Uncovering You: The Complete Series (Mega Box Set) (36 page)

“I won’t,” I promise.

“Good,” he says, and turns away.

He’s already out the door when I find the courage to call out, “Wait! Jeremy.”

He turns back and raises an eyebrow.

I give him a smile that’s chock full of the radiance I feel blooming inside. “Thank you. From the bottom of my heart, thank you.”

The corners of his eyes crinkle. He gives a little, appreciative nod, and closes the door after him.

Chapter Eight

I spend the next two days locked in the library, coming out only at mealtimes for a quick snack before returning to my sanctuary.

After going so long with no form of mental stimulation, I overindulge. I pick up half a dozen books the first day and start all of them. It doesn’t matter what the subject is: fiction or nonfiction, stories or memoirs, classic texts or best-selling ‘literature.’ Everything is appealing to me.

I gobble up the words faster than I can breathe. At first, I don’t even care what I’m reading. The sensation of losing myself in a book is wonderful—especially after being deprived of the opportunity for so long.

I don’t see Stonehart at all during that time. Once, when I was running out for a late breakfast, I noticed the door to his office ajar. I could hear him barking orders on the phone. His intonation told me he was not very happy. I decided that would probably be the worst time to get caught eavesdropping.

When I hurried back to the library, still chewing the piece of toast from breakfast, the door to the office was closed, and I could not hear anything from inside.

Obviously, Stonehart hasn’t left on his two-week business trip yet. I don’t know when he will. I wish I’d paid more attention when he told me about it. I don’t want to ask him now because I don’t want to seem eager for him to be gone.

A misinterpretation like that could be disastrous.

At the end of my forty-eight hour reading binge, I return to the sunroom, one tattered volume under my arm, and find a note waiting for me on the bed:

I am pleased that you find my library so fascinating. If I had known, I would have granted you access to it earlier.

I will be gone from the estate for the next two days. You have complete access to all my property, except the office. I expect you to be ready for me, as always, when I return.

I leave for two weeks the day after that, so plan on making our next encounter extra-memorable.

- J.S.

I can’t contain my smile as I read the words. Two more days without Stonehart, followed by one night together, and then another two weeks apart? I’ll take it.

If nothing else, I need the separation to help rebuild my resolve.

***

I have trouble falling asleep that night. My mind is busy creating all types of scenarios of the future.

I have no idea how Stonehart intends to make our next encounter “memorable”. I decide not to dwell on that, since I can’t change it.

I’m more curious about the Dextran offer. I can’t believe Stonehart would extend it to me. Wouldn’t giving me that kind of free reign be one of the biggest liabilities he can undertake?

I mean, he’s talking about not only giving me full access to the outside world, but propelling me into one of the most important positions!

Why?

In my heart, I know the offer can’t be anything but a vain joke. I mean, I don’t even have newspaper access yet. That comes with another five TGBs. But, already, he’s talking about putting me in charge of a massive technology firm!

It makes no sense. No, it’s worse than that. It doesn’t just make no sense. It’s utter lunacy. Here I am, Stonehart’s prisoner and captive, brought here for reasons unknown, and he wants me to become one of his CEOs?

It’s insanity. I mean, it’s not like I’m thick enough not to see the offer for what it really is: him dangling a large, juicy carrot in front of me. I’m sure I’m never meant to actually reach it.

Then, there’s the gala at the end of the month. That’s something much more immediate. It seems more likely to happen, too. I haven’t heard any more about it, but I assume it’s still on the table. Better to be safe and think it is than to dismiss it too early.

I roll over to a more comfortable position. By my calculation, the gala will take place right around the time Stonehart gets back from his two-week trip. That means I only have one day with him—one
night
—before the event.

There is no way I’ll earn enough TGBs to go.

Then again, if he wants me to go, nobody said that I
have
to have the proper amount of TGBs. He’s the one making the rules, after all. He can just as easily break them.

That scares me. I’m enslaved by his rules. He has nothing guiding him but his word... and maybe his honor.

Are either of those things worth anything to me?

The gala will be a test. I’m sure of that. Stonehart will want to see how I behave in public with him.

He’s not an idiot. He knows I want revenge. He’ll be watching me closely for anything that might betray my intentions.

It will probably be best to forget about alerting anyone to my situation at the gala. If it goes well, I’ll have more opportunities to go places with him in the future. I can only make my move when we’re both comfortable with me out and about with him.

Then there’s the other annoying, pesky, lingering thing:
Am I even sure I
want
revenge anymore?

I bristle. Of course I do. Of course I want revenge. I want revenge, vengeance, justice,
freedom
…

Except… if I were to take the last three days in isolation… would my life seem so bad?

I live in an enormous house built on a massive estate. I have a spectacular view of the ocean from a room that is bigger than a basketball court. I can come and go as I please. I have access to a grand library. A swimming pool. Exercise equipment. I have a closet full of clothes, the value of which is more than I can ever hope to earn even after a decade of work.

Somebody cooks for me. Somebody cleans for me. I have books. I have a huge, comfortable bed. I have Jeremy Stone—

I have the collar.

I have the collar. It was put on my neck by the man.

I have no freedom. I have a life structured by his crazy rules.

Just because he hasn’t
been
crazy for three days doesn’t mean my situation is any better.

After all, it was just four days ago that he made me eat the dove. Four nights ago, he tied me up and fucked me raw. A month ago he starved me in the dark.

I bolt upright in bed. My heart is racing. All thought of sleep is now forgotten. This is
Stonehart
I’m talking about. The same man who drugged me and ripped me from my life. The same man I vowed I would bring down the day I signed the contract.

I get up, wrapping a robe around myself, and stride to the huge glass wall. I touch one of the panels and look up at the night sky. The glass is cold beneath my fingertips.

Cold. Just like Stonehart can be.

No. Just like Stonehart
is
.

He is a cold-hearted bastard. Nothing says he’s changed. Why
would
he change? It’s gotten him very far in life!

I can’t let a few tolerable days sway my resolve.

I need to get back at him. I know that. I know it as well as I know my left hand from my right.

But, do I feel a pressing need for revenge, as I stand here, completely unrestricted and free to go wherever I want on the property? Do I feel that need, that desire, deep in my heart?

I strain for it… and come up empty. It’s not there anymore. It’s disappeared.

I shiver once and wrap my arms around myself. Am I really that weak? Have I given in already?

I touch the ever-present plastic ring around my neck. I wait for feelings of disgust and revulsion to bubble up to the surface…

But they do not come.

Stonehart has already conditioned me not to feel them.

“Damn it!” I cry out and strike my fist against the glass. The panel shudders under the blow.

I should want to be free, shouldn’t I? I should want to get away!

And yet, right now, those desires are as far off as the land on the other side of the ocean.

I’ve grown content. Comfortable. Maybe a little bit complacent.

It could be the optimist in me. I’ve always tried to make the best of my surroundings. That is how I got through high school with grades good enough to go to Yale in spite of living with an alcoholic mother.

Now, that trait is, undoubtedly, working against me.

I walk to the door and lean my forehead against the glass. I look at the spot on the ground where I found the dove not so long ago. If anything, that should remind me of why I need to fight.

I can’t forget the “TGB” I got that night at dinner.

I sigh, and turn to bed. Before my first step, I have a change of heart. I spin back, completing a full circle, and open the door.

Cool night air rushes in, making my skin rise in goosebumps. I breathe deep, loving the salty tang of the air.

I hesitate for a moment, and then step outside.

I guess that brief pause comes from my prior experience with the collar. Even though I know I’m allowed outside, that first step remains a struggle.

Wrapping my arms around myself against the cold, I walk into the empty night.

The sound of crashing waves far below me reaches my ears. I walk through the damp grass and come up to the very edge of the cliff. I look down.

It’s a long fall. If I ever get desperate enough to jump…

I stop that line of thinking before it can spiral any further. It must be a testament to the utter uncertainty I feel right now. One moment, I’m content and at peace, and a second later, I’m contemplating suicide…?

No. Of course not. I’m not that far gone yet. It was just a stray thought. A stray, dangerous, stupid thought.

I go in search of the bench Stonehart showed me my first day outside. It’s located on a small hill that gives an even better view of the ocean.

I sit down and gaze at the sea. After a few long minutes, I turn back and look at the house.

There’s one light still on. I frown. By my estimation, it’s coming from Stonehart’s office. But didn’t he say he’d be gone for two days?

I guess the first day hasn’t technically begun yet. He must be leaving in the morning.

I yawn, and debate returning to bed. But for some reason, curiosity gets the better of me. I haven’t seen the inside of Stonehart’s office. I could—if I walked up to it and peered in through the window.

He only said that I’m not allowed to
go
inside. He didn’t mention anything about just looking.

Besides, right now, I feel like I need to talk to someone. For better or for worse, Stonehart is the only option.

My mind made up, I stand up and wander toward the source of light.

As I get closer, a voice at the back of my mind starts telling me this is a very bad idea. It warns me that if Stonehart learns that I’ve been sneaking around, he won’t be pleased at all.

I choose to ignore it. I’m not pushing my boundaries—not entirely. I am still abiding by his rules. Besides, shouldn’t he be
pleased
to know that I want to see him without being forced?

I come up to the window. The blinds are drawn. However, they don’t touch the windowsill. Feeling a little surge of rebellious excitement, I squat down and put my eyes against the glass to look inside.

The vision I see makes me wish I had never left my bed.

Stonehart is there. Oh yes, he’s undeniably in there. I can tell it’s him from the wide, naked muscles of his back, from the framed silhouette of his face, from the grunts that I hear through the window as he drives his hips in and out of a tiny, petite blond who’s splayed over his desk.

Her cries filter to my ears. “Oh yes!” she screams. “Yes, yes, yes!”

Bile rises in my throat. I know that voice. It belongs to the receptionist I met outside the private entrance to Stonehart’s boardroom. The one who looks like she’s barely of age.

“Harder, Mr. Stonehart!” she begs. “Yes, fuck me harder! Yes, yes, ooh!”

I twist away and nearly lose my balance as the sudden rise leaves me lightheaded. I flounder back, misplace my step, and fall with a
thud
against the window.

Immediately, the sounds inside stop.

Shit! I curse in my head. Shit, shit, shit!

“Mr. Stonehart?” The girl’s tremulous voice. “What was that?”

“Stay here,” he growls. I duck down and press myself flat against the siding as I hear the sudden
swoosh
of the blinds being pulled up.

Light spills out. My heart is thundering as loud as a galloping horse.

Stonehart’s shadow falls on the ground. I see the dark length of his erection, made longer by the falling light.

“Who’s there?” he says. “Lilly, is that you?”

I squeeze my eyes shut and pray that he doesn’t see me.

Please, please don’t let him see me.

After a minute, he grunts and turns away. I see the shadow retreat as he steps back.

“Did you see anything?” the girl asks.

“Probably an animal,” Stonehart answers.

“Oh,” the girl says, suddenly giggly. “Whew.” Then her voice becomes defensive. “Who’s
Lilly
?”

It hits me that she only knows me as ‘Miss Ryder’.

“Never mind,” Stonehart growls. “Wait here. I have to check something.”

The girl’s protests are lost on me as I push off from the side of the house and start to sprint back to the sunroom. If Stonehart went to check on me, and finds me out of bed… well, it wouldn’t take a genius to put two and two together.

I run straight through the bushes and over the wet grass, not bothering with the proper paths. I cry out when I stub my toe against something in the dark, nearly falling flat on my face in the process. But I catch my balance at the last moment and keep going.

I burst through the glass door, chest heaving. I don’t wait for it to close properly before diving in my bed and ducking under the covers.

The room is silent. My breathing is hard and fast. Adrenaline has my body wound tight as a guitar string. One pluck and I’ll snap in two.