Chapter 9 Isla
Chapter Nine
ISLA
My brief taste of freedom is over by the time I open my eyes the next morning. Apparently, while I was sleeping, Cillian installed a new door. Stealthy fucker.
And this time, it locks from the outside.
Shit.
I had hoped it was Dare who stayed the night, hoping his attraction to me would make it easy for me to escape, but not discarding the possibility of it being any one of them and maybe me having to use my almost non-existing flirting skills.
But after Cillian splintered that door to pieces, the seduction plan went out the window, and I wasn’t able to pull myself out from that fearful headspace until after he left the room.
Something inside me tells me he didn’t want to hurt me, though. With all his arguing with Liam, I’m beginning to think he didn’t want to take me at all.
Dare certainly didn’t look like he did. I can tell by the guilt in his eyes every time he looks at me.
I rifle through the closet. It’s filled with luxury clothes, even though they’re a bit outdated. Makes me wonder if Liam has a sister, or worse, a wife.
The idea turns my stomach for reasons I can’t begin to understand.
Pulling out a simple shift dress, a green one that might bring out the bits of green in my eyes, I put it on and try the door.
My heart leaps when the knob turns.
Slowly walking out into the hall, I expect Cillian, but instead, it’s Dare who lounges on the couch, watching television.
My heart stops for a second.
I’d hoped the silence meant Cillian had fallen asleep before locking me in, but Dare must have come to relieve him early this morning.
They’re... taking turns?
Luckily for me, Dare might be the weak link. He likes me. Or at least, wants in my panties. My theoretical panties, because I’m not about to put my old ones on or wear someone else’s, and it’s not like I packed a bag, expecting to be kidnapped.
But him wanting my body and me being willing to trade it for my freedom are two very different things, and I’m not sure I can actually go through with it, no matter how attracted I was to him last night.
I need a plan. Something that will allow me to escape but not require me actually having to get naked with any of them.
I turn to go back into my room, but Dare’s up in a flash, walking toward me in the hallway.
I freeze. “What?”
The adrenaline from last night has left my system, and now all I can feel is betrayal that he turned on me after all that flirting at the gala. After I almost let him kiss me.
“This wasn’t my idea, you know? I didn’t want any of this.” He sounds almost mournful, voice raspy. Maybe it’s from the early hour since it’s barely past daylight.
“Then whose idea was it?”
“Ronan Hayes’s, of course.”
The name sends a chill down my spine. “Ronan H—As in the Hayes clan?” All air leaves my lungs. “Would have never pegged you guys for gangsters.”
“Maggie, you have to understand—”
“Don’t call me that. My name is Isla. You’ve taken everything else away from me, so please give me the little courtesy of sticking with my name.”
He pauses, looking down into my eyes, searching my face.
I don’t know what he expects to find there, but finally, he looks away.
“Isla.” His voice is low and almost hoarse, and it sends a shiver down my spine that has nothing to do with being cold.
And just like that, a piece of the puzzle falls into place. “You’re not like them, are you? Liam is the hothead, and Cillian… Cillian is a quiet weapon waiting to strike. But you? You’re different.”
He snorts. “I’m more like them than you think.”
I shrug. “So, Ronan Hayes, huh? Tell me, what does the Hayes clan want with this Maggie character?”
He narrows his eyes.
“What? Since you obviously believe I am her, shouldn’t I at least know what I’m being accused of?”
“You know damn well.”
I huff. “No, I don’t. That’s the point. But fine, let’s talk about something else, like what do you do for the Hayes clan?”
I shouldn’t be asking, but my inquisitive journalist’s mind can’t help it. Besides, this is the real scoop, isn't it? Underground crime among the city’s elite. I can see the headlines now. They wouldn’t put that on a back page website.
If I ever get out of here, if I’m able to survive this, I should get as much information as I can to write the story that will make me a serious journalist.
“I’m a tech guy.” His words are vague, but I can kind of see it, my eyes trailing along his body.
He’s long and lanky where Liam and Cillian are wide, more lean muscle than anything else.
Maybe he’s a runner, or a swimmer, but he doesn’t have the brute strength the other two do, even though he’s every bit as attractive as his friends.
“You three are friends, you said?” I raise an eyebrow.
With all the arguing they did last night, you wouldn’t have known it.
“Yeah, usually,” he mutters, bracing his hand on the wall and leaning against it as he leans closer to me. He’s got this easy confidence that’s easy to be attracted to.
Maybe seducing Dare won’t be so bad.
Am I really thinking that my only way out of this situation might be kind of... fun?
There’s something seriously wrong with me.
“Cill and Liam grew up together. I didn’t get into the Hayes clan until I was around twenty.”
“So, they grew up... here?” I look around.
I can’t imagine baby Cillian running around here, Liam as a teenager learning to shave.
“They did.” He leans ever closer to me. “So, are we really having a conversation?”
I scoff. “Not like I have a choice, do I?”
He shrugs. “You do have a choice. You could go into your room. Ignore me.”
“Would you leave me alone if I did?”
He grins. “Probably not. But Cill said you didn’t talk much.”
“Not to him, no.”
“Why not?” His forest green eyes turn back to mine, more intense than before.
“He’s not really much of a talker. Don’t know if you’ve noticed.”
“You’re funny, Mag—I mean, Isla. Did you know that?”
“I'm a real riot when I’m not being held prisoner. You could let me go and I’d show you.”
He chuckles. “Don’t tempt me, a ghrá.”
“I’ve asked you not to call me that.” I pause, glaring at him. “So, you’re the tech guy. Does that mean you’re the one who hunted this Maggie person down?”
“Not in so many words, but aye, I suppose.”
“So, I have you to thank for all this.” I look up at him with a cool expression.
“Ah, a ghrá. If I’d known you were so lovely, I would have sent them on a wild goose chase.”
“Would that be smart? Lying to the Hayes clan?” I can’t help but sway toward him.
He’s charming. I’ll give him that.
And handsome. It’s easy to lose myself in those green eyes.
“I’ve been called a lot of things, but smart? Not one of them.”
I laugh, surprised that I still can, and he leans in.
I know what he’s doing. This isn’t my first kiss, after all. He’s leaning in just like he did on the balcony at the gala.
I could stop him. Protest. I should.
But that won’t get me any closer to free, and if I’m truly honest with myself... I want this. I want it badly. There’s this small, broken part of me that wants Dare to myself.
That maybe wants all of them.
When Dare leans down to kiss me, I let him. Not only do I let him, I kiss him back, meeting his tongue with an intensity I didn’t know I had.
He tastes like stale vodka and mouthwash, but I love it, grabbing onto the back of his head for more purchase, to kiss him harder.
Dare pants against my skin.
“Should we take this to your bedroom?”
This is when I really should stop. Say no. Tell him it was a moment of insanity.
Instead, I jump up into his arms, wrapping my arms around his neck and kissing him again, all thoughts of escape gone.
He groans against my mouth, catching me with his hands all over my ass and thighs.
My dress has ridden up.
“Fuck, a ghrá. No panties?”
“I didn’t have any new ones.”
He grunts. “I’ll bring you some. Bring you whatever you want, just keep kissing me like that.”
All I want is my freedom.
But I can’t say that. And for once in my life, I want to do something for myself. No shame, no regrets, just pleasure because I can.
So, I tell myself that I’m doing this to be able to escape. That I’m acting this way for him to believe that I want this, that I’m just so feral for him that I can’t stop myself even given this crazy situation.
But deep down, I know I’m not just doing this to get away. There are other ways.
Why can’t a kidnapped girl have a little fun?
Dare lays me down on the bed, covering me with his body. It’s a stark contrast from when Liam chunked me on the bed like a sack of potatoes.
“You’re sure about this?” Dare murmurs against my neck, kissing and biting there as my eyes roll back in my head.
I spread my thighs, taking his hand and shoving it between them.
He takes a ragged breath. “A ghrá.”
It’s just the pet name, nothing else, and then his fingers are exploring my folds, his thumb sliding across my clit as if by accident, but he knows exactly what he’s doing.
And he’s good at it.
When two of his fingers press into me, I gasp into his mouth before kissing him again, nipping at his bottom lip.
Dare makes an almost growl, almost groan and shoves my skirt up.
“I’m going to make this a morning you never forget, a ghrá.”