Free Beautiful Captivity (The Club #1) by Ashleigh Townshend Page A

glint in her eyes and I try not to notice the bruising around one. This isn’t a game. There is so much at stake, and the danger is beyond anything I’ve experienced. She wouldn’t even be able to process it. I try to keep her present in the moment, not letting her think of what’s outside, of what they want to do to her, of what they will do to her unless I come up with a plan.
    “I’d like you to do those things, Zane.”
    I smile. “Not now, baby. But when we’re free, I’ll make sure you’re tied up like this – and I will make you come like you can’t even fantasize about.”
    “I don’t want to think about tomorrow,” she whispers.
    “I know. But we need to. We need a plan. I’ve convinced them to bring us both back, to meet your next client, and give us time.”
    “You’d let them do that to me? Let them touch me?”
    I sigh. “I don’t know. I’m trying to find a way, and I will. But as a backup plan, we go along, buying ourselves some time.”
    “You said I was yours,” she says.
    “And you are. Do you think if one of them touches you it will change anything? Baby, if one of them gets near you, I want you to close your eyes, and think of my voice. No matter what they do to you, what they do to your body, you are mine. I will kill any man who takes what’s mine, but we may have no choice at first. Promise me, you will close your eyes and remember me. Remember that their hands, their words, their hurt… there is nothing they can take from you. Because it’s already all mine.”
    “I’ll try. I gave myself to you. The thought of anyone else between my legs, of anyone touching me…”
    “It makes me sick, too, baby,” I tell her. “I promise you it will be us, only us, one day.”
    “Are you sure?”
    It must be her vulnerability, her fear, that makes me do it. I swore it would never happen again. I swore I wouldn’t feel, but I want her to know that she is mine, beyond the physical. I hate the idea of that man with the tattoos on top of her, inside of her, but we can move past it. I will help her move past it if it comes to that, because it’s more important that she’s alive. But I make a promise that falls from my lips before I can even think of what I’m saying.
    “The first thing I’m going to do when we’re free is to make you my wife. I want the world to know you’re all mine, Nichole.”

 
    Her
    …
    Marriage? Do I want marriage? I’m still a kid. I’m barely eighteen. I had this whole life planned. I was going to go to college, grad school, maybe even law school or something after that. Sure, someday I figured I would get married, although probably when I was older, and I never thought about a family or kids. My own parents hadn’t done a remarkable job.
    But when Zane says it, I do want that. I would like to go to school again someday, but I also want him in my life more than I want to think about a career. I guess I always saw myself as independent, never needing a man, and while I still want to be somewhat in charge of my own life choices, I have grown to feel attached to him in such a short time. I like knowing he will take care of me, that there is someone who wants to be there. He talks about control, but I am willing to give it. I like being his.
    “Touch me,” I ask. “It doesn’t have to be sex, but I want to feel your hands on me. You make me feel loved.”
    He’s gentle this time, and he doesn’t move between my legs. He simply runs his hands along my body like I’m a wonder to him, and it makes everything else disappear. My fear is still present, but he’ll save me. I know he will. I trust him.
    “I’ll do whatever I have to do. For you. For us. But no matter what they do to me, Zane, they can never make me not love you. If they touch me, if they hurt me, it won’t break me, as long as you’re there when they’re done.”
    “I’ll be there, baby,” he promises.
    “Zane, can you ask you something?”
    He continues to run his hands along