Adelina

I didn’t know what to expect when he walked through the door.

He would be furious with me for tattling on him to Pearl. But I didn’t have any other option. I was in a troubling situation, and Pearl and Crow were the only people who seemed to have any effect on him anymore.

His engine was loud as he entered the property and pulled into the driveway. He shut the door hard, and I could hear his approach through the walls of this beautiful house. A part of me wanted to run upstairs and hide in my bedroom, but there was no hiding from this man.

I was at his mercy.

I didn’t mind the way he fucked me roughly because it felt good. I didn’t mind it when he grabbed me and kissed me without giving me notice. But I didn’t like the way our relationship had changed. It was like I wasn’t a person anymore, just a body. I didn’t like meaning nothing to him.

I wanted to mean something.

I stayed on the couch and listened to his footsteps grow louder. His keys clanked against the table when he tossed them on the surface. His wallet gave a gentle thud when he dropped it. His footsteps sounded again as he walked through the kitchen and entered the living room.

And then he was there.

Staring at me.

He looked at me on the couch, his arms resting by his sides with a leather jacket over his shoulders. His expression was impossible to read, but one thing was for certain.

He knew.

I kept my legs crossed and wore the same brave face I hadn’t dropped. When Tristan was my captor, I never showed my fear. Cane wasn’t any different.

After what felt like minutes, he moved to the couch beside me. He didn’t touch me, didn’t grab me by the back of the neck. He rested his arms on his knees and stared at the floor. His sunglasses were still on, so he pulled them off and tossed them on the table.

I was still, not letting my breathing escalate. I kept calm even though I didn’t feel calm. I used to feel this tension whenever he was in the room, but it was for a completely different reason.

“Pearl told me you stopped by.” He spoke quietly, not raising his voice or darkening his tone. He faced the TV but didn’t look at it. His black watch was tight around his wrist, reflecting the flames in the hearth.

I didn’t say anything, knowing the statement didn’t need a response.

He sat back against the cushion but continued to face forward. “I was really angry, but both of them managed to talk me down.”

He must be referring to Crow.

“And I’ve come to the realization that they are right. Just because I’m not getting my way doesn’t mean I have the right to do this to you. If you were someone else and I didn’t care about you, that would be different. But since I…feel this way…it’s clouded my judgment. I used to be a horrible person, but I’m not that man anymore. That’s something I’m proud of…and I can’t go back.”

My heart finally relaxed as his confession swept over me. He didn’t see me as a prisoner anymore. He realized he’d lost himself in his emotions, and it was time to get back on track. I knew the Cane I adored was still in there, just buried under his sadness.

“I’ll take you back to South Carolina whenever you’re ready. Just tell me when.” He stared at his hands, massaging his knuckles and his wrist. The jacket was tight across the muscles of his back and arms. His sculpted thighs were tight in his jeans. When he was in all black, he looked particularly handsome.

I wanted to say something because I’d been silent the entire time. But words were difficult to form. I was relieved he found his way back to where he belonged. I knew he would crawl out of this hole eventually.

“But I want to know something.” He finally turned his head my way and locked his eyes on mine.

I felt a shiver up my spine when he looked at me that way, those green eyes burning into mine. His power was obvious in the look. He could make me feel so much and so little at the same time.

“I want to know exactly how you feel about me—the complete truth. Nothing you say will change my mind about returning you. I just want to know. I’ve been completely honest with you about the depth of my feelings, my love as well as my anger. I want the same from you.”

“The way I feel?” I whispered.

“About me,” he pressed.

I looked into his handsome features, the strong jaw as well as the hard expression on his face. His dark brown hair was soft even though it was short, and his slight stubble was growing thicker and darker by the hour. In just a few months, I’d come to know Cane in a way I’d never become acquainted with another man. He had a piece of me no one else would ever have. “When we first met, I felt something.”

“What?” he whispered.

“I don’t know. You seemed kind, handsome. When I saw you at the airport, I wished you were hitting on me in the past. Like, I was in a coffee shop on campus, and you decided to stop by for a chat. You were the kind of man I’d find attractive, despite how intimidating you were.”

Cane listened to me, his eyes trained on my face.

“When I was Tristan’s prisoner, he did horrible things to me. Not just him, other men did too. It was a terrible introduction to sex. It was painful and uncomfortable. No woman should have to go through it. And then when you came into that room, I wasn’t so scared. I knew if I said no, you would listen…and you did. You were a breath of fresh air in the middle of a landfill. You kissed me when no other man had touched me like that…and I really liked it. I thought it was strange I could feel good when all I’d felt until that moment was utter terror. And then you took me as a loan…and I was relieved.”

Cane’s expression didn’t change. He hardly blinked as he listened to me describe my opinion of our relationship.

“I thought I was fond of you because you were nice to me. But then I realized I loved the way you touched my hand, the way you looked at me like I was the only thing that mattered. You wanted to be with me, but you always let me have the final say in the matter. You told me I had no control, but you had given me all of it. I knew in the beginning that you were a good man. I knew you weren’t like the others. You weren’t exactly a saint, but you weren’t a demon either. And when we had sex the first time…I really liked it.” I remembered how good it felt, how he made me come so easily. It was my first orgasm during intercourse, and it was phenomenal. It was how every woman should feel during sex. “I wanted more. I wanted it every night. I wanted to sleep beside you because I hated being alone. You protected me, chased away all the nightmares.”

He moved his arm over the back of the couch, and his hand slid into my hair, gently touching me behind the ear.

“And then you did the unthinkable…you rescued me. I never expected you to do that. When you dropped me off, I thought that was the last time I would ever see you. I pictured your face during the most difficult times because it made things easier. When you took me away from there, I had no words to describe your heroism. You gave up everything just to free me. You killed all his men and broke the chains around my ankle. You gave me a new start when I didn’t think I’d ever have one. I thought I would die in that place, but you gave me new life. I’ll never be able to thank you for doing that for me. I’m not sure what I did to deserve your affection. I’m a victim of rape and kidnapping—”

“You aren’t a victim. You’re a survivor. Don’t look at yourself that way—I don’t.”

My eyes softened at the sweet words. “But still…I’m not exactly the ideal woman.”

“I’ve never wanted ideal. I never knew what I wanted until I found you.”

Now my heart softened, wilting like a plucked rose.

“What do you feel now?” he pressed. “After what I’ve done to you.” It was the first time he looked away, like he was ashamed.

“I don’t think less of you. I knew that wasn’t the real you. I’ve seen your soul before, and that wasn’t it.”

He closed his eyes for a few seconds before he opened them again.

“I know I’ll miss you when I leave, Cane. I know I’ll think about you all the time. But I can’t give up my life to stay here. Everything I’ve ever known has been left behind. If I do stay…Tristan wins. I was happy in South Carolina. I had my parents, friends, school…”

He shifted his gaze to the floor.

“I can’t give all that up when I was never meant to leave. I was supposed to have a different destiny.”

He didn’t get angry like he did last time. He stayed exactly the same, quiet and somber. “You’re sure you don’t love me?”

The question hung in the air between us, making me feel sick all the way to my stomach. Something was burning at me from the inside, making me feel faint and weak. My lips could barely move. I wasn’t sure if I could answer. “If I let myself love you, I’ll never go back…and I have to go back.”

He turned back to me, his eyes narrowing. “So you do love me…you just don’t want to.”

I refused to answer the question, to let the words fill the space between us. Once I did, there was no going back. If I stayed with Cane, I would never know what my life would have been like. Would I have met a nice guy who would be soft and gentle with me? Would I finally teach in a classroom and make an impact on young minds? If I hadn’t been taken, where would I be right now? “As comfortable as it is here, I know it’s not where I belong.”

---

I washed my face in the bathroom then retreated to my private room where all my things were. I had my own TV, a fireplace, and more space than necessary. Cane and I hadn’t spoken since our intense conversation, and I’d stayed away from him. I couldn’t tell if he was mad, hurt, or simply indifferent.

He came down the hall and knocked on my open door. He was in just his boxers, over six feet of muscle and man. He was barefoot and bare-chested, sexy and chiseled. Sometimes I wasn’t sure if his face was more handsome than his body, or if it was the other way around. He was perfect. “You’re welcome to sleep with me…if you’d like.”

I was sitting on the bed with my legs crossed. His baggy shirt was loose over my shoulders, and my hair was smooth because I’d just brushed it after washing my face. My makeup was gone, so my face was washed out. “Do you want me to sleep with you?”

He leaned against the doorway, crossing his muscular arms over his chest. “Would I have asked if I didn’t?”

“No…probably not.”

“Then the ball is in your court.” He left the door open and walked away.

I didn’t like sleeping alone. I’d been sleeping alone my whole life and I used to like it, but after Cane and I shared a bed for a month, it was impossible to go back. I relied on his breathing like a sleeping pill. He protected me from my nightmares with his powerful presence. He could even guard me from my own subconscious.

It didn’t take me long to find my answer.

I joined him in his bedroom, seeing the fire in the hearth and the beautiful man in the bed. The sheets were bunched around his waist as he looked at his phone. The light from the screen lit up his face as one of his arms was tucked beneath his head.

I got into bed beside him and pulled the sheets to my shoulder.

He set the phone on the nightstand then turned to me. “I was hoping you would come.”

“I like sleeping with you.”

“You do?”

“Yeah. I always sleep better.”

He turned over in bed and faced me, his body staying on his side of the bed. “I sleep better too.”

---

I looked into his eyes and saw him look back at me. When it was just the two of us, his expression wasn’t so hard. He didn’t seem like the solider that killed every man in his path just to get to me. He didn’t seem like the ruthless barbarian that would do whatever he wanted until he got his way. He was just a man.

“I never apologized to you…”

“You don’t need to apologize, Cane.”

“I think otherwise.”

“You’ve done so much for me…you’ve earned a pass.”

The corner of his mouth rose in a smile. “A pass, huh?”

“Yeah.”

“I wish my brother would give me one of those. Never does.”

“Family is different. You’re always forgiven, but you’re always teased, too.”

“True.”

My hand slid across the sheets until I found his. My fingers explored the veins over his knuckles as they extended up his forearms. I loved the way his arms were sculpted. He was just muscle and bone, nothing else.

“When do you want to leave?”

The sudden question made me flinch. “I don’t know…”

“It’s up to you. I can book your flight whenever you want.”

“You won’t come with me?”

“I don’t see why I would. It’s not like your parents will be thrilled to see me.”

“They don’t hate you.”

“They don’t like me either. And they shouldn’t like me.” He pulled his hand away and propped himself on his elbow. His hand snaked across the bed until he touched my thigh. His fingers tested my reaction, seeing if I wanted him or not.

My legs parted, giving him access between my legs.

His fingers slowly moved up until he reached my panties. He pulled aside my thong and pressed his thumb directly against my clitoris.

It made me gasp quietly.

He rubbed it gently, igniting the tenderness between my legs. The stimulation immediately made my mouth dry, made my back arch in pleasure. He touched me in just the right ways, making me shift and move.

I pulled my thong down my legs under the sheets and kicked it away so he would have access to all of me.

Two fingers slipped inside me, and he kept his thumb against my clitoris. He fingered me, feeling my channel become soaked from his touch. My breathing escalated, and my nipples turned hard like rocks.

He moved closer to me on the bed then leaned down to kiss me. His kiss was soft and wet, full of the passion he used to show me. His mouth guided mine, and he breathed into me, giving me his breath and taking mine away.

One of my hands snaked into his hair while the other wrapped around his neck. My legs were completely open to him now, so he could touch me whatever way he wanted. His thumb excited my clit further, pressing harder and harder until my hips started to buck.

I was just about to come. All I needed were a few more minutes. But I didn’t want to come because of his hand. I wanted to come because his thick dick was inside me, making love to me like we used to every single night. “Cane…make love to me.” I spoke between his kisses, my eyes closed and my nails digging deep.

He kicked his boxers off then rolled his body on top of mine. My thighs were pushed back by his, and he slid inside me, pushing through my wet tightness until he was completely sheathed.

That was all I needed. I was already going to come. After a few thrusts, I clawed at his back and exploded around his dick, coming like I never had before. It was so powerful I forgot to breathe. I forgot everything in the world. All I thought about was the unbridled passion between us.

When I was finished, he smiled down at me. “That didn’t take long.”

My arms hooked around his neck, and I locked my ankles behind his back. “I’m sure it won’t take long to do it again either.”