want me,” he says arrogantly.
I refuse to give him a response so I just clench my jaw. Lyka places a plate of pancakes in front of me, but I shove them away.
“Flora. Don’t make me feed you,” he warns, narrowing his eyes. He picks up the fork, digs it into a pancake, and moves it in front of my mouth. “Fuck you!” I swear.
“You’re not going to win this by starving yourself,” Dax states, digging into his own breakfast.
“Open,” Lyka commands.
I shake my head and press my lips tightly together. I see a flicker of amusement in Lyka’s eyes. “We have all day. You can be as stubborn as you want. I can assure you, we’re not going anywhere.”
I hated them, but if I was going to escape I needed to eat and gain energy. I was still feeling drained from getting drugged last night. Lyka moves the fork closer to my mouth. “Eat.”
Feeling defeated, I parted my lips and allowed the fork to enter my mouth. Lyka smirks as he watches me chew.
“That's a good girl,” Lyka smirks, looking triumphant .
Dax brushes a strand of my hair from my face. “That wasn't so hard, was it, flower?” he croons.
I swallow the food, wanting to cry. But I won’t let them see that they have won. I look away and stare at the kitchen floor. Dax pushes a glass of orange juice along the surface.
“Fuck no. You’ve probably drugged it again.”
“We haven’t drugged it,” he says as he rolls his eyes.
Yeah, right! I don't trust them at all.
“Don’t make me pry your mouth open. Now drink it,” Dax commands.
Lyka gives me a warning look. I can tell they are not bluffing.
I’m so tempted to smash this glass over one of their heads.
“You’re really making this harder than it needs to be,” Dax says, exasperated.
I lift the glass to my lips, watching them closely as I sip. They both look at each other and smirk. They love having this control over me.
Dax finishes the last of his pancake and says, “You're gonna chop some wood with me today.”
“No,” I reply bluntly.
Lyka looks up at my defiance, pulls on the chain, and pulls my arm toward him. “Don’t defy us, you’re not the one making decisions here.”
I pull back and feel a surge of anger and frustration. His eyes bore into me with amusement.
Feeling like a bratty teenager, I continue to glare at them.
“Your eyes can be so cruel,” Dax states quietly.
“I can say the same,” I say as I look up, meeting Dax's gaze. There's a flicker of something in his eyes, a brief vulnerability that surprises me. It's gone almost as soon as it appears.
Lyka grips my face, his fingers pressing into my cheeks. I try to pul l back, but he turns my head so I have no choice but to look at him.
“You have different colored eyes…” he notes.
“ Wow , asshole. You’ve only just noticed?”
There's something unsettling about how he looks at me as if searching for answers. “I’ve never paid attention before,” he says flatly.
His admission cuts more than it should. His hand falls away and I'm left blinking. I rub my cheeks where his fingers had dug into. “Well… Now you know,” I say, shaking my head and trying to sound nonchalant.
Lyka leans back in his chair. “Yeah,” he murmurs, his eyes still fixed on mine. “Now I know.”
I finish my pancakes. Dax helps me off the stool and unchains me from the island.
He leads me to the bedroom. I can’t help but feel a sense of dread creep over me.
“Don’t expect sex!” I exclaim.
Dax shakes his head. “Don’t do anything stupid. I’m going to unlock the cuff.”
He removes the metal cuff from my wrist. The sensation of freedom feels fantastic as I flex my fingers.
I watch him rummage in the closet, selecting clothes for me. He turns around and holds out an outfit. I take it without thanking him.
“Arms up.”
I comply, lifting my arms up as he removes the oversized T-shirt. I feel his eyes gaze at my breasts and he bites his bottom lip.
“Now…do you want to go braless? Or leave it on?”
“Leave it on.”
A smirk plays on his lips. He grabs one of his flannels and helps me into it, buttoning it up .
“These panties need to come off.”
He drops to his knees in front of me, his hands pushing my legs apart. His eyes are locked onto mine. I feel a flush of anger and unexpected arousal, my body and mind at war.
His fingers hook into the waistband of my panties and he pulls them down slowly. I bite my lip, trying to suppress any reaction, but my body tingles.
“No panties for you today. I want you to go commando.”
I force myself to look away, staring at the wall as he removes my panties completely. My breath catches in my throat as he pauses, his hands lingering on my thighs before he spreads my pussy lips open. He slowly licks once and I can’t help but gasp.
I hate him so much. But, fuck, I want him to eat me out.
He looks up at me, his eyes dark and filled with a twisted amusement. “Good girls get rewards.”
His hand comes up and he slaps my pussy, a quick sting that makes me flinch. I roll my eyes, trying to mask my arousal. A part of me craves more of his touch despite the fury inside.
Dax chuckles, the sound low and sinister, and he stands up. He grabs a pair of jeans from the bed and kneels again, helping me into my jeans.
Once the jeans are on, he retrieves the metal cuff and snaps it around my wrist. He tugs on the chain, pulling me closer, his eyes locking onto mine with a dark intensity.
“Let's go.”
He leads me out of the bedroom to the living room. Lyka stands there, watching me closely. He gives a once-over. “Behaving, are we?” His tone is mocking.
“You wish, asshole.”
Dax tugs on the chain and my whole body moves toward him. “Remember, only good girls get rewards. So I wouldn't keep calling us assholes. ”
His words sound dangerous, yet I can't help but retort, “I’ll never be your good girl.” I grit my teeth.
I might be chained up now…but I won’t be forever.
Dax drops the chain and the metal makes a loud noise as it hits the floor.
I don’t waste a second and run. I can hear them laughing behind me.
“Where are you going, Flora?” Lyka calls out.
I run to the front door, but it's locked. I look up at the stairs and race up them.
“For fuck’s sake. What is she doing?” Dax asks.
I don’t look back, reaching the landing. My breathing becomes heavy. I lean over the railing, force myself to stand tall, and grip it with one hand.
“I’ll jump and kill myself!” I scream down.
Lyka and Dax stand at the bottom of the stairs, looking up at me. They burst into laughter, mocking me.
“You’ll only break your ankles from that height,” Dax shouts up the stairs, shaking his head.
I feel helpless as I struggle to keep my balance.
Lyka slowly makes his way up the stairs. “Come down. If you jump and break any bones, we will not be taking you to a hospital.”
He reaches the top step and his face is full of anger. My body trembles as I look at him.
“Your favorite movie is Misery …There's a scene where she breaks her ankles with a sledgehammer. If you wanted your ankles broken, you just had to ask, baby,” he taunts.
I let out a gulp as I remembered the scene from the movie. “You… you…wouldn’t.” I tremble.
His eyebrow raises as he gives me a warning. I take a hesitant step forward.
“On your knees,” he commands with an evil grin .
“No,” I bluntly say, feeling humiliated.
He glares at me and starts walking towards me. He stops as I drop to my knees.
“Now crawl…”
The hard floor presses into my palms and knees as I crawl toward him. The chain drags along the floor behind me, making a scraping noise.
I reach him, looking up and seeing his smug expression as he picks up the chain.
“Next time you’re a brat, you will be punished,” he explains. He pulls on the chain, forcing me to rise to my feet.
Dax walks up the stairs, shaking his head. His voice is low as he says, “Flower, you need to understand the more you defy us…the worse the punishment gets.”
My whole body shakes from fear and anger. Lyka pulls me closer as he grips the chain tightly.
“Accept it,” he breathes in my ear.
I hate them! I hate them so much!
Lyka leads me downstairs and Dax follows close behind; he feels like a shadow.
“You’re gonna help Dax. Don’t think about running. We will outrun you. Don’t try to hide. We will find you,” Lyka explains while unlocking the front door.
The door opens and the fresh air rushes in. As I look out, it feels like a cruel taste of freedom.
A world beyond my reach.
Dax takes the chain from Lyka and guides me outside. “Come along, flower.”
We walk to the log shed and Dax secures the chain around a wooden pillar with a wall-mounted device. “This is called a kindling splitter,” he explains.
I examine it, looking at the notches.
“I’ll be cutting logs. You must put them on the notches and pull t he lever down,” he continues, demonstrating how the device works. Lyka walks past and heads straight to the barn without looking at us.
Dax grabs my hands, making me flinch. He slips a pair of gloves on, saying, “Don't want splinters now…do we?”
The chain is long enough to grant me some freedom to move. I watch Dax place the first log on the chopping block. He brings the ax up above his head and then back down. The log splits cleanly in two. He throws a piece toward my feet. Bending down, I pick it up and look at it.
“Now, your turn.”
I carefully place the log on the notch and align it. I grip the lever, pull it down, and the log splits into smaller pieces.
“Good, keep going. We need a lot of kindling.”
I focus on the task and keep cutting the wood. Dax continues to chop the larger logs.
As my hands keep doing repeated motions, I start daydreaming. I think about the fake lockdown and the betrayal. Looking back, the red flags were always present. Being naive, I just ignored them.
“Dax…what if I never found out about the fake lockdown? What was your plan?” I ask.
I can sense Dax looking at me, but he says nothing.
“Well…?” I press, turning my head.
“You said you wanted to stay here forever,” he says simply.
“That was a heat of the moment thing in sex!” I say, incredulously.
Dax doesn't reply as he continues to chop logs and fling them toward my feet. I narrow my eyes, trying to gauge his thoughts.
“Why me? Because I was a virgin? Untouched ? Out of all the girls in town, why the fuck me?! ”
I start feeling angry as he just looks down and pretends not to listen.
“Well, Dax, I might not be the untouched angel you think I am,” I taunt.
He suddenly looks up, his eyes filled with anger. “What do you mean?”
I love getting a rise out of him and I know I’ve got to him. Payback time. Asshole!
“Well…Marty, my father's friend—”
“What the fuck about him?!” he growls.
Haha! You don't like it, do you?
Dax rushes towards me with fury in his eyes. Before I can react, he pins me up against the shed. His body presses against mine as he holds the ax blade to my throat.
“Fucking tell me now!” he seethes.
Fear and defiance overtake my body. We are frozen in the moment as the sharp edge of the ax holds me in place. I take a deep breath, trying to maintain my composure.
The memory of Marty was buried deep in my mind and I hated thinking about it.
However, I know this provokes Dax so I tell him with tears in my eyes.
“We kissed…then he got on top of me. I thought I was going to lose my virginity to him.”
Dax's grip on the ax tightens as he grits down on his bottom teeth. “Then what?”
I swallow hard and tremble. “I screamed and he stopped. I felt fearful and helpless.”
Dax's eyes search mine for the truth and his breathing becomes harsh.
“Why? Why are you telling me this?”
“Because. I want you to know you can’t break me. I’m not afraid of you,” I say, looking at him dead in his eyes .
He falters for a moment, then he lets out a growl as he pushes away from me. I stand my ground as he stares at me, trying to intimidate me. He walks back to the wooden block and resumes chopping wood.
I feel shaken up, but I refuse to let him see it. I return to splitting logs, trying to focus on the task.
A few moments passed between us. “You kissed…Did you do anything else?” he asks in a low tone.
I hesitate for a moment, then shake my head. “Nothing else. I backed out when he said I looked like my mother.”
“I wanna kill him for even trying. You’re mine .”
With all his anger, he lifts the ax and hits the chopping block. He lets out a loud grunt.
“I wanna kill him…I wanna kill him,” Dax repeats over and over as he continually swings the ax down.
He looks up at me, his eyes searching mine for something. I see a different side to Dax.
And it’s dark.