Plaything: Volume Two by Jason Luke, Jade West Page A

took me awhile to notice Robert had ventured back close enough to take a seat opposite. The tension had left him, and his restored calmness coaxed me back to the present. I took slow, deep breaths, pulling my legs up underneath me and sinking down into the soft cushions. He picked up the picture from the top of the pile, one of the more innocent ones — albeit stretching the definition of innocence to its limits. I was dressed in a tight back cami and stockings, a blindfold covering half of my face. My pose was provocative, on all fours with high heels angled high. In my hand was a riding crop, and I licked it greedily, my mouth wide open for the camera. The picture screamed dirty, it screamed sex, and wanton, and a filthy slut who was game for anything.
    It summed up the woman who’d jumped so easily into Alistair’s car pretty well, in fact.
    “You must have liked him,” he surmised.
    “He was just a guy, and I’d had too much to drink.” I watched him stare at the photo, but his expression shared nothing about his thoughts. “I guess I thought I was invincible. Stupid, hey?”
    “Reckless.” He met my eyes. “But it happens. You didn’t ask for this, Amy. It doesn’t matter how many strangers you rode off into the night with, or how many pictures you posed for. This isn’t your fault. It’s theirs.”
    “It doesn’t matter now, does it?” I said. “I’m stuck here. Destined for a life of sexual slavery at the hands of some psycho, or worse.” Robert didn’t try and rose tint the situation, and I was grateful for his honesty. He dropped the photo back on the table and watched me with weary eyes. His gaze made me self-conscious. I twisted a fall of hair around my fingers, round and round again, lost in the rhythm as I weighed up our predicament, my predicament. “So, what happens now?”
    “We sleep,” he said simply. “I’m tired and you must be exhausted. It’s been a long day, let’s leave it here. Sleep on it.”
    I forced a smile. “You like sleeping on things, don’t you?”
    “I like to consider things carefully. Night time is a good opportunity to clear your thoughts, gain some perspective. I often take advantage of that.”
    “I hope it gives you some answers,” I said. “Because I’m beat. Totally.”
    He gestured to the bedroom door, gracing me with a smile. “Get some rest, Amy. You’re safe here.”
    I got to my feet, but kept my eyes on him. “You’re staying, though, right? You won’t leave me here? Where will you sleep?”
    “I’ll be around. I’m not going anywhere.”
    Relief flooded over me, the pull of a warm bed too strong to ignore. “Thank you,” I said, and I meant it.
    I really meant it.
     
    ***
     
    Falling into the guestroom bed was like falling into Heaven itself. The sheets were crisp and clean, the pillows perfectly soft under my spinning head. I wrapped the covers tight around me, grateful for the warmth, and lay still awhile before daring to flick off the lights. My breath hitched almost instantly, heart speeding up as my eyes strained to adjust to the gloom. I fixed my gaze on the faint sliver of orange light creeping under the doorway, focussing my attention on the thud of Robert’s footfalls in the room next door. They were steady and strong, growing loud, before fading away as he paced the length of the room. His presence was a comfort that made the darkness bearable. I’d become afraid of the dark, bitterly afraid. But not here. Not with him.
    The thought soothed me as I drifted into the arms of unconsciousness, but there was no Robert waiting for me in that place, and no soft bed to hold me tight. There was only Alistair.
    The nightmares came thick and fast, Alistair’s shadowy fists clenched before my face, his lips contorted by spite and rage. In my dreams I was crying, screaming, begging for mercy in a way I’d never done while awake. And then I ran. He chased me down dark corridors, his breath acrid on the back of my neck, and all