Chapter Three

I looked at him, eyes wide. 

“Sorry?” I asked, bewildered.

His glare returned.

“I said, strip. Don't make me repeat myself” he warned.

I was frozen in place. I couldn't believe what he was asking me to do. 

‘Is this it? Am I about to be assaulted?’ I thought as tears sprung to my eyes. 

His eyes stayed on mine as he took a step closer.

“ I warned you a few seconds ago. Are you disobeying me?” He asked, his voice deepening.

“Please, don't do this” I begged quietly, my voice failing.

His glare hardened.

“You have 5 seconds,” he threatened. My heart was pounding as the tears threatened to spill.

“5” he counted. The tears had already started falling.

“4” he continued. I shakily started pulling up my shirt and tossed it onto the bed when I was done. My hands went up to cover my bra.

“3” his glare remained the same. Now full-on crying, I took off my jeans and tossed them onto the bed.

“2” My eyes flew up to him. I thought he would have stopped by now but he wanted me to completely strip. Accepting my fate, I unhooked my bra and was about to pull it off. 

“Stop,” he said. My hands paused.

Luckily, my chest was still fully covered and I still had my panties on.

He slowly stalked toward me and stopped just a few centimeters away, I could feel his breath fanning my face. 

My hands were holding my unhooked bra against my chest as tears streamed down my face, my body slightly trembling. 

He raised my chin with his hand.

“Look at me,” he ordered. Tears still falling, I opened my eyes to look at him. I was surprised to see that his eyes no longer held a glare. Instead, they held something else. Something just as intense.

He moved his hand from my chin and used it to wipe my tears. His touch was warm but my body shivered. 

His eyes were still on mine as he moved his hands towards mine that were holding my bra over my chest and slowly pulled them down.

Mesmerized by the look in his eyes, I let my hands drop along with my bra. There I stood before him, bare-chested.

His eyes still never left mine. He slowly brought his face down towards mine and my breath hitched. I recognized the look in his eyes now.

Lust.

He brought his hands back up to my neck and held it gently. His face was a few centimeters away from mine now. 

“This is how you obey,” he whispered huskily. I could only stare at him.

We stayed like this for a few seconds before he abruptly turned around and walked out of the room, leaving me stunned and confused.

I stayed staring at the door for a few seconds wondering what the hell had just happened. 

Snapping out of it, I looked over to the bed to see the clothes that I had tossed and looked at the ground to see my bra. I suddenly felt heat rising to my cheeks.

‘What was that?!’ I thought to myself, shocked.

‘He did all of that just to teach me to obey?’ I wondered as I picked up the discarded pieces of clothing. 

I hopped into the bathroom to take a quick shower. I let the water run down my skin and wash away the stress of the day. I could still feel how warm his touch was on my skin. How his breath fanned my face and how his lustful gaze held me in place. 

Shaking my head to remove those thoughts, I finished up with my shower and changed into something more comfortable. A tank top and sweatpants.

I decided to leave my room and take a walk around the house to clear my head some more.

As I rounded a corridor, I heard muffled voices coming from the room beside where I stood. It was a dark corridor so I decided to follow the sound of the muffled voices.

As I got closer, I could make out some sentences.

‘Not that bad’ the first voice said.

‘Doesn’t mean I like her either. She's too vulnerable,’ another voice said. I could recognize that voice. It was Jillian’s voice.

I stopped right outside the door.

‘Well son, you'll have to teach her our ways’ the first voice said. It sounded like Joseph.

‘That’s a waste of time and effort. She's nothing but a nuisance and the only reason she's here is because we were owed a debt’. Jillian said with his signature cold voice.

‘That’s enough. As long as she's here and she can prove to be of use, we will treat her as one of our own’, Joseph said sternly.

I could hear someone scoff. It must have been Jillian.

‘She will never be one of us’, Jillian said, his voice laced with venom. I could hear footsteps approaching the door.

I panicked and looked around but the corridor was dark and I couldn't see anything. 

I ran down the opposite side of the corridor and entered the first room I found.

Sliding down the door in relief, I looked around. This room was properly arranged with gray walls and simple decor. I never saw this room during my tour of the house. As I looked around, I suddenly heard heavy footsteps approaching.

I quickly scanned the room for a place to hide and found only one spot, under the bed. Without wasting a second, I crawled under the bed. 

Just as I did, the door opened and in walked Jillian.

Shocked, I prayed and hoped that he wouldn't find me hiding under his bed. 

He ran his hand through his hair making it messy and slowly started taking off his clothes. 

Panicked, I closed my eyes and held my breath, hoping the accidental strip show would be over soon. 

“She's not that bad though” his voice made me jump a little. I opened my eyes a little bit and saw that he had wrapped his lower half with a towel leaving his upper half completely exposed. He had well-defined abs and broad shoulders. His chiseled jaw clenched as he was in deep thought.

“She has a lot to learn. I guess I'll have to teach her” his voice held a little less venom and was not as cold as I had expected. 

He walked into his bathroom and proceeded to take a shower. 

I decided that since this was the only opportunity I would have to escape, I'd leave the room as quietly as I could. After making my way out from under the bed, I tiptoed towards the door but was completely frozen in place when the bathroom door flung open.

I turned around to see a gun pointed directly at me. Jillian was pointing the gun at me.

“What are you doing?” he asked, his voice dangerously low as he took careful steps towards me.

I couldn't move. I was frozen in fear as all I could keep my eyes on was the gun Jillian was pointing at me.

“I asked you a question!” I flinched as he raised his voice. 

“I…” My voice broke off as my throat felt closed up. I had to take a deep breath. Jillian looked at me expectantly, still pointing the gun at me.

“I was hiding,” I said quietly. 

“Hiding from what?” he demanded.

“Hiding from you” I whispered. He took in my appearance for a second and lowered the gun.

“Why were you hiding from me?” He asked, his tone harsh and scolding.

“I was…” I trailed off not knowing how to tell him that I had been eavesdropping on him and his father's conversation. 

“Speak” he demanded. I flinched again.

“I accidentally eavesdropped on your conversation with your father while taking a walk around the house and when I heard you coming towards the door, I panicked and hid in the first room I could find,” I explained shakily.

“Your room is opposite mine. Why didn't you go in there?” He inquired.

“I didn't notice, I swear. I was just running and entered the first room I came across” I said.

He eyed me skeptically and walked towards me. I stood in place, not daring to move. He stopped right in front of me and I could feel the heat radiating off his bare skin as he was mere centimeters away from me.

Less scared than before, I slowly raised my eyes to meet his. He kept his eyes on mine, his eyes cold and intense.

I don't know what overcame me nor do I know why I did it but I did.

I closed the gap between us and kissed Jillian Colbert