Over the weeks I’d accumulated an impressive amount of buttons. I snatched them from his hand and tossed them inside the vase, watching them pile higher and higher. When the depression kicked in, I dumped them out and counted each one.
275.
I had 275 buttons. That meant I only need ninety more. He’d already choked me while he fucked me, whipped me until I sobbed, and fucked me in the ass too many times to count. There was nothing new we hadn’t tried. If I just allowed him to choke me two more times I would be free.
So close.
Chapter Six
Crow
I refused to admit it.
I wasn’t hers.
I would never be hers.
She had to deal with it and finally come to terms with it.
But I knew that wasn’t true the moment I turned Jasmine down. I had every right to do what I wanted but I simply didn’t want to. My eyes never ventured elsewhere, and I didn’t even consider jerking off. My mind and body exclusively belonged to one woman.
But I would never tell her that.
She could continue to think I screwed some other woman. That would put space between us. We returned to master and slave just as I wanted. Our conversation were at a bare minimum and all we concentrated on was the feeling of our bodies moving together.
But I started to feel empty.
She didn’t join me for dinner or breakfast. When I came to her room she hardly looked at me. Not once did she ask me to do something for her. I waited for a request for dinner and a trip to the beach but it never came. Even after weeks had come and gone she kept up her walls.
She didn’t let me in.
I knew her buttons were adding up but I hadn’t kept track. We fucked around the clock like animals and she did things that made my cock scream in joy. She joined me in the darkness and turned into a beast. She was just feral, carnal, and out of control as myself. I’d been too busy enjoying it to care how much it cost me.
I opened my drawer and counted the remaining buttons. There were only ninety left.
90.
My heart fell into my stomach with a loud thud, making me sick. A distant pain coursed through my heart and my chest. I was anxious, unable to sit still for longer than a moment.
She performed intense sexual acts that cost me a fortune. At this rate, she would only be here for another week before I had to release her. It would be easy for me to forget my promise and force her to stay for the rest of her life.
But I couldn’t break my promise to her.
I had to get those buttons back—no matter the cost.
***
When I arrived at the headquarters I received a cold look from Cane. We hadn’t spoken since the tense argument we had. He wanted to trade Button for twenty million dollars but I refused.
He was still pissed about it.
“Look who it is...” He loaded his gun and shoved it into the holster like he might need it.
I ignored his hostility and got right down to business. “Miguel dropped off the new prototype. I’m impressed.”
He dropped into the chair with a glass of scotch in his hand. “Good for you.”
I sat beside him and carried on. “The drop will happen tomorrow. Looks like Great Britain won the bid. I’m not surprised since Bones sold his new weapon to the Middle East.”
Cane sipped his drink without looking at me. “Bones doubled the offer.”
“What offer?” I suspected I knew what he was talking about but I chose not to believe it. Button wasn’t for sale and there was no amount of money that could compare to her worth.
“Don’t play stupid. He’s willing to pay forty million dollars.” He finally turned to me, the threat unmistakable. “We’d be stupid not to hand her over now.” He gripped his glass with enough force to shatter it. He anticipated my answer before I gave it.
“She’s. Not. For. Sale.” I wasn’t giving her to anyone. She belonged to me and no one else. Someone could offer me an entire country as payment and I still wouldn’t take it.
He slammed his glass down so hard it shattered across the table.
I didn’t flinch.
“This is bullshit. I risked my ass to capture this cunt and now I’m getting nothing out of it. I’m not getting revenge and I’m not getting paid either. If you think you can get away with this you’re wrong.”
My brother may be larger than me but he didn’t intimidate me. “I’ll give you the forty million.”
“What?” His hand was bleeding but he didn’t wrap it.
“I’ll give you the money. And we’ll never speak of this again.” The only way Cane would back off was if he got something in return. He was stubborn and bitter. He would hold a grudge until the end of time.