Chapter Eighteen

Consolation

Tucker

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Tucker smoothed her hair back from her face as he searched her expression.

“Yes, sir.” A small smile lit her face as she snuggled closer. “I’m fine.”

She certainly was. Tucker still expected to wake up in his cabin at any moment. Happening upon a consensual captive as magnificent as Ella was like a dream he never wanted to wake from.

“How did you find being my footrest?”

Sitting on the rug beside her, he leaned back against the couch as he awaited her response. He’d had the pleasure of discovering the extent of her arousal for himself, but now that she was back in the robe and calmer, he sought to know more about her experience of objectification.

“It was…” She pulled in a breath, as though unsure. “Different, sir.”

“Different?” Snaking one arm across her shoulder, he tugged her closer. “I was hoping for a little more, little girl.”

“Awful yet riveting, at the same time.” She laughed. “Is that any better?”

“A little.” Leaning closer, he planted a kiss on the crown of her head. “Not too awful, though, I hope.”

“Why?” She turned his way, her green eyes large. “Because you want me to do that again, sir?”

“Absolutely.” There was an unspoken power in meeting her gaze. Every word he said seemed more pertinent somehow. “You’re a fabulous footrest, and now that I know how wet it makes your pussy, it’s a no-brainer.”

“Great.” Her shoulders sagged. “I have a man who wants to use me as furniture.”

“Among many other things,” he corrected, secretly enthralled to be described as ‘her man.’ Ella was young, pretty, and despite his initial preconceptions, she was capable. He’d never even contemplated being with a woman like her at his age.

“What things, sir?” She twisted to look at him.

“All sorts of things.” Christ, she was so adorable. “Anything that I command, little girl.”

“ Anything ?” Her eyebrow arched playfully. “I’m not sure about that, sir. I don’t have to stick around here and take your orders anymore. After all, my useless father offered you the money he owes, didn’t he?” She shifted on the rug as though her tender backside was causing discomfort, but he resisted the urge to ask about her fidgeting.

“He did.” He probably shouldn’t have accepted her insolence, but the truth was he was captivated by her performance. She’d shifted from fascinating to utterly entrancing. These days, Tucker couldn’t imagine his monochrome life without the splashes of color Ella brought with her.

“And I’ll get my money,” he vowed. “But in the meantime, I’ve found something even more valuable.”

“Some thing ?” She looked serious all of a sudden, her focus flitting around his face for, he assumed, any sign of deception.

“Some one .” He reached for her with his free hand, stroking the soft skin of her chin with his thumb. “ You , little girl.”

“Me?” Her lips twitched at his praise, but she appeared to be working hard to suppress her pleasure. “What does that mean? You envision taking me to expensive restaurants where you use me as a footrest?”

“Stop it.” He blew out a breath at her tantalizing visualization. “That is too fucking tempting.”

Her grin grew at his teasing, although Tucker couldn’t promise he wouldn’t follow through with her twisted little idea one day. He’d need to find a suitable establishment, but history had taught him that there wasn’t much money couldn’t buy in the city.

“It means that despite our fucked-up genesis, I’d love to spend more time with you, Ella.” His hand slid to her nape and held her. “I’d love to look after you.”

He’d told her that before but had always had the sense that she didn’t believe him. He supposed, based on his behavior in the barn, he couldn’t blame her mistrust.

“I’d like that, too.” Her voice was small. “But at the same time, the thought scares me, sir.”

“Why?” Caressing the back of her neck, he couldn’t recall why he hadn’t taken the opportunity to fuck her again after she’d so beautifully fulfilled the role of his footrest. For some reason, the urge to console and comfort her had won out, but her seductive skin told him that had been a mistake.

“For a lot of reasons.” Her laughter sounded nervous. “But primarily because I’ve never been lucky with the men in my life, and I guess I have trust issues.”

You and me both, little girl.

“Thanks to Bennett?” he probed. Everything that man touched seemed to turn to dust.

“Yeah.” She shrugged. “When push comes to shove, I’m just a girl with daddy issues.”

“You’re a hell of a lot more than that, Ella.”

If Tucker achieved nothing else, then he’d make damn sure she understood that much. Ella was the most incredible woman, and while it was true she hadn’t pushed herself too hard in her life, he believed she had the potential to achieve anything she put her mind to.

“Thanks.” She leaned into the palm on her face. “But I mean it, sir. I didn’t realize how much Alexander messed me up until Mum talked about bringing him back into our lives. Not that he was ever really in mine…”

“He sure has a lot to answer for,” Tucker agreed.

“Speaking of my mum, now that I…” She paused, her cheeks flaming as she considered how to express herself.

“What?” he goaded.

“Now that I’ve been your footrest.” She straightened as she finally found the words. “Can I call her, sir?”

“You can,” he assured her. “But I’d like you to put the call on speaker phone, and I don’t want you telling her anything about where you are.”

“That’s easy.” She smiled, although the gesture seemed uneasy. “I don’t know where I am.”

“Perfect.”

“Why do you want me to use the speaker?” She swallowed as she countered him. “Do you want to listen in on my call, sir?”

“No.” In all honesty, he hadn’t decided what he’d do while Ella spoke to her mother. “I just want to ensure it’s only your mother you speak to.”

“Right.” Her eyes fell fleetingly closed. “Okay, I can live with the speaker phone, but she’ll ask where I am, and she’ll be worried, sir. I have to tell her something.”

Tucker glanced behind him to the window as he considered her quandary. He was no parent, but he wasn’t totally devoid of human emotion. He could imagine how apprehensive Ella’s mother must have been at her daughter’s abrupt absence.

“Tell her that you’re safe.”

“I’ll need more than that, sir.” Her despondent tone jerked his attention back to her face.

“Then arrange to meet her.” Even as he said them, he could hardly believe the words leaving his lips.

Meet her mother?

Am I fucking insane?

He wanted to keep Ella to himself. That was why he’d brought her there to his ivory tower. The last thing he wanted to do was share her, but even in the lust-fueled fog they’d created together, he knew their isolated intimacy couldn’t last forever.

If there was a real future for them, then he had to think bigger than that. He had to be smarter.

“Meet her?” Bewilderment flashed in her magnificent eyes. “Where, sir? Here?”

“No, not here.” Tucker’s thoughts were having to keep up with his mouth. “Somewhere else. Somewhere neutral.”

“Just me and her, or…” Her voice trailed away, but her inference was obvious. She wanted to know if he’d attend as well.

“I’ll give you some time together,” he promised. “But I’ll be close by.”

I can’t risk losing my collateral.

The lie echoed in his head, attempting to conceal the tangible truth. He couldn’t risk losing the woman he was falling in love with. Not even to her own mother.

“Where, sir?” Her voice had an urgency about it as she moved to straddle him. “Where shall I say we meet?”

“Don’t worry.” He contemplated admonishing her for straddling him without his assent, but he had no reason to complain as she sat astride his thighs. “We’ll work out all the details before you make the call. You can give your mum the time and the place, and I promise you’ll be there.”

***

Ella

The anxiety swilling in her stomach threatened to push the soup back for a second appearance as she stood, staring at the phone.

Calm down. She closed her eyes as she held onto the thought. This is what I want. Why am I so nervous?

She only had to glance to her right for a reminder of the answer. Tucker Bowman. The older, brooding man who’d managed to so effectively capture her had permitted her to use the phone he’d produced from a drawer and charged, but even though she was desperate to hear her mum’s voice, the thought of him lingering during the call and listening to every word was inherently perturbing.

Not that she had anything to hide. Ella hadn’t been lying before. She couldn’t disclose her location to Susie because she didn’t know it, but she had hoped for some privacy when she spoke to her for the first time since the complicated ordeal had started.

Hovering over the black screen, her finger trembled.

“Is everything okay, little girl?”

She didn’t lift her gaze to meet his, but she sensed the weight of his stare on her skin.

“I’m okay,” she started. “I’m just trying to decide what to say, sir.”

“Do you want me to leave you to it?” He rose from the sofa, his height still awing in her peripheral vision. “I want to get my bag from the hall.”

“If you don’t mind, sir.” She risked a glance in his direction, noticing his lips curl.

“I don’t mind, little girl.”

How was he so absurdly good-looking? Weren’t men of his age supposed to be balding and out of shape? Tucker seemed able to buck just about every norm she could recall.

“I want you to have what you need, but remember, I’ll only be outside if you need me.”

I’ll only be outside, I’ll only be outside…

His words rang in her ears like a caution.

Don’t do anything silly, Ella. I’ll only be outside…

She heaved in a shaky breath as he strode out of the lounge and left her in relative peace. Pressing the digits of her mother’s number into the device, her toes curled into the rug as the dialing tone radiated through her head. Time lengthened in that strange way it seemed able to as she waited for her mother to answer.

“Hello?” Susie’s voice filled the handset, and a thousand memories of her childhood exploded in Ella’s mind. Suddenly, she remembered the woman who’d loved and nurtured her and recalled how much she’d missed her.

“Mum?” She turned toward the jaw-dropping vista, conscious of the tears burning in her eyes.

“Ella?” Susie sounded frantic. “Oh my God, are you okay, darling? Where are you?”

“I’m fine,” she insisted, sniffing back her tears as she rose and walked toward the vast window. “I don’t know where I am, but I’m somewhere in the city.”

“Your asshole of a father told me what he did.” Susie’s emotion was evident in her voice. “I’m so sorry, Ella. I should never have brought him back into your life.”

“It’s okay.” Ella frowned at the desperation in her mum’s tone. It wasn’t a sound she was used to, and she didn’t want to hear it again. “I’m safe, and I’m being looked after.”

“Alexander said he gave you to some old friend!” Susie sounded rightly disgusted, although Ella could barely remember when she had felt the same way. “How dare he treat you that way?”

“I know,” she agreed. “But the guy I’m with is okay. He treats me well, Mum.”

She glanced back to the sofa, her sex clenching at the memory of how she’d only recently been his footrest. What would her mother say if she knew just how well she and Tucker were getting on?

“Let me call the police,” Susie responded at speed. “I don’t see a number to call you back on, but maybe they can track the call and—”

“Mum,” Ella interrupted. “Wait.” Tucker had already explained how the phone she was using was virtually untraceable, but she didn’t want to go into all that with her mother right now. “I have a time and place to see you if you’d like to meet.”

“Like to meet?” Susie’s tone reeked of her exasperation. “I want you home, Ella. Julia and I miss you. We’ve been worried sick!”

“I know.” Ella’s belly lurched as her own homesickness mixed with her new, spiraling feelings for Tucker. Guilt twisted inside as she tried to reconcile her emotions. Could she fall for her captor and still love and miss her mother? Did making concessions to Tucker make her disloyal to the people who loved her? Hell, a girl could go mad trying to resolve the dilemma. “But for now, this is the best I’ve got.”

“Is he holding you hostage?” Susie’s voice lowered as though she knew she was on speakerphone.

Instinctively, Ella’s attention traveled to the doorway, half expecting to find Tucker looming there. But, despite her racing heart, there was no sign of him.

“It’s not as straightforward as that.” Ella could never make her mother understand what was happening between her and Tucker because she didn’t comprehend it herself. “At first, he held me against my will in the woods, but now we’re in the city, things are better.”

“Better?” Susie sounded skeptical. “Is he hurting you, Ella? Is he making you do things ?”

Her tone of voice altered as though she was too afraid to reference sex, but Ella was an adult. She’d been enjoying her sex life before Mr. Bowman had ripped into her world. The only difference was that sex with Tucker was better than any she’d known before.

“Mum.” Ella sighed. “Will you meet me so I can explain?” Or at least try to explain … She rested her head on the glass pane.

“Of course, darling.” Susie sniffed. “Just name the time and place.”