Now that we knew that Matt was funding his little operation, the pieces of the puzzle were finally coming together.But ultimately, the puzzle itself was irrelevant if we couldn’t figure out how to fucking dismantle it before it could do more damage.
The search would remain ongoing in shifts until they were found, and a $1,000,000 finder’s fee had been issued for their capture or information that led to it.Every inch of land for the next ten square miles from here was on high alert for their whereabouts, so they were bound to be spotted at some point.They couldn’t hide from me forever.
Walking through my bedroom door, I half expected Jaden to be up and waiting for me after what I knew she’d heard in the hallway.I figured after I had found her, she’d probably just put her earbuds back in and turn the volume up even higher just to spite me.Evidently, that was not the case, given her reaction to Daniel’s goddamn mouth.
And tonight, I was not in the mood to put up with Jaden’s either.
So my surprise was quick when I was met with darkness and absolute silence behind my bedroom door.My eyes scanned the shadows of the room, broken between the traces of moonlight gleaming through the windows.But from my vantage point, I could see that my bed was empty, and the sheets weren’t even disturbed.
Jaden was not here.
My hands tightened into fists as my jaw clenched in fury at her continued willful disobedience.Pulling out my phone, I checked the app for her exact location in the house, and seeing her blinking red dot gave me relief and aggravation.Until I realized she was fuckingoutside.
Turning on my heel, I stormed through the double doors that led out onto our balcony, nearly ripping them off the hinges.Jaden was under direct orders not only to remain inside but also to even stay away from the fucking windows.I did not want to grant Jason and his little boyband a single glimpse of her if they were that close, and now she was giving them the entire picture.
Son of a bitch.
How the fuck did she even get outside without being noticed in the first place?
My abrupt entrance elicited a quick gasp that instantly pulled my attention to the canopied daybed in the corner of the large balcony.She would have been easy to miss, her small frame fitting snuggly into the shadows of the night.But when the clouds gave way to the moonlight, it caught the loose strands of red hair that had escaped from the black hood she hid under.Curled into a ball, she lay with her head flat on the pillows as her eyes met mine.And there was not nearly enough fear in them for my liking.
I said nothing as I reached down past the hood and grabbed her by her hair, yanking her up into an awkward sitting position.She gasped in pain as her hands moved to clash with mine.
“What thefuckare you doing out here?”I raged at her.“Why aren’t you in bed?”
Her facial features twisted into a grimace as she spoke through gritted teeth.
“I couldn’t sleep,” she groaned as she struggled below me.“Ow!Let go!”
“How the fuck did you even get out here?You’re supposed to be inside!”There was no way she should have been able to sneak out like this and undetected for so long.Someone was definitely getting killed over this.
“You’re not the only one who knows how to creep in the shadows,” she retorted bitterly.I could feel my rage bursting in my chest as I tightened my fist even more, causing her to wince.
“Congratulations, Jaden.You just earned yourself another three days of being bound to our bed,” I seethed, my voice harsh with malice.“You were given strict orders to remaininsideandawayfrom the windows, yet here you are, outside,alone, and in the middle of the night!Apparently, if I want you to stay put somewhere, I have to chain you there myself.”
Jaden groaned in pain and frustration as she glared up at me.“Oh please, we both know it’s not like I’m in any danger out here.At least, not from the threat you’re currently fixed on.”
My eyes narrowed at the bait she had just slapped me with, my blood brimming with the kind of brutality that killed on contact.
“Yeah, I heard their names, Darren,” she confirmed smugly.“I heard their names in the hallway.”
The warning glare I gave her apparently did not register at all.“You don’t know what the fuck you heard,” I snapped, my voice stern with finality.
“I know you also came back empty-handed,” she retorted, the boldness in her voice driving me to the kind of violence she couldn’t even hope to survive.
But I wasn’t going to pretend she didn’t know.She was too damn smart for that.However, that didn’t mean I was going to start confirming every little thought she had running in her head.
It seemed clear Jaden was fishing hard tonight for information she knew she wouldn’t get unless she threw her own blood in the water to entice me to bite.She was crafty in the ways she extracted the truth from me, pushing me to punish her with it one lash at a time.She’d never get the direct answer unless I wanted her to, but for some reason, she found the crumbs to be a satisfactory trade in exchange for the screams she was willing to sell me.
It became a recognizable pattern, as did her methods of initiating these kinds of subtle negotiations.First, she’d find a way to piss me off, like she had tonight, which was easy enough.Then she’d taunt me until I finally lashed out to paint her ass red with those missing pieces she needed to answer the questions she plagued her mind with.
And I always ended up allowing it because I was a glutton for punishing her, for dominating her, for conquering her into the ground over and over again—because it was the only damn thing that made me feel truly alive.
Jaden was unlike any woman I had ever met, and I couldn’t deny how invigorating it was to have the epitome of female strength rendered so completely powerless and tremble at my feet.Witnessing someone so strong, resilient, and defiant finally crumble and be brought to their knees out of pure terror was an indescribable thrill I still couldn’t explain.
It was a high that captivated my entire body, a surge of such euphoric gratification knowing you had bound the wild beast by meticulously extracting its teeth and claws, reducing it to a state of utter helplessness.Except in Jaden’s case, the teeth and claws always grew back eventually.And I looked forward to the hunt again.
The cage was only exciting when there was a wild animal trapped inside it, and I wanted to keep my circus alive and thriving so I could relive the greatest transformation ever seen on repeat.No one could set my blood on fire the way she did when her volcanic glares melted into those pretty crystal tears.