CHAPTER 17
LANDRY
“Please? I’ll do your laundry for the rest of the semester.” I begged Kaptan. I had been trying to convince him to help me escape for the last thirty minutes. He had dropped by the penthouse to install cameras in every room so that Cashton could apparently keep an eye on me. To my frustration, none of them would be reachable without the twelve-foot ladder that he currently stood on, so it wasn’t even like I would be able to cover them or take them down.
“No can do.” He retorted, continuing to work on the wiring.
I crossed my arms, leaning back against the kitchen island as I continued trying to barter with him. There had to be something that would pique his interest.
“I’ll flash you?”
He outright laughed at that, something that was a rare occurrence coming from his quiet and broody self.
“I’ll pass.”
Damn, I had known that that one would have been a long shot, but he didn’t need to dismiss it that rapidly. I had great boobs. Whatever, his loss.
“I’ll set you up with one of my friends?” I tried.
“I can get women on my own.”
“I’ll cook you dinner every night for a week?”
“We have a chef.”
Of course they did.
“I’ll… spread a rumor across campus that I saw your dick and that it was the biggest, most massive thing I’ve ever seen in my entire life. And then I’ll do all of your homework for the rest of the semester plus all of your laundry plus I’ll even wash your motorcycle once a week.”
“Nope.”
“Ugh!” I let out, throwing my arms up in defeat. He was easily the most stubborn man I had ever met, with the exception of Cashton of course. It was exasperating.
I didn’t know what happened at finals, and I damn sure didn’t care to find out. And what was he planning on having me do for the next two days? I hadn’t seen him since he stormed off last night, having stayed seated on the counter for what felt like hours before finally giving up on him coming back and exploring the apartment myself.
It hadn’t taken me long to find the master bedroom, and I had taken the liberty of using his insanely large shower that was big enough to fit a small army. The entire ceiling above the space had been a rain shower, the water pressure at the perfect setting. It had felt heavenly after a long day of getting shoved into a car trunk and then a dog crate and then fucked on a counter.
I had then found a plain white t-shirt in one of his dresser drawers along with a pair of boxers, needing to roll the waistband a few times to keep them from falling. Not that you could really see them much underneath the shirt, considering that it came down past mid-thigh.
The fact that the fridge had been well stocked took me by surprise since he didn’t seem to spend much time in the city, but I hadn’t complained, making myself a sandwich before heading back to the master bedroom and settling into his hunter green silk sheets. I had also made sure to lock the door to the bedroom in case he did come back at some point throughout the night. The asshole could take the couch.
“Why do you have to be so stubborn?” I asked, Kaptan making his way back down and not deigning me a response as he moved the ladder to the bedroom.
“Are you serious? The bedroom? What, is he going to watch me sleep and stuff?” I huffed.
“I doubt that would be very riveting to watch.” He mused.
“You guys are the worst” I said, letting out a breath before stomping out of the bedroom like a petulant child. The audacity of these men.
Kaptan left shortly after and Cashton never returned, leaving me the entire apartment to myself for the next two days. I found some architecture books in his bedroom but quickly gave up on attempting to understand any of their content.
The fridge was well enough stocked that I found ingredients to make myself croque monsieur, some eggs benedict, and a coconut chicken curry. I had to admit, the massive kitchen was quite fun to cook in. I had made sure to flip the occasional finger to the camera in case Cashton was watching.
It was Friday morning when he finally showed back up, the elevator dinging as he walked in, looking handsome as ever in his jeans and black hoodie. I noticed some faint bruising along his jaw. Had he gotten into a fight? And why did he have to be so handsome?
“Let’s get this over with.” He grumbled, not missing a beat as he stalked towards me. He didn’t seem the least bit surprised to see me in his clothes, so I guess he must have been watching me over the cameras after all.
“Tell me what happens at finals.” I demanded, crossing my arms as I glared up at him. The asshole had given me whiplash the last time I had seen him, first shoving me in a cage and treating me like the shit on the bottom of his shoe but, then turning right around to save me and then give me the best sex of my life. And after all of that, storming out of the apartment without a word and disappearing for the next few days. Cashton was an enigma.
I wasn’t naive enough to think that our hooking up had meant anything to him, but I still had hoped that maybe things had changed between us. The emotion in his eyes as he had looked at me, and the way he had held me like he physically couldn’t let go. I could have sworn that I had felt something pass between us. But now we were back to his angry, broody self. Trying to understand anything about this man was exhausting.
“You’ll find out soon enough,” he replied, stopping directly in front of me. I had to tilt my head back to meet his eyes, all emotion that I had seen on Tuesday night long gone now. The vibrant shade of green had turned back to their typical harshness, nothing but cruelty mixed with indifference.
“Please, Cashton,” I tried, hoping that maybe if I asked nicely, he might feel more compelled to give me something.
“No,” he replied, cold and hard.
I huffed out a breath, giving up. He reached out to grab me, his strong hands gripping both of my arms before pulling them together behind my back and shifting to where one of his hands held both of my wrists behind me. I felt a zip tie tighten them together moments later.
“What are you doing?” I exclaimed, desperately trying to pull away, but his grasp was too firm. My pleas went unheard, not a word from him as he pulled a burlap sack out of his back pocket and threw it over my head. My eyesight was immediately cut off, unable to see through the rough and scratchy material.
“Cashton!” I begged, panic setting in. I felt him grab my upper arm, pulling me forward towards the direction of the elevator. My senses were hindered, and I had to fight not to stumble.
“Cashton, please! At least tell me what’s going on.”
He gave me nothing but silence as I heard the elevator door close, beginning our descent. The panic turned to frustration as I realized he wasn’t planning on telling me anything. I had gone back to being nothing to him, that night in the kitchen completely forgotten.
“You’re the worst! You know that? I hate you. I’ve never given you a reason to treat me like this. You just walked in that first day and decided to hate me for absolutely no reason at all. I’ve done nothing but try to be nice to you and keep things civil. But you can go to hell for all I care. Consider me done, because you suck and I’m done talking to you.”
“Promise?” He teased.
“Oh, you are such a dick! Get fucked, you asshat.”
Rage fueled me, all of the emotions that this man had put me through raising up inside of me. Who did he think he was?
“Careful princess, keep talking like that and I might just get hard. That, or maybe I’ll just muzzle you so that I don’t have to listen to your whining anymore.”
“Fuck. You.”
A beat passed without either of us speaking, the elevator reaching its destination as the ding sounded and I heard the doors slide open. I felt cool air hit my skin, realizing we must have reached the parking garage, the chill making my nipples harden underneath his oversized t-shirt. Cashton made no move to step out though, still feeling him at my side before I heard him finally speak, his voice now closer to my ear.
“What happened to your back?”
A shiver raced down my spine. Had I accidentally walked by the cameras while naked? I guess it wasn’t anything he hadn’t seen before, but still, the thought was slightly unsettling. Also slightly hot, but I chose not to acknowledge the part of me that thought that.
“Creep.” I muttered, my breath hot under the thick sack.
“Was it from Conner and Levi?” He pushed.
I debated answering, not wanting to make his life any easier. But I eventually relented, knowing that Cashton was too stubborn to let anything go .
“Yes.” I replied, my stomach twisting in knots as I remembered the fear that I had felt in that moment. “From when they dragged me out of the dog crate.”
Seconds passed before he tugged on my arm again, leading us out into the garage. I couldn’t see anything around me, relying on my other senses to try to figure out what was going on.
I was lifted into what I assumed was an SUV, hearing what I guessed were Jasmine and Natalia talking in the seat behind me. The car started under us, and I heard the faint breathing of someone taking the seat next to me.
I held my breath, realizing that it must be either Connor or Levi. I assumed that both of them had to be in here, considering that they were on the team. We wouldn’t be on our way to the finals unless the entire group was intact. Dread sank into my bones at the thought of them being so close to me, especially without me being able to see anything. The memory of the beer on their breath and the feel of their hands on my body had bile threatening to rise in my throat.
I forced myself to take in a deep breath, followed by another, and then another. Cashton was here, and he wouldn’t let them do anything to me, I was confident about that. He had smashed both of their hands with a hammer for touching me. He was a dick, but there were lines he wouldn’t cross.
I had no way of knowing how long we had driven for, but it felt like it had to be easily over an hour. The sounds of traffic had faded a while back, indicating that we must be far enough out from the city. The feel of the road eventually turned bumpy—proving my theory—as we made our way down what felt like a never-ending dirt path. Branches scraped the sides of the vehicle, my head banging into the window once or twice as the uneven terrain jerked us around.
The SUV finally came to a stop, car doors slamming as everybody got out before I was pulled out, my still bare feet hitting what felt like cool dirt.
“Sit.” I recognized Cashton’s voice coming from directly in front of me.
“Want me to lay down and roll over too? Maybe fetch?” I retorted, the task of lowering myself and trying to get my butt on the ground proving difficult without my hands.
I felt him grab my foot and I jerked, letting out an involuntary gasp before soft material slipped over it. He was putting socks on me, followed by what felt like sneakers.
Bringing me back to my feet, I realized that I must look quite ridiculous, dressed in nothing but the large t-shirt—still no bra by the way—with men’s boxers and tennis shoes. The fact that people could be staring at me and I had no idea made it even more uncomfortable.
His grip firm on my arm, we walked further into what I assumed to be a forest of sorts. I could hear the breeze move through the trees and the occasional tree roots under my feet.
“How do we want to play this?” I heard Jasmine ask, the group coming to a halt. I heard zippers as bags were riffled through.
“Let’s split up. Two of you can move left, the other two go right. You guys play defense and try to keep everyone off of me, I’ll take care of any stragglers as I get the hostage to the drop site. ”
My eyes rolled. Of course he was the leader in their little team. He was cocky enough to believe he knew best. And ‘the hostage’? Really?
“Works for me!” I heard somebody respond.
“Jasmine, go with Connor. Natalia, you and Levi take the other direction. We’re already at a disadvantage since the guys are going to be shooting one-handed. If for any reason someone gets past all of you and I go down, send one of the girls from each group to come find the hostage and try to bring her to the end. We just need one of us alive to get her there. Keep in mind, there are five of us and only one hostage. Keeping her alive needs to be the top priority. If she gets hit, we lose the game.”
Shooting? I guess this must be some sort of big paintball or airsoft game. I vaguely remember Olivia mentioning something about that, but I suddenly wished I had paid more attention.
“Alright, move out.” Cashton called as the girls began talking again, their voices moving further and further away until I could no longer hear anything but the sounds of the woods.
The sack was lifted off of my head, and I took in the trees around us, the light blinding me for a moment. I took in our surroundings, noticing the harsh terrain.
The forest sloped down on one side, and I noticed that the woods formed the shape of a large crater about two or three miles wide. Through the trees, I could barely make out a field in the center with what looked to be a wooden tower of sorts directly in the middle. Further down that field, I saw a large crowd of people. I did remember Olivia saying that they allowed spectators at the finals .
Cashton moved a few feet over, bending down and looking through a duffle bag on the ground.
Running the instructions he had spoken through my brain, I tried to piece things together. I guessed that the tower in the center of the woods must be the drop site if that’s where the people had congregated, and it sounded like the team’s mission was to get me there alive.
He had called the rest of the team ‘defense’, so I also guessed that there must be people coming after us. The other teams, maybe? There had to be multiple teams that had made it this far, otherwise the game would have ended without going to finals. I scanned our direct surroundings, spotting a large wooden pole sticking out from the ground a few feet from us. Raising my eyes, I noticed a large navy-blue flag, a white cobra sitting in the center as it lifted in the breeze.
I looked back out into the distance, squinting my eyes and scanning the edges of the forest. Directly across from us, I finally spotted yellow piercing through the treetops, too far to make out the symbol on the flag. My gaze continued further, finding a red flag further down the way and then a green one to our right, all equidistant from each other.
So that was it, then. The remaining teams in the game must have been texted the coordinates to their locations. And the goal seemed to be getting us, the hostages, down to that tower without us getting shot.
If he thought I was cooperating, he was dead wrong. I was going to make this as hard as possible for him and his team.
Cashton turned back to face me, his hood up and a black paintball mask now covering his face. The sight was quite intimidating .
“If you think that I’m going to just let you drag me along like the little puppy dog you seem to think I am, I’m letting you know right now that’s not going to happen,” I threatened.
“We’ll see about that.”
“I am so tired of you thinking you can walk all over me. You’re pompous, rude, and I can’t wait to see the day that somebody finally manages to knock you down a few pegs. I would do it myself, but honestly, you’re not worth my time or effort. I would prefer to never have to see your face again if it were up to me,” I spat at him.
I don’t know where any of that came from, but I was pissed off and my patience with him was beginning to boil over. I wasn’t a doormat, and I was tired of him treating me as such. I wasn’t a bad person, and I didn’t deserve to be treated like one.
He reached into his hoodie pocket, pulling something out.
“Remember when I said that I would muzzle you if you didn’t stop talking? If you’re going to act like a wild animal, you’re going to be treated like one.”
“Don’t you fucking—"
But before I could finish that sentence, a piece of rubber was shoved between my teeth. I tried to scream through it, but the sound came out muffled as he moved behind me and fastened the strap of the gag behind my head.
My hands still tied behind me, there was nothing I could do to remove it as I continued to scream obscenities at him, nothing but muffled sounds making it past the gag. What the hell was wrong with him?
He left me standing there, bending back down and grabbing a blue paintball mask, strapping it over my head before replacing the burlap sack on top, my sight once again taken from me. I couldn’t talk, couldn’t see, and couldn’t move considering the position my arms were in. Panic surged through me at the realization, the loss of the senses making me claustrophobic. Between the gag, the mask, and the bag over my head, it became harder and harder to breathe. I had to force myself to calm my breathing, knowing that panicking would only make matters worse.
“Oh, this is much better,” he taunted, the sound coming from behind me right before I felt his hard body press into mine. His hands brushed up my hips, slowly sliding underneath the hem of the T-shirt.
My core instantly throbbed, heat spreading between my legs at his touch. Why was I so turned by this all of a sudden? My breathing turned heavy but for different reasons now, my mind spinning at the feel of his calluses gently caressing my skin. The loss of my other senses made the sensation of his fingers on me that much more intense, and I felt goosebumps spread over every inch of me.
“The sight of you like this…” He whispered near my ear, his fingers continuing their ascent, so painfully slow.
“Completely at my mercy,” he continued, his voice low and gravely.
One hand finally reached my breast, the gentle caress lighting my skin on fire. I didn’t think I had ever been more turned on.
His thumb met my nipple, the peak instantly hardening as he ran his finger back and forth over it before grabbing it between both fingers and squeezing hard enough to send a jolt of pain through me. The spot between my legs was growing wetter by the minute, my brain screaming at me that I shouldn’t be loving this as much as I was.
His other hand lowered to the waistband of the boxers I was wearing, my legs spreading slightly as he slipped his hand beneath the seam. His fingers ran across my slit, gathering the slickness before moving up to my clit and swirling it there.
“Just what I thought. Absolutely soaked for me,” he taunted.
I squeezed my eyes shut in shame, not that he could see my face through the mask and sack. His fingers continued to swirl the sensitive bud, other hand still toying with my nipple underneath my shirt, and I couldn’t hold back the whimper that escaped me. He chuckled, completely aware of how aroused I had become.
“You’re a kinky little thing, aren’t you?” He teased as I leaned my head back against his chest, melting into his touch.
The hand in my shorts moved faster, the orgasm building up inside of me. I was ready to explode, every nerve ending on fire. My hips pushed forwards into his hand, chasing the high as I was driven closer and closer to the edge.
Just as I felt my climax about to hit me, he withdrew his hands and I felt the warmth of him stepping away from my back. I let out a muffled scream of frustration, my body screaming as my climax escaped me.
I was going to kill him.
I heard his snicker as he moved around me. I wanted to cry, desperate to feel his hands back on me.
“Time to go,” he stated, his bruising grip grabbing my arm once again and beginning to drag me along. I planted my feet firmly in the ground but he was too strong, my feet sliding through the dirt.
My brain still foggy from the orgasm he had just ripped away from my grasp, I let the anger clear my head as I thought for a moment, trying to figure out how I could get out of this. I had promised to make this as hard as possible for him, and I fully planned to deliver on that promise.
I let my body go slack in his hold, dropping all of my weight to the ground. I landed back on my ass, unable to catch myself with my arms still pinned behind my back. It managed to stop us though, his grip slipping from my arm.
“That’s how we’re going to do this then? Fine, have it your way, princess.”
I felt myself being lifted off the ground, my head spinning as he threw me over his shoulder and kept moving.