Chapter 28 Love Language
Love Language
Unlocking the door, I stepped inside the room and quietly closed it behind me, allowing the familiar surrounding darkness to penetrate and swallow me whole.
There were no windows down here—no clocks, or pictures, or any indication of the outside world.
It was just us, and the magnetic atmosphere of chaos we created.
It was like coming home.
When I flipped the switch, low warm light revealed the beautifully tortured soul still chained to the bed. Jaden’s eyes were open, her gaze pinned to the ceiling as she took in deep, steady breaths.
My lips curled as I made my way over to the bed, carrying a bottle of water and a large mug of oatmeal I had Pascal make for her this morning.
I decided to leave her down here overnight to give her all the time she’d need to formulate her exit strategy. And I was eager to see what she had devised.
“Good morning,” I said warmly, luring her eyes away from the ceiling.
Jaden swallowed, the movement at the column of her throat enticing me to drag my teeth across the massive ring of colorful bruises collaring her neck.
Her pale skin accentuated beautifully with the blues, purples, and greens, an artistic masterpiece of pure unadulterated rage and betrayal.
I could still feel her pulse pounding against the palm of my hand as I’d held her life in the balance between heaven and earth.
Her admission had set something off in me that blazed to such a ferocity it demanded immediate retribution.
She had finally confirmed what I’d already known for so long and all I wanted to do was fucking strangle her until her life flashed before her eyes.
And judging by her cautious demeanor, I’d successfully reached my mark.
Jaden’s eyes slowly shifted to mine, a blank expression on her face. I held up the water bottle and gave it a little shake.
“You know everything down here is transactional,” I reminded her.
She swallowed again and attempted to clear her throat.
“Good morning,” she rasped, her voice barely a broken whisper.
Setting the mug down on the nightstand, I cracked the lid of the bottle and pulled out a straw from the nightstand drawer to place it inside the opening. I then held it out to her lips.
Slowly, Jaden took the straw into her mouth and sipped down the water. She was careful not to go too fast, remembering that I would remove it if she did. The bottle was halfway gone when she finally released the straw.
“Thank you,” she said, her voice sounding a little less dry.
Setting the bottle aside, I took the mug in my hand and held up a spoonful of the oatmeal for her to see. She’d missed dinner yesterday, so I had hoped that her appetite might have some sway over her this morning.
Evidently, I was wrong as her eyes widened slightly, the shadow of discomfort passing over them. She wanted to refuse but knew I wouldn’t allow it. She would eat what and when she was told, whether she wanted to or not.
“If you let me lie on my stomach, I’ll eat every bite, even if I’m full,” she offered, her eyes pleading with me to accept. “Please.”
See? Transactional.
Not only did the offer afford me her compliance, but she was also reminding me of her ability to satisfy both our needs at the same time. She knew I’d want to assess the damage I’d done to her back. So while she would gain one desired action, I’d gain two.
Jaden knew exactly how to negotiate in our little world down here.
Of course, I could always decline the offer and force her anyway, the transaction being submission for another moment unaccompanied by pain. But where was the fun in that?
I found too much enjoyment in watching her little mind spin for another way to benefit from pleasing me. Those priceless lessons taught her the mutual value of obedience. When Jaden spoke my currency, she became quite the little capitalist with a very impressive profit margin.
On a nod, I accepted Jaden’s offer, setting the mug aside to reach up for the latches of her restraints.
Releasing one, it allowed the chain to slide to the middle of the headboard, naturally lengthening it. I did the same to the other side and slightly extended the length of the ones at her ankles.
Jaden groaned as she carefully shifted her body to the side, a grimace tightening her facial features. Bending her elbows, she gasped as blood rushed back into her limbs, her forehead pressing into the pillows as her shoulders hunched.
The chains were now long enough for her to tuck her elbows against her chest as she settled into a comfortable position, resting her temple against her wrists.
Returning to my place on the side of the bed, I ran my eyes over the bold new colors painting her back. I imagined she felt worse than she looked.
But even as her screams had fed the violence running through my veins, I hadn’t broken her skin like I had threatened to. She had, after all, told me the truth. But I knew how to cause pain without destroying the body.
You’re welcome, little girl.
Grabbing the mug, I gave it a stir and held up a small spoonful to Jaden’s mouth. The portion was mouselike in comparison, but I knew she’d have a better chance at keeping it down with smaller bites.
Parting her lips, she took the spoon into her mouth. True to her word, she swallowed every bite. I let her finish off the water bottle before tossing it into the trash. Jaden then closed her eyes and sighed, letting the contents of her stomach settle.
Unable to help myself, I gently ran my fingers through her hair, marveling at the softness and vibrant coppery color.
Jaden hummed quietly, the corner of her lips curving just a tiny bit, like she was trying to hide it. One singular moan and my cock was already primed for her, an instinctual need to create more of that intoxicating sound.
Little tease.
Battling against my soul’s need for her, it was easy to forget why Jaden was down here in the first place. Easy to replace the pain of her betrayal with the pleasure of her body’s inevitable forced surrender.
For several weeks, I struggled with decision of when to punish her for her involvement in Kayla’s escape and the lies she told to cover it up. But the second I noticed she wasn’t wearing her wedding rings after I’d already warned her to keep them on, I finally fucking snapped.
Her engagement ring was the only reason I’d discovered the truth in the first place. To have her disregard the ring’s significance so flippantly a second time brought all the rage I’d reserved for another day bursting back to the surface like an uncontrollable wildfire.
Jaden had earned her way back down here all on her own, and now she’d pay a heavy price for her admission back into the real world above.
Set on consistency, I stood and pulled off my suit jacket, laying it across the armchair, and released the restraints on Jaden’s wrists and ankles, noting the ice-cold touch of her skin. She slowly dragged her limbs into her body while I began to unbutton my shirt.
Pulling back the covers, I slipped into the bed and pulled her to me, turning her face into my bare chest like I’d always done before, and lifted the covers up to her shoulders.
The second her skin met mine, a raging fire stormed through my blood, my touch the most basic method of branding what was mine.
Jaden sighed as she melted into me, burrowing into the warmth that my body offered, falling right back into our old pattern. To avoid putting too much pressure on her back, I carefully placed my arms around her, wrapping her shivering body in the comfort it desperately desired.
I hummed in satisfaction at the feel of her small frame against mine, the chill of her skin bringing me back to a time of complete domination and total submission. There was so much beauty in those days.
When you broke a person’s psyche, you couldn’t help but admire the process. When you witnessed their personality drain away, day by day, until there was nothing but an empty shell, you recognized the artistry involved.
Each move was carefully designed to rob them of free thought, of willfulness, until the only thing left was pure survival instinct. And then, you began to teach them exactly what survival looked like.
Survival was obedience. It was acceptance.
It entailed responsibility and accountability.
You became loyal to that method of survival, faithful in its protection from harm.
It was the only thing you could rely on to keep yourself safe.
So you followed it like it was the only map to your salvation, your only home.
And my wife was a master at survival.
Every day, Jaden found a way to survive me, to surpass what she once knew and adapt to each new trauma I scarred her with.
How she did it, I may never comprehend, but a part of me believed it was almost entirely out of spite.
And I had no problem refueling that tank every chance I got, just to see what she’d do next.
As often as she tried to piss me off almost every day, it paled in comparison to her ability to fascinate me with just a flick of her hair. No one had managed to captivate me the way she had.
And wasn’t that just her curse.
When Jaden finally stopped shivering and her skin was as warm as mine, I pressed my lips to the top of her head, reveling in the scent of her hair. “Stay here,” I said.
Reluctantly dragging myself away, I left her in the bed and headed into the bathroom to draw her a bath. After pouring in a generous helping of Epsom salt and bath oils, I watched it all dissolve and mix into the rising warm water.
Walking back into the bedroom, Jaden didn’t stir, her ears already tracking every sound I made so she would always know exactly where I was in the room and what I was doing. It was how she stayed prepared for my next move.
The atmosphere was volatile down here, the edge of madness just mere centimeters from our fingertips. Being unprepared was a sure way to spark that fragile line and detonate our world into pure chaos.