Tag: suspense

Frost hadn’t know how it was going to turn out having Astor come to live here but he couldn’t be happier.

He’d never done anything like this before and he had no idea if he was doing it right, but since he’d gotten her to cave and come to him then he supposed he must be.

Fake it till you make it.

That was pretty much the philosophy he had lived his life by.

He hadn’t been sure that it would work with Astor, she was so strong, so stubborn, it was what had drawn her to him at the auction. Frost didn’t even really know how he’d ended up there. He’d been at a friend’s house, someone he had known all his life, they’d been talking about women, and then his friend had told him about this woman he had bought and kept in his basement as a sex slave.

He had been obviously shocked but also intrigued.

He must have agreed to go to the auction because it wasn’t like he’d been tied up and forced to go at gunpoint.

Frost hadn’t intended to buy anyone until he say Astor and the defiant glint in her eyes.

Now she was here, lying in his bed, her limbs tangled with his, her breath warm against his bare chest.

She was his, he’d paid good money for her, but more often than not she got her way. She was supposed to be his slave, his possession, she was supposed to follow orders, do as he wanted, he wasn’t supposed to have fallen for her, he wasn’t supposed to love her.

But he did.

So he spoiled her.

“I have something for you,” he said, trailing his fingers up and down her spine because he knew it would make her shiver. The good kind. He didn’t hurt her like he knew many people did with their slaves.

“Oh?” she asked, resting a hand on his abs and lazily tracing circles with her fingertip.

He reached over and pulled a velvet box from his nightstand. “Here,” he said a little gruffly, he wasn’t good at dealing with emotions, and sometimes when he felt for Astor was too strong.

She propped herself up on her elbows, took the box and opened it, gasping when she saw what was inside. “They’re beautiful,” she gushed, lifting the diamond earrings off the satin. “Will you put them in for me?”

“Of course,” he took them, looked at them, then at her ear, “I don’t know how to I’m sorry.”

“Just slide the end through the hole,” Astor said.

He took it, and did as she said. Then his hands curled around the back of her neck and he drew her face towards his, kissing her until he was breathless. “You’re so beautiful,” he told her. “More beautiful than any diamond.”

“You spoil me,” she purred, tugging free from his grip so she could nestle herself against his chest.

“Because I love you.” The words had fallen from his lips before he could stop them.

Astor took a deep breath.

Was she really going to do this?

When it all boiled down to it there was no other option.

She lifted her hand and knocked once, then she waited. What if he didn’t come? Had he changed his mind? Were there other girls here? Other women he had bought at an auction? Did he have a wife? A girlfriend? Just because she hadn’t seen anyone didn’t mean they didn’t exist.

A scream almost fell from her lips when the door opened, startling her even though she was expecting him.

Him.

Frost.

He stood before her, he wasn’t wearing a shirt and Astor couldn’t help but stare at his chest. He must work out for hours every day, he was totally ripped. Her gaze moved slowly to his face and his dark eyes met hers and held them in a vice grip, not allowing her to look away.

She didn’t remember him being this good looking last time they were in the same room together. Seven months of loneliness did crazy things to your head.

Frost pulled her to him and she didn’t resist.

Instead she allowed him to guide her into his room and lead her to the bed. She didn’t fight him as he pushed her down onto it and began to remove her clothing.

Astor wanted this.

She needed it.

Her body began to burn with needy desire, her hands clutched at his belt, ripping it undone, then reached for his face, tangling in his black hair and urging him down so she could kiss him. They made love in a passionate frenzy that left her heart racing and her body dotted with sweat.

After they lay tangled together on Frost’s bed. He gave a satisfied sigh and dragged her closer, so she lay draped across his chest.

Astor smiled to herself.

He thought he had gotten what he wanted, stage one of her plan was complete.

She was bored.

And lonely.

True to his word Frost had not made contact with her in any way since their kiss in the corridor on the first day she had been brought here.

That was seven months ago.

Seven months was a long time. Even longer when you spent it basically alone.

There were people who worked here, Astor knew that. Every day when she went to spend time outdoors she would return to her room later to find it cleaned. And meals appeared at her door three times day. The gardens were kept immaculately so she knew there was a gardener. But somehow they managed to keep out of sight matter how hard she tried to find someone-anyone-to talk to.

Except Frost.

He watched her often from through the windows of the mansion. Sometimes she caught a glimpse of him, other times she could feel his eyes on her even thought she couldn’t see him.

He was waiting for her to cave and she hated to admit it but she was getting pretty close. Anything-even giving herself to him like he wanted-had to be better than this.

What was worse was that part of her wanted to give herself to him.

Astor couldn’t explain it but she was drawn to him like a moth to the flame.

Which was going to make it so much harder for her to do what she had to do.

He thought that she was going to be his but he was wrong, he was going to be hers.

“Oh dear,” she exclaimed as she dropped her mug, sending it crashing into the floorboards and shattering into a thousand pieces. With no one else to talk to she had taken to talking to herself out loud. She didn’t bother to clean up, one of the maids would no doubt have it tended to before she came back.

Right now she had someplace she needed to be.

Frost’s room.

Still leading her by the hand the man guided her up twenty marble steps to a huge oak door with handles in the shapes of lion heads. He opened the door and they stepped into the largest entrance foyer Astor had ever seen.

Antiques and expensive looking art filled the room, and a grand staircase led to the second floor. This house was the stuff dreams are made of, or it would be if she hadn’t been abducted, raped, tortured and sold.

To this man.

Who still held her hand and was leading her towards the stairs. When they reached the top he walked her through a maze of hallways until they finally stopped in front of a door.

Up until now the man hadn’t done anything to scare her-buying her for half a million dollars aside-but now she got a sense of foreboding. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up, and goosebumps broke out all over her body.

“This will be your room until you’re ready to come and share my bed,” he informed her.

When hell froze over, she muttered to herself.

“You have free reign of the house and the grounds, a tracking device was implanted while you were sleeping, before you were brought here, so I will know where you are at all times. You are not permitted to leave the property, if you do, you will not like the outcome. You are not permitted to speak with any of the staff, they will not speak to you. You will eat your meals alone in the south dining room. Until you are ready to give yourself to me body, mind, and soul, you will live without human interaction.”

That almost sounded too good to be true. He was really going to keep his hands off her? He wasn’t going to rape her? Or hurt her? He was really just going to leave her alone? If he was true to his word then she would be able to find a way to escape without having to worry about anyone noticing what she was doing.

“Astor,” his voice had gone deadly serious. “You will give yourself to me.” Then he pushed her up against the wall and kissed her until she couldn’t breathe.

Then abruptly he released her and walked away.

“By the way my name is Frost,” he called over his shoulder.

She couldn’t say anything.

All she could do was stare after Frost in shock.

She was grabbed roughly around the bicep and dragged out of the trunk of the car.

Astor Valentine swung her free hand at the man who held her, but he reacted quickly, blocking the blow and slapping her hard across the face.

Why couldn’t she learn her lesson?

Fighting back didn’t do any good.

It hadn’t stopped her from being drugged and abducted at a party. It hadn’t stopped her being locked in a cage for the last month. It hadn’t stopped her being dressed up and paraded around at an auction. And it hadn’t stopped her being sold.

Sold to the man who was standing just behind the man who still had hold of her. He was handsome, in a villainy kind of way. He had hair as black as night and eyes to match, she could see his muscles rippling beneath clothes.

There was something different about him.

He didn’t feel the same as the others. The men who had abducted her, the men who had beaten her, and raped her, who had taunted her and mocked her, they had felt evil. But this man didn’t. She knew he was the same, he had been at the auction after all, he had paid money for her, but when he had looked her over at the auction she hadn’t been afraid, she had almost felt safe.

“No need to be so rough with our new guest,” he said, his tone smooth and almost melodic. He stepped up and took hold of her hand. “One day at a time…One step at a time. That’s how we will take things, and one day you will learn how to be happy living here.”

Here was a huge mansion that looked like something out of a gothic movie, set in the middle of what looked like acres of perfectly manicured grounds and wild, untamed woods.

She would never be happy here.

Not until she killed the handsome man who thought he owned her.