My head shakes of its own accord, making my hair tickle my bare shoulders as I do and reminding me that I’m naked.
I should have searched through his things. I should have tried to escape. A bulleted list of all the ways I’ve disappointed myself weighs heavily on my chest as I watch him pull one drawer open and then the next until he sets a pair of metal handcuffs down on the dresser.
His casual stance is a façade; power still radiates around him. Carter stalks toward me.
* * *
I’m only moving from the cell where I could deny him, to his bed where I’ll be his whore.
“If you don’t like it, there are more.” Carter’s tone is dismissive at best and I don’t know what he’s referring to until he nods at the ball of clothes in my hand.
I let the fine fabrics fall onto the comforter, not knowing how to answer. I’m on pins and needles as I sit here trying to decide what I need to do to keep myself safe and in the best possible position to gain my freedom back.
“I like you nervous.” Carter’s voice draws my eyes back to him. He looks more casual today than I’ve ever seen him. It’s not the clothes he wears, but his posture and the way he stalks toward me. Stopping at the edge of the bed, I get a strong whiff of his scent and I hate how much I love it. Even more so I hate how my thighs clench and the twinkle of a grin threatens to pull at his lips when I whimper.
“I enjoyed you last night,” Carter’s voice rumbles in a way that ignites my nerve endings on fire. Reaching out to cup my chin in his hand, he stares at my lips, running his thumb along the bottom one.
And something shifts inside of me. This is a man with so much power and control, someone who could destroy me and in many ways has already. Yet all I want in this moment is for him to kiss me. He hasn’t yet, and deep inside a part of me needs it.
But his thumb stops the soothing motions and his expression falls as he speaks, although it’s worded as a question. “You haven’t eaten?”
“I only just woke up.” The words come out like an excuse with a plea coating them. The weak sound on my lips disgusts me. I was stronger in the cell. I breathe in harsher, knowing I’d bite back a quip if only my ass was on the thin mattress in the dark cell in this moment.
But I don’t want to go back. I’m ashamed to know it so clearly and to hold onto that truth like I’ll die if it slips from me. In an effort to diminish my hate of that pathetic fact, I remind myself that are far more chances of escape out here.
And there is nothing but agony in that cell. The ache of loneliness and starvation and sleepless nights filled with past pains.
I refuse to go back.
Carter’s touch falls as he turns away from me, back to the dresser. “There’s breakfast in the kitchen. If you see anyone, ignore them and they’ll ignore you. Understood?” He tosses the cuffs inside a drawer and searches for something else.
I nod once when he glances over his shoulder, although inside I’m reeling. All I can think is that there may be someone here to save me. Someone to show mercy. Maybe Jase? Or else I can run.
“Verbal responses, little songbird,” he says casually as if he’s telling me what the weather is. The drawer shuts tight with finality and I find myself nodding my head again as I answer him, “Yes,” with my eyes fixated on the metal peeking through his clenched hand.
“And you’ll wear this,” he tells me as he holds up a thin chain. Every inch or so there’s a small pearl, alternated with diamonds. It’s long, so long it would fall to nearly my belly button and as I take it in I see the diamonds grow larger as you near the end. There, in the center, is a large tear-shaped diamond.
But all that sparkles is only sin disguised in beauty.
“A collar?” My heart beats like a war drum inside my chest. He must hear the defeat on my tongue.
“You can’t collar a songbird, Aria, but you can tether one or cage it. The choice is yours.”
“Either the cell or the necklace?” I ask him to clarify, and just the idea that I can save myself from going back there has my hand reaching for the necklace.
Carter nods once, and my eyes are brought back to his.
“Turn around,” he orders me, the fire flickering in his eyes. Steadying my breathing, I turn my back to him and feel the sweet sensation of a shiver run down both my front and back as he moves my hair to the side. My nipples harden as the cool diamonds and pearls fall down my chest and over the crook of my shoulders and neck. Carter lets his hands trail to my breasts once he’s done, his hot breath tickling the shell of my ear as he whispers, “Beautiful.”