Page 11 of Hideaway

Fan-fucking-tastic.

“Good,”Cade replied, practically shoving her away as he removed his hand from her face.“Now, you will come with me to the university and retrieve the Chaucer text.”Cade assumed Kara’s nod of agreement had implied her surrender. That she was finally willing to cooperate, submit to his demands, and hand over the goddamn book. He was—apparently—wrong.

“No, I will not,”Kara answered, keeping her tone respectful, but her resolve unwavering.

Her blatant denial, for what felt like the hundredth time in a span of a mere day—a day so long it seemed that perhaps weeks had passed instead—was the final rift in Cade’s steady composure. His control fractured into countless shards, fury seeping in to fill the cracks as an undeniable need to destroy overwhelmed his senses. Wrapping his hands tightly, punishingly, around her upper arms, Cade forced Kara backwards toward the wall. Her body crashed painfully into the hard surface as he pressed himself against her, leaving little room to breathe and no space to escape. Trapped, Kara began to panic. Appreciating her first signs of fear and more than willing to take advantage, Cade shook her roughly as he reiterated his demands.

“Tell me the passcode, Kara,”he ordered angrily, unaccustomed to having his demands so flagrantly disregarded.

“Not a chance in hell,”she refused bravely, even as she shook inwardly with fear and uncertainty.

As though he were trying to contain himself before things escalated too quickly, Cade moved his hand slowly up Kara’s arm, over her shoulder, along her neck, before resting his fingers tightly against her throat. The pace of Cade’s breathing matched Kara’s—quick and heavy, both of their bodies surging with adrenaline, hers driven by fear, his driven by rage. Cade’s grip on her throat tightened slightly, simply so he could feel the thump of her pulse against his fingertips.

The ability to allow or deny the very oxygen that filled someone’s lungs was an intoxicating experience; it was sheer, tangible power. Cade bent his head toward hers, their foreheads nearly touching, a gesture that might have appeared tender if it wasn’t infused with barely contained violence. His proximity forced Kara to look him in the eyes.“I want you to consider your next response as though your life depended on it. Because it fucking does.”He moved infinitesimally closer, and Kara could feel the weight of him against her chest.“Tell me the passcode,”he said in a voice that was disturbingly impassive, while his eyes held all the threat that his tone did not.

Kara couldn’t look away, she couldn’t move, she could barely breathe. She was scared, and yet, she had known her answer since she walked into the room. It was the same answer she had yesterday when a beautiful, terrifying man demanded more than she could offer. No matter how many times he asked in however many ways, her answer would remain the same.

“No,”she said softly, the strength of her voice breaking slightly. The fierce determination, the unflinching resolve, the stubborn willfulness—they were all gone. He had stripped them all away and left her with nothing more than a bare adherence to principle. It wasn’t much, but it was enough. Kara waited quietly without the inclination to plead, entirely at the mercy of whatever Caden Ashford may intend.

Without reason, the falter in her voice shook him. In his life, he had witnessed panic and terror, he had heard screams and begging, he had seen tears, but they had never before given him pause. Her eyes were large and frightened, glossy from tears that threatened to fall, darkened with a resignation that was reminiscent of hope being shattered into a million pieces. And he flinched, drawing back slightly as though met with pain, as though he could feel her own. Cade had never had much of a capacity for empathy, so his instinctive reaction to her suffering was startling. In an attempt to suffocate his bout of weakness, Cade closed his fingers tighter around Kara’s throat, squeezing as hard as he could. He watched, mesmerized, as she gasped for breath, her skin turning pink then red from lack of oxygen. Before he could finish the job, before her consciousness faded into darkness, Cade released her sharply as if the touch of her skin burned him like fire. He trembled slightly as he scrutinized his offending appendage, flexing his fingers to confirm full functionality. Everything was in working order, which meant that the problem lay elsewhere. He couldn’t do it. He could not will himself to seriously hurt her, even if it was to his advantage. Somehow, the girl had gotten to him.

“Fuck,”Cade muttered in exasperation, raking his fingers through his hair. Without another glance at Kara, Cade stormed out of the room.

The door slammed shut behind him with such force that the room seemed to tremor. Kara was left alone, her body still pressed against the wall as though the ability to function had been startled from her. Slowly, her senses reemerged with overwhelming strength. Her legs gave way beneath the crushing weight of shock mixed with relief, and she slid to the floor in a crumpled heap. In the welcome solitude of the room, her tears fell freely. She made no move to wipe them away, allowing herself a proper display of hysterics that seemed all too warranted given what had just transpired. She breathed deeply, her starved lungs working with excess enthusiasm after Cade’s deprivation. Her hand traveled shakily to her throat; it felt tender and sore, as if Cade’s brutal fingers still lingered, draining her of life.

And yet, he had stopped. Why had he stopped? He had threatened her with destruction if she didn’t comply, and he seemed like the sort of man who fulfilled his threats in their entirety. But when she refused, he released her, even though it seemed against his very will to loosen his grip on her throat. Kara was grateful for the temporary safety, but she dreaded the next, unavoidable encounter with Caden Ashford.

Kara jolted at the sound of a door opening at the side of the dining hall. She braced herself, fearful that Cade had come to finish the job. Instead, an older woman with a small stature, full physique, faded copper hair, kind eyes, and a round, cheerful face bustled into the room. She stopped sharply at the sight of Kara in a teary mess on the floor.

“Goodness, lassy, are ye alright?”she asked in a voice full of concern as she bounded over to offer her assistance.

Kara took her hand and awkwardly stood to her feet, rather embarrassed to be seen in such a state. The woman assessed Kara appraisingly, her eyes narrowing when she noticed the marks on Kara’s neck. Not one to pry, the woman made no comment as she helped Kara into a chair and offered her a napkin to dry her tears. The woman allowed Kara a moment to regain her composure before attempting conversation.

“Now, what seems to be the problem? Something that can be mended with a cup of tea? Or something stronger, perhaps?”the woman asked kindly.

“I don’t think my troubles can be quite so easily mended, but a cup of tea sounds lovely,”Kara answered, appreciating the kind woman’s attentiveness and her rather surprising suggestion of alcohol before noon.

“Right, be back in a moment, dear,”she said, scuttling back toward where the kitchen was presumably located.

In a few minutes, the kindly woman reappeared, carrying two steaming cups of tea in the most delicate china teacups Kara had ever seen in actual use. She accepted the tea gratefully, taking a long, soothing sip before endeavoring to discover who exactly the mystery woman was. Perhaps Kara had found an ally and a means of escape after all.

“You’re the first woman I’ve seen in this house,”Kara began conversationally.

“Aye, well, Mr. Ashford prefers the company of his own kind, I should think. I’m just his cook, so I stay out of their way rightly enough. The men are more than glad to see a woman at meal times, but other than that I keep to myself,” the woman explained, her accent somewhat similar to Cade’s with bursts of the heartiness of a Scotswoman mixed in.

“Have there been other…women. Like me, I mean,” Kara asked cautiously. Maybe the woman knew about E.

“I’m not quite sure what you’re asking, dear,” the older woman answered cryptically, though her brow furrowed in a nervousness she couldn’t mask as well as her her tone.

Kara stared at the woman, trying not to grow frustrated with what was either ignorance or a blatant condoning of Cade’s actions. Clearly, Cade was into some shady shit and wasn’t too far above drugging and dragging women to his house when it suited him. So wasEa prisoner like her, or had she willingly fallen into Cade’s brutal clutches?

“The room that I’m staying in clearly belonged to a woman,” Kara began slowly, trying to tread carefully as she wasn’t entirely sure how far the woman’s blind loyalty to her employer went. “Do you know what happened to her?”

The woman looked about the room anxiously before she turned to Kara. “We don’t talk about her,” she whispered. “Her name hasn’t been spoken in this house since it happened.”

“Sincewhathappened?” Kara asked in horror, an unusual iciness sneaking up her spine.

The woman’s eyes worriedly searched the vicinity again. “It’s not my place to say. If you want to know abouther, you’ll have to ask him. Though I would advise against ever brining her up in his presence. Mr. Ashford has changed since the incident. He’s…colder.”

---