Chapter 11
KADE
The entire drive home from my father's, all I could think about was Soren: the way that she opened up more as soon as she came out of the kitchen with Vanessa, and the way she genuinely laughed and smiled.
It was as if she came out an entirely new person, and one I hated to admit that I couldn’t take my eyes off of, no matter how hard I tried.
Even after a shower, as I lay in bed staring at the ceiling, she wouldn’t leave my damn mind alone. I was enamored with her and utterly intrigued by her. I wanted to know about the girl she was before she was beaten down by Lilah and Jude.
Most importantly, and more dangerously, I wanted to continue to make her smile, just so I could see it again and memorize it.
It was like nothing I had ever seen, and I was desperate for another chance to see her light up in that way. I was borderline obsessed with making this woman happy and I couldn’t even come up with a good explanation why.
Despite my mind telling me that I should be making Soren’s stay here with me miserable, for some reason I just can’t bring myself to do it.
I’m not sure if it’s the terrible history this girl seems to wear like a heart on her sleeve.
Or maybe after all these years, I’m finally softening up.
Or maybe it’s a little bit of both.
I can see the sunshine dulled by the darkness that had been given to her. But I also see resilience. That no matter what happens, or how many times this girl gets knocked on her knees, she continues to get back up.
It makes my stupid, dark, black heart warm when I see her.
It makes me want to keep her here forever and see if I can make the sunlight from inside her shine again.
To see if maybe she could even brighten the darkness within me.
But then I realize that’s probably the most selfish thing I can do, and she’s more than likely had enough of people being selfish with her, and I need to learn to vanquish my darkness myself.
“Change into some workout clothes and come with me,” I practically demand, standing over where Soren lay on the couch in the library reading yet another romance novel. I don’t think she's read anything else in all honesty.
A disgusted look painted her usually cheerful face, and I could have burst out laughing. Being pissed off and disgusted didn’t suit her features.
“Am I allowed to ask what for?” She said, working to a sitting position and crossing her arms.
Always on the defensive.
“I’d tell you,” I started, leaning down, and bringing my face close to hers. “But then I’d have to kill you.”
I sealed my teasing with a wink before straightening my posture and seeing if she’d listen. Scarlet slowly made its way from her cheeks down her neck, and I couldn’t tell what kind of nerve I struck, sexually or from frustration, but I wasn’t opposed to either.
“Whatever,” she finally huffed, rolling her eyes and walking past me to make her way towards her room. I laughed, following behind her to make sure she actually came back out, and didn’t just go in and slam the door in my face.
She did indeed slam the door in my face, but at least the lock didn’t engage.
I laughed under my breath and shook my head, looking down at my own workout attire, which was so unlike my usual business get up.
But it felt freeing to be without a suit.
I felt more relaxed, and not as suffocated with the expensive material wrapped around my body.
“Prick,” Soren mumbled, thinking I couldn’t hear her as she came out of her bedroom door.
“Very nice, princess.” I laughed, pushing myself from where I was leaning against the wall. She jumped, only slightly, not realizing I was still here waiting for her.
She was wearing a loose band t-shirt and a pair of black leggings that did fantastic things to her ass. I sent a quick thank you to whatever company had made those leggings because fuck.
I willed my dick not to harden, when it would be incredibly obvious in my sweats, and began walking back down the hallway.
I’m not sure when the switch flipped, but suddenly I couldn’t stop the part of my brain that continued to imagine what she’d look like naked.
It probably had to do with how tempting she looked in the dress from dinner the other night.
That dress that hugged every single one of her delicious curves, and that I had vivid daydreams about since.
I had lost track of how long it had been since I’d last had my dick buried inside of a woman, and I blamed that on the way Soren and her body infiltrated my every waking thought.
I couldn’t look at anything or think about anything without it trailing back to thoughts of her.
After I kidnapped her, I gave her my credit card and access to my laptop and let her order whatever she wanted and needed while she was here. The amount of boxes that came from various boutiques and stores would have made a lesser man’s pockets whimper. But for mine, it was barely a dent.
I never brought up the endless transactions on my card, and she never said anything about it so it was another conversation we were avoiding.
I had a feeling she ordered half of those things just to spite me, but I still kept my thoughts to myself. I had stolen her out of her home in the middle of the night, so she was entitled to spending my money how she pleased.
So she had even infiltrated my bank statements, making her mark every which way she could in my life without even meaning for it to be so impactful.
I made my way down the stairs and down a hallway opposite of the library, where I knew she was already dying to escape back to. But I couldn’t send her back home with nothing, and that’s why this little field trip was necessary.
I rested my hands on the handles to the double doors, waiting a moment for her to catch up before flinging them open, revealing the redone home gym that was almost as big as the library.
“A gym?” Soren asked, scrunching her nose, as if I offended her just by bringing her here.
I kept walking, making my way over to the floor mat before shucking off my shoes and walking to the middle.
I turned around, crossing my arms in front of me and giving Soren a silent order to join me.
She rolled her eyes for the second time in a short span, and it made my dick twitch seeing her attitude come out. It meant she still had fight left in there.
Good.
“Have you ever watched boxing on television? Or know anything about martial arts?” I asked as she made her way to join me in the middle of the mat.
“No,” she said simply, no explanation needed on her end.
“Well, you’re going to learn today,” I said, putting my hands up in front of her, punching mitts ready, bending my knees and getting into position.
“I want you to punch my hands as hard as you can,” I said, no room for argument. But I knew she would anyway.
“Why?” She asked, still unsure why I’d brought her here.
“I want to see your form,” I replied.
“Why?” She asked again, like a curious toddler.
I lowered my hands, moving towards her and gently grabbing her shoulders, looking her squarely in the eyes.
“I know who your husband is, Soren. I know what kind of man he can be behind closed doors. It’s not hard to infer from those bruises littering your skin.
When you go home, I don’t want to know I did nothing to help you protect yourself from being thrown around like a rag doll,” I explained, not sugar coating my words.
I saw her resolve slip, just a moment before I saw her get downright pissed. But I had a feeling it wasn't me—it was at her circumstances.
Good. Get mad baby girl. Keep that fight alive.
“Fuck!” I yelled, nursing my sore jaw.
I hadn’t realized taking it upon myself to teach Soren some self defense tactics would result in me getting my ass kicked numerous times. I knew I’d been wrong to underestimate her and her strength, and she was proving that to me now.
“Oops,” Soren shrugged her shoulders and gave me a look of fake sympathy before she laughed.
She’s really opened up to me in the last two weeks that she’d been here, which surprised me.
But maybe knowing she could defend herself made her feel more comfortable, and knowing that I had no plans to bring her harm.
She was invading my thoughts even stronger than she had been before, and most times they were completely innocent.
But seeing her panting and with sweat pouring down her body, clad in a sports bra and little shorts was enough to make me consider letting those darker, dirtier thoughts turn into a reality.
“You’re going to think oops in a second when I put you on your back,” I teased, and I watched Soren’s face drop and realized how that sounded.
“Hands up,” I ordered, trying to distract us both from my comment. We both circled one another, arms raised in front of our faces for protection and anticipating each other’s moves. Soren took a step and swung, but I dodged it easily, and the one she threw after that as well.
She yelped as I grabbed her arm and brought her in a headlock when she tried to throw another punch. Her back was to my front, and I wanted to groan at how good her body felt against mine, and how perfectly she fit against me.
It didn’t help that she was rubbing her ass on my already hardening cock, whether she realized it or not.
A pain in my arm broke my thoughts, and I looked down to see her biting my arm to get free.
“Shit!” I yelled, letting her go and spinning her away from my body. I was letting myself get in far too deep with this girl, and I had to stop letting my dick control my thoughts about her.
There was no version of this story where things ended up working out in my favor, and that included Soren.
“That’s it for today,” I snarled, before leaving her standing there with a shocked expression on her face, and took a very long and cold shower.