Survival ( Book 2: Stronger Series )

11. Checked

God-fucking-dammit, she was so perfect; stubborn, but perfect. Jaden had so much fight in her, and I loved every bit of it. I loved it even more when I snuffed it out of her and brought her to heel. She was the perfect combination of defiance and fear all wrapped up in the sexiest little package I could have ever asked for. And she was absolutely driving me wild.

This morning had been a huge turn-on, even though I was pissed at how she arrived, but the end result was just as exciting. I wanted to bury myself in her so deep I'd get lost, but I wanted to wait, and it was so worth it. I had forgotten how fast she was when she managed to land that punch right at my mouth. I wasn't used to women like her, but I loved her skill; it made fighting with her so much more exciting.

Even her bōjutsu skills were entertaining. It was one thing to perform, but it was another to fight, and not many trained like she and I obviously had. She was so full of surprises, and I couldn't wait to find more.

After I had left her in her cage, I headed toward my security room on the first floor. I knew the cage would be a sure way to get Jaden's attention as defying me meant consequences she would seriously want to avoid.

I opened the door to find Scott sitting at the desk containing all the computer monitors that displayed the feed from the cameras around the estate. All of our guns and ammunition filled the cages connected to the walls; the server containing all the auction history, buyer information, and acquisitions stood in the back of the room with special provisions to keep it secured from any potential threats.

This was a secret tool of mine if a business partner ever tried to fuck me over. I had a good majority of their illegal activity, and not only would they receive a bullet from me, but their families would also get to know all their dirty little secrets. There was no connection to me, of course, but I liked having an extra weight over their heads just in case.

Scott glanced over at me while he rested his chin in the palm of his hand. A smirk was ready to form on his face as I walked over.

"What's she doing?" I asked and sat down on the second chair next to him.

"Shivering," he replied without looking at me.

I stared at the monitor and noticed Jaden had, in fact, curled into herself, her knees tucked to her chest and her arms hiding inside her dress as she laid on her side.

I relaxed back and stared some more, watching her attempt to keep warm to no avail. If she were looking for warmth or comfort in that cage, she wouldn't find it. I purposely made sure that metal stayed cold by keeping the temperature down there an extra ten degrees below the upstairs temperature. I wanted her to need my body heat when I finally let her out so that she would have no choice but to melt into me instead of cringing away. I planned to get inside her head that way. Punish her and then comfort her afterward. I knew there was no way her mind and body would deny her comfort if it was needed and I presented it.

"She's one hell of a fighter," Scott said, breaking my train of thought. "I have to give her that."

"Yeah, she does have some skill," I replied. "But it's nothing I need to worry about. I can handle her just fine."

"I bet she could kick Dominick's ass, though." Scott laughed.

I chuckled at that, too. My youngest brother was twenty-two, and even though he was six foot one and one hundred and sixty pounds, he still wasn't much of a fighter. I had been training him for as long as I could remember, but he was a little busy running the clubs in Vegas and having fun with girls to bother keeping up with it. He knew enough to keep himself out of trouble, but his skill wasn't where I wanted it to be.