Chapter 13 Lucky Thirteen
lucky thirteen
Preston Darling
My attention is on Dolly when my grandfather lunges toward me, and I’m almost too late.
At the last second, I step out of his way.
He charges forward a few extra steps before he can stop his momentum, giving me a chance to bring my fists up.
I twist and deliver a quick jab to his jaw, and he crumples to the floor in a heap.
“Mr. Darling,” Mrs. Dashwood scolds, mincing over in her orthopedic shoes. “There’s no need for such violence.”
“What’s he doing out here?” I ask as she bends to check his pulse, like she thinks I killed the guy.
“That’s a question for this one,” she says, gesturing toward Dolly.
I turn to my girl, who’s standing there with a stricken look on her face. Like when she realized my intentions on the trip back, something has shifted in her eyes again. This time, I see fear shining there, and it knifes through my chest. But it’s too late to undo what’s been done.
“Get him back in his room,” I say to Mrs. Dashwood. “I’ll deal with Dolly.”
I step over Grampa and stride toward Dolly. She shrinks back, then turns and runs.
I take off after her, grabbing her around the middle and yanking her to a stop. “You really think you can outrun me?” I growl in her ear, lifting her feet off the ground.
“Let me go!” she screams. Her dog comes running into the hall, barking excitedly at the commotion.
“For the hundredth time, I’m never letting you go,” I say, throwing Dolly over my shoulder and starting back toward the door. “You’re not stupid, so you must already know that.”
“You can’t just keep a person locked up,” she says, kicking her legs and pounding on my chest with her fists. “I thought you’d come to your senses and realize that and let me go.”
“And yet, you called me delusional,” I say, chuckling as I start down the stairs.
“You’re a big girl, Dolly. It’s time to grow up and stop playing make believe.
I’m no prince, and I never will be. Just because I brought your dog and made your life comfortable here, that doesn’t mean I’m going to let you walk away. In fact, quite the opposite.”
“I hate you,” she seethes. “I will never love you, Preston Darling. I will never agree to marry you, not even if you hold a gun to my head.”
“Trust me, that won’t be necessary.”
I laugh to myself as I carry her up the east staircase.
I enter Maggie’s dance studio, ignoring the scratching at the door as her dog reaches it and whines to come in after us.
“I gave you freedom, and you did the one thing I told you not to do,” I say, my voice hard.
“You went to the one place I told you wasn’t safe.
I guess you’re not ready for that privilege yet. ”
“Let Peanut in,” she yells, thrashing on my shoulder.
“She needs to be able to come and go,” I say. “You haven’t earned that right. In fact, I’m taking back your key until you learn to follow the rules of this house.”
“You’re not even the owner of this house,” she fumes. “You stole it from your grandfather and locked him up. Just like you stole me. You can’t just take what you want from everyone around you, Preston.”
“Why not?” I ask, crossing the room and stepping into her bedroom, where I shove the door closed behind me and throw her down on the bed. “It’s in my nature. I’ve always taken what I want, just like I took your virginity when I wanted it.”
“It wasn’t yours to take,” she screams, jumping up from the bed.
I grab her, and she hammers at my chest and shoulders with her fists. “You’re wrong there,” I snap. “You’ve always been mine, Dolly. To take however and whenever I want. I’ve always known it. Now it’s time you knew it.”
I shove her back on the bed, reaching under it to pull out the box I left there. I knew she wouldn’t do anything with it, but a part of me hoped she’d find it and seethe with jealousy the way I had to do all those years.
“I’m not yours,” she screams. “I’m my own person! You can’t just own a person, Preston.”
“Wrong,” I say, pulling out a pair of handcuffs. Her eyes widen, but I snap them around her wrist before she can move.
“Why do you have those?” she asks.
“Kamlai left them when she moved out,” I say, smirking at her stricken expression. I shove her down on the bed and snap them to the bedframe.
“Don’t you dare use someone else’s sex toys on me!”
“Why not?” I ask, wrestling her flat on her back and cuffing her other hand to the other corner of the bed. I settle myself on top of her trembling body. “I use my mouth and my cock on you, and they’ve been used on lots of other women.”
“You’re sick,” she snarls, and she draws back and spits in my face.
“You’re sexy,” I say, bending to wipe my face on her cheek. “I love watching you get all feisty with jealousy.”
“I’m not feisty, I’m fucking furious,” she snaps.
“And it’s so fucking hot,” I say, rolling my hips against hers. “Feel how hard it makes me.”
She glares up at me like she wants to burn me to cinders with her hatred. “Get. Off.”
“Ladies first,” I say, giving her my most wicked grin as I slide down her.
Her knee shoots up, aiming right for my nuts. I duck the blow that would take me out, but her knee slams into my thigh. It hurts like a bitch. Those thick thighs have some serious muscle.
That’s okay. They make nice earmuffs.
I grab one of her legs, wrestling it down the bed. She twists and kicks at me, but I manage to get it tied to the bedpost with a length of rope.
“Why do you have that?” she demands, breathing hard.
“The better question is, why do you care?” I ask. “For a woman who professes to hate me, you sure are jealous when it comes to me being with other women.”
“Not wanting you to use other women’s sex toys on me isn’t jealousy,” she snaps. “It’s basic hygiene.”
“I don’t think this rope’s got anything on it that’ll hurt you,” I say, yanking the knot tight on the other bedpost before going for her last free limb. “And don’t worry, the others have been properly cleaned since their last use.”
“You wouldn’t,” she seethes, glaring at me with a well of loathing that almost convinces me. She needs to remember who she belongs to, though, and giving her everything hasn’t worked. I’m going to have to go a different route to snap her back.
“You’re right,” I say, sitting back on the foot of the bed and eyeing her spread-eagle pose. Damn, but she looks so fucking good all laid out for me. “You don’t deserve that reward tonight. You haven’t earned it. You’ve earned a punishment.”
Her eyes go wide as I pull out the knife I’ve carried since junior high. It’s not overly impressive, but it gets the job done.
“What are you doing?” she asks, her voice going high with fear. My mind flashes to that look in her eyes, the one that almost killed me, when I took out my grandfather a minute ago. But the sooner she knows what she’s dealing with, the sooner she’ll accept her new reality.
“You’ll see.”
“Preston, no,” she says, jerking at her hands. “Don’t cut me!”
“Then be a good girl and lie still,” I say, sliding the side of the knife up the inside of her ankle and under the edge of the tights she’s wearing.
She lifts her head to watch me slice through the fabric.
A shiver wracks her body as I slide the knife further up her leg, letting the blunt edge tease her skin.
“What are you going to do?” she asks, swallowing so hard I can see it.
“I’m going to fuck you,” I say. “And I’m going to keep fucking you until you remember you’re mine and stop fighting it.”
“You can’t just fuck someone into submission.”
I chuckle. “Watch me.”
“I’m not yours,” she says, obviously intent on keeping up this little charade.
“I never was. If I had been, I wouldn’t have been with other guys.
But I was, because I’m my own damn person, Preston, and no matter how much you say otherwise, even if you believe it in your delusional, fucked up head, you can’t change reality. ”
I work the knife higher, grazing it against her inner thigh.
“You were always mine,” I say. “I let you have your fun with Devlin, let you play with other men, because that’s what you said you wanted.
But I’m done letting you have what you want while I get nothing.
Now, every inch of you is mine. You’re about to learn that lesson for good, Doll. ”
I push her skirt up and let the sharp tip of the blade graze her panties, and her thighs clench, but she can’t press them together.
I flick the knife tip over the fabric, running it back and forth over her chubby little mound.
My mouth waters to taste her cunt, but I hold back, knowing this isn’t the time to give in.
“Don’t,” she whimpers when I slip the tip of the blade under the edge of her panties.
I chuckle and pull it back, quickly slicing off her skirt. “You know who I’ve used this on?” I ask. “I cut off Crystal’s clothes with it once. Every stitch. I wanted to see what was worth all this.”
“You sick bastard,” Dolly cries, thrashing and jerking her hips to try to push me away.
“Don’t worry, I didn’t fuck her,” I say.
“I didn’t even finger her cunt. I could tell it was tight just by looking, but I have more self-control than that.
Remember that tonight, Doll. I’m always in control.
You’ve been a bad girl, and bad girls get punished, but I won’t hurt you unless you ask for it. ”
“I’m not going to ask you to hurt me,” she says, giving up and going limp as I slide the knife up, cutting away the fabric of her shirt. “I’m not some kind of sicko like you.”
“Oh, but you already asked for it. You went where you were told not to go, put your nose where it didn’t belong. If you show me you can be a good girl for me, it can end with one punishment, the one I told you bad girls get.” I hook the knife under her bra and raise a brow. “Is that what you want?”