Knox Page 3

  Daxton watched her for a reaction and felt oddly satisfied when hot blood flooded her cheeks. She hadn’t expected him to be so blunt. He’d long ago lost his own embarrassment at the role he was playing for his brother. Not pimp or hustler, but more like … butler. Get everything ready and then get out of there.

  He motioned to the piece of paper on the tray next to her. “That is a non-disclosure agreement. If you agree to stay here, you will have to sign it. It basically says you can’t tell anyone about what you and Knox do in this room together. Not your mother, not your best friend. If you do, Knox has a legal basis to sue you for damages.”

  Daxton watched her closely as he said this, gauging her reaction. The NDA was silly, he knew his brother was never going to sue any woman for talking about the night they spent together, but it did give him leverage against slander, and that was important. Knox trusted no one, especially not women, and as the head of a multi-billion dollar company, he knew how to protect himself. She nodded, the wide-eyed look still firmly in place.

  Daxton motioned to the corners of the room, and the area directly over the bed. “There are five cameras in this room. They will record everything that goes on, including the sound. No one will ever see the video, but it will be kept in a locked vault until forty years after Knox’s death. At that time it will be destroyed. I will have Knox sign a form for you that says that. You may not have a copy of the video.”

  Again, Daxton paused and waited for a reaction. He always thought he would lose them there. That the prospect of video would be too much for them. He was always wrong. Miss Jackson nodded slightly and he noticed a flush climb to her breasts over the top of her black dress. She was turned on. His brother was a genius. Not only because the videos protected him from allegations of rape, but because the women loved it. All the dirty stuff they never had the guts to do outside of this room, suddenly they were getting it all in one night.

  “Do you agree to the terms that I have laid out here?”

  She watched him for a long moment and then nodded her head slowly, like she was still trying to pretend she didn’t really want to be there.

  Daxton nodded his head at the closest corner. “You have to say it out loud, for the camera.”

  “I agree,” she said in a soft voice, and the blush returned to her cheeks.

  “Sign the paper then please.”

  She bent to sign the paper. Daxton took it from her as soon as she was done.

  “One more thing. When your business is finished, you can stay if Knox invites you to. But you will almost certainly not be spending the night. When Knox says the words, it’s getting late, that’s your cue to gather your things and leave. Knox will have someone drive you anywhere you want to go. Do not ignore your cue. If you do, someone will come and tell you it’s time to go. If you refuse, you will be thrown out. He’s not asking you to date or be his girlfriend. This is nothing but a few hours of sex.”

  Shock registered on her face and Daxton smiled gently at her. Knox had needed to have a few women removed bodily from the house over the years, but somehow he didn’t think Miss Jackson would be one of them.

  “Do you have any questions?”

  She shook her head no and took another look around the room, staring for a moment at the bed. It was a monster, twice the size of a California king. Knox had it custom made years ago, along with the sliding restraint notches, that allowed him to turn a woman over without removing her restraints. Other than the bed, there wasn’t much to look at. The walls were a pale lilac color, lined with speakers and mood lights. There was a nightstand on one side of the bed that Daxton knew held condoms. There was a locked trunk on the other side of the bed that Daxton had no idea what was inside. He didn’t want to know either. He was entrenched as far in his brother’s craziness as he wanted to get.

  “I’m going to step out now and give you a chance to get undressed. You can leave your bra and panties on if you want, or take them off. It’s up to you. If you leave them on, they will almost certainly be ripped off you. Climb in the center of the bed, under the sheet, and lay on your back. I’ll come back in here in five minutes to fasten your restraints and blindfold.”

  Miss Jackson stared at him, her eyes wide again, and this time he didn’t think it was an act. When she spoke, her voice was almost a whisper. “You tie me up and then just … leave me?”

  “Knox is just upstairs. He’ll be here within moments of me leaving the room. But you don’t have to do this. Just say the word and I’ll have a driver take you home.”

  She shook her head and her tongue snuck out of her mouth, wetting her lower lip. “No, I-I was just wondering.”

  Daxton wondered about her suddenly. Who she was. Where she lived. What drove her to want to submit to his brother’s fucked-up requirements. But those questions, once asked, would never stop. He smiled at her gently. “I’ll be right back.”

  He left the room without a backwards glance.

  Chapter 5

  Mica

  Mica dropped the toy and shot straight up, her eyes flitting around the garage. What if he was still there? Waiting to jump out at her, and take what he thought she owed him. Mica shivered at the thought. She dug her hand in her purse, finding the pepper spray almost immediately. She held on to it tightly, knowing it would do no good if he had a gun.

  Her eyes found a human-like shadow behind a large box in a corner. Mica startled, her heart leaping into her throat in terror before she saw there was nothing there. It really only was a shadow. She teetered on the step, ready to run back the way she had come, but suddenly, the entire house loomed at her back, making her feel that would be a mistake. What if he had only been waiting for her to notice the train, and he was mere seconds from grabbing her around the throat—Mica pushed herself into action at the thought.

  She tiptoed quietly down the steps to her car, trying to look every way at once. She had to get out of here. She yanked the car door open and climbed inside, then jammed her finger on the lock button, her eyes still searching the garage. She let go of the pepper spray and pulled out her keys, slamming them into the ignition, then hitting the garage door opener. The large door behind her slid open.

  Mica slipped the transmission in reverse, not caring if he were behind the car. She’d love to run him over. She pressed hard on the accelerator, causing the large sedan to jump backwards. Only then did she realize her mistake.

  He was in the car with her! He had to be!

  Mica whipped her head around to stare behind her, her breath tearing in and out of her lungs as new, hot fear whipsawed through her. Her car accelerated down the driveway as she strained to see in the footwells of the two seats behind her.

  They were empty. Sweat beaded on Mica’s forehead. Suddenly, she was ten again, meeting Dick Bailey for the first time after the biggest loss of her life, feeling the fear an antelope feels when the lion singles it out of the herd. He’d scared her even then. Especially then. She’d known from the first day she met him that he had something planned for her. Something awful and terrifying. When she had been ten, she’d had no idea what that something could be, but as she grew older, she figured he meant to rape her. When she turned seventeen, she finally discovered what he’d really had in mind from day one. And it had been even worse than rape.

  But now, so many years later, what did he have planned for her? She’d given him the money he demanded, but it wasn’t enough, according to the toy. His threats so far had been veiled, thin, barely there. But she knew him. He wouldn’t hesitate to kill her. In fact, that was what she was afraid of. That he would kidnap her, force her to give him all the money she could lay her hands on, and then kill her. He was the craziest person she’d ever known in her life and she knew he had it in him. Especially now that she was rich. If he’d found her and she’d been penniless, he still would probably have killed her, just for what she’d done to him a decade ago.

  Mica whipped her head back around to the front of the car, realizing at once that she was g
oing backwards way too fast. She pulled her foot off the accelerator and steered the car around the curve in the driveway. A new thought struck her, filling her with more child-like fear.

  He was in the trunk. His plan was to pop out when she got where she was going, and take her then. Mica knew she was being unreasonable, and she didn’t care. She wasn’t a child any longer, at his whim and mercy, but the years of anticipatory terror for a horror she’d only barely escaped from were still with her. They’d lain somewhat dormant for the last ten years, but never been healed. Now they leaped to the forefront of her brain and took over. She clenched her jaw and made a battle decision. If he were in her trunk, he’d realize soon enough that the adult Mica would fight back in a way the child had never been able to.

  Mica looked out her rearview mirror and grasped the steering wheel hard. She smashed her foot back down on the accelerator, hearing the whine of the engine and not caring. She steered directly at the large tree at the very bottom of her driveway.

  She didn’t have time to check the speedometer before her car slammed into the tree, trunk first, but it felt like she was going at least twenty miles an hour, in reverse. Upon impact, her head pounded against the head rest behind her, making her see stars. Her car bounced off the tree, jerking her head to the front this time. Mica held onto the steering wheel hard and grimaced as her car came to a rest in the grass.

  Mica shook her head and wondered if she was cracking up. She’d just wrecked her own car for no reason. Her unshakeable conviction that Bailey was in her trunk seemed silly now. Stupid, even. The kind of impulsive behavior she’d always sought to avoid. But even worse. If anyone ever found out about this, embarrassment would collapse her. She hated feeling or seeming out of control, and she’d definitely been completely out of control since the moment she picked up the train in her garage.

  She hated that he was doing this to her! He had no right, never had! The things he’d made her childhood self believe seemed ludicrous now. She’d never owed him anything. The only reason she paid him any money at all was because she’d been dreading the moment that he found her, and now that he had, well, she’d hoped that giving him the money he claimed she owed him would make him go away. Leave her alone forever.

  She should have known better.

  Mica turned her head and looked behind her to assess the damage. She could see that her trunk was bowed in the middle, an exact imprint of the tree she’d bludgeoned. She winced and looked past the trunk, to the tree. It looked ok. Maybe there was a gouge in the bark, she couldn’t be sure from here.

  Mica put the car in park, unlocked her door, and reached for the door handle. As she did, her earlier fear that he was in her trunk came back to her. He could be in there, dazed from the impact, but otherwise ok, waiting for her next move. Or maybe she’d hurt him. Maybe he was bleeding, or unconscious. Savage gladness hurtled across her mind as she imagined him bleeding in her trunk, almost as if she were actually seeing it.

  Mica shook her head, feeling like she was losing some part of herself. She’d never been one to wish harm on anyone. Never been one to value revenge or vindictiveness. But she would be ok with hurting Dick Bailey. Especially if it meant he would leave her alone.

  Mica grabbed her pepper spray out of her purse, wishing it was actually the heavy gun in her hand, not the tiny, cold, seemingly-harmless cylinder. She didn’t have a license to carry a concealed weapon, so she didn’t. Hot regret skidded across her brain that she hadn’t gone to the sheriff’s office to get her permit. She’d considered it, especially after the blood she’d found in her mailbox, but she’d never done it. Denial had been one reason. Lack of time had been another. Hopefully, she wouldn’t have to pay for the decision with her life.

  She stepped quickly out of the car, wishing her closest neighbor was closer. Her house sat on ten acres, and although she’d always loved the solitude, right now it felt like a mistake. The orange light of the sun creeping over the horizon seemed to taunt her for it.

  Mica walked swiftly to the back of the car, the pepper spray held out in front of her like a gun, then put a hand near the lock of the trunk and pushed upwards. The bowed metal stayed firm. Mica bent over, every nerve alert and screaming in anticipation, placing her ear next to the seam of the trunk. She heard nothing.

  Mica stepped back, then ran to her front seat and pulled the tiny lever that opened the trunk. She heard it pop. She ran back to the trunk, her heart in her throat, the hand holding the pepper spray shaking slightly.

  The trunk lid was still flush with the vehicle. She put a trembling hand on it and pushed up. The lid swung slowly open and Mica let out the breath she’d been holding in a long gush of air. The trunk was empty.

  The world crashed back around her as she suddenly became aware of the birds singing as they settled down for the night, the insects chirping in the grass, and the sour scent of her own stress-chemical laden sweat.

  She felt like the biggest idiot on the planet.

  Even through her shame and embarrassment, she knew she had to make a decision. She couldn’t stay where she was. Knowing he’d been in her garage, she couldn’t bear to come back to this house tonight. Maybe ever.

  Chapter 6

  Knox

  Knox sat at his desk, waiting for the buzz of the intercom that would tell him Daxton was done with Darby. That Darby was ready for him. Anticipation swirled through his consciousness like some heady drink. This wait had become as much a part of the game as the actual sex. Would she stay, or go? If she stayed, how wet would she be before he ever laid a hand on her? How much would she submit to? Would she lay quiet, accepting everything he gave her, or start asking for certain … acts to be performed on her. Knox leaned back in his chair, trying to allow his cock more room in his pants. It ached and throbbed, knowing exactly what was in store for it.

  It had been too long since he’d had a woman in the green room. Maybe that had been part of his recent dissatisfaction. A month without sex would do that to a man. It wasn’t for lack of willing participants, but the green room seemed to have lost some of its charm for him. He’d had dozens of women restrained in its massive bed over the last six years, many of them more than once, but lately, it hadn’t appealed to him. Was it becoming too much work?

  Knox frowned, examining that thought. Was he really not enjoying the green room anymore? It was a lot of prep work, and even more work for him once he got in there, since his partner was always bound, unable to move. But he loved it, preferred it over any other way, didn’t he?

  A thought surfaced for a moment, then trailed away. Knox didn’t bother chasing it. He had no use for reflection or soul-searching. If the green room had served its purpose, then he would move on. Do something different. Have sex like a normal person.

  The buzzer on the intercom sounded, cutting off any counter-thoughts that might have surfaced. Knox stood, and strode to the stairs, his mouth curving into a predatory smile. It was time. He was more excited about this encounter than he had been in a while. In his mind’s eye, he could see Darby, bound and blindfolded, squirming on the bed, not knowing when he would come or what he would do when he got there. He didn’t notice that in his imagination, she was really a different woman. The woman who had stolen his heart and then seemingly disappeared from the planet a decade ago.

  By the time Knox arrived at the door to the green room, his cock was uncomfortably thick in his pants. He opened the door and walked in, his eyes on the bed.

  Darby lay under a light sheet. Her head turned toward the sound of him immediately and he could see her chest rise and fall with her shallow breathing. She’d been anticipating him every bit as much as he had been anticipating her. A lacy, black blindfold covered her eyes. Her hair poofed attractively above and below it, making her look sexier than he remembered her. He could see the form of her hips and breasts below the sheet and his eye lingered on them for a moment.

  He shut the door behind him and locked it. Daxton had probably left but there was almost al
ways a maid or driver on the property. He did not want to be disturbed.

  He twisted a dial on the wall making the lights soften.

  “What is your taste in music, gorgeous?” he asked, his voice low and full of desire.

  Her head raised off the bed but she didn’t say anything. He punched a button next to the dial and the sound of Hungry Eyes filtered quietly into the room. He was more of a rap fan, but he knew the women generally preferred something like this.

  “Stop me if you hate it,” he told her, then approached the bed when she said nothing, his footfalls loud on the bare floor. He slowed himself as much as possible, watching her, assessing her. His plan was the same as it always was: to play off of her reactions, push her boundaries, and give her as much pleasure as he possibly could before taking his own. He’d never had a complaint yet.

  She dropped her head to the flat pillow as he approached, pulling slightly at her restraints with her arms. Her head arched backwards, exposing her neck. That’s where he would start with her. Her neck.

  He kicked off his shoes, making sure she heard each loud thud. He bent and slowly removed his socks, smiling at the way her breath was coming faster. He couldn’t wait to get his fingers inside her and see exactly what he was doing to her without ever even touching her. In fact, he was going to take a peek.

  He plucked a corner of the sheet off the bed and pulled it towards him. Was she wearing her bra and panties still? Or naked? He had her pegged as a bra and panties girl. Not quite badass enough to go naked the first time out.

  The sheet slipped across her skin and her head whipped to the left, her breath coming faster. Her back arched as the satin whispered along its path.

  Her bare breast was revealed, making him smile even wider. He’d been wrong. He loved being wrong about a woman. Maybe she had more surprises for him.

  He admired her round, full breast for just a moment before pulling the sheet farther. Her nipples tightened as he watched, making his cock throb painfully. He stroked it lightly through his pants. Relax. Not time yet.