Captive (Social Experiments #1) Read online

  Of course she’d know Sam’s name but not his mom. Yvonne liked kids but she tended to ignore women she didn’t classify as a threat and watch the ones who were like a hawk.

  “Yes, Sam’s mom. Cassie James.”

  “The stick?” Yvonne gaped at me. Color flooded her face and she leapt toward me with both of her fists. I’d like to pretend that she hit like a feather. But she didn’t. She caught me in the jaw with her left, but I snatched her right fist and yanked her in close. “You put me in this fucking hole then decided to screw another woman?”

  “No!” She struggled against me, shimmied and squirmed from left to right for freedom, a wildcat possessed by her own fury. For the first time in all our friendship, I wanted to slap her. I didn’t. To my credit, I waited out her frustration and settled both hands over her shoulders after she calmed. “You’re the only woman I’ve made love to in weeks, Yvonne. I swear it.”

  “But she wants you. I know she does. You could always see it on her face when she dropped by with her bake sale shit.”

  “I hardly think that’s the case,” I said mildly.

  “She does,” Yvonne insisted.

  I shook my head again and soothed a hand over her hair. It needed a washing again. “You’re blowing it out of proportion, baby. She only drops by with extra food on occasion when she has too much.”

  “Please. Everyone knows the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach or his dick and I won you over with both.”

  Could it be true? I analyzed a history of visits between us and let my mind turn over the evening’s events. It had been nice. Her company was easy and her laugh warming. And she’d been checking me out.

  Her hug had been enjoyable, too. Yvonne described her as a stick but I’d felt curves beneath her knit sweater.

  I shook my head and denied it easily. “I’m not interested in her. Look. I fell asleep and woke up to her knocking on the door. She seemed lonely so I invited her in for cheap takeout.”

  Her pouted lips drove thoughts of Cassie from my mind and filled my thoughts with all the things I wanted Yvonne’s mouth to do. The jealous display was cute and stroked my ego, despite its absurdity.

  “I ordered your favorite things. But I think you need a quick lesson, Yvonne. I don’t strike you, and you shouldn’t hit me either.”

  Where there should have been trepidation at the idea of punishment, Yvonne’s eyes gleamed with passion. She wanted my lessons.

  “Strip and get over here.”

  Yvonne’s seductive crawl convinced me that I was forgiven. She tugged at my sweats and coaxed me to lay upon the mat lining the floor.

  “I’ve been a bad girl, Master. I’m sorry.”

  She spoke it like a dirty word, inciting my anger but not ruining my mood. I didn’t own her, and as much as I’d treated her like a dog, she sure wasn’t my slave either. My sub, but not my slave.

  Yvonne’s lips whispered over my stiffening cock and her flicking tongue left a wet trail until she reached the tip. I groaned and pushed my hips upward, seeking her hot mouth. Once her lips cradled my dick, nothing else mattered.

  “All of it, baby, come on. Suck it. Suck all of it,” I urged. “All of it, Yvonne. Show me how sorry you are.”

  She deep throated like a dream, so I couldn’t imagine why Greg ever let anyone else on his dick. I threaded my fingers through her hair and groaned, my pleasure hastened by her quickening rhythm. She wanted my forgiveness, and more than anything, I wanted to give it.

  Yvonne’s dark hair tickled my hip and dragged over the top of my thighs. I smoothed it back from her face and watched the rapid descent of her mouth up and down my erection. She sucked it in expertly, never hesitating, choking on me until my balls touched her chin the way I liked.

  I didn’t warn her of my impending orgasm, nor did I need to. In two weeks, Yvonne had come to know me well. She drew back until the flared tip rested over her tongue. Her lips sealed around my veiny shaft and her fist eagerly pumped until my toes curled.

  I exploded in her mouth, and she swallowed every salty bit. My fingers tightened in her hair as I held her there until the throbbing pulse in my dick eased. She came off of me with a wet slurp, like a kid sucking a lollipop. I didn’t move; I lay there, completely weak and at her mercy.

  When my breaths returned and my head stopped spinning, I sat up and smiled at the woman knelt between my legs. God how I liked seeing her that way.

  “Do you forgive me?”

  “I forgave you before your lips touched me, baby. Come here.”

  I coaxed her close, until her nubile body lay stretched upon me. I discarded my t-shirt and kicked free of my sweats so that we could press skin to skin. Explore and touch while I recuperated from climax. I wanted to have her again and I needed to make up for my tardiness.

  “There’s never a need to hit, Yvonne. I have my life and you’ll have yours when you’re ready, but this…?” I stroked my palm down her body and delved two fingers into her wet clench. She moaned and gyrated her hips, encouraging me to finger fuck her. “This is mine. Do you understand me? Do you understand what I risked to have you? I don’t want anyone else. I want you.”

  “I should be punished.”

  I flipped her over and jerked her back by her hips.

  Generous amounts of lubricant and an ultra-thin condom eased my passage into her ass. It was new for me, but Yvonne had begged me to try. I reamed her, thrusting hard and fast. My pelvis clapped against her cheeks, the skin to skin contact pleasing me as much as her tight grip on my dick. I could never get enough of Yvonne. I craved her, like an addict needing a fix. Her tits swung and bounced with the frenetic rhythm of my strokes.

  Opposite us, a mirror hung on the wall, portraying a perfect view of our wild coupling. Her elated expression and screams for more turned me into an insatiable animal.

  She came so hard that she collapsed flat on her belly and lay there, trembling and weak. After I disposed of the condom, we met beneath the warm shower spray. We held each other close and didn’t dare to speak. Neither kissing nor exploring with our touches. Genuinely repentant for my failure to arrive on time, I kissed her brow and offered to wash her hair. She loved that. And to be absolutely truthful, I loved to pamper her, too.

  Afterward, we dried and sprawled together upon a few thick blankets. Yvonne crawled over me, gazed into my eyes, and ran her fingers through my damp hair to smooth a few strands from my forehead. Her pensive look told me something was wrong.

  “What is it?”

  “I should have let you fuck me that night instead of playing games.” Yvonne’s soft voice filled with remorse. “Leaving you like that wasn’t fair. And I would have discovered all of this.”

  I wish that I knew she’d wanted me to chase her. That she was testing me. “You can’t imagine how long I had to stand under a cold shower.” The memory inspired me to run my hand along my own dick. The semi-flaccid length stirred but ultimately remained limp. I was sated and exhausted.

  The conversation continued for a few minutes more until my eyelids grew heavy and my limbs became as lead weights. I’d never slept in the basement with her before, but the idea appealed to me. I’d wake up to her choking me with her chain or…

  “Jake? Wake up.”

  I stirred and drowsily opened my eyes, too defeated by my own vigorous lovemaking to rouse easily from sleep. “What?”

  “Shouldn’t you go upstairs to sleep in your bed?”

  “Don’t wanna… comfortable right here.”

  Yvonne shook me again. “You’ll miss your alarm and be late for work.

  “Fuck work,” I grumbled.

  “I might escape.”

  “Then I’ll go to prison.” It crossed my mind that she might be speaking the truth and that her words weren’t some playful tease meant to chase me from the basement. If she escaped, she’d call the police. They’d no doubt examine the sublevel, discover the fresh layer of cement, exhume Greg’s corpse, and then I’d be spending a long while behi
nd bars before I ever saw the light of day. The courts had declared capital punishment unconstitutional in Massachusetts a few decades ago.

  Despite the risk to my personal freedom, I wanted to have faith in her. Whether it was foolish or not, I gave my trust to Yvonne and shut my eyes. “I want to sleep with you.”

  Yvonne stilled. “But… I said…”

  “The key to your cuff is in my pants. If you want out, you know where to find it.”

  It was time for the ultimate test of her loyalty.

  I awakened six hours later to her morning kisses, with more than an hour to spare before I was due at work. Even now, Yvonne guaranteed I made it to work on time.

  Chapter 10

  I returned home in the evening to a wrapped parcel waiting for me outside of the door. Cassie had graduated from bringing me excess cookies and meatloaf in person, to leaving them on the welcome mat when our overlapping shifts prevented a meeting in person. I shook my head and read the note.

  Last night was fun. I meant what I said about doing it again sometime soon. I always put Sam to bed at 8:30 every night, so I wondered if you’d like to come up. Call me if you’re free. I should be in from work by 5 today.

  C.

  She signed her name with a single letter, enough to divulge her identity. I took the tray of sweets inside and shut the door behind me.

  Yvonne was bound to respond with jealousy, but I wasn’t going to blow off a friendship. While I knew that her shitty upbringing had a lot to do with her insecurities and perpetual need for reassurance, I couldn’t enable her by giving in either. The best way to treat it, was with patience, support, and a firm hand.

  I phoned Cassie at a quarter after five and agreed to meet her and Sam for dinner. The night was promised to Yvonne, of course, but I filled my belly and played a couple hands of UNO. Sam bounced around his room and showed me all of his toy brick models. The colorful creations ranged from spaceships to robots. He had to use his rescue inhaler three times while I was there until Cassie finally got him settled around 8.

  “Is he going to be okay?” I asked from the bedroom door.

  “Yeah, we have an appointment tomorrow. They’re gonna try him on some new meds.” Her smile was strained.

  “Maybe I should go…”

  “I’m sorry.” She bit her bottom lip, brow furrowed. “I’d hoped to see if you wanted to watch a movie but I should probably get set up in his room. Usually when he has a bad day like this he wakes up wheezing.”

  “Hey, it’s all good. We’ll hang out another time. Thanks for having me over to dinner.”

  Her expression lightened and her smile bloomed in full force. “I’m glad you joined us.”

  I turned the lock on my way out and jogged down the steps to my floor. After a shower, I warmed up leftover pizza. Yvonne complained so often about her thighs gaining mass, that I was tempted to let her up into the main level to cook for us. Frequent rounds of sex probably didn’t count as exercise.

  “Happy to see me?”

  Yvonne hurried to meet me at the entrance. She took the plate of piled pizza slices and kissed my cheek. “You’re late.”

  “Sorry.” In the past I would have texted her, but that wasn’t an option. Her disabled cellphone waited quietly in a disused electrical outlet upstairs. One day she’d get it back.

  Once I settled in my chair, I leaned back and rubbed the bridge of my nose. My exhausting day took its toll. I could barely keep my eyes open, but I didn’t want to miss the chance to enjoy Yvonne’s company for the night.

  “Not eating?”

  “No, I had dinner.” Chester leapt into my lap and kneaded my thigh with his paws. I stroked him in return until he had enough and abandoned me. He was a good cat, and he had gradually changed my opinion about the troublesome little jerks.

  Yvonne set the plate of pizza against the small table I brought down to her room. “You were having fun with her again, weren’t you?” Yvonne crossed her arms. “Is this how it’s going to be?”

  I sighed. This was the last thing I wanted, but it was time to lay down the rules. I couldn’t keep Yvonne down here forever, but I couldn’t just release her so easily either. Her jealousy wore thin on my fraying nerves.

  “No, but I did come down to have a chat with you about the way things are going to be in the future.”

  Yvonne gave me a scathing look, jealousy bright in her green eyes. For as long as I had known her, I was the envious friend who wanted more than what she gave. I sighed as she joined me on the floor but didn’t take her favored spot on my lap. Fine. Be that way, I thought to myself. I shook my head again.

  “First, when it’s time for you to get out of this room, you’re going to get a job. I want you to put your nursing degree to work.”

  “Of course I am,” she snapped at me. “I put in too much work.”

  I ignored her petulant behavior and continued. “No more shopping sprees. If you want something, you will come to me. Do you understand? We’ll discuss it together before you blow a grand on a miniskirt and a pair of boots.” I didn’t want to treat Yvonne like a child, but I couldn’t bear the financial burden any longer.

  “It’s my money.”

  “I cut you a cheap deal on rent, Yvonne. You hardly pay anything, and you don’t have any bills. I love having you here, baby, you know I do. But you’re going to have to help this time around. I can’t keep covering your costs.” My tenants paid 1500 hundred dollars a month and handled their own utility bills. Yvonne paid a flat four hundred to share our water, power, and cable.

  “I know,” she said in a small voice. “Jake, I know I haven’t been the best roommate. I’m sorry, okay? I’m really, legitimately sorry.”

  The apology was huge and it meant a lot. “Okay then. Once we’re both settled into new jobs we’ll sit down together and budget everything out. You’ll have spending money, I promise you that much. We’ll share the chores.” I paused to consider her tendencies to allow the chore assignments to fall in her favor. “Most of them.”

  “I know, I know… I’ll make it up to you.” She reached for my hand and moved within reach until we were pressed intimately close and side by side. Yvonne lowered her cheek to my shoulder and closed her eyes. “Not only with sex, I mean. I’ve been a shitty friend to you.”

  “That makes two of us. I’m sorry things came to this, but I’m not sorry, too.”

  “You showed a new side of yourself, Jake. I like it.” She turned her head and kissed my neck. “You make me so wet when you get bossy like this.”

  Keeping my mind on track was difficult when she talked this way to me. I managed it though. Somehow.

  “There’s something else.”

  “What’s that?” she asked.

  “I’ll do my best to work my schedule around your shifts, but you need to accept that I have a life. I’m going to hang out with Harrison and the guys. I’m going to accept dinner invites up to Cassie and Sam’s apartment because they’re friends and my world doesn’t revolve around you. And when you’re out of here, you’re also going to be with your friends again.”

  Her kisses dropped away and her body tensed. “So… what? I’m just your fuck toy? You’re ashamed of all this?”

  “Of course not! I’m not ashamed of you.” I rubbed her shoulders gently and appreciated the way she melted beneath my hands.

  “But you don’t want to be seen with me?”

  “You’ve been gone. Everyone knows you and I were never a thing. So we have to look that way when you come back, otherwise it’ll raise suspicion. We both need to be seen having lives. My friends already wonder where I disappear to so much.”

  “What am I going to say?”

  “You’re a grown woman, Yvonne. You have every right to go where you want, when you want. Your boyfriend hit you, skipped out of graduation, and you were a mess. Just say you took the cash your family gave you and spent some time up in Canada. Not a thing they can do about it.”

  “What would I be doing in Canada?
”

  “I dunno. Visiting that hockey player you dated a couple years back. It doesn’t matter, Yvonne. Your mom doesn’t control you anymore.” I did.

  “When can I leave?”

  “Soon, baby, soon.” I needed a few more days. I wanted them. To have her all to myself for a little bit longer.

  Chapter 11

  My grandfather never complained about the tenants. In all of the years I knew him, the man never had a cross word to say. Even when they phoned in the middle of the night about the overflowing toilet, a lack of hot water, or an electrical socket that quit on the job. He served them with a smile on his face.

  Whenever a tenant beat on my door at two in the morning, I tried to live up to Gramps’ expectations and provide the same friendly service. Tired, sore from a legitimate workout routine, and barely capable of opening my eyes, I stumbled into my front door and squinted out. The grandfather clock in the hallway claimed it wasn’t quite nine in the evening. I’d gone to bed early for once.

  “Whaaaa?”

  Cassie stood on the other side, hair and clothes wet.

  “Jake, I am so sorry,” she blurted out before I could say much. “I came in to get a drink and the faucet handle snapped off and water spewed everywhere and I can’t get the shutoff valve to turn,” she babbled in a frantic rush.

  Once her predicament set in, I gradually began to awaken and regain a functioning mental state, even if my body loathed me. I had nobody to blame but myself, dumb enough to believe I was fit enough to run five miles with Bobby. Yvonne’s encouragement had tipped the scale and given me the inspiration to go for the dream of training for next year’s marathon. Now I hated myself and wished I’d never stepped outside onto the Boston streets. It must have been pure masochism.

  “There’s water everywhere. I really tried my best to stop it.”

  A visual snapped into my mind, her screaming and flailing as water shot like a geyser from the faulty kitchen plumbing. “O...kay. Let me get dressed.” I paused to reconsider her words. “Wait. Wait, wait, wait. It’s leaking right now?”