Captive Beauty: A Reverse Harem Dark Romance Read online

  Captive Beauty

  A Dark Reverse Harem Romance

  By Chloe Saint

  Chapter 1

  Voices.

  Footsteps.

  Danger.

  Something prickled the hairs at the back of my neck.

  I woke up in the middle of the night, mouth feeling like it was full of cotton balls, and eyes almost refusing to open.

  At first, I was confused by my awakened state. I was usually a deep sleeper. Then my eyes adjusted to the light, and I saw my sister Lenny across from me, struggling in the arms of a giant of a man in a mask. She gasped for air and struggled to scream, but he clamped a rag over her mouth, and she slumped back, unconscious.

  I opened my mouth to scream, but my voice was quickly muffled by a large, gloved hand almost the size of my face.

  “I wouldn’t, if you care about your sister’s safety,” whispered a dark voice in my ear. My eyes darted frantically, trying to find something—anything—to fight him off with. As though sensing my intentions, he chuckled, a sound that made the hairs on my arms stand up in fear.

  “The little kitty has claws,” he murmured, and dragged me up by the hair, stuffing a wad of cloth in my mouth so I wouldn’t be able to call for help. Then he pushed me face down on the bed, holding me there by the neck. I could feel the strength in his hands. He could probably snap my neck without exerting any energy at all. I felt like a tiny rabbit in the jaws of a lion.

  “Is this her?” another voice growled. My heart scrabbled in my chest like a wild animal as a second pair of booted feet appeared.

  To my horror, his hand cupped my ass and squeezed it, moving over to rub a thumb between my ass crack suggestively. I gasped through the gag, trying to twitch away from the touch, but the hand holding me down was strong as a steel bar.

  “None of that now,” said the voice I recognized as my first captor. He sounded amused, the bastard. “We’ll have time enough when we’re home.”

  “Are we sure it’s her?” the second man growled. “We don’t want to go home with the wrong one.”

  “I checked,” the first said impatiently. “And she’s got spirit, anyway.”

  “I like to take my time breaking in the new fillies,” the second man said, and he moved his hand between my legs. I snapped them closed, trapping his hand in between and he laughed, delighted. That struck fear in my heart more than anything before.

  Who were these psychos? I thought, and where was Daddy? They’d knocked Lenny out, for some reason, and from the way they were talking, it sounded as though they only intended to take me.

  Was this Daddy’s plan? I wouldn’t put it past him. I thought about all the other nightly visitors he forced on me over the years. I thought at least in this nowhere town, far away from his business associates, I would at least be spared that. But I was clearly wrong.

  “I see what you mean,” the second man said, sounding satisfied even as he found my entrance with his trapped hand and scraped a cruel finger along it through the fabric of my nightgown. I struggled and gasped for breath through the gag, the movement enough to free his hand.

  He slapped my ass, saying, “I’ll do my best to make her more…cooperative.”

  “Not until we’ve explained things to her, Killian,” said the first man, who, although he seemed like a brute, at least he hadn’t manhandled me like that…yet. I shuddered, and let my body lay there limply. I had a vague, weak hope that if I was quiet and compliant, they would let me go.

  “Did you find her?” came a third, bored voice, “We searched the rest of the house, this one better be worth the trouble.”

  This one made my skin prickle with dread. It was so cold and aloof. Not brutish, like the second man, or impersonal like the first. The third man didn’t even seem to think of me as human, more like a beast to be captured and tamed.

  I heard his footsteps approaching the bed.

  “Ah,” he said, and ran his hand over the back of my body, light as a feather. It wasn’t like a lover’s caress. No, it was more like the touch of a man who wanted to see the proportions of his horse before he decided to buy it. “Very pretty,” he sneered, “But nothing like I remember. She’s grown too soft for my taste. I’d break her in two.”

  “She’s the one we want,” said the second man’s voice obstinately. “We all agreed.”

  The third man’s voice was harsh to my ears as he said, “I suppose we’ll find out if she’s worth this soon enough.”

  His hand moved up my shoulder blades and went to the base of my head, running clever fingers over my scalp before fisting my hair and pulling my head up with a force that made me gasp through the gag. My head arched back and met his inscrutable black mask, identical to those worn by the two other men.

  “Hello, Belle,” he said, and I saw the vicious white gleam of his teeth in the light falling through the window, “You don’t seem very happy to see us,” he observed, before bending forward and capturing my mouth in a searing, violent kiss.

  He was all teeth and his mouth burned like fire, snaking his tongue into my helpless mouth, biting my lips with a ferocity that left them tingling. I was moaning, partly because of the pain of him pulling my hair back, and partly from the force of the kiss. He let me go abruptly, and my head fell forward, limp. I was dazed, wrung out like a used rag.

  For a moment, the only sound in the room was my loud, shocked gulps of breath.

  “No more,” the first man said, his tone a warning. “Not yet. We don’t want the sister to wake up.”

  “What about dear old Dad?” the second man’s voice sneered.

  My heart beat faster. What had they done to Daddy? Where had the third man been all this while?

  He was in on the whole thing, I was still sure of it. But why arrange for this midnight visit with Lenny around? And everything about these men said they were familiar with violence. I felt sick at the thought that they could have don something to her while looking for me.

  “Cowering in his bathroom,” said the cold man with a snort. “He told me that we could take anything we wanted as long as we let him go. I didn’t tell him that we had no intention of hurting him quite yet.”

  “Did he recognize you?” the first man asked with a touch of curiosity.

  “No. I didn’t let him see my face, and it’s been ten years anyway. I don’t think he even noticed me back then anyway. Too busy focusing on the potential investors.”

  “What a coward,” the second man said contemptuously. “Well, let’s take this beauty back with us. I’m already hard as a rock.”

  I struggled and whined piteously, like a goat being carried to the slaughter, when the first man’s familiar hands lifted me up and threw me over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

  His muscles moved below me as he led the three men out of my tiny bedroom, down the stairs and out of the house. They were shockingly quiet for men so large and heavy.

  My mind reeled at the conversation I’d overheard about Daddy. So they weren’t here for a robbery originally? It seemed that they knew Daddy from long ago, but how? They sounded like they hated him. Maybe they were taking me for revenge.

  I could have laughed. They didn’t know that to Daddy I was worth less than his Italian loafers. He would have kissed their feet for agreeing to get me off his hands, now that I’d outgrown my usefulness.

  Other things that the men had said frightened me. And I thought of the way the third man had plundered my mouth, and the bold way the second had explored between my legs, and shuddered again.

  What were they going to do to me? I wondered helplessly. My mind flew through scenarios, each worse than the last. Each made death loo
k like the most appealing option.

  As we left the house, the cold air hit me like a ton of bricks, and I was shivering violently in seconds.

  “Killian, she’s freezing you fool!” called a fourth voice. This one was different…gruffer, deeper.

  He sounded like he was the oldest out of all of them. And the only considerate one, I thought gratefully, as a blanket was tossed on me, and I was momentarily lifted as it was wrapped around me like a blanket burrito.

  “The rest of the house?” the fourth man asked. We were still moving, but now I could hear the purr of a vehicle’s engine. Their transportation, I guessed, and the way they were planning on taking me back.

  I aimed one last, desperate look at the house. Lenny was still there, I thought, heart aching, and I didn’t even get to say goodbye to Bridgette who was probably fast asleep now at her friend’s house.

  Tears rolled down my face as they bundled me into a jeep. I didn’t know what to make of anything, but I hoped that at least Daddy would be able to keep Lenny and Bridgette safe. I took a moment to be thankful that they’d only taken me.

  They could have gotten greedy and taken Lenny as well, but they’d restrained themselves. For that alone, I was grateful. Even if they were going to put me through hell in the coming days—and I was sure that they were—at least they’d spared my sister.

  “Well, Belle,” the first man—Killian—said to me, “You must have a few questions for us.”

  I made a muffled sound of assent through the gag. A couple of the men chuckled.

  “You’ll understand everything soon enough,” he said, running his hands through the fall of my dark hair, before tilting my head back so he could see my face better. “But for now, sleep.”

  He pressed a rag to my nose, and I saw that it was the same one he’d used on Lenny. It smelled sour and acrid, and my head began to spin immediately.

  I didn’t even struggle. I welcomed the blank darkness of unconsciousness. I inhaled the acrid scent, felt it turn my muscles leaden and my mind sank into blessed sleep.

  Chapter 2

  When I woke up, I found myself lying on the softest bed I’d ever slept on.

  It felt like I was lying on a puffy cloud. I felt the silk sheets under my fingers and ran my hands over them absently, well rested and content as my mind slowly pieced itself together.

  Wait a minute, I realized as my head snapped up, this wasn’t anything like my bed at home! My bed was a humble twin with scratchy cotton sheets.

  I bolted upright and looked around, as my memories slowly came back to me.

  I finally remembered the previous night, and the masked men, and that I’d been kidnapped.

  Cold horror filled me, and I stuffed my fist in my mouth to stop from crying out. They’d really done it. They’d waltzed into my home and plucked me out of my bed as easily as a child might pluck the wings off a butterfly.

  I would have expected to find myself trapped in a dungeon or a dank cell, but this was nothing like that.

  It was a huge, bright room with expensive silk wallpaper and I was lying in the huge four-poster bed in its center. There was a powder blue dresser and mirror, and a huge walk in wardrobe in the corner. In the center of the wall of windows on the side was a bay window seat, framed with wispy white curtains that fluttered in the light breeze.

  It was a room for a princess.

  But also for a prisoner.

  They were one and the same, in my case.

  I lifted my legs off the bed and got up slowly. I was still groggy, probably from whatever poison they used to knock me out yesterday.

  But even though I couldn’t think straight, I still had one clear goal in my head: to escape this place as soon as possible.

  I stumbled to the door, expecting someone to burst in at any minute. I was weak as a kitten, and wouldn’t be able to put up a fight against any one of them, leave alone all four.

  When I turned the doorknob, I held my breath, expecting it to be locked.

  To my surprise, it turned easily and soundlessly. Instead of feeling relief, I was chilled. They must have really felt confident in their ability to keep me from escaping, if they were so relaxed with their security. Well, I was going to prove them wrong. They wouldn’t even find a trace of me, I vowed.

  I cracked the door open and listened for other signs of life. There were none.

  When I stepped out, I felt the cool breeze rustle my bare legs and looked down for the first time.

  I was still in my nightgown from the night before, I noticed, cheeks heating up. It was the same one I’d worn for years, and repeated washes had made it basically transparent. It was very sheer in all the wrong places.

  When I looked down I could see my nipples poking through the material, hard and pebbled from the cold air. I certainly couldn’t escape in these clothes. I’d have to steal some. We were in the dead of winter, and I would freeze outside in minutes without thick, warm clothing.

  But my heart sank at the thought. Just getting out of here was going to take all my resourcefulness. But now I was supposed to steal clothes as well? This was going to be nearly impossible.

  I would just have to face that hurdle when I came to it.

  I stepped out of my room, holding my breath, but still nothing happened.

  The landing led onto a staircase, and I padded down knowing it was my only chance for getting out of this house.

  I could hear voices.

  Men’s voices.

  The sounds of their chatter and laughter was drifting to me from the next room over. Heart beating like a rabbit’s, I stood on the stair. I was trying to decide whether to keep descending. In my heart I knew that I wouldn’t get a chance like this again. If I tried once and failed, they would never let me out of my room again.

  I crept down the stairs, one by one.

  On the second-to-last step, I got cocky.

  I stepped on the bottom stair without testing it first, and the creak it made filled me with shock and fear. I flinched back in surprise, lost my balance and went crashing down.

  I felt it happening in slow motion. I tilted forward, arms windmilling out desperately, and fell down. The carpet was thick and lush, so I wasn’t hurt. But I did knock down a huge urn with my wayward arm that went down with the weight and majesty of the Titanic. Even the carpet couldn’t contain the loud, metallic thunk that echoed through the house.

  I lay on the floor, panting with fear.

  Had they heard it? They must have. Anyone in the house who wasn’t deaf would have heard it. It was loud enough to even wake the dead.

  But I didn’t hear cries of shock or surprise. I didn’t hear anything.

  I got back to my feet shakily. My body felt like cold fear was running through my veins, but I couldn’t stop moving. I could see the front door in front of me, huge and black and only twenty feet away,

  I stumbled towards it, feet sinking into the carpet, and reached for the doorknob with trembling fingers.

  This was it.

  I touched the cool metal. Nothing happened. I wasn’t hit with a shock of electricity, no blaring alarms went off. I released a breath that I’d been holding, and twisted it.

  It turned easily, by some miracle. I honestly hadn’t expected it to.

  The door opened smoothly and soundlessly without a creak, and as I pulled the door open, I heard the howl of strong winds and the slap of cold air. Goosebumps immediately broke out on my skin, as I stared with dismay at the completely white world that lay outside.

  “Not what you’d hoped, eh?” said an amused voice behind me.

  I whirled around, heart in my chest, and saw two men waiting behind me, arms crossed.

  They were huge and muscular. Yet even with their size, they’d managed to sneak up on me.

  “H-how did you know I was here?” I stuttered, covering my chest beneath crossed arms. I hadn’t forgotten how one of them had touched me last night—like I belonged to him. I didn’t want to give them ideas.

  �
�Motion sensors in your room,” the one closest to me said simply. I recognized his voice…he was my kidnapper #1. The one who had carried the whole thing out so impersonally and efficiently. “We knew the second you woke up, and when you went down the stairs. And when you knocked over that urn. You might want to attempt a stealthy escape a little better next time.”

  I ignored the jab.

  “Then why did you let me get so far?” I asked. “Did you just want to give me false hope that I’d be able to escape? That’s just cruel.”

  “We wanted you to find out for yourself what our security is like,” he said. “And give you a better understanding of what you’re up against. You might be tempted to try to run. But it’s the harshest part of winter, and you have no supplies to keep you alive. In one word: don’t.”

  “Why are you doing this?” I asked, breath hitching with fear as they drew near.

  “Because your father owes us,” the second one said, eyeing me hungrily, like I was a delicious fat rabbit and he was a hungry wolf. “And you’re going to pay his debt.”

  “What are you going to do to me?” I asked, shaking as the first one took me by the elbow. His touch felt like fire on my skin. He was a six foot something wall of masculinity. I wanted to run from him, and I wanted to melt into him at the same time.

  “Everything,” the second one said, teeth bared wide like a tiger about to pounce.

  They marched me into the kitchen like I was a prisoner in shackles. The second one walked in front of me, and the first maintained his iron grip on my arm. I couldn’t shake him off even if I wanted to, and I knew I wouldn’t try again, at least for now.

  They’d emptied the fight out of me, and I was tired and frightened. I longed for my bed, and for the cheerful warmth of my sisters. How would my father cover up my disappearance? I felt my fists ball up in anger as I remembered how he had basically told them they were welcome to have me in exchange for his safety.

  There were two others in the kitchen, equally tall and rough looking. They were dressed in stained t-shirts and jeans, like men who worked with their hands for a living.

  “Did you get far?” the older one asked me. I recognized his voice. He was the only one who bothered to throw a blanket over my freezing body last night.