All I ever did was make out with boys when I was younger, but I never allowed any of them to get close to me. Never. I couldn’t take it. Not with my baggage. Not without a voice to speak up when things went awry.
I wasn’t ready for them, so I didn’t go all the way.
But now … I have no choice. No voice. Nothing.
Nothing to keep him from taking me.
Because that’s what Graham wants. I am Cage’s prize, and now he gets to have me.
But what I don’t understand is why Cage doesn’t see anything wrong with this? Why would he not see I’m more than just that? Why would he let Graham do this to someone? And why would he participate?
But as Cage stands there, gawking at me with these lustful but confused eyes, I conclude he honestly doesn’t know either.
When he takes a step toward me, I panic and reach for the door, but it’s locked. So I cower against the wood, hoping he won’t drag me back to the bed again.
Except he stops in his tracks the moment he sees me flee like a hunted animal. His brows furrow and confusion replaces the gentle look on his face. He goes down on his knees and sits there in the middle of the room right in front of me, just staring at me.
Waiting for me to … come to him?
Why would I do that?
He holds out his hands as if he wants to make up.
Why do I get the feeling he thinks this is normal?
I don’t come near. I just glare at his hands, hoping he isn’t going to use them to grab me once again. I always told myself that when and if I ever gave myself to a boy, it’d be on my terms. When I’m ready.
But him … I’m not ready for him.
Holy shit.
He’s like a super human. A beast amongst men.
How could anyone ever be ready for him?
That’s what scared me the most. That this man would want me to the point of actually claiming me. And that he’d be this pumped up, this excited about it. It’s that look I’ve seen in his eyes ever since I came here. That gaze of pure need … as if he’s been thinking about this one moment forever. And now that he finally could, he went for it like an animal in heat. And I’m the meek lamb thrown into the lion’s cage.
I suck in a breath as I come to this realization.
But then why do I get the feeling he’s not only a caged animal? Because that look of despair I see in his eyes now is not the look of a hungry beast. It’s that of a sympathetic human being. Someone who cares.
He slides closer, still completely naked. It’s like he’s not even aware of the fact that his dick is still huge and hard, and I can’t stop focusing on it because it makes my jaw drop. Or maybe he doesn’t care at all.
But why doesn’t he care? It makes no sense at all. It’s as if he doesn’t even know the rules of our world …
Still, he doesn’t grasp me, so I guess he finally understood what I was doing. But I can tell from the way he bites his lips and keeps his hands locked firmly on his muscular upper legs that he’s struggling with it too. As if he wants me so badly he finds it impossible to resist the urge. Yet he is …
His hand reaches for me, and I flinch because I’m still scared.
He immediately retracts it.
Lowering his head, he gazes down at the soft carpet underneath him before standing up and turning around. In amazement, I watch him stroll to the closet and take out a shirt and pants from it.
I hear a clicking noise.
Cage walks towards his door. He pushes the door handle, which actually moves, and he goes back into his cell, leaving me alone in this room, completely shaken and mesmerized by what just happened.
He did something I never expected for someone so addicted to the smell of a woman, to the need to fuck.
He let me be.
Chapter Eleven
Accompanying Song: “Dr. Ford” by Ramin Djawadi”
Cage
As I sit on the bed and wait for the door to her cage to open, I think about what just happened.
Father told me I could have her once I won the fight. That she’d be mine, and that she’d be willing. My woman. My girl. My Ella.
But he never prepared me for this. This … reluctance … this … shame that I feel deep inside me whenever I look into her scared eyes.
I never wanted to make her feel that way, and I don’t understand. All I want to give her is warmth and tenderness and satisfy our needs. I don’t want to make her feel bad; I want to make her feel good. Real good. But she won’t let me.