Chapter 11 Baby Steps #2
“Where’s my dog?” I asked them. I hadn’t seen Camaro all morning, and I assumed it was because they didn’t want her getting in the way of my therapy.
“Groomers,” Clive answered without taking his eyes off the window.
“I think you guys should go get her. It can’t take all morning to groom a dog.”
Both sets of eyes shot to me with the same look of suspicion on their faces.
“Why?” Owen asked. “What shit are you trying to get into now?”
I rolled my eyes and pulled my legs back over the side of the bed.
Clive’s eyes sharpened. “Jaden, what are you doing?”
Ignoring him, I began to raise my foot into the air, holding it out in front of me as I gripped the side of the bed for balance.
“Jaden, you’re supposed to be resting,” Owen chastised.
“Fuck that.” I was so tired of being a prisoner of this bed.
Lifting my foot another inch, I could feel the muscles in my leg protesting, the weight seeming overbearing and unnatural. The same feeling came with the other leg.
“Jaden, why do you always have to push?” Clive complained with a sigh.
“Because I drink a tall serving of dumb bitch juice every morning. Now go get my damn dog.”
Clive groaned aloud, pulling out his phone to make the call while Owen crossed the room and quickly swooped my legs back onto the bed.
“Hey!”
“Knock it off,” he snapped before stepping away.
I glared at him, folding my arms in front of me and lifting my feet one foot at a time while I lay back on the bed.
“I want to go out on the balcony,” I announced, keeping my tone even.
“And I want you to stop being a pain in the ass,” Owen replied.
“Then bring me my stupid wheelchair, or I’ll just drag my ass out there, and you can explain to Darren how I managed that on my own.”
Owen rolled his eyes and brought my wheelchair from the corner of the room to my side of the bed. Sliding my ass over to the edge, I maneuvered into the chair and rolled myself away and onto the balcony that opened up to the expansive backyard and the gorgeous view of the Pacific Ocean.
A few moments later, I heard the sound of Camaro entering the bedroom. I sat back and whistled for her to find me. She responded immediately with a quiet bark and made her way toward the special call I was making.
“Hey, pretty girl!” I sang when she entered the balcony and placed her head on my knee. “You smell so nice and clean.” She whined as she wiggled her butt, her little nub of a tail wagging in small circles.
When she was settled next to my chair, and Clive and Owen were quiet inside the bedroom, I took my opportunity.
Rolling my wheelchair a little closer to the white stone railing, I leaned forward and placed my hands over the ledge. Carefully placing my feet on the ground, I inched forward from my seat, gripped the ledge, and yanked myself up.
The blood didn’t rush as fast this time; I was a little more prepared.
What I wasn’t prepared for was how euphoric it felt to be standing on my own—without an audience.
No help from Darren to steady me. No help from Sid to guide me.
Just me and my broken-ass body following instinct and muscle memory.
A breeze blew from the shore and flowed through my hair, giving me a false sense of hope that all of this bullshit would be over soon. I was recovering at a snail’s pace, and I had a strong feeling it was being done on purpose.
The question was why?
Why keep me disabled and vulnerable?
It didn’t make sense.
“Goddammit, Jaden!” Clive snapped angrily as he stormed his way onto the balcony. “Sit the fuck down before you hurt yourself.”
“I feel fine, actually,” I replied, ignoring his aggravation. And I really did. There was no pain or discomfort, and I felt much more stable than I had earlier. My knees were weak but steady. And my confidence was already rising, giving me the strength I needed to keep going.
“Sit. Down.”
I felt my entire body stiffen from the stern order that came from behind, the voice dark and threatening. When the shock wore off, I felt myself deflate entirely, followed by a sigh of frustration.
Releasing the ledge, I lowered myself back into the wheelchair, my shoulders slumping and my face glaring out into the ocean.
I didn’t even turn around to acknowledge Darren’s presence, but I didn’t have to when I could feel him standing directly behind me.
Clive left the balcony without a word, leaving me alone with the angry giant bearing down at me from behind.
Darren took two steps forward and leaned his hip against the banister, crossing his ankles and folding his arms in front of his chest. The sigh that came from him made me scowl even harder.
“Jaden, are we really going to have problems here?” he asked, his tone taking on a dangerous note.
I clenched my jaw in response, my eyes refusing to meet his.
“Answer me,” he barked.
“Yes,” I snapped through gritted teeth. “We’re going to have problems if you continue to hinder my recovery.”
That was a bold accusation, but it was the only thing that made sense. Plus, I wanted to see if he would deny it.
When he didn’t say anything, my eyes shot to his, daring him to lie to me.
“It’s been three months, Darren. I should have been walking weeks ago.”
He rolled his eyes before turning to look at me, and then his gaze suddenly zeroed in on my shoulder. His facial features softened for just a moment as his arm slowly began to reach out to me.
“Don’t move,” he said quietly.
But of course I did, tilting my head down to look at what had caught his attention on my shoulder. It was a large brown spider.
Yuck.
With a grunt, I flicked the thing away with my fingernail and turned back to the near blank look on his face. I was not about to let him change the subject now.
“Don’t tell me I’m wrong, Darren,” I continued. “I can’t keep wasting away like this.”
Still, he said nothing, looking a little lost in thought for some reason. But as I waited for his response, I watched his eyes as they began to grow dark, his facial features stoic, his entire demeanor shifting into the lethal predator he was.
Keeping my eyes captive, he leaned down and pulled my wheelchair so I faced him. With his hands gripping either side of the arms of the chair, he lowered his upper body until we were practically nose to nose, his massive bulk effectively caging me in.
The intensity of his gaze left me cold and painfully anxious, but I wouldn’t let it show. The man fed off my fear, and right now, I would have him fucking starve.
“Who owns you, Jaden?” he asked, his tone a dark warning.
I scoffed and looked away. “I’m not playing this gam—,”
His hand struck out to my throat, gripping it tightly until almost all of my oxygen was cut off.
I swung my arm out to strike his face, but his hand caught my wrist and pinned it down against the arm of the chair.
Five seconds later, he loosened his grip just enough for me to suck in a huge breath of air, but both his hands remained exactly where they were.
“Answer the fucking question,” he growled.
My chest heaved, and my blood raced, but even with a stomach full of fear, I refused him.
“No.”
Darren ripped me out of that chair so fast, I didn’t even realize it until I felt my back slam onto the bed. His heavy body pinned mine in place, my wrists caught in one of his hands, trapping them above my head.
“I’m going to ask you one more time,” he seethed, “and if you don’t give me the correct answer, I will fuck you until your pelvis breaks all over again. And then you can spend another three months trapped in this bed.”
His threat made my body instantly slack, my head falling back onto the bed with a rage-filled groan.
Gripping my jaw in his large hand, he yanked my face close to his.
“Who owns you, Jaden?” he asked again, his tone ripe with warning.
I could feel the tears building at the corners of my eyes, my frustration, anger, and fear molding into a dangerous chemical. I knew Darren would follow through on his threat.
Hurting me came so easily to him, it was of no consequence. He would always do as he pleased, and I would have no choice but to fall in line.
“You do,” I spat out bitterly.
“And who owns this body?”
“You do,” I repeated, my tone now blank with indifference.
“And who decides what happens to it?”
“You.”
“That’s right,” he snarled. “I do. You are not in charge of your recovery, little girl. I am. I decide when you stand. I decide when you walk. And I decide when you can leave this bed.”
I felt my chest heaving under his as I tried to calm my breathing, but my heart was beating too fast for me to catch up. Darren’s eyes locked onto mine, his gaze so cold it drew shivers up my spine, making my jaw clench.
“You know, I would love nothing more than to keep you permanently chained to this bed and fuck you at all hours of the day. Your inability to walk makes no difference to me as long as I can still spread your legs whenever I want.”
I grimaced, a gasped sob escaping my lips at the cruelty of his words. A reminder that everything I had was a privilege he granted, including my ability to put one foot in front of the other. My most basic human functions were his to command.
Hatred clawed its way up my spine as I clenched my trapped fists in his hand, wishing I had the strength of a thousand men so I could just shove him off me and show him what it meant to feel this helpless.
The tears I had been holding back by a thread finally slipped free and slid down the sides of my temple.
I would not allow him to turn me into his robotic sex slave a second time.
Darren’s harsh features softened slightly as he watched my stupid tears fall, his grip on my jaw relaxing enough for his thumb to reach up and gently wipe one away.