Chapter 11
VANESSA
Oh hell no.
Absolutely no fucking way am I letting myself be put on display for their perverted entertainment all over again. If I have to kick Dane in all the places to escape, I will.
For now, I lean into my role as his baby, clutching him tightly and pitching my voice up to a terrified whine. “Daddy, no! Please don’t!”
Pausing beside the bed we shared last night, he frowns. “What’s wrong, little fox?”
“I don’t want you to do that again. Not in front of everyone,” I whisper, adding another dramatic little sniffle for good measure.
To my aggravation, his chest rumbles with laughter. “Don’t worry, baby. This is a very different kind of celebration. You’ll see.”
Despite my inherent distrust of the situation, I’m curious to see what he means, so I loosen my grip on him long enough for him to settle at the head of the bed with me on his lap.
Axel steps forward first with Lanie perched on his hip. A warm smile spreads across his face as Lanie leans forward to hand me a brightly wrapped package. “This is from me and Lanie. I made it, but I’ve been teaching my Little one how to use the wood burning tools and she did your initials.”
My curiosity increases tenfold as I rip the paper from the large wooden…
cutting board? The wood itself is perfectly cut with sleek edges and a gorgeous dark red finish.
And while the initials were clearly engraved by a much shakier hand, it is kind of sweet to know the gift was handmade with what I’m sure they consider to be love.
“Thanks. It’s beautiful.”
Taking the board from me, Dane bounces it in his hand and grins. “You’re getting better at this, brother. The balance is almost perfect for a naughty little bottom.”
It takes a moment for his words to register, and when they do I can only stare at him in shock. “You can’t spank me with that!”
“I can, and will, if necessary. Just ask Tabby.”
From her place in her Daddy’s arms, Tabby wrinkles her nose. “They’ll all use it if you give them a reason and you do not want that to happen.”
Well, now I need to know exactly what happened to poor Tabby. For now, I force a smile. “I’ll be sure not to give them a reason, then.”
All of Dane’s siblings share smug, knowing looks, and it takes every bit of self-control I have not to snap at them.
Jerks.
Luckily, I’m saved from my own aggravation when Bram steps forward, Marjorie balanced on his hip. “My Josie picked this out for you. She said you’d love it.”
Practically vibrating with excitement, Marjorie thrusts another package at me. This one is almost as thick, but more rectangular shaped, and judging by the look on my friend’s face, I have a pretty good idea what it might be.
And I’m right. It’s a book. But not just any book.
“Nessie!” I squeal, hugging the book of cryptids to my chest. “Thank you, Marjorie!”
“I know how much you like all that spooky stuff,” she says with a giggle. “And you really should start calling me Josie. We’re like, cousins now.”
The thought of being not only Marjorie Thorne’s friend but her family now fills me with a warmth I hadn’t expected to feel while trapped in a house with a bunch of crazy-ass lumberjacks.
I know, logically, that it’s both ridiculous and dangerous, but I’m desperate to cling to whatever comfort I can find right now.
“A Nessie stuffie and a Nessie book.” Dane’s voice is filled with amusement. “I’m starting to sense a theme.”
Lanie squeals with excitement. “Nessie! What a cute nickname that would be for Vanessa!”
Beside me, Dane stiffens. “You are not naming my babygirl after the Loch Ness Monster, Melanie Brynne.”
I hate nicknames. My entire life I’ve insisted on being called by my full name and nothing else, even with my closest friends and family.
But knowing how much Dane will be annoyed by this nickname, well…
It’s far too delicious to pass up.
“I love it! I’ve always wanted to be a monster.” Raising my hands in the air, I curl my fingers into claws and make a “rawr” sound
Dane growls low in his throat, and I hate that it sounds so much more real than my own pathetic attempt. “You’re going to pay for that, little fox.”
I have no doubt I will, but that’s a problem for future Nessie.
Ignoring him for now, I set the book carefully aside and look up at our gathered family. “Is that all the presents?”
“Only the beginning,” Colt says, elbowing his twin out of the way and earning a hard glare in return. “We also asked Josie for her opinion on which gift to give you and I think you’ll be quite delighted.”
Taking the oddly shaped present from his hand, I rip the paper off—and immediately burst into laughter.
“More Nessie!”
It’s a snowglobe, and suspended inside is indeed a tiny replica of my new namesake. Nessie floats in the water, surrounded by green glitter, and it might just be my favorite thing ever.
“Thank you, Colt and Tabby. I love her.”
Beside me, Dane clears his throat, and I have to resist the urge to roll my eyes when I look over. “What?” I ask, inwardly wincing at the snap in my voice that’s likely to end up with me over his lap sooner rather than later.
One dark brow raises toward Dane’s hairline. “One, you address my siblings as Uncle or Auntie. Two, keep up the attitude and you will be eating breakfast on a red-hot bottom, little girl.”
Embarrassment floods my face. I shouldn’t care about being scolded like a child in front of the people who helped kidnap me, but clearly I do. “Sorry.”
“Sorry, Daddy.”
“You don’t have to call me Daddy. Nessie is just fine.”
For a moment, I’m certain I’ve pushed him too far and I’m about to get my bottom roasted as promised.
But then Dane does something so unexpected I can only stare at him in stunned surprise.
He laughs.
“Fair play, little fox.” Pulling me back against him, he presses a kiss to my hair, and despite everything my heart stutters a bit in my chest. “I think your Uncle Ford is next.”
The smallest of the brothers—though still plenty large enough by normal standards—steps forward and holds out a slender rectangular box. “I’m afraid there’s no Nessie here,” he says with an apologetic shrug as I tear the wrapping off.
“A thermometer?” I ask, possibly more confused by this single gift than I have been by anything else that’s happened since I arrived in Colorado.
“So your Daddy can make sure you stay a healthy Little girl,” Ford explains.
“Oh. That’s… very thoughtful.” More practical, certainly, than any of the other gifts we’ve received so far.
“Now for my gift.” The giant that is Eli claps his hands twice. “Brunch is ready downstairs.”
My so-called cousins cheer loudly as their Daddies carry them out of the room, followed by Eli, Ford, and Gray. Dane slides off the bed to hunt down fresh clothes for himself while I watch him move about the room.
It’s the first chance I’ve had to simply sit and observe him. And I’m not at all disappointed. For a man his size, he moves with a lethal kind of grace, reminding me of a large jungle cat.
The kind that could easily tear a fox to pieces if it was so inclined.
But instead of terrifying me, that thought has me clenching my thighs together against a rush of painful arousal.
What is happening to me?
I don’t have time to give that question the attention it deserves before Dane—now fully dressed, which I am not disappointed by—swings me up into his arms.
“Whoops. Almost forgot Nessie,” he says with a grin as he bends down to pick up my stuffie and hand her to me. “My Little girl can’t go wandering around without her best friend.”
“Josie is my best friend.” But I snuggle the stuffed animal to my chest anyway, and try to tell myself it’s because I’m playing the part of his good Little girl and not at all because I love the feel of her in my arms.
“Is she? I thought she was your boss.”
“Sort of,” I say with a shrug as he carries me down the stairs. “I started out as a superfan of hers, and then we got to talking about her books and I offered to do some promotional stuff for her and the rest is history.”
I don’t share with him that I’ve never really been good at making friends.
Or that the family I claimed to have back in New York is actually just a set of estranged parents I haven’t spoken to in over five years.
As far as the Thornes are concerned, I have a whole giant group of people waiting for me back home.
It might not force their hand, but I can hope that it worries them, at least a bit.
“That’s pretty cool, actually,” he says as we make our way toward the stairs. “I assume she told you all about how she knows us.”
“She did.” Since I don’t know when I’ll get another opening like this, I push straight through. “But she was kinda vague. She said you had to like, fake your deaths and leave New York but she didn’t tell me why. So why did you leave?”
Grief contorts his face for a moment before he smooths out his expression again. “Our uncle murdered our parents. And he would have murdered us, too, if we hadn’t left.”
Holy fuck. Of all the things he could have said, that was the absolute last thing I expected.
“Was your uncle like, a serial killer or something? I read this book once about the different types and there’s one called the Family Annihilator, but that’s usually like a husband who kills his wife and kids and stuff. ”
Pausing on the steps, he turns his head to stare at me. “I really am going to have to keep an eye on what you’re watching and reading.”
Eyes narrowing, I lift my stuffie up so they’re eye to eye. “Try it, and Nessie will eat your toes in your sleep.”
Again he surprises me by laughing, loud and deep as he resumes his trek down the stairs. “Maybe I should sleep with one eye open.”
“You definitely should.”
“Mmm. Or maybe I should just spank you and fuck your cute little bottom every night before bed so you’re too tired to plot my demise.”
Okay I have to admit that would probably work even better than sleeping with one eye open. But I don’t want to give him time to realize exactly how effective that threat is, so I change the topic again. “So, your uncle. Just a crazy person, or…?”
“Power-hungry bastard. My father was the head of the Irish mob and my uncle wanted a piece.”
Nope, that is the most shocking thing he could have said. “You're in the mob?”
“We were. Well, Axel was the only one who ever really participated in any mob stuff. Our parents were adamant that none of us would join the ‘family business’ until we’d graduated college. Colt and Bram were in their senior year when it happened.”
“I’m sorry.” Regardless of what else I may think or feel about the Thorne siblings, having your parents brutally slain by a man you should have been able to trust and then fleeing for your lives had to be traumatic.
Maybe that’s why they are the way they are. That kind of thing is bound to fuck anyone up.
“It is what it is,” he says with a shrug as we step into the dining room where the rest of his family is gathered. “But that’s the past. Right now, I’m far more interested in the future. Namely, my future with you.”
Under any other circumstances, that sentence would be romantic. Coming from him, however, it feels more like a threat.
But arguing is only going to get me in trouble and I’m determined to prove I’m a good girl so I can earn another opportunity to run, so I force a smile as he settles into a chair with me on his lap. “Oh man, this looks delicious.”
And I don’t even have to lie this time. The table is laden with eggs and bacon and sausage and fresh-baked biscuits, along with a stack of the fluffiest waffles I’ve ever seen.
Chuckling, Dane leans forward to scoop some eggs onto my plate. “You can thank your Uncle Eli for that. He’s our family chef.”
“Thank you, um—” I stumble over the words, my tongue refusing to cooperate for a moment. “Un…Uncle Eli.”
“You’re welcome, little one.”
From my other side, Ford stabs a waffle with a fork and drops it onto my plate, his voice dropping to a loud whisper when he speaks again. “Don’t let your Daddy fill you up with protein. Little girls need plenty of sugar in their diets. It’s how they stay so sweet.”
“You’re going to spoil them, Ford,” Axel says with a shake of his head.
“Impossible. You can’t spoil babies.”
“You can, and you will,” Grayson says from the end of the table, her lips kicking up in a smirk. “But sooner or later you’ll get a Little girl of your own and it will be our turn to spoil her no matter how much you object.”
Their banter flies back and forth as Dane cuts my waffle up into tiny pieces and feeds me. He does insist on me finishing off the pile of eggs and a piece of sausage before I’m allowed to eat the rest of the waffle, which makes Ford roll his eyes in an exaggerated way I can’t help but laugh at.
All in all, it’s a rather… cozy scene, in spite of how I got here. If it hadn’t been for the whole “kidnapped and held hostage against my will” thing, I might even like these people.
Which means I need to be even more vigilant than I originally thought. Staying aware of an external threat is one thing. But staying aware of your emotions so you don’t fall victim to your own feelings?
Much more difficult.
I’m still marinating on that unsettling thought when Dane rises from his seat and carries me to the end of the table where Gray sits, a wide smile on her face.
“Come here, little one. Auntie Gray has your final wedding present.”
“What is it?”
Bending down, Dane places me in her lap and Gray cradles me exactly like you would a literal baby. Eli appears seemingly out of nowhere and hands her a bottle—a literal bottle—full of what appears to be milk.
“Open up, little one.”
Right. Okay. Play along, pretend to be a good girl until you can either figure out your own escape plan or Dane gives you another chance to run.
With that reminder playing on a loop in my head, I part my lips for her to slide the rubber nipple into my mouth. I suck, tentatively, then with more gusto as the most delicious milk I’ve ever tasted slides over my tongue.
“We have another fan of the island’s milk,” Gray says with a quiet laugh.
I don’t know what island she’s talking about or what makes their milk so special. And it doesn’t occur to me until I’ve downed nearly half the bottle that the milk could be poisoned. Or drugged.
Fuck. They’ve already gotten past my defenses, gotten me to let my guard down. I’ll have to be more careful going forward if I have any hope of escape.
And I will escape this place. If it’s the last thing I do.