Page 66 of Hideaway

“We enjoyed a night like this once before, didn’t we Kara?”Jace reminisced fondly, the venomous words as sweet as honey on his lips.“Ashford had no right to stop me from claiming what was rightfully mine,”Jace continued, traces of unresolved anger in his voice.

His hands moved to the top of her nightgown, tracing his finger along the low cut neckline but not dipping below. Kara held her breath, bracing herself for violence, but it didn’t come. Jace ran his knuckles down her neck, across her collar bones, and over the exposure of her chest, as light as any caress Cade had offered. The gentleness surprised Kara, leaving her more uneasy than any of Jace’s characteristic roughness might have.

“I saw you first, you know, so small and helpless as you carried a stack of books almost the size of yourself. I told Ashford, when the time came, you wouldn’t give us any trouble. You took me by surprise, Kara. Such determination. No fear,”he said, sounding almost reverent, as he slipped his hand slightly beneath the top of her nightgown.

Kara shivered in dread.

“Then the boss in all his gallantry stormed in before I had a chance to crack the dauntless exterior and compel your surrender. But I bided my time, waited for you to come to me willingly, and you did.”

Kara shut her eyes tighter against the haunting memory of her naivety as she felt Jace’s hand slide further down her nightgown.

“And there Ashford was again, stealing you from beneath me where you belong. That night, he took you for himself didn’t he?”

Kara made no move to answer or look at Jace, but he could read the truth on her face. Though they had not been intimate that first night, she had shared Cade’s bed. It had been the contrast of Cade’s protection and empathy to Jace’s violence that had opened Kara to the prospect of falling for him. Whether or not Kara had been aware of it before the moment of Jace’s question, she knew that the night Cade had saved her was the night that he had taken her heart as well.

“He must not have been man enough to keep you because you ran not long after. And who came after you and escorted your return to the manor? Him? No, he had more important things to do. I knew you well enough to guess where you’d gone, and I was the one who brought you back. He didn’t take your escape very well did he?”

Kara blushed at the memory. Though she cared for Cade deeply, he had his own collection of flaws. His affinity for corporal punishment made the top of the list, right beneath criminal entrepreneurship and kidnapping. She had to admit, it was a rather daunting combination of vices.

“You see, Ashford likes his companions kept in line. Docile creatures ready to do his bidding. Unlike him, I prefer my women with a little more fight,”Jace said as he cupped her breast beneath the thin silk of her dress.

Tightly shut lids startled open as the indecent caress awoke the fighter slumbering beneath the surface of Kara’s detached existence. She pulled away sharply from Jace’s touch, no longer resigned to stoically suffer his advances. Kara was offered a gratified smile in return as Jace grabbed her and continued groping beneath her clothes.

“There’s my girl,”he commended proudly, his voice husky with arousal as she fought against him.“I was afraid Ashford had extinguished that fight I was so drawn to from the moment we met. Glad to see the fire can still be roused.”

Struggling against him as fiercely as she could, Kara got in a few good blows that were more nail than strength before Jace climbed on top of her and straddled her hips, the weight of his body rendering her immobile. She struggled to keep tears of frustration at bay as Jace took hold of both her wrists, holding her down as he bent low to take his fill of her mouth. Unable to pull away or resist, her protests were smothered beneath the vile kiss that nauseated her every sense.

“That’s it baby, make me work for it,”he said when he finally freed her lips, feeling the rush of adrenaline as her struggling made the conquest all the sweeter.

Kara aimed for his face as she spat the taste of him from her mouth in disgust. Jace seemed to relish her hatred as he calmly wiped her saliva from his face before administering a punishing backhanded blow to her right cheek. Kara gasped in pain and shock, turning her reddened cheek into the pillow and willing herself not to give Jace the satisfaction of seeing her cry. Jace grasped her jaw in one hand and turned her to face him.

“Do you like it rough, Kara? Is that why you like to provoke people who hold all the power over you? Because you enjoy feeling the brunt of their anger?”

With a glare of animosity, Kara kept silent, though she knew there was some truth to his words. That was not the first time that she had found a sense of power in acting out when she felt powerless, regardless of the consequences, and she prayed it would not be the last. Kara searched the depths of her being to find some minuscule semblance of submission that might save her from inciting Jace’s anger to the point of destruction. But as she met the arrogance of his challenging gaze, she felt any pretense of subservience vanish as a wave of resolute defiance took its place.

“I will take that as a yes. Now, would you care to see if your initial assessment of my kinks was correct? See, I am able to fuck just fine without tying up girls and beating them, but it makes it a hell of a lot more fun when I do,”Jace stated threateningly as he momentarily released Kara’s arms and grasped the top of her nightgown.

In one swift move, he ripped the dress all the way down the middle, fully exposing the nakedness of Kara’s body beneath. As she struggled to conceal her most intimate areas, Jace ripped a strip from the nightdress, caught one of Kara’s arms, tied the cloth tightly around her wrist, and knotted the ends around one of the bedposts. Quickly, Jace ripped another piece from her dress and subjected her other wrist to the same treatment. Kara found herself naked, restrained, and stretched to the point of discomfort beneath Jace, completely at the mercy of the man’s twisted desires. She had never in her life felt quite so powerless, and the vulnerability she felt in that moment was like a crushing weight.

With his task half complete, Jace removed himself momentarily to admire the full view of his work. He wasn’t sure if he had seen anything quite so enticing as Kara—naked, tied, teary-eyed, mere moments from breaking beneath his will. Yes, she was a gorgeous sight to behold. And at that moment, she was all his.“Just like when we first met,”Jace said in a tone that bore a resemblance to nostalgia, stroking the makeshift bonds holding her wrists high above her head. How many times had he imagined ripping off her dress and tying her up like he had when he interrogated her in that basement before Caden fucking Ashford saved the day? He’d never kept count, but it could safely be considered a fair amount. Lost to his own fantasies, Jace trailed eager fingers along Kara’s thigh, inching his way higher.

Pleased that her legs had full functionality even if her hands did not, Kara waited for the opportune moment to make use of the last weapon at her disposal. As Jace’s invasive exploration met with the apex of Kara’s thighs, her foot made forceful contact with the delicate, organ-housing region of his abdomen.

“Fucking bitch!”Jace swore in surprise as he clutched his aching stomach.

Taking advantage of his distraction, Kara attempted to land a second kick. Prepared for her offensive strike, he caught her foot in the air before it reached her intended target. In retribution, Jace held her with a punishing grip that felt as though it crushed bone, lowered his mouth to Kara’s ankle, and bit deeply. Her resistance temporarily subdued, Kara cried out at the shock of pain radiating from the tender curve of her ankle. Jace grabbed what was left of Kara’s gown and tore two more strips of silk as she struggled beneath him. Grasping her ankle tightly, he pulled her leg toward the edge of the bed and latched her to the bottom post.

Taking his time as he walked around to the other side of the bed, Jace appreciated her helplessness with cruel satisfaction. She panicked when he mounted the bed and reached for her other ankle, fighting against him like a trapped animal. In spite of her final attempt to delay the inevitable, Jace captured her foot easily, digging his fingers into her heel as he spread her open as wide as possible before tying her to the bedpost. Crawling toward her, Jace knelt between Kara’s thighs, reached for her panties, and impatiently ripped off the last, thin piece of protection that kept her from full exposure under his salacious gaze.

Kara felt the hot tears of fury, frustration, and futility roll down her cheeks as she stared at the despicable man forcefully situated between her legs with a loathing that was immeasurable. Even if she spent every breath of the rest of her life cursing him, she knew the expression of her hatred would never be satisfied.

Evaluating her restraints, nakedness, and tears, Jace determined that he was sufficiently satisfied to proceed to the main event. Kara grunted beneath the crushing weight of him as he mounted her, jean sheathed legs straddling her bare hips. He rather enjoyed the view of Kara trembling beneath him like a timid virgin; he would take it slow with her and savor the experience. She flinched from his touch as he stroked his finger along her jaw, instinctively keeping her eyes downcast as though she could ignore his advances if she didn’t see them. A stinging slap to her left cheek drew her shocked attention once again.

“Look at me,”Jace commanded.“I want you to be fully aware ofwhois fucking you.”

Kara met Jace’s gaze with a look of determined opposition and watched as he resolved to deprive her of her last remnants of stubborn pride. Strong, bruising hands moved to Kara’s upper arms, still suspended from each bedpost, and found the most tender point of exposed flesh. Jace’s grip tightened cruelly. Kara let out a whimper of pained protest, but did not avert her gaze.

“I am going to mark you, Kara.”Jace moved his mouth to her shoulder and bit down, hard.“I want you to see my handiwork on your body when you look in the mirror.”He marked her other shoulder with the deep imprint of his teeth. Kara bucked beneath him, longing to escape the torture.“I will brand you—body, mind, and soul.”

---