His smile told her that she’d said just what he wanted her to say. Relief washed over her as he gave a few final thrusts and then lowered his face, touching his forehead to hers. “My Sloane.” The words sounded seductive yet intimidating.

Not trusting that her voice wouldn’t be shaky, she nodded her head, running her hands up his back. Figuring it would add to the illusion she was trying to create, she lifted her chin to kiss him. He didn’t hesitate and pressed his lips to hers, relishing the way she tasted.

If that didn’t convince him, I don’t know what will. She focused on their kiss and shifted under him, aware that her breasts brushed against his chest as was he.

Carter moved a hand to caress her, counting the minutes before he’d be ready to take her again. He was pleased to see that her nipple began to harden as he fondled her. But he didn’t want to send her too far over the edge, so he made himself stop.

She made a face at him.

“You need rest.” He chuckled, pushing himself off of the bed. He leaned down to place a kiss on her temple before grabbing his pants from the floor and leaving.

Still naked, still without a blanket or even a sheet, Sloane sat up on the bed and contemplated what had just happened.

She was grateful he hadn’t bothered to shackle her down, giving her the freedom to roam about the tiny space once again, which she began to do.

He had made her forget about pretending. He had driven her to want whatever pleasure he deemed her worthy of. And if she was going to be honest, she wanted more.

It horrified her to realize this.

But she told herself that if she kept that in her mind, if she was able to understand how her body was going to react to his advances, then she could ensure that she stayed focused on gaining his trust and finding a way to freedom. She just had to get control of her mind; she couldn’t lose her focus again. It wasn’t a bad thing that she enjoyed that particular moment of pleasure with him.

After all, he kind of owed it to her. He’s the one that had captured her with his stupid trap and kept her hostage in his stupid cellar.

She allowed the anger to bubble up and take over. It would be the perfect reminder that she couldn’t lose her focus. She would also use it to push her to exercise without him. She had to build up her strength because at some point, she planned to overpower him and get out of that hell hole. At some point, he would have to make a mistake and she would make her move then.

She started with what she called girly push-ups. She could do a few before her arms trembled from exertion. Crunches, then lunges, squats, and even jumping jacks. She did everything she could think of before she flopped onto the bed, tired and out of breath. While not out of shape, it just proved to her how much work she had to go to be able to have a chance.

After a few minutes of deep breathing, she decided to give it another go. Determination pushed her to do a few more push ups, do lower lunges than her first attempt. She felt pride swell in her heart and she knew that was going to be able to do it.

For now though, she was done. She couldn’t be exhausted when he came back. Then he’d put the padded cuffs and the shackle back on her “for her safety”. So she started stretching, relishing the pull in her muscles. Once finished, she sat on the bed and waited, telling herself over and over that she would not lose focus.

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He paced the kitchen floor. He wanted nothing more than to be with her again and again. He wanted to just lay beside her and stroke her hair. But he knew that she needed the time to recuperate from everything.

He had decided to leave the restraints off to let her have a little freedom. She wasn’t ready to come upstairs yet, but she was moving on her foot well and the way she’d reacted to him had been different than before. It seemed like she’d given him all the control and had enjoyed it.

It was going to be a long day if he just stayed there thinking about her. He had to get a move on. So he started cleaning the house and went through some stuff he’d been putting off. He decided to donate the clothes he no longer wanted and came across a woman’s shirt and shorts as he sorted through the pile of clothes.

Tossing them to the side, he wondered how they’d gotten mixed up in his discard pile. As much as he enjoyed walking into the cellar to see her in the buff, he decided that she might appreciate having her clothes back. After dinner, he planned to let her have them.

With a large sack of old clothes, he trudged to his truck and tossed it into the back. The trip would be a short one, so he didn’t worry about taking Sloane anything.

He got in the truck and navigated the road down to town. The clothes were donated first and then a trip to the grocery store to buy more bacon followed. He decided to go to the bakery and splurge on a red velvet cake decorated with tiny red roses, but halfway to the register, he worried she wouldn’t like red velvet. He considered going back and getting a yellow cake instead. After a few seconds and deciding that he didn’t want to waste any more time there, he went to the checkout.

As he made his way to his truck, a woman called out to him. “Hey, Carter!” She waved at him, a large smile on her face as she shifted the toddler on her hip and started walking toward him.

He waved back, not in the mood to chit chat, but he knew it would be rude of him to just leave. That was the one thing about living close to a small town that he hated. “Hey Millie.”

“How have you been?” She asked, her smile never wavering.

“Good. You?”

“Good. Lenny was wanting to have a boy’s night out. Not sure of the details, but I’m sure he’d love it if you joined them.”

“Uh, not sure if I have the time. I’ve gotten a lot of orders and I’m kinda behind.” He rubbed the back of his neck and gave her an uncertain look.

“Okay. Well, I’ll let him know. Just listen out for his call. Hopefully you can find the time to have some fun. You’re always cooped up in your workshop.” She gave him a gentle nudge.

“I will. Bye, cutie.” He gave the toddler a little wave before turning to get into his truck.

He watched the woman bounce away, toward the grocery store. He’d occasionally played with her and Lenny and all the guys that would be a part of the boy’s night whenever his parents would drop him off to visit with his uncle. Now, he wasn’t sure how he felt about being asked to be social. It had been such a long time since he’d gone out with anyone. He spent his time hunting, creating his carvings, and now, with Sloane.

As he drove home he thought about how his life with her would be. He couldn’t keep her hidden in the house forever. He knew that one day, she would want to go with him into town and he wouldn’t be able to tell her no. He had to hope that her sister didn’t care about her and wouldn’t try putting out any missing person ads. And if all was clear for them, he had to come up with some story as to how they’d met because telling people she’d gotten hurt in one of his traps would lead to them asking why he didn’t take her to the doctor.

Carter pushed the gas harder, in a hurry to get home. While he never minded his trips to town, this one had him unsettled.

Once home, he unloaded the truck and decided to make them a light late lunch. His mind was still focused on Millie and her suggestion.

“Hungry?”

Sloane looked up from her hands and smiled. She pushed herself back on the bed, stretching her legs in front of her. As he got closer, she patted the spot next to her.

“It’s late in the afternoon, so this is more of a snack.” He explained as he placed the veggie tray with crackers and cheese in between them.

“Looks good to me.” She reached out and grabbed a celery stick. She dunked it into the small bowl of ranch before taking a bite.

“So, your hometown, is it small?”

Sloane thought about the question for a second. “No. Not really, but it isn’t big either. Doesn’t make any sense, huh?”

He smiled before popping a cherry tomato into his mouth. “I think I can imagine what you mean. You can get lost there if you want or know everyone’s business.”

“Something like that.” She munched on a carrot.

“Did you go to college?”

“For a little bit. I didn’t really like it.”

“What were you studying?”

“I was going for my Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting.”

“No wonder you didn’t like it.”

She laughed and gave him a light slap on the wrist. “I just realized that I enjoy being able to run around and do what I want when I want. So I got a job working for a customer service organization.”

“That doesn’t sound much better.”

“Eh. It isn’t so bad. When I get irate customers, I just set the phone down and read or look stuff up on the computer.” She shrugged and licked a dot of ranch off of her finger. “What about you?”

“No college. But I have always loved woodwork. I took a course in school and made a hobby out of it. Someone suggested I try to sell some of my pieces at some festival. I did pretty well. After I moved here, I needed a job to buy groceries and other necessities. So I worked part time at the hardware store and spent my free time designing a website to try and sell whatever I came up with.”

Sloane listened with pure interest and watched his face.

“I did have to go out and try to advertise myself, so I joined other festivals, flea markets, wherever I could sell my stuff and spread the word. I’ve gotten special requests several times. Those are always my favorite jobs because some of the ideas these people come up with are…” His eyes widened and he splayed his fingers out while moving his hand away from his temple.

“That’s awesome. Will you show me some of your work?” She had shifted so that she now faced him, her back toward the far wall and chair.

“Yeah. Sure.” He pointed behind her. “There’s one of my first projects.”

She turned, already knowing that he was referring to the only other piece of furniture other than the table and bed. “That chair?” She scrunched her face as she turned back toward him.

“Yeah. I know.” He chuckled a little. “I’ve gotten much better. I promise.”

“Well, I mean, I couldn’t make that, so…” She shrugged because it was still impressive that one of his first projects had been to create a chair.

“What hobbies do you have?”

“I love to hike. I like taking pictures, but it’s not really a hobby. I mean, I haven’t taken any classes or learned how to take photographs.”

He stared at her for a minute, smiling. “Your face lit up when you mentioned hiking.”

Little crinkles formed beside her eyes as she smiled back. “You’ll go hiking with me one day?”

“Maybe.”

Her smile faltered and she realized his answer to her doing a lot of things was always going to be a maybe. But she couldn’t let that get to her because she had to make it all work. In the end, it wasn’t going to matter what he had to say.

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