Chapter Three
Maeve
I wanted to hate my life.
Being sold to some random stranger was not my idea of a good time. I’m not an idiot, I know I’ve landed on the jackpot. There is absolutely no expectation of me.
I must have been here a month and a half at this point, and there was nothing I couldn’t do, apart from leave the walls of the estate.
I’d gotten to the edge of the estate many times, and I’d looked at the wall, wondering if I could climb it.
I’m not one for heights, so it always looked too high for me.
Certainly not something I would ever want to attempt.
I’d also gotten close to the main gates. Again, freedom had been within distance, yet I didn’t push. In the back of my mind, I kept asking myself why I would do that. Why would I risk dying, when the truth was, I had a pretty sweet deal here?
The people that worked for my mystery captor were so nice.
Even the chef, Louis, was lovely. There was nothing he wouldn’t cook for me—extra chocolate, chocolate chip cookies, fudgy brownies with ice cream, it was all delicious and all mine.
Meatballs and spaghetti, which happened to be my favorite, and of course his spicy pizza, which was just heavenly.
He was an amazing chef. My captor was lucky.
Again, there was nothing to say who my captor was.
He was driving me crazy. It wasn’t like he was doing anything wrong.
Randomly, he would appear, or I would see him across the room.
Sometimes, he would be typing away on his cell phone without a care in the world.
Other times, our eyes would lock, and I wondered if my little dream world would collapse.
So far, nothing. It was driving me insane.
Making my way through the house, I smile at several of the soldiers on my way out.
They nod in my direction but never question what I am doing.
I have no doubt they are watching me. I made my way across the lawn, going toward the back to another part of the house, where the swimming pool was.
It wasn’t connected to the main house, but you only had to walk across the garden to get to it.
There were guards here as well. The moment I entered, they were gone. I’m not sure if it was my presence that sent them away, or if they were simply given another order. Either way, I was once again alone.
Back home, after learning of my impending doom, I hadn’t wanted any attention.
I wanted to be alone. It was the only place I knew I could be myself.
Also, it provided me the freedom I needed to live my life.
No one to stop me from getting the tattoos that now decorated my body.
They did fucking hurt, but I stayed in that chair until they were done.
I was determined to see it through. This is who I am. I make it fucking work.
I went to parties and danced until I couldn’t think. I did everything to escape the reality in my mind, or should I say, the nightmare.
Staring at the pool, the stark blue of the water made me think of the ocean. It was clean. The air felt still. This is what I liked.
I wore a one-piece swimsuit that I had slid on instead of underwear.
I stripped out of my clothes, moved toward the edge of the pool, and lowered myself into the water.
I enjoyed swimming. Moving myself away from the edge of the pool, I faced forward and started to swim the length of the pool, hoping it would loosen up my mind, or do something to ease whatever was going on inside my head.
This was a good life. Food at the click of my fingers, or by friendly request being left alone, allowed to do whatever I wanted.
I spent the other day in his theater, watching movies.
I can’t remember the number of movies I watched, there were so many, but I had a lot of fun, and it was something I would do again.
I went to his library and read. I explored the whole house and the grounds, and yes, I was able to relax. At the same time, that terrified me. I shouldn’t be able to relax. None of this should be real.
In that moment, as I went from one end of the pool to another, I thought about the other people on the stage that day. Were they happy? Did they get a sweet deal like me?
I’m not sure how long I had been swimming, but I suddenly became aware of something else in the pool. I spun around, and at first, I swear there was a shark heading toward me, and my initial instinct was to scream. I scrambled across the water, grabbed the edge of the pool, and hauled myself up.
Once that crazy notion had slipped past me, I turned to see my captor, and what I thought was a shark was in fact a dog—a gorgeous golden labrador—with a big, goofy face, and he was still heading toward me.
“I will not even guess what you thought I must be keeping here,” my captor said.
“You could have warned me.”
“Burt wants to go for a swim. The moment I let him in here, there is no stopping him.”
“Burt?”
The labrador nudged my hand—this was Burt.
“You scared me, you know, I thought your owner kept a hidden shark or had released it into the water.”
“I am not fond of sharks myself, and I don’t think they would keep as good pets,” my captor said.
It was then I saw another dog at his feet.
“Two dogs?” I asked.
“Yes, Burt you have met, and this is Daisy.”
This was the first time we had talked since I had gotten here. I didn’t want to admit it, but it felt nice.
I reached out and stroked the other dog, which was another labrador but this one a deep brown color.
They were both so soft. He had two dogs, and the suit jacket he often wore was gone, and the sleeves of his shirt were rolled up.
He looked good. I didn’t want to be thinking that way about this man.
He was not good. This whole situation was not good.
“Albert tells me you like the pool,” he said.
“What’s your name?” I asked.
He smiled.
“You’re not going to tell me?”
“Why would I tell you?” he asked.
“Because you know my name.”
“Yes, I do.”
“You don’t want me to know your name?”
He looked at me, and I was struck by his brown eyes. When he had looked at me that night, when he took me, I had hated him on the spot, yet so far, he had done nothing but treat me like a princess.
“You’ll know my name when you need to.”
“I guess I have to keep referring to you as my captor, or my owner.”
He chuckled. “Yes, because I don’t think ‘Daddy’ would have the right ring to it.”
I looked over to him and couldn’t help but burst out laughing. It was so strange to be in this position.
“Fine, Captor, how come I have explored the whole place and never once met Burt and Daisy?”
Burt was swimming around in the pool, while Daisy had settled down by her master’s side. As for my captor, he had taken a seat beside me.
“You’ve not been in the right place at the right time. Like you, Burt and Daisy have free reign over the house. They can come and go wherever they like.”
She nodded. “Well, I feel like I missed out, because those guys are just so adorable.”
“Would you like to go somewhere?” my captor asked.
I looked at him. “What?”
“You’ve been good, I think it is only fair I reward you. You’ve been here for quite some time. Would you like to go to dinner?” he asked.
This surprised me.
“You want to be seen out in public with me?”
“If the answer is yes, I will meet you by the front door in an hour’s time. There is a dress in your room, if you wish to wear it.”
He got to his feet, and with a simple request, both dogs rushed to follow him. It was strange, because in that moment I wanted to follow him as well.
I’m not a dog. I didn’t have to move to his tune, although I did get to my feet and make my way to my bedroom, where I discovered a beautiful red dress to wear for dinner.
****
Draven
If Maeve refused to go to dinner, I wouldn’t mind. I saw the interest in her eyes. Being here for a month and a half had relaxed her. She no longer looked like she wanted to bolt at a moment’s notice, which was a step up as far as I was concerned.
I waited by the door. There was no rule that said I couldn’t take my captive out.
The moment I had passed that dress in the window, I wanted to see Maeve in it. I knew all of Maeve’s sizes, so I knew there wouldn’t be any trouble.
Now, I glanced down at my watch and noticed she had five minutes to arrive.
Pulling out my cell phone, I took care of a few emails and a couple of texts, and that is when I heard her, less than two minutes later, coming downstairs.
I take my time and stare at her feet as they appear.
She wore the red heels with the straps that looked like diamonds. She looked stunning. Beautiful.
And as my gaze traveled up her body, I caught sight of how amazing she looked, and she took my breath away.
The dress molded to every curve. Maeve was not a slim woman, she was all curves, and from what Louis had told me, she was not afraid to eat good food.
My chef adored her and her culinary requests.
In fact, most of my staff adored her, including my cleaning crew.
Maeve did not like to leave mess, and several of the crew had stated they had found her cleaning up or grabbing a duster to help.
I was not prepared for Maeve to be so well-liked, but I happen to also enjoy that she fit in with my household.
I didn’t like drama at home. The people who worked for me knew I liked to run a tight ship, and it had to be a fucking safe space. I got rid of anyone who rocked the boat.
Maeve had curled her short hair. There was a time she had her hair down to her ass, but part of her rebellion was to cut it. Also, she had streaks of silver through her hair. With the red dress, she was a walking sex dream, at least to me.
She looked nervous.
“Is it okay?” Maeve asked. “I got a little confused and was worried I might have ruined it.”