Allie shuddered and wrapped her arms around herself. She wondered desperately where her mother was and what she was doing. A wave of longing assailed her. Just as Allie knew her mom was tucked away somewhere, she knew without a doubt that she was safe. Jay would ensure it. He would never let anything bad happen to Allie or Veronica. Or at least he would do everything in his power to ensure nothing ever happened to either of them. The mother made it easier than the daughter. Though both women tended toward kind-heartedness, Veronica was more willing to go with the flow and accept a situation as it was. As evidenced by her marriage to a wonderful, kind man that was not only approved by Jay, but Allie suspected carefully vetted and selected by him as well. Allie was much more of a trial to Jay's protective tendencies. She tended to question the world around her and rebel against authority.She shivered and stiffened as Jay came up behind her, moving quietly. He didn't touch her. Perhap
Allie loved everything to do with water. She enjoyed swimming, surfing, sailing, diving, fishing. She even loved building sandcastles, as long as she got to search for decorative seashells in the water. She thought it was because she was raised on the coast and the water was in her blood. No matter how poor they were, the ocean was always free. Allie was not materialistic and though she would have loved to reject Jay's things on principal, there was no way she was going to be able to walk away from his pool without swimming in it.After her nap, Allie had woken feeling marginally better and determined to enjoy at least one aspect of her luxurious prison. She hoped the pool was heated, because evening was approaching and the sun was rapidly dropping below the forested skyline. Knowing that Jay would be well prepared for her arrival she quickly found a closet stocked with a wide array of women's clothing, all in her size. She randomly chose a white one-piece bathing suit off the rack an
Allie glanced sideways and saw that lights had turned on inside the pool, lighting up the water, creating a beautiful turquoise glow. Several tall lamp posts along the patio had also turned on with the advent of full darkness. They weren't overly bright, but provided enough lighting that Jay could see enough of his prize. Allie gasped and jumped in his hold as his tongue dipped into her ear. She laughed and pushed her elbow back into his stomach, drawing an exaggerated 'oomph' from him. She used his momentary imbalance to push him backwards into the water and swim away from him.He showed her very quickly that his pool wasn't just for show and that he enjoyed swimming just as much as she did by twisting under the water, catching her by the waist before she could swim two feet and pulling her under with him. He surfaced with her held tightly in his arms and treaded water, keeping them both above the surface. Allie realized then that he was completely naked and far more affected by her
"Jay, wake up," Allie said in a calm voice.She placed a warm hand over his bare chest and shook a little. His fist arced up in retaliation, nearly catching her in the side of the head. Allie had been expecting it and was able to duck the hit. She had been trying to wake him up for ten minutes. She was kneeling beside him wearing a light grey nightshirt. She'd slipped it over her head when she realized Jay was having a nightmare and unable to wake up.She hadn't realized he was still having them. She bet he didn't tell anyone. Her heart constricted in pain as she realized how long he'd suffered alone. She ran her fingers lightly over his arms and torso, her eyes following the contraction of his muscles worriedly. He jerked and writhed on the bed, moaning. In the past his nightmares could become extremely violent. He'd forbidden her and Veronica from approaching him when he was trapped in one. They were the only two people that even knew he suffered night terrors.Allie was fairly ce
"Allison Klassen!" a voice yelped in recognition right before Allie found herself seized in a chokehold and squeezed until she was breathless. "How the heck are you, little girl!?"Allie laughed and tugged at Serena's elbow, pulling it down and gasping for breath. She looked into the beautiful brown eyes of one of her mother's oldest friends. Warmth flooded Allie and she felt completely at peace for the first time since coming back to the coast. She knew Serena would be pleased to see her. Allie was just happy to find the older Salish woman still working at the shelter where Veronica and Allie had first met her twenty-five years ago when they'd been evicted from their Downtown Eastside apartment a few blocks away. Serena had welcomed them with open arms back then too."You look wonderful, Aunty Serena," Allie said, grinning. She touched the long braid, now shot through with thick strands of silver, that hung over Serena's shoulder. Serena wasn't her aunt by blood, but she was kin i
Allie went back to staring out the window. Clouds were gathering across the sky, stretching out towards the mountains. She wondered what Jay was going to do to her. Despite Serena's words, she knew that Jay wasn't going to let her go unpunished. He couldn't. He was a powerful man, head of a powerful organization. He hadn't gotten to where he was by letting challenges go unanswered. Allie may be the one person in his world that held influence over him, but she would not get away with challenging his authority unscathed. Especially with a direct command. He had told her to stay away from the Eastside. She had disobeyed, knowing he would have to retaliate.She shifted in her seat and glanced sideways at him through the curtain of her long hair. He had always seemed serious to her. Beloved, yes, but always serious and commanding in every situation. Like the weight of the world was on him. Even now, when he looked grim and angry, she wanted to soothe him. Jay abruptly ended his conversatio
Tears filled Allie's eyes and she swiped at them before they could fall. She dropped her hand again. It fell on the latch for the patio door. She stared at it and then out into the darkening, rain-filled sky. She slipped off her sandals. Then, without glancing back at Jay, she threw the door open and ran full-tilt into the pounding rain. She heard his surprised shout, followed by a vicious swear. She knew it was only the element of surprise and her head start that gave her any chance whatsoever of escaping him for a few precious seconds. Then she heard him shout an order that froze the blood in her veins."Hold your fire, it's Allison heading for the docks. Don't fucking shoot!"She decided not to stop running. Jay would keep her safe, he wouldn't let his men or anyone else hurt her. The only person determined to hurt her, to keep her chained up and suffocated was the man pounding down the steps behind her. He would catch her. There was only one way her wild flight through the rain w
Finally angry, he pulled her up into the cradle of his arms and shook her, then held her tightly, both of them breathing heavily, Allie from exertion and Jay from arousal. "Stop, Allie. I will make this good for you if it kills us both. But if you don't stop fighting I'll have to tie you down. Not like Kelowna, but really tie you down, spread out and ready for my use. Is that what you want?"She thought about it for all of a second and then shook her head and whispered, "No.""Then stop fighting me every step of the way, I'm not going to hurt you more than necessary.""I'm scared," she said, her voice shaking."I know, love. I'll take care of you," he said against her hair. "Now go down on your hands and knees."He pushed her forward onto the bed and swept the rags of her clothing aside. He ran his fingers down her back and over the globes over her ass drawing shivers from her. She'd always been a little sensitive about the size of her ass given her curviness, but tried not to wor