Chapter 3
Lily was in a daze as she followed Harvey into the cabin.
It was actually larger than it looked from the outside. The ceiling was high and peaked and the wall across from them was basically all glass, offering an amazing view of the forest beyond.
The outdoors had always seemed dirty and strange. Almost scary.
Her mother would always scold them if they came into the house with any sort of dirt on their clothes. So Lily had learned early on just to avoid it altogether.
So does that mean that I don’t actually like being outdoors or that I avoided it so Mother didn’t get angry at me?
Lily didn’t like this. She didn’t like thinking this way.
She was a city girl. She didn’t like dirt. And she needed her pills.
“Lily? Would you like to sit down?” Harvey murmured.
What?
No. She didn’t want to sit. Or did she? Was that what he wanted her to do?
And should she do what he wanted?
Urgh. She had no clue.
Harvey cupped the side of her face, making her jump. But when she took a step back, he simply followed.
Her heart raced. Only she didn’t think it was out of fear this time. Or anxiety.
Nope, her body felt warm.
Was she attracted to him?
It had been so long since she’d felt anything like this that she wasn’t sure she was reading her own body correctly.
“I . . . I don’t feel right. I don’t feel like me.” She scratched her nails down her arms.
“Fuck. Stop that.”
The harshness of his voice startled her and she cringed.
She’d upset him.
That . . . that wasn’t what she wanted. Was it?
No, no. She had to keep him happy.
He kidnapped you, Lily. You don’t have to cater to him.
Her breathing quickened. But this time it was fear coursing through her.
He started cursing again and wrapped his arms around her, lifting her into the air so she was pressed against his chest.
This was an odd feeling, and she stiffened immediately, but it helped push back some of the fear.
“You kidnapped me,” she accused as he walked with her into the open-plan kitchen area.
A quick glance around revealed that the kitchen was gorgeous, with light oak-colored cupboards and a white countertop. The island was surprisingly large and he set her down on top of it.
Then he placed his hands on either side of her hips, leaning over her. “No more hurting yourself.”
What? That wasn’t what she’d expected him to say. He’d kidnapped her. He was a kidnapper. Should he not feel worried about that?
Mind you, maybe kidnappers didn’t worry about kidnapping people. Perhaps it was something they did all the time.
Maybe she wasn’t his first.
“Am I not your first?” she asked.
His eyebrows rose slowly as he stared down at her. “My first?”
He sounded incredulous, so perhaps she was right. He’d done this before. And for some reason, she was almost upset about that.
Which was pretty damn ridiculous when she thought about it.
“I’m not the first person you’ve kidnapped!”
“Oh, that’s what you mean. Hmm. You’re the first person I’ve kidnapped that I actually care about.”
Was that meant to make her feel better?
“You’re also the first person I’ve kidnapped who I’ve cared whether they hurt themselves or not.”
He picked up both her hands and placed them on her thighs, and she stared down at them for a long moment.
Shit. They were a mess. There were scratches all along her hands and arms. Her mother was going to kill her.
Not that her mother cared if Lily hurt herself, as long as it wasn’t visible and didn’t reflect on her.
“I need my pills.” They stopped her from doing things like this.
“Lily, look at me.”
There was clear command in his voice, but she shook her head. She didn’t want to look at him. She wanted her pills.
“I want to go home.”
“And where is your home, Lily?”
The way he said her name was different from how other people said it. There was a husky tone to it. It was kind of sexy.
A warm shiver ran through her.
Rick said she was a cold fish. That was why he had sex with other women.
Not that she cared about that. It was a relief not to have to sleep with him.
Maybe she didn’t have urges like other women.
Perhaps there was something wrong with her.
But if that meant she didn’t have to endure him touching her, then she wasn’t worried.
She rattled off her address. Had he forgotten where she lived?
“It’s not your home, Lily. It’s a house where your mother forced you to live with her.”
Lily shook her head. She didn’t like this conversation.
“That’s not your home, and you’re not going back there, Lily. It’s not a safe place for you.”
That was ridiculous. Why wouldn’t it be safe? And how did he know what was a safe place for her? Did he think she was safe here? With him?
It didn’t feel safe. It felt like the unknown. She had no idea what he wanted from her.
And that was terrifying.
At least with her mother and Rick, she’d known the expectations on her. With Harvey, she had no clue. Why had he taken her? Why had he brought her here?
“You don’t get it, do you, Lily?” he said to as he cupped the side of her face.
“No, I don’t get why you kidnapped me.”
“The reason I took you was to save you. It was to free you.”
“So I’m free to leave?” she asked.
Harvey smiled. She wouldn’t call it a pretty smile, or even a reassuring one. “No, Lily. You’re not free to leave. Not until you don’t want to.”
What the heck kind of sense did that make? Did he even understand what he was saying? She wasn’t free to leave until she didn’t want to leave?
“That doesn’t any make sense.”
“It will,” he told her. “Just give it time. Now, I’m going to clean your arms and your hands, and you’re not going to do this again.”
“You can’t just boss someone around and expect them to do what you want.”
“No? I thought you would be used to that from your mother.”
A surge of anger filled her. “So because my mother bossed me around, you think you can do it too?”
His eyes flashed, and she sucked in a breath. He took gentle hold of her chin. “I’m nothing like your mother. Understand me?”
Right. Sure, he wasn’t. But from where she was sitting, wasn’t she just escaping one cage to be placed in another?
She rubbed her forehead. Lily was so confused.
She didn’t want to think anymore. She was tired, and she just wanted to sleep.
“Do you know the difference between me and your mother, Lily?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” she said. “I don’t know anything. I’m just dumb and stupid. And I need my pills, Harvey.”
“You are not dumb or stupid and you will not say that about yourself again.”
“You like to make a lot of demands, don’t you?”
“I prefer to think of them as commands, because demands can be rejected or dismissed. But a command should always be obeyed, just like me.”
“I never realized how arrogant you are. You’re not the nice man that everyone thinks you are, are you?”
“See, you’re starting to get to know me already. That’s what this is about, Lily. You’re going to find out who I am. Who you are.”
“I haven’t forgotten that. We barely know each other, Harvey.”
“When you know someone is meant to be yours, it doesn’t matter how well you know them.”
She rubbed at her forehead again, and he grasped hold of her hand, drawing it away.
“Headache?” he murmured.
Lily nodded with a wince.
Harvey’s hand moved round behind her neck, and he started to massage the tight muscles.
Oh my God. A small sigh of pleasure escaped her as the pain eased. How did he know just how to touch her?
“I know what to do,” he murmured to her as he moved closer, his lips nearly brushing against her forehead. “I know just how to take care of you, Lily, and that’s what I’m going to do.”
Harvey was aware that he was pushing her. And he still hadn’t taken care of the scratches on her arms and hands. It was so fucking difficult not to draw her into his arms. Not to hug her tight and declare that she was his.
However, he needed to pull back slightly before he completely terrified her.
“Better?” he murmured.
“Yes. How do you know exactly where to touch me in order to ease the pain?”
“Magic hands,” he told her as he barely resisted kissing her forehead.
God, the scent of her was delicious. Perhaps he shouldn’t have waited so long. Rick hadn’t deserved her. He was the most selfish prick Harvey had ever met. Harvey wondered if Lily knew how many times he cheated on her? And boasted about it.
Stupid asshole hadn’t known what he had, the greatest treasure that anyone could ever have.
And now she was Harvey’s and he wouldn’t let her go.
But he did need to find out what these pills were.
He could sense she was panicking again. She seemed to have moments of panic interspersed with clarity.
“What time is it? I’ve gone too long without them,” she told him.
He needed to get Michaela out here to check her over.
“I’m going to get you what you need. You just need to trust me. I’ll just grab the first aid kit and clean up those scratches. You are going to stay right here. Understand me, Lily?”
It was a test, and when he returned from the bathroom with the first aid kit . . .
He discovered that she’d failed it.
With a sigh, he brought out his phone and checked the cameras. It wouldn’t take long to find her.
And he couldn’t blame her for running, but she needed to learn that she wasn’t ever leaving him.