Chapter Seven
Rosie
I can barely unbend my knee, but I’m able to hobble around the house with help from an old crutch Moose had out in the barn. It’s not in perfect shape, but he’s cleaned it off and wrapped it with the cushion from an old tractor seat and duct tape for me.
I was only blindfolded and confined for twenty-four hours, but it was enough sensory deprivation that I’m thankful for the free rein of my body and senses again. I’ll be even more thankful when I get my cell phone back, which is exactly what I plan on doing as soon as possible. I need to talk to Jen. I’m sure she’s worried about me. Besides that, I could use a conversation with someone other than these three men and all their over-the-top macho thoughts.
The farmhouse is a lot bigger than I’d imagined. There’s a massive kitchen with an old gas burning stove, and an island and sink that looks over the barn. To the left is a separate dining room with a long, hand-built table that looks to seat at least twelve people.
To the right is the attached living room, which doesn’t look updated since the house was built. Ornate wallpaper lines the walls and a worn leather couch sits in the center of the space near a large, roaring fireplace where two matching chairs sit on either side. Antique farm tools hang on the wall next to an array of horse paintings that look like they were done with oil. I have so many questions about this place. The bedroom is so modern, but the rest of the house leaves a lot to be desired. Clearly, the place was inherited, but why didn’t Moose ever put any personal touches on it?
Owen sits in front of the fire, staring at the flames with a downtrodden expression of a guilty man. It’s only been a few hours since I ordered him out of the room, and I’m not sure if I have the empathy to deal with him yet, but seeing him like this helps his case.
“Hey.” My voice is a near whisper as I lean against the frame of the living room entryway.
He bounces up from the chair where he’s sitting and makes his way toward me, hooking his arm behind my waist to help me to the sofa. “Birdie, what are you doing out of bed? You should be resting.”
“I know,” I say, reaching for the comfort of his hand. “I… thought we should talk. I’m really pissed off at you, Owen. I can’t believe you did this. I mean, what was the plan here?”
He rolls his head side to side then looks toward me. “I know. I shouldn’t have done this. I get it. I just… you’re so innocent, and I didn’t want anything bad happening to you.” He wets his lips and looks away, before brushing his hand over his face. “You’re my best friend, Birdie. I love you.”
“This isn’t about love, Owen. You—”
“No, Birdie, I love you. Like, I’m in love with you.” He stares toward me with wide eyes before tilting his head to the side slightly. “I’ve always been in love with you. Since the day we met, you were this bright, bubbly girl with an excitement for life that doesn’t exist anywhere else. You had dreams for your dreams.” He drags in a deep breath. “The thought of another man touching you for the first time, the thought of you selling yourself, it sent me over the edge.”
My thighs tense and my stomach tightens as he lands his big hand on my cheek and holds it there thoughtfully. I’ve had feelings for Owen for as long as I can remember, but I can’t believe what I’m hearing after what he’s done.
“I may not have said it out loud, but you belong with me, Birdie. You always have, and there was just no way in hell I was letting some fucking stranger take your innocence like that.”
My skin prickles and heat passes between us the same way it has for years, except this time we’re both acknowledging it. “You know I love you,” I sigh, “but I can’t forget this happened. You kidnapped me! You drugged me! You took away the one opportunity I had to get my life straight!”
“Your life is straight, Birdie. You’re doing everything right, but shit takes time. It did for me, for Moose, for Hawk. It’s—”
“Who are those guys, anyway? I’ve never heard you talk about them before.”
He glances down and sighs. “Buddies. I’ve known them for years. You’ve probably heard me call them by different names. Dave is Moose and Cody is Hawk. Back in the day, Cody got a hawk tattoo, and we got to bullshitting about it. They’re just stupid names for when we hang out.”
“Then where does the Zee come from?”
I can see the cringe on his face as he says, “Zebra. I got laughing so hard that Moose said I sounded like a zebra. Thankfully, I’ve mostly walked them back from that name. It got pretty bad for a while there.” His face shifts. “They’re good guys. I’d trust ‘em with my life. I wouldn’t put you in harm’s way, ever.”
Shit, I have heard Owen talk about Dave and Cody. Quite a lot, actually. They get together once a month for cards, fishing, or lunch in town, though it’s weird to think of captors having real names now. I kind of like them as Hawk and Moose. It’s fitting.
“Maybe we could’ve had them over for a game night or something, skipped the whole kidnapping thing.” I’m speaking in a joking tone, but I’m angry as hell.
Owen shakes his head. “You’re my favorite person on the planet. You know that? I look for you in every single crowd. I think about you all the time. You’re my person, Birdie. I made a mistake. I’m incredibly sorry.”
“A mistake? Really?” I laugh sarcastically under my breath. “ Why not tell me? You don’t think I’d have pulled out of this if I knew that, or maybe never done it to begin with?”
“It’s easy to say now. Of course, that sounds like the best solution, but by the time I found out about Fantasy Driver, it was too late.”
God, what the hell do I even say to all of this? The fear of death is gone, but the reality of owing thousands of dollars to Fantasy Driver is real.
Owen says he loves me, but I’ve seen what else is out there now. In the last twenty-four hours alone, I’ve connected and imagined lives with two other men. Though, to be fair, they’re also kidnappers.
This is such a mind fuck. How do I even begin to make sense of any of it?
“I know this is confusing, Birdie. I’m sorry. I promise I’ll clean everything up. You don’t have to worry about the money, your job, or anything. I’ll make it all right again.”
He still doesn’t get it. No one gets it.
I sigh and glance away, but he lands his hand on my chin and redirects my gaze back to his. “Don’t disappear. You know I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
I do know that, but he did hurt me, and I’m not sure I can get over it. I’m not sure how I’d ever rewire my brain to trust a man that hired his buddies to kidnap me.
“Who was the old guy driving the van on the morning I got picked up?”
“A guy Moose knows. He needed some cash. Look, this is bad, but showing up to fuck some random dude online for money would’ve been worse. Do you—”
“No, Owen! Stop! It wasn’t your decision to make.” I pull away from the wall and step into the living room. “You had no right to do any of this so stop trying to make sense of it to me.”
He stares at me, his shoulders broad and strong as he steps forward. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen him look so intense. I move backward as he strides toward me in an attempt to leave the room, but before I get far, he’s backed me up against the far right wall of the farmhouse, his gaze on mine with intention.
I’m angry. Pissed. Red with rage. What nerve does he think he has thinking he can trap me in the corner like this? If anything, he should be on his knees begging me for forgiveness.
Slowly, his gaze hardens, and his hand wanders up my arm and onto my throat. “You’ll never know, Birdie. You don’t know the depths I would go for you. Do you know how many times you go through my head every single day? Hundreds… thousands. I’m fixing a fucking carburetor and I’m wondering what you’re doing, what you’re thinking about, how you’re feeling. I’m lying in bed nightly, desperate to touch you, kiss your lips, touch your body. You’re perfect, okay? The most perfect little pain in the ass I’ve ever known, and I can’t live in a world where you sell yourself to a stranger.” He leans in with pressure, kissing my lips hard and sure, holding my bottom lip in his mouth before pulling away with a groan. “I’m sorry I hurt you. I’m sorry I did the things I did. You deserve someone who will treat you better, but I will keep you safe, and I won’t apologize for that.”
I’m electric, my skin is on fire, the world around me is floating, and I’m lost in some universe where time and space don’t matter. Nothing about this should feel right, but it does.
Owen leans into me again, twisting me back until I’m bent onto the couch. His hands are wild. They’re on my hips, on my breasts, in my hair, on my face. He kisses me over and over, trailing a line of wetness down over my chin, onto my neck, my shoulder, and my covered nipple. “You know how long I’ve thought about this, Birdie?”
“About kidnapping me?” I pant, pulling his shirt up over his head. I know that’s not what he means, but I plan to make jabs like that for eternity.
“In my head, the kidnapping was much more sexual,” he groans, tugging the fabric of my dress down to expose my breast. “If I let my body talk, I’d have bent you over that very first night and taken you for myself. You know how much it killed me to find out Moose had his cock in your pretty, little mouth?”
My heart rate skyrockets. “I was trying to manipulate him.”
“Did you like it?”
I’m not sure if I should lie or tell the truth, so I say nothing.
He repeats the question, this time with his hand on my chin and his gaze staring directly into my soul. “Did you like it?”
“I did,” I say, nearly breathless, nervous for what the truth means. Also, why does it turn me on so much to say it?
His lips land on mine with a crushing urge as his thick fingers dig into my hair. I’ve never been touched like this. Never had the warm breath of a man on my body. Never felt the hands of another human on my flesh so desperately.
His kiss moves down my body, covering my neck, my collarbone, my breasts, and my stomach before landing on my inner thigh with a passionate growl.
“We should do this right,” he groans, kissing over my seam gently.
I have no idea what doing ‘ this’ right means at this point. My body needs to be touched, and I love Owen. I’ve waited for this moment forever, but there’s more happening here. “I owe myself to the man who bought me, Owen.”
He kisses my pussy, breathing in my scent as though he’s an animal, as though he’s drunk on my pheromones. “You don’t owe yourself to anyone. You’re mine.”
I stagger in a deep breath, unsure if I’ll be able to stop the urgent throbbing between my legs. He kisses my mound over and over, slowly sliding his tongue through my seam, flicking my eager, swollen nub with pressure.
My hips rise without thought and grind against his face, finding whatever edges it can to focus on. I think maybe I’ve hit his nose or his chin, I’m not sure, but the feeling growing between my legs is unavoidable.
I can’t stop.
He grips my hips and growls into my pussy, sucking and nibbling at my clit. I’m going to die.
“Don’t stop!” I shout, grinding up into him harder and harder. My fingertips weave into his hair and I pull up, grinding, and moaning as desperation takes over every cell in my body. “I think I’m gonna come.”
The world could be on fire right now and I wouldn’t give two fucks. The only thing my brain can focus on currently is this feeling. This mindless, desperate aching, as an orgasm rips its way up through my body.
“Come for him,” a deep voice echoes beside us, and I jump, grinding into Owen’s face at an angle that sets a domino effect into motion. I turn my head to the side and see Hawk standing in the doorway, his big hand brushing over the bulge in his jeans. “Come on, sweetheart. Give him your come.”
The sight is startling, but in a good way. I’ve never thought of anyone watching before. I never imagined what it would be like to have another man jerking off while I was being pleasured. Turns out, I like it… a lot.
Owen doesn’t stop. He eats me faster and more furiously as though he can taste how excited I am, as though he also likes the idea of Hawk watching.
My ass sticks to the couch with each lift of my hips, and soon, I’m screaming with ecstasy as my body convulses with pleasure. I’ve never felt this unhinged. Every nerve fires without warning and my body spasms beneath his kiss.
Dear Lord, I’ve been missing so much. I can’t believe anyone thinks masturbation is a substitute for this.
Owen leans off the pressure on my pussy, kissing me gently, lapping up my wetness, running his tongue over my soaking seam with a pleased grumble under his breath. “Damn.” He kisses me again, paying no attention to Hawk on the other side of the room. His lips land on my cut knee, my stomach, my nipple, my neck, the lobe of my ear. “Sorry I didn’t stop. I’ve been desperate for those noises far too long. You doin’ okay?”
“Yeah.” I grin uncontrollably wide, still feeling a twitch between my legs.
He kisses beneath the lobe of my ear again before turning toward Hawk with a lopsided grin. “I knew we were buddies, but this is new.”
Hawk’s cock is rock hard and every ounce of me wants to kneel before these men and suck both of them dry.
What the fuck is wrong with me? They both kidnapped me. They’ve both lied to me. They both think they know better than I do. Counterpoint, they’re insanely hot and I really do believe Owen took me for good reasons… if such a thing exists.
Hawk clears his throat. “Yeah, well, I wasn’t expecting to walk in on… that. You’re in the living room. You know that, right?”
“Fair.” Owen rolls up from the couch and crosses his biceps over one another. “What’s up?”
I’m not ready to move into the ‘ what’s up’ part of the conversation. I want to go back to how hard their dicks are, how badly they need me on my knees, how I want their come all over me.
“Oh.” Hawk exhales loudly and readjusts his dick. How is the man so damn handsome also blessed with an eggplant that big, and how do I turn this back into a conversation about sexual favors? “I, ugh…” Hawk glances toward me as I pull the strap of my dress down slowly and stand from the couch. I don’t know who this girl is, where she came from, or what the hell she’s doing, but she keeps moving. I’ve never had an out-of-body experience, but I imagine it feels like muscles contracting one after the other, moving your body into a position your brain can’t comprehend.
For me, that position is on my knees, staring up at Hawk and Owen, desperate to forget about everything, and turn this kidnapping into a fantasy from Barbie’s Dreamhouse.