I lay beside Carter in his bed, the sunshine starting to come through the windows because dawn had arrived. The night had been filled with terror and pleasure, and the time moved so quickly that I didn’t notice the night was gone until morning light appeared.

Hot and sweaty, we lay several feet apart. His chest shone from the moisture that coated his skin. With his eyes closed, he breathed deeply as his body returned to calm. The sheets were kicked away, so most of his naked body was revealed, from his chiseled torso to his muscular thighs. His dick lay on his stomach, smaller than it was before but still impressive in size. His guard was down, creating a perfect opportunity for me to strike.

But I continued to lie there.

When I came on to Carter, I wasn’t thinking about my actions. I was living in the moment, my emotions and empathy dictating my actions. My limbs were secure in chains, and Carter’s hostile arousal filled his bedroom. He wanted to hurt me so bad, wanted to fulfill the dark fantasies every man had—whether they admitted it or not. I had absolutely no power in the situation. I forfeited all my rights when I tried to escape.

But my words changed his mind.

Somehow.

They made him rethink his actions, made him wonder what kind of man he wanted to be. Knowing that I’d ever wanted him made him question his behavior. What kind of man forced a woman to submit? A real man convinced her to submit. That truth hit him hard and made him reexamine everything he wanted.

Then he let me go.

I couldn’t believe it.

He unlocked every chain and set me free. Then he sat at the edge of the bed, his anger and desire subdued.

I could have just walked out and returned to my room, but I didn’t. I admired his decision. I admired him for listening to me. Egor never cared for my pleas or tears. He never cared about me as a human being. Carter might have darker aspects, might not be a gentleman, but he certainly had compassion.

He had a heart.

He was a good man…in his own way.

I hadn’t been treated with any kind of respect for years, but Carter was good to me. His heart was pure and easily swayed. He didn’t have blood lust in his veins, not like other men. He wasn’t evil.

Not at all.

And that made me want him, made me want to give him something. Sex was on my terms, and that made me want to feel him between my legs, to enjoy him when I never allowed myself to.

I did enjoy it—immensely.

This was a new beginning for us. Whether he let me go the next morning or not, we had a connection now. If I just let it be, he would let me be free eventually. If I asked enough times, he would do it.

There wasn’t a single doubt in my mind.

Carter Barsetti was a good man.

So I lay beside him in the darkness, not interested in slitting his throat while he slept. He was kind to me, and now I wanted to be kind to him. He pleased me in a way I hadn’t felt in a long time. Actually, I’d never been satisfied like that. I’d never been with a man who had Carter’s raging masculinity, had his level of confidence. Seeing him want me so much, despite the fact that I was a victim of rape and torture, made me feel beautiful for the first time in years. He didn’t care where I’d been, about the men who took me before he laid eyes on me. Most men would be disgusted by it, judge me for the horrible things that were done to me on a regular basis. Not Carter.

Since he had a soft spot inside his chest, I knew I would be able to get away eventually. If we continued to sleep together and his heart softened even more, he wouldn’t be able to resist my request. Just as my earlier words made him drop the whip, he would do it again.

I could try to escape, but that might provoke his anger. Right now, he was kind and gentle, fucking me in a way Egor never did. If I let the peace continue, I would get my way eventually. Cane wasn’t a psychopath like the others. He had a heart underneath that concrete chest. It beat with compassion, understanding, and empathy. He would let me go.

I knew he would.

Neither one of us crossed the divide between us, not snuggling together like lovers after lovemaking. I watched his breathing return to normal as he slipped off into sleep. His hand rested on his stomach, slowly rising and falling with his deep breaths. When he was unconscious, the hardness of his face relaxed, and his jawline softened slightly. He looked handsome either way, but with his guard down, his true nature seemed to be more visible.

I couldn’t help but consider myself lucky, to appreciate the man beside me. After sleeping in chains and being whipped until I bled, Carter was a godsend. He was handsome, charming, and compassionate. He still kept me against my will, so I shouldn’t be too fond of him, but I was. I felt my heart soften the way his did for me.

I actually liked him.

And I liked the way he pleased me, caring about our mutual pleasure instead of his own exclusively. He gave me the greatest sex of my life, sex so good I didn’t think it was possible. When my ankles were locked around his waist, I didn’t think about the last three years of my life. All I thought about was the two of us, a man and a woman, doing something natural and beautiful.

I didn’t think sex could be beautiful anymore.

I knew he wouldn’t want to sleep with me, so I maneuvered to the edge of the bed and sat up. My skin smelled like sweat and sex, and my hair was tangled from the way he’d fisted it. He fucked me like I was the only woman he wanted for the rest of his life. Did he fuck every woman like that?

When my feet hit the rug, I stood up, doing my best to move stealthily so I wouldn’t disturb him. When I took my first step, he heard me.

With a deep voice that sounded perfectly awake, he commanded me. “Get back here.”

“I’m going to bed.”

“Then lie down.” He opened his eyes and turned his head my way. With rich brown eyes that complemented the depth of his soul, he stared at me with powerful hostility. He patted the bed beside him.

“I thought you’d want to sleep alone.”

“No.” He patted the bed again, this time harder. “When I wake up, the first thing I’m going to do is fuck you. So get back here.”

A wave of desire ran through me, making me feel beautiful again when I didn’t think it was possible. He didn’t get tired of me after he had me. He wanted to keep taking me. I moved back onto the bed and tucked myself under his sheets.

He turned his gaze to the ceiling again and closed his eyes.

“You aren’t afraid I’m going to kill you?” There was bound to be a gun in here somewhere. All I had to do was point it at his face while he slept, and his life would be over.

He sighed like he was too peaceful to really care about the question. “No, sweetheart. I’m not afraid of anything. In fact, I hope you try. Just gives me a reason to punish you.”

It was noon when I woke up the next day.

Carter was already awake, scrolling through his phone and checking his emails. The sheets were bunched around his waist, showing his chiseled stomach and sexy, tanned skin. His short dark hair was slightly messy from the way I’d gripped it last night.

When he realized I was awake, he tossed his phone on the nightstand. “Morning, sweetheart.”

“Morning.” I turned on my side and faced him, the sheet pulled to my shoulder.

He opened his nightstand and pulled out a condom. He ripped through the foil quickly then rolled the latex onto his hard dick. He pushed the sheets back, revealing his monster size and thickness. He was the biggest man I’d ever taken, putting Egor to shame. “Right to the point, huh?”

He positioned himself on top of me and rolled me onto my back. “I warned you last night.” He separated my thighs so his hips could slide through. The muscles of his chiseled physique shifted and moved under the skin. His narrow hips had deep lines in between the muscles, making a prominent V that turned his body into the perfect shape of a triangle. “I went easy on you last night.” He held his face above mine, his lips taunting my mouth with their proximity. “Not again.”

This man helped himself to me like I was a station on a buffet line. He was nice enough to at least let me wake up first, but the second my eyes were open, he went for the kill. My palms immediately pressed against his pecs, my favorite feature. They were two slabs of powerful muscle, hard against my hands. “Really? Because I enjoyed it a lot…” My eyes shifted to his lips before I looked into his gaze again.

He held his body still on top of mine, his brown eyes looking into mine with that same aggression. His cock twitched slightly in response. I could feel the latex rub against my thigh with the movement. His hard jawline tensed a little more, and he seemed angry with himself for being moved by my words. He got off on my pleasure. Maybe it was because he was a gentleman. Or maybe it was because it inflated his already fat ego. “You like it nice and slow?”

“I like how you gave it to me…” My fingers dug into his shoulders as I waited for him to slip inside me. I couldn’t believe I was saying these words to a man who kept me as a prisoner. Instead of being a slave, I felt like a woman he’d brought home for the night. For just a moment, it was a different kind of fantasy, one where I could pretend I was free.

He pressed his forehead against mine and inhaled deeply, a slight moan coming from his lips. His cock twitched again before he pressed his lips against mine, giving me a slow kiss like he did the night before.

The chemistry was there the second we touched. The air left my lungs as soon as our warm bodies combined. My fingers moved into his hair, and I kissed him like he was the only man I ever wanted. I loved his kiss, loved the way his soft lips moved against mine and claimed them. When he gave me his tongue next, my thighs squeezed his hips.

Without realizing what I was doing, I ground my hips against his body, feeling his length rub against my throbbing clit. I panted into his mouth, my fingers digging deeper into his hair. This man ignited my sexual desire, made me feel like a woman again. I forgot how wonderful sex could be, even if it was meaningless. He brought me back to life, made me feel pleasure for the first time in years.

He pushed on the shaft of his length, then slipped inside me, fitting through my tight opening and sinking until his fat dick was completely inside me, his warm balls hitting my ass. His powerful arms held his weight on top of me, kept me squished against the mattress while he weighed me down. I was smothered by his hot skin and sexy muscles. I was enveloped by his kisses. He was an enormous barrier that separated me from the horrors of the world. For that moment, I felt safe underneath him, that nothing could interrupt this pleasurable peace that he gave me.

I never thought sex could heal me.

Not after it had destroyed me for so long.

He thrust inside me just the way he did last night, hitting me in the right spot at the perfect pace. I could probably handle something more intense, but since last night felt so good, I wanted that again. It was my favorite item on the menu.

I’d already fucked him once, so I wasn’t ashamed of how much I enjoyed him. My nails clawed at his muscular back, and my pussy soaked his fat length wrapped in the condom. His name escaped from my lips, like I was with a lover rather than my keeper.

He moaned every time I said his name.

I didn’t want this to end. I wanted it to keep going forever. My mind shut off, and I didn’t think about anything else except the fire between my legs. Like last night, he brought me to a climax instantly, the size and shape of his dick hitting an invisible button inside my body. My thighs squeezed his hips, and I bucked against him in response, my body working on its own and independent of my mind.

“Looks like I broke my record.”

I kept my face pressed against his as I finished, my pussy still convulsing around his length. I rode the high until I was completely finished, the arousal seeping between my legs even more than before. “Make me come again…”

He smiled against my mouth. “I’d be happy to.”

I prepared lunch, making sandwiches and salads. Carter jumped in the shower once we were done, so I had some time to myself. I brought everything to the table, along with two glasses of iced tea.

I sat down and stared out the window, unsure how to feel about my new situation. I’d slept with Carter because I was attracted to him, but I kept bedding him because the sex was good. Not just good, but extraordinary. The list of men I’d slept with wasn’t very long, but I hadn’t experienced anything like what I had with Carter.

He was a professional.

Being in his captivity was starting to feel more like a vacation than imprisonment. If I didn’t have someone waiting for me, I would just settle for the comfortable life he offered me. No one would judge me for it. And if they did, then they simply didn’t understand the kind of torture I’d endured. It was a miracle my mind hadn’t shattered like the rest of my body. If I didn’t have so much to live for, I would have thrown in the towel a long time ago.

Carter came into the dining room and joined me, shirtless in his sweatpants—as usual. He sat down, didn’t say a word, and started to eat.

Once he was beside me, I helped myself to the meal I prepared. We’d skipped breakfast because we woke up too late for that. It was midday, and the scorching sun burned the golden fields outside the window. The cooling system in his house kept us comfortable, but I could tell it was insanely hot outside, not to mention humid.

He watched me as he chewed, more entertained by my appearance than the Italian landscape around us. He hadn’t shaved for the last two days, so a thick line of hair was beginning to cover his jawline. His eyes were dark brown, the color beautiful and deep. When they were directed on me, it was like being under the scrutiny of a microscope.

I didn’t smell like him or hot, sweaty sex anymore since I’d showered. But I suspected my pores would slowly start to soak up every single molecule, and it wouldn’t matter how many times I showered, the smell would become permanent.

I kept my eyes on my food, ignoring him. I should get used to the stare, but I still hadn’t. Our routine was exactly the same as it was every single day. We sat together, and he watched me like I was a TV screen.

He broke the silence with a question. “Why did you sleep with me?”

Despite the candidness of his question, I didn’t stop chewing my food. I finished it before I sipped my iced tea.

He stopped eating, focused on me completely as he waited for an answer.

“I think the answer is obvious.”

“I’d like to be sure. So, what is it?”

I looked out the window, trying to think of the right way to phrase it.

He grabbed my chin and forced my stare on him, his fingers digging into the skin of my jaw. “What is it?” He lowered his hand after he had my attention.

“It’s not that complicated. I was attracted to you, and I was moved that you listened to me. I realized you weren’t the evil man you wish you were. Without thinking, my hands were on you, and my lips wanted to feel yours. One thing led to another, and it just happened.”

“No other reason?” he asked.

“What reason are you looking for?”

“I wasn’t sure if you did it out of gratitude…since I didn’t hurt you.”

I wanted to look away, but I knew he would just grab my chin again. “I guess I wanted to reward you for being better than most men out there. You restored some of my faith in men. I guess I wanted to honor that.”

He must have been satisfied with that answer because he looked away. “I still want to hurt you. But I won’t.”

“I know.” I knew he wouldn’t do anything I didn’t want him to do. “You’re a good man, Carter.”

“A good man should never want to hurt a woman,” he said coldly. “I’m not a good man, and I have no interest in being one. Maybe I’m not evil, but there’s a lot of room between good and evil. I fall somewhere in the middle.”

“Still an improvement from what I’m used to…”

He turned back to me, his eyes still cold. “You like fucking me?”

I rolled my eyes. “That’s obvious.”

“I want to hear you say it.”

“I already said it when I asked you to make me come again.” He wanted to listen to me say these words because it only made his ego grow bigger—and his cock.

A slight smile formed on his lips. “I like fucking you too, sweetheart. Very much.”

“I picked up on that.”

“And I intend to keep fucking you.” He set his fork down, and he watched me with his intense expression, as if challenging me not to say a word in response. “I’m having a doctor come to the house today to check you.”

“Check me?” I asked. “For what?”

“That you’re clean.”

I stopped myself from rolling my eyes. “I want the same from you.”

“I am clean.”

“I don’t care,” I snapped. “I refuse to make it this far and catch something now.”

He leaned back in his chair. “I’m not trying to sound like an ass, but you’re the one we should be concerned about.”

“He checked me for the same thing, meaning he was clean. And you’re the one who sleeps around.”

“Who said I sleep around?” he demanded.

He’d never actually said those words, but it was obvious. “Are you saying you don’t?”

He didn’t say anything at all.

I proved my point.

“Fine,” he said. “We’ll both do it. Then he’ll give you some birth control.”

I held my tongue and kept my silence. I didn’t need birth control, but a part of me didn’t want to tell him that. I hated saying the words out loud because that made them more true. Egor took away the most important thing to me…the ability to have children. “I don’t need anything.”

“I’m not wearing a condom. I hate that shit.” He drank from his glass, enjoying something besides scotch for once.

“That’s not what I mean.” I couldn’t look at him as I said the truth. I didn’t even want to say the words out loud because I would hear them. “I can’t have children…so you don’t need to worry about that.”

He regarded me in silence, his head slightly cocked as he examined me. He didn’t say anything for a long time, like he didn’t know how to tread in this difficult conversation. His fingers rested against his glass, and he sighed quietly under his breath. “I’m sorry.”

I didn’t say anything. There was nothing I could say to that. “My previous master…had my tubes tied. Didn’t want to put me on birth control so just went straight to the source.” I refused to cry, especially in front of someone. I didn’t want his pity, and I didn’t want to pity myself either. I wanted to pretend it never happened. I knew it was possible that I could get pregnant again with medical intervention, but it wouldn’t be natural and it would be difficult. Egor took away the most important thing to me…something so beautiful.

He sighed and bowed his head, like he couldn’t think of a response to match the horrible thing I’d just said. Carter wasn’t a sensitive guy, a man of few words. He listened to my pleas, but that didn’t mean he cared about other things.

I concentrated on my food and waited for the tense moment to pass. Tears burned behind my eyes, but I refused to let them fall. One day, I would kill Egor for what he did to me. I would kill him for the way he made me suffer. I would kill him for what he did to my family. I didn’t know how or when…but I would figure it out.

Carter reached his hand across the table and grabbed my hand. He held it, his fingers gently squeezing mine. He looked at me with sad eyes and a tense jawline, the unspeakable pain written on his face. “Sweetheart…” Unable to find the words to soothe the situation, he said nothing else.

Feeling his hand in mine was comforting. He’d never touched me that way before, gave me the kind of affection two friends would share. It’d been years since I’d felt something real, like a hug or an embrace. I’d been fucked and smothered with sex, but that wasn’t the physical contact I needed.

This was what I needed.

I squeezed his hand back, silently telling him I appreciated his sympathy. I knew it was real. If it weren’t, he wouldn’t have done anything at all. I understood Carter better now than I did before, and I knew he had a heart. He had compassion. And I knew he cared.

He scooted his chair closer to me and wrapped his arm around my shoulder while his hand continued to grip mine. The food was abandoned, and we sat together in front of the window, the world outside peaceful. He brushed his thumb over mine, consoling me quietly. His hand rubbed down the middle of my back. “I’m sorry, Mia.” The sincerity was in his voice, potent and real.

“I know.”

He pressed his forehead against the side of my head and pressed a kiss to my hairline.

I closed my eyes at his touch, his affection reminding me what it was like to be loved. It reminded me of a kiss from an old lover, affection between a man and a woman who loved each other. It reminded me of the way my mother would comfort me after my father died. The embrace was so simple, but it meant so much to me. “Thank you, Carter.” This man was slowly putting me back together without even realizing it. He was proving that there was some good in the world. He was proving that not all men were like Egor. Egor made me barren, but Carter would never do something like that. He wanted to be evil, but he simply couldn’t.

And that was exactly what I needed.

Carter worked in his office all day and didn’t come out until dinnertime.

I spent my free time at his pool, lying in the sun in a bikini Carter had given me and floating around on the inflatable swan when it got too hot. I helped myself to his bar and made myself Long Island Iced Teas while I soaked in the sunshine.

Since the sun didn’t set until after nine, I lost track of the time.

Carter stepped onto the pool deck in his t-shirt and jeans. With his arms crossed over his chest, he watched me float around in the pool, my drink in the inflatable cup holder. “No dinner tonight, then?”

“What time is it?”

“Eight thirty.”

“Oh…guess not.” I was in the middle of the pool, so he couldn’t get me unless he jumped in. Like a princess in a castle surrounded by a moat, I was safe.

“What am I supposed to eat?”

I shrugged. “You did fine before I came along.”

“Yes. But having a maid has been nice.”

“Well, this maid has taken the day off.” My sunglasses were still on the bridge of my nose even though the sun was about to set.

“You look cute as hell right now.”

“Why, thank you. Good thing you can’t get to me.”

“Can’t get to you?” he asked, amused. “You think water could stop me?”

“It’s pretty cold.”

He accepted my challenge and pulled his shirt over his head.

“You don’t have any swim trunks.”

“Don’t need them.” He pushed his jeans down along with his boxers.

Letting his monster cock hang out.

He took the stairs into the water then walked toward me, his feet hitting the bottom because he was over six feet in height. He grabbed the inflatable swan and dragged me toward the shallow end of the pool. “That was easy.”

“Damn…”

He rested his arms on the raft then leaned over to kiss my shoulder and arm. The affection was meaningless, but it felt nice at the same time. He kept his eyes on me, watching my reaction to his touch.

I was floating across the pool with a beautiful man kissing my shoulder. The landscape was beautiful, and my stomach was full because I could eat whenever I wanted. I’d never been on a vacation before, but this felt like the closest thing to one. “How was work?”

“I’m going to have to head to the offices soon. I’ve got to get started on production for the next line.”

“What will you do with me?”

“Leave you here. Unless you’ll miss me too much.” He smiled playfully, showing a slight, boyish charm to complement his hard masculinity.

I chuckled, knowing I would miss him—just a little. “What if I run for it?”

“You won’t.” His confidence didn’t miss a beat.

“You’re so sure about that?”

“You live in a beautiful mansion with anything you could possibly want, and you have a sexy man to bed you every night. Where exactly are you going to go?”

If I didn’t have someone so important in my life, I would probably stay. “You make a good argument.”

He kissed my shoulder again, his scruff rubbing against my arm. “I’ve changed the security system. It’s activated by my thumbprint now. So unless you cut my finger off, you don’t have a chance.”

I knew he wouldn’t be stupid enough to trust me completely.

“By the way, you probably shouldn’t be in the pool with a cut like that.”

I shrugged. “I’ve been through worse.”

He gave me an affectionate look, as if he admired me. “I’m impressed you cut that tracker out of your ankle. That took balls.”

“I don’t have balls, so it took guts.”

“Yes.” He smiled. “Guts. A lot of them.”

“It hurt like a bitch.”

“If you weren’t careful, that could have been bad.”

“The adrenaline outweighed the fear.” I sipped my drink. “How did you know I was going to escape that night anyway?”

“If the tracker deviates from the average body temperature, I get a notification. The second you carved that thing out of your body, I knew. And my cars are designed with a specific security system, so it’ll only turn on with my thumbprint. You can’t even hot-wire it.”

I never had a chance. The only possibility of getting out of there was by killing him.

He watched my reaction. “Sorry, sweetheart. I feel bad for letting you think you really had a chance.”

“Even if I knew otherwise, I still would have tried.”

His affection only deepened. “I know. For some reason, I admire you more.”

Carter was a regular guy in life, not a psychopath like Egor. When he made comments like that, I could see the goodness behind his eyes. He showed affection instead of hatred, gave sexy caresses instead of slaps across the face. Never was he violent with me. He detained me when he had to, but that was only to get me under control. “Then why don’t you let me go?”

Instantly, the tenderness in his eyes evaporated. He broke eye contact, sighed, and the comfortable companionship was gone. As if he was annoyed by the question, he pulled away from me.

“Did you ever consider letting me go and, you know, asking me out on a date? You know I would say yes.” I watched his expression even though he wouldn’t meet my gaze. This was the part of our relationship that I still didn’t understand. If he didn’t possess the kind of cruelty that Egor did, why didn’t he let me go? He continued to keep me—even though it made no sense.

“I’ll take to out to dinner if that’s what you want.”

“If you pick me up at my house and drop me off when we’re done.”

He rubbed the back of his neck, getting drops of water in his hair.

“Carter.”

He wouldn’t look at me.

“Carter.” I grabbed his chin and pressed a kiss to his lips. Instantly, he softened. He took a breath when he felt me, and the muscles in his neck relaxed as he turned my way. He didn’t give in to my command, but he gave in to my affection. I pulled away, my fingers still on his hard chin. “You aren’t this man. We both know you aren’t. Letting me go isn’t a sign of weakness. Letting me go and bedding me as a free woman is far more impressive.”

He looked at me, his eyes unblinking. “You’d want to still see me?”

Before I’d slept with him, my answer would have been no. But since the sex was so good and our chemistry was so hot, I knew I’d want to keep seeing him. I knew he was kind and compassionate, not a threat to me at all. I could forgive everything in the past if he gave me a new future. “Yes.”

He stared into my gaze, looking for the sincerity of my words.

“You know I’m not lying, Carter.” My hand ran up his chiseled forearm. “I doubt I’d want to see you forever. I doubt I’d want you to be my boyfriend or husband. But I wouldn’t mind hooking up for a while.” That was exactly what he wanted anyway, just hot sex with no strings attached. “So, there’s no reason to keep me. You can have what you want—and I can have what I want.” I hoped I would say the right thing to change his mind, to realize that keeping me as a prisoner wasn’t in his best interest anymore.

I must have said the wrong thing because he pulled away from the float and climbed back up the stairs. His bare ass was fit and tight, and the rest of physique moved like living stone. “I’ll make dinner tonight.” He grabbed the towel off the chair and dried himself off before he walked inside.

I continued to drift in the pool now that he wasn’t keeping me centered anymore. He said he bought me to piss off someone else, but he’d already accomplished what he set out to do. What was the reason he continued to keep me?

I knew I was missing a piece of the story.

I just didn’t know what it was.