Chapter 17
MADISON
Itried to raise my head off his lap a second time.
Pierce’s firm hand pressed against the base of my skull. “Stay down.”
I glanced up at him through my lashes. The hard, muscled planes of his chest with its scattering of dark hair were visible through the wet fabric of his shirt.
The car’s heated seats fought against the wind coming through the broken window to warm our chilled bodies and wet clothes.
The scent of leather and fabric softener, combined with the crisp outside air, filled the interior.
After several weeks of being confined in jail, constantly surrounded by the odor of boiled cabbage and the pungent moldy stench of dirty mops, it smelled clean and fresh.
I was not attracted to him. Even if he was everything I wished his brother had been.
Tearing my gaze from his chest, my eyes dropped lower.
It was just there!
Lying against his inner thigh.
Inches from my mouth.
It pressed against the fabric of his slacks like it was trying to break free.
I had a flashback to that day weeks ago in my bookshop.
On my knees.
The taste of his come.
Oh my fucking god!
Breaking free of his restraining hand, I sat up so fast the blood rushed to my head and the world tilted.
What a strange turn my life had taken since moving to Cliffs End.
If I had read this in a book, I’d have accused the author of plotting an unbelievable storyline.
I drew my knees up higher, uncaring about the mud my ballet flats smeared across the seat edge.
Hunching my shoulders lower, I turned and looked back through the rear window.
A low ground fog drifted around us, trapped between the tall pine trees as we raced deeper along the winding country road. There didn’t appear to be anyone chasing us.
I squinted to see past the gray and the gloom for a flare of red or blue lights and strained to listen for the sound of sirens.
There was nothing.
Pierce reached over to the center console and pressed the LCD screen. It lit up. He selected the phone number for a man named Michael with the title Head of Security listed under his name and turned the volume up.
“Boss.”
“What the fuck?” ground out Pierce. I flinched.
“There’s no excuse,” came Michael’s resigned voice over the car’s speakers.
“You’re goddamn right there’s no excuse. What the fuck happened? She could have been killed. You put her in danger.”
Shifting over as close to the passenger door as space would allow, I stared out the side window and tried to pretend I wasn’t listening to the conversation.
She could have been killed? You put her in danger? It almost sounded as if he was angrier about threats to my safety than his own.
“We secured the one guard and thought the other was out cold, so we left him in the conference room while we went to apprise the judge. He must have woken up and alerted the other guards, telling them it was a convict escape.”
Pierce took his hand off the wheel and ran it through his hair as he blew out a puff of air. “You think? I want this mess cleaned up. Now.”
“It’s done, Boss. We have the guards in our custody, and the CA and judge are working on a cover story. I told them you’d pay the usual fe—”
Pierce ended the call before he could finish.
I wrapped my arms around my middle and squeezed.
My stomach turned over. Every exit had just closed.
Sheets of rain pelted the windshield, obscuring the view. Neither of us spoke as we traveled deeper into the woods. There was only the continued rhythmic whoosh, whoosh, whoosh of the wipers.
Pierce did not slow the car down, confidently taking the steep curves at a high speed as we climbed higher and higher up the mountain. The Worthington estate sat on the edge of the sheer cliff which gave the town of Cliffs End its name.
With each turn, he took me farther from civilization. The police were probably in his pocket. Everyone was. But I couldn’t just sit here and do nothing.
I pulled my lips between my teeth and tightened my arms around my middle, trying to quell the shivers racking my body.
Without saying a word, Pierce leaned forward and adjusted the heat higher. Hot air ruffled my hair as it blew from the vents. I hated that he saw my shiver. I didn’t want him to notice anything about me.
Adjusting in my seat to curl my body to the right, facing away from him, I looked down at the silver car door handle.
Keeping my eyes lowered, I glanced at Pierce. His attention was on the dangerous road conditions.
Beyond the window, a brief glimpse of the dark, churning waters of the Atlantic Ocean was only partially visible through the thick layer of evergreen trees before it disappeared. The forest closed in.
If I didn’t act soon, I would be beyond the reach of civilization.
I had no way to call for help. For all my friends knew, I was ironically safe in a jail cell right now.
I was completely alone…with the man who’d ruined my life and played with my emotions as if I were nothing more than an amusing toy to him.
I unclasped my arms and slowly inched my right arm along the door. My fingers were stiff and numb, barely able to close. I flexed them twice before reaching for the handle.
Pierce broke the silence. “When we get to the estate, you will talk to no one. Do you understand me?”
My jaw locked. I couldn’t speak. I couldn’t nod. I didn’t dare even turn to look at him. My chest rose and fell with each unsteady breath. I could feel his focus locked on me, tracking every small movement I made.
Had he read my thoughts? Did he know of my intentions? I glanced down at my fingertips, only inches from the door handle.
Pierce placed his hand on my thigh.
I started and tried to pull away.
His fingers tightened, the tips digging into my flesh, holding me in place. The warmth of his skin permeated the flimsy silk of my skirt.
“I’m going to need a response, Madison.”
I nodded stiffly, as if the motion were foreign to me.
“Use your words, babygirl.”
I licked my lips to moisten them. “Yes,” I choked out.
I sensed rather than saw his knowing smirk. “Good girl.”
He squeezed my thigh a final time before once more gripping the steering wheel.
I stared at his hands and hated that I was jealous of that wheel. Here I was salivating over the way his powerful hands clasped the leather-bound wheel and wondering what they would look like unbuckling his black leather belt.
The car fell back into a tense silence. I became aware of the harsh rush of my own breathing.
I looked back at the door handle.
Extending my arm, I let my fingertips graze the smooth metal and stilled, waiting for an angry reaction from Pierce. There was none.
Coughing to cover the sound of my movement, I leaned forward to grip the handle.
The car slowed slightly as he navigated around a sharp turn.
It was now or never.
My heart pounded in my ears, drowning out the roar of the nearby ocean.
“Madison, what are you doing?” he barked.
My head swiveled sharply in his direction.
His expression darkened as he looked from my face to my hand on the door handle, then back to my face. His lips curled as he lunged toward the passenger side, his right arm stretched out to snatch at mine.
With a terrified scream, I pulled on the handle.
The car door swung open violently.