Page 98 of Caged
I squirm under him and drop my phone into my unzipped purse, masking us in darkness. Giving my eyes a chance to adjust, I slowly glide my fingers playfully up his arm until I reach his hand, pulling it down to free my mouth. To my dismay, he doesn’t resist, and I’m not proud of what I’m about to do next, but fuck it.
“What’s wrong, Jace? Aren’t you happy to see me?” I rasp in my most seductive bedroom voice. I find the hem of his shirt and tuck my hand under the soft cotton, running my fingertips up the length of his abdomen until they find the heirloom gold chain necklace he keeps hidden under his clothes, which once belonged to his grandmother.
He shudders as I run the pad of my thumb over the necklace, a tenderness I often did when we were together, and the hand he once had over my mouth has now found its way to the curve of my hip. His other hand is pressed against the wall above my head, and I can sense he wants to lean onto his forearm and let his guard down but just needs a bit of encouragement.
“Are you going to throw me out again?” I tease, trailing my descending fingers over each protruding abdominal muscle.
“Or is it possible that maybe, you miss me?” I ask as I somewhat violently shove my hand under the waistband of hispants and underwear, landing on the soft flesh of his semi-hard cock.
Jace groans, unable to help himself, as I gently palm the velvety skin of his shaft.
“Do you miss this?” I whisper, coaxing out his erection with each stroke.
“Stop, Gabriella,” he growls through clenched teeth, but makes no move to stop me.
“Do you miss us?” I ask, impressed by my manufactured longing. I’m giving quite the believable performance. He doesn’t answer. The man can barely get a breath down. His cock is thick and hard underneath my palm, and in a moment of self-indulgence, I swipe my thumb over the tip, obnoxiously satisfied by the amount of slick precum I find. For how long would Jace let this continue? Part of me wonders what would happen if I kiss him, but that’s a line I won’t cross, not for his sake, but for mine.
“You know what I think about every day, Jace?” I ask, rubbing him harder as a distraction while I fish out the switchblade from my bra.
His pants are pathetic whimpers.
“I think it’s too bad you’re such a cheating piece of shit!”
My kneecap mercilessly rams into his groin, bludgeoning his balls. He grunts, doubling over in pain, as I shove him backward. He stumbles but manages to grab my tank top, and I strike, slashing the blade of my knife across his upper arm. Never have I heard such a satisfying cry.
I bolt, sprinting across the basement, flinging the door open, and race up the stairs.
The metal bar of the fire door makes a deafening crack as I slam into it and burst through, running down the hall and away from the dance floor. I hear Jace’s voice scream my name behindme, but I don’t care to look back. Another male shouts at Jace, asking him what’s going on, and again, I hear my name.
I run around a corner, and then another, praying that I’m following the same path I had several weeks ago when Jace carried me over his shoulder to an exit on the side of the building.
The next turn I take reveals a door, and if this isn’t right, I’ve come to a dead end, and I’m fucked. Throwing the door open triggers an alarm. They’ll be on me like bloodhounds in an instant if I don’t move faster.
Fallen leaves crunch under my feet as I pump my arms. Male voices echo among the trees, and soon, I know I’ll be surrounded.
Too late.
A body springs from behind a nearby tree trunk, but I don’t stop. Fingers curl around the back of my tank top.
“Gabi, stop running!” a female voice hisses.
“This way,” she tugs, and I don’t know why the fuck I do this but I follow her.
“Climb down here,” she orders. “Follow me.”
“What?” I choke, certain she’s asking me to leap to my death into the waters of the gorge below.
“Get down!” she snaps. I get down on all fours and gingerly extend a foot behind me. She grabs it and yanks, causing me to yelp.
“Over here!” a male voice booms.
Her hands guide me as I scramble down the stone, and once it seems like I’ve made it to a landing point, she jerks me up by the arm, and together we shuffle into what feels like a nook. Our backs are pressed against damp, cold stone, and as my eyes readjust to the dark, my surroundings materialize under the silver light of the crescent moon.
“I swear I heard something,” a male voice explains, labored from running. I stop breathing. The volume of his voice makes me think he is directly overhead.
“Keep looking,” another voice barks.
Twigs crunch. The angry rush of water below drowns out the shouts of the search party, but I know they’re still looking. If Jace finds me, he will kill me for what I’ve done. I’m going to have to transfer schools. Ishouldtransfer schools. I can’t stay here. God only knows the number of men hunting for me right now. Wait, do they haveactualbloodhound dogs? Is that what the cages are for?
