“Ivan, wake up!” Jaya shouted, her voice breaking.

It didn’t matter. She’d called to him at least a dozen times, he didn’t acknowledge her. At first, when she realized he was deep in the grips of a terrible nightmare she’d said his name softly, thinking to jar him out of it without fully waking him. But as the dream progressed and she’d been forced to watch him thrash and twist on his bed in the clutches of one of the most frightening night terrors she could imagine, she began pacing her cage and calling to him with increasing volume.

Jaya gripped the bars of her cage and stared around trying to figure out what to do. She could barely make him out in the shadowy room, his tall form lit by only the dim moonlight filtering through the curtained windows. She squinted at the corner she’d seen Haty run toward. The kitten had slipped through the bars and gone for cover when Ivan’s nightmare began.

Jaya’s gaze snapped back to the bed when Ivan shouted something in a language foreign to her and then thrashed so hard she thought he was having a seizure. A pillow hit the floor between the bed and her cage. His arms came down viciously on the bed, bouncing the whole frame against the floor. His voice was urgent as he shouted what sounded like a name and then he seemed to become desperate, almost screaming at the phantom person. It was clear he was fighting some invisible enemy and was losing the battle. She couldn’t watch anymore. She’d never seen anyone self-destruct like this while they were asleep, it was heart-breaking.

“Please, Ivan!” she yelled.

Still he continued to groan and hit the bed as though trying to murder it. Finally, Jaya bent down and picked up Wuthering Heights. Reaching through the bars she hurled it as hard as she could. She was surprised when she actually hit him, the book smacking his shoulder and sliding onto the mattress next to him. He woke with a start, reaching underneath him and pointing a gun at the empty room. Jaya shrieked and hit the floor of her cage, thinking she was about to get shot for her good deed. When no bullets broke through the heavy silence, Jaya peeked up through the fall of her hair and the arms she’d wrapped around her head for protection. Ivan was standing over her, his gun at his side. Somehow he’d slipped silently from the bed and crossed the space between them. She couldn’t see his face properly, but she could feel the intense storm of emotion still surrounding him.

“Jaya.” His voice was rough when he said her name.

“Are you okay?” she whispered.

He didn’t reply. Instead he walked to the door of her cage and punched in the code. He jerked the door open and stepped inside. It was the first time he’d entered her tiny space. She could see his eyes now, they were intense and focused completely on her as though she were a target that he’d set his sights on. Shocked, Jaya scuttled backwards as he took the three steps that closed the distance between them, his gun held tense at his side.

“Ivan!” she cried out when he reached for her, his hand gripping around her arm and pulling her upright.

He yanked her against his bare chest, his arms wrapping tight around her. She gasped and froze when she felt the gun touch the side of her head. But she quickly realized he wasn’t threatening her, he was seeking comfort. He was so used to handling weapons that he probably didn’t even realize how uncomfortable she was with the touch of his gun against her face. She shivered and closed her eyes tight so she wouldn’t have to look at the cold, terrifying metal that could easily end her life in a split second.

“Relax, Jaya,” he said quietly. “I won’t hurt you.”

For some reason his words helped. She knew he didn’t mean them long term. Ivan was an evil bastard, he wouldn’t make a promise he couldn’t keep. He wasn’t going to hurt her in the next few hours. Or at least that was how she was taking his statement. She nodded slightly and allowed her body to melt against his. There was no point in fighting him. He was much bigger, stronger and faster. He was also giving her a temporary reprieve from fear. Something she desperately needed. So they stood there in her cage and held each other, offering comfort.

“Come to bed with me.” His breath touched her hair and his deep voice caressed her in a way that felt better than it should have. She stiffened in his arms and tried to back up. He tightened his hold, not allowing her to leave his embrace. She froze when the gun clipped the edge of her ear and pressed hard against her temple.

“P-please take the gun away, Ivan,” she asked, her voice shaking. “It’s scaring me.”

He immediately dropped his gun hand, moving the weapon away from her. It touched something inside her that he hadn’t been using it to frighten her, that he truly hadn’t realized what he was doing. She thought he would step away from the cage and shut the door with her inside. He didn’t. He took her by the arm and pulled her with him when he stepped out of the cage. He walked to the bed, checked something on the gun and slipped it back into its place under the mattress. She shivered and tried backing away.

Ivan didn’t even look at her when he turned, gripped her by the waist, picked her up and tossed her on the bed. Jaya landed in an ungraceful heap, her nightshirt rolling up her thighs. She let out a startled yelp and grabbed for the edges, yanking it back down.

Ivan climbed on top of her, caging her in and pinning her to the mattress. She gripped his shoulders, clamped her legs together and stared up at him, panic surging through her. “Ivan, what are you doing?” she gasped into his face.

“I’m holding you,” he muttered, pressing himself hard against her and burying his face against her neck.

Jaya had no choice in the matter. She was helpless beneath him, forced to take the weight of his heavy body. Though once she took a few gulping breaths, filling her lungs, she realized he must not be pressing his full weight on top of her, because he wasn’t completely crushing her. In fact, once she calmed a little and thought about it, she realized, the way he curved one arm around her back and cupped her neck in his broad hand was actually quite comfortable, almost protective.

She allowed herself to relax a little more and soak in some of the warmth and human contact he was offering. She couldn’t remember the last time someone had touched her without it being an accident. She allowed her mind to drift back to better times when she had people in her life that cared for her. Apparently, Ivan was thinking along similar lines.

“Never touched anyone like this before,” he mumbled against her. She felt the warmth of his breath against her neck and shivered. Her hair was a curtain fanning out across the pillows and separating his face from actually touching her skin. Ivan pulled his hand out from beneath her head and began delicately brushing her hair away from her skin. Her shivers increased at his soft touches, sending goosebumps rushing down her arms and side. Just as she began to fear that he would take advantage of the intimacy of their situation he slid his hand back beneath her head and buried his face in her neck, pressing his lips against her throat.

Jaya took a deep breath in, feeling every particle of air going in as it filled her lungs. Her nipples peaked as sensations rippled through her. All because the gentle touch of his mouth against her skin felt so incredibly good it started to melt her inhibitions. She could feel moisture gathering and knew she was getting wet for him. She bit her lip to keep herself from whimpering and giving her arousal away.

To take her mind off the awakening fluttering up and down her body she asked, “Do you want to talk about it?”

She fully expected him to say no or snap at her for bringing up the subject. Instead, he flexed his fingers against her waist and spoke into her hair. “Was dreaming about my family, about death.”

She nodded. She’d known it was horrific, probably a memory of some kind. She got nightmares too. She hadn’t actually witnessed the violence against her family so she only had her imagination to haunt her. “Were they killed?” she asked tentatively.

He nodded. “My country was at war with itself following the separation of another nation. Our government was crumbling under the pressure. I joined the rebellion, though I was still barely more than a boy. Invaders came to our village under the guise of government soldiers.” His voice took on a cold, vicious edge as he spoke, his accent more noticeable than ever. “They lined up our people, my family included and slaughtered them. They had no mercy. No one was spared.”

“But you survived?” Jaya asked.

“I wasn’t in the village,” he growled. “I was waging war on the border. When word of the massacre reached our unit, I abandoned my brothers and made my way back. There was nothing left, just burned out shells where homes used to stand and a mass grave. The soldiers called it an uprising, but it was nothing less than an ethnic cleansing.”

Jaya began shaking so hard her teeth chattered. “What did you do?” she whispered, staring up at the shadowy ceiling. Somehow, she already knew the answer. Something had led Ivan down the dark path he was on.

“I discovered from a source in a nearby town what had happened and who had committed the atrocity.” His voice had calmed, become more matter-of-fact. She recognized this Ivan, knew the true horror was still coming. She suddenly wanted to crawl out from under him and go back to her cage. “It took time, but eventually I found them and took my revenge.”

“You killed the soldiers that murdered your family?”

“And as many of their families as I could get my hands on,” he said, tightening his arms around her as though sensing her need to run from him. “Even at the age of fourteen I was a formidable enemy.”

Jaya gasped and nearly choked when he crushed her against him. Terrifying images of him as a teenage boy hunting and murdering his prey flickered through her brain. “Why are you telling me this?”

“Because you make me want things I shouldn’t want, Jaya,” he said against her neck, once more sending a cascade of shivers over her sensitive flesh. Why couldn’t her body get the message that she was absolutely, unequivocally terrified of this man? She couldn’t help the moan that slipped from her lips. She turned her face away from him, but the move only gave him better access to her throat. He took advantage, pressing his face further against her. The rasp of his unshaven jaw felt even better than his lips. She could feel her panties heating up along with the crazy pattering of her heart. “And I think you want them too.”

“No, Ivan,” she whispered against the pillow, but she didn’t try to move away from him. Her mind still rebelled at the thought of wanting her captor in such a way. “This is wrong. I want to go back to my cage now please.”

“It doesn’t matter what you want,” he said, shifting his body more heavily on top of hers. “You’re my slave, every part of you belongs to me.”

His words were like a bucket of cold water. She froze beneath him. “Fuck that!” she snapped. “Let me up!”

He gripped her jaw in his hand and forced her to look up at him. “Watch what you say to me, Jaya,” he growled down at her, shifting his body more heavily on top of hers.

“Or what?” she hissed up at him, her face aching around the clench of his fingers. “You’ll torture me? You’ll lock me up? What more are you going to do, Ivan?”

She saw the flash of something truly awful go through his eyes. They were so close to hers that she saw everything. She opened her mouth to cry out, to deny the punishment she saw for herself in those depths, but he slammed his mouth over hers, swallowing her scream. She twisted beneath him, but he captured her wrists and held them easily in one of his large hands, reminding her of how much weaker she was. Reminding her that she’d spent a lifetime trolling the internet while he’d honed every part of his body from his muscles to his mind. She was no match for the marauding conqueror, bent on taking his captive and teaching her how to be a proper slave.

Though she tried her best to fight, there was no possible way to fight a man like Ivan. He was too broad, too skilled and too perceptive. He countered each move she made almost before she made it. She was left gasping and pinned to the bed with nowhere to go. He shoved himself between her legs, thrusting them apart and pushing his hips between. She whimpered into his mouth, giving him the opportunity to push his tongue deeper inside and vanquish new territory. She was swamped in sensations and helpless to fight him off. She could do nothing but feel. Feel his weight on her body. Feel him touch every part of her, invade flesh that hadn’t been stroked in a very long time.

And her body continued to betray her, continued to peak with excitement, to drip with arousal, though she was terrified of the man holding her, forcing her desire. She took her hands, the same that he’d chained with his, and shoved in an attempt to force him away from her. He growled, tore his mouth away from hers and yanked her wrists over her head. He held them in one hand and reached between their bodies to pull her T-shirt up her body, exposing her stomach and then her full breasts.

Jaya’s eyes widened, and her whimpers turned to a cry. “Ivan, please!” she yelled up at him. “Not like this!”

“What then?” he growled, reaching between them, his fingers seeking her panties. “What the fuck do you want from me? Tenderness? Not in my bed, Jaya.”

“Stop!” she shouted, throwing her head back into the pillow.

He took the opportunity to bite her neck, not hard enough to hurt, but enough to make her feel him. To draw out the arousal he’d been playing out on her sensitive skin. She cried out and twisted against him as his fingers found their way into her cotton panties and glided along the folds of her vagina. She knew she was well past wet for him. There was no denying her arousal.

He pressed his lips to her ear and snarled, “You want me.”

She turned her head to look at him, uncaring that her nose touched his cheek. “I hate you,” she hissed, trying to inject as much venom as she could in the words.

He pressed one long, thick finger inside. She was tight from years of abstinence. It burned. It hurt. Her stomach clenched with butterflies of anticipation. It felt so damn good she would have bowed right off the bed if he wasn’t laying on top of her. “You’re tight as fuck body says otherwise,” he said, his voice deepening.

“I don’t care what my body does,” she answered, her pussy clenching around his finger. She squeezed her eyes shut. “Please, Ivan. Please stop,” she sobbed, turning her head into his shoulder.

Something about her plea seemed to reach him. He removed his finger and pulled her up until they were both sitting. Jaya blinked, tears gathering in her eyes. Her body was both buzzing and hurting. She could feel the sexual tension still flowing through Ivan. She wanted to strike out at him for daring to hurt her this way, for holding her captive and making her feel so helpless. Making her worry about imminent rape now on top of everything else he’d done. The sexual frustration, combined with fear and anger made her feel reckless.

“Fuck you, Ivan. You know what you want from me, what your twisted, evil mind wants? Why you can’t just let me go?” She was crying, and she couldn’t even catch the tears because he’d clamped her wrists together in a brutal hold. Her legs were curled beneath her, her T-shirt hiked up past her hips. Her tears dripped onto their hands. The words were spilling from her lips fast and harsh. “You want a connection; a human connection. And for some reason you think you’ll get that with me. But you know something, Ivan? We’ll never connect.”

His fingers squeezed her wrists until she thought the bones might snap under the pressure. She moaned in pain. “And why is that?” he asked coldly.

She gritted her teeth against the agony shooting up her arms and said in as chilling a voice as she could manage, “Because I was being kind when I woke you from your nightmare, I didn’t want you to suffer. Because I understand what it’s like to close your eyes and see your dead family. I have nightmares about mine being blown to pieces all over the Indian consulate. There’s nothing left but blood splatter. Do you know that? No, you don’t. Because instead of letting me comfort you and commiserate, like a normal human, you called me your slave and tried to rape me.” She tugged on her arms and cried out in pain when he finally released her. She cradled her arms against her chest and edged toward the opposite side of the bed, her eyes glued to him. “And that’s why you can never have any kind of human connection, Ivan. You’re an animal.”

They stared at each other for a moment. She didn’t dare move, though she desperately wanted to escape him. She sensed he could go either way, that he wanted to drag her against his body and savagely finish what he’d started a few moments earlier. But something was stopping him. Maybe something in her words. Sympathy perhaps for what she saw when she closed her eyes at night. She didn’t know what kept his hand from reaching for her and she didn’t care as long as he didn’t hurt her again.

“Go,” he ordered harshly.

It was all she needed. She rolled off the bed, rushed around the side like a demon was chasing her and flung herself into the cage, slamming the door shut. She collapsed on her small bed and yanked the blanket up to her shoulders. She pressed shaking fingers over her face and tried to calm down. She knew he wouldn’t change his mind and come after her. Ivan didn’t do that. Still, she nearly leapt right off the bed when she felt something land next to her.

Haty let out a tiny mewl of annoyance when Jaya jerked back. Then she settled her soft little body into her usual spot against Jaya’s stomach, determined to get comfortable for the night. Jaya forced herself to relax and reached an arm out to stroke the kitten’s soft head when Ivan’s deep voice reached out to her from the darkness.

“How far did you get in Wuthering Heights?”

She thought about denying that she’d been reading the book at all, but she knew he would see through the lie. She would only diminish herself in his eyes if she didn’t answer him, play his game. “Heathcliff has left to seek his fortune. Cathy is spending more time with the neighbors,” she said, trying to keep her voice normal but knowing it sounded breathless and sad.

“You want to know what happens to Cathy?” he asked, his voice more of a demand than a question.

Jaya bit her lip and stared hard toward his bed, trying to make out his form. What was he doing? Was this another game? “Tell me,” she said softly, knowing she would regret it. Ivan never did anything nice.

“She dies.” Ivan’s voice was cold and calm, but still urgent, as though he wanted her to understand something important. “Ultimately, Heathcliff’s obsession kills her.”