Black Vows_A dark romantic thriller Read online

  Black Vows

  Obsession Inc. Book 2

  Dori Lavelle

  Copyright © 2018 by Dori Lavelle

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Editing: Editrix Editing Services & Mystique Editing

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Connect with Dori Lavelle

  Also by Dori Lavelle

  Connect with Dori Lavelle

  Also by Dori Lavelle

  Chapter One

  I crouch in a corner of the dark, musty room, my arms tight around my legs, sweat dripping from my face onto my knees.

  I’m afraid to move a muscle, afraid to even breathe, terrified that Ruby, the snake, will hear the frantic thumping of my heart. I hear the reptile slithering across the floor, and my fear sinks its claws deep into my spine.

  I’m locked up with no chance of escape. Dax has made me his possession without my permission.

  I want to escape from him, to find a way out of the darkness surrounding me, but one move could be deadly.

  I’ve stopped keeping track of how long I’ve been trapped in here. When he slammed the door shut, I counted inside my head, prayed he was only trying to shake me up a bit, that he would return before an hour was over. The hour came, the hour went and here I still am, alone with my fears and a snake lurking in the shadows around me, ready to strike.

  Swallowing a painful sob, I press my body harder against the cool wall, pull my knees tighter to my chest, comforting myself because no one else can.

  I have no choice but to wait for his return. I’m not sure how long I can remain in this position, my muscles aching as much as my heart. I hope the punishment will end soon, before the snake finds me in the darkness. Before I break down.

  If only Dax Pierce had come into my life with a warning attached to his forehead. A warning that told me that he was a snake, that he would charm me with his smooth words and hot body before sending an invisible bullet straight to my heart. Never in a million years did I dream I would end up locked in his basement, stripped of my dignity and the freedom I yearned so much for.

  Dax Pierce could end up being the death of me.

  I long to close my eyes, fatigued from lack of sleep, from the shock that had slammed into my very core, but sleep is out of the question. When you’re stuck in a room with a snake, you have to stay vigilant.

  Or maybe I should give up on life and give the creature permission to sink its sharp teeth into my flesh, to insert its poison into my bloodstream, to slither across my body as it waits for death to take me.

  How would my captor react when he walks into the room to find me dead? Would he be upset, or would he celebrate? Perhaps it would be a relief to see me dead as I’m a threat to his own freedom. Killing me is probably the only way he can get away with his crimes, the only way he can hide the evil in his eyes, the burn of his touch, and the poison in his kiss.

  Aside from the thudding of my heart, it’s quiet now. There are no more sounds of hissing or slithering. I’m still terrified to let down my guard, still waiting for something to happen, something terrible. The danger is far from over.

  Waiting for something to happen is as painful as something actually happening.

  Maybe I should say goodbye to my life and prepare myself for my death. If Ruby the snake doesn’t kill me, Dax probably will. There’s no way he’ll let me go.

  I try not to tremble as I place my chin on the top of my knees and bite down into my lower lip, tasting blood. I start to count down again, from one hundred this time.

  When I get to fifty, bright light floods the room. I blink as it blinds me. The shock of light is so intense it burns into my brain and makes my head hurt. It introduces me to a level of pain I’ve never known before, one that feels as though a hammer is inside my head, crushing my brain one blow at a time.

  I force myself to search through the light before the snake attacks.

  Moving my head from side to side, I scan the floor for the creature that terrifies me both in darkness and in the light. I don’t find it. The room is spacious and bare. The only thing covering the floor and walls is a film of dust.

  Where’s the snake? It was in here before. I heard it. I felt it move across the floor.

  A disturbing realization crawls to the forefront of my mind. I was alone in the room all along. The entire time I was frozen with fear and there was nothing physically threatening me, except Dax himself?

  “I lied,” his voice breaks through the silence. “Technology is a beautiful thing, isn’t it?” He must be talking from hidden speakers as he’s nowhere to be seen and the door is still shut. He must have used those very speakers to send snake sounds into the room, to torture me.

  My only hope is that after all this is over—whether I’m alive or dead—Dax will get the punishment he deserves. I pray that one day he’ll die a slow and painful death.

  I lick my dry lips and try to swallow. It’s hard to do so through a parched throat. My saliva is not enough to wet it.

  “My darling, you don’t have to worry about dying from snake bite. Ruby is up here with me. It’s just that seeing you terrified kind of turns me on. I couldn’t help myself.” He sighs. “But I’m getting bored with this part of the game. Give me a moment and I’ll be right down. I’ve got so many surprises in store for you.”

  Chapter Two

  Before he arrives, I struggle to keep it together. I’m terrified of seeing the monster in his eyes again but the only way out of here is through him.

  I clench my jaw and try to push through my fears, though the tremors in my hands and fingers remain.

  It’s hard to protect myself when I have no weapons to rely on. Everything inside this room belongs to him—the walls, the floor, the air, and as much as I hate to think it, so do I.

  I close my eyes tight. An image of my sister fills the space behind my eyelids. The thought of Christa at her chemo treatments injects energy and determination into my heart, into my bones. My sister needs me. For her sake, I have to fight this battle.

  When Dax makes it to the basement, I’ve had a chance to prepare myself, mentally if not physically, to tackle him in whatever way I can. I’m the only one who can save myself.

  It’s as if I can feel each step as Dax descends the staircase. My heart thumps with each footfall. I can feel him, with every part of me, as he waits outside my prison door.

  After about two minutes, he starts to whistle. The sound cuts through the steel and fills my ears. He still has a song on his lips while the music has died inside my heart.

  I push myself to my feet, but I’m so weak I crumple back down. Determined to defend myself, I try again, swaying before finding my shaky balance. I stand in the middle of the room and wait for him to enter. My hands are slick with sweat, my heartbeat thrashing in my ears.

  He doesn’t open the door for a while, drawing out my torture. When he finally does, he fill
s the doorway, dressed in black jeans and a black t-shirt, his clothes as dark as his heart.

  The grin on his lips turns my stomach. How could I have been in love with this man? All I see now is a deadly snake about to strike.

  I clench my clammy hands, inhaling his pine and leather-scented cologne. I wish I could turn into a snake right now, to raise my head, show my fangs, and attack. But my poison would be nothing compared to his. His bite would kill me before I even strike.

  “Did you miss me, sugar pie?” He steps into the room and opens his arms wide, a silent demand. His voice is tender, as though nothing has changed between us, as if he’s the same man who visited my hometown years ago, who lured me into his world and the limelight, the man who made me believe I was something special.

  He is the same man, but only in body, not in mind. His body is beautiful, his face like that of a Greek god, his raven hair thick and shiny, the sprinkles of gray at his temples giving him a sleek, distinguished look. But his soul is many shades of black. Dax Pierce is one with the night.

  My skin crawls at the thought of his fingers coming into contact with my skin. But he’s the only key out of this hell.

  So I take one step forward and obey. I step into his arms to fool him into believing he’s won. I will pretend until he takes me back upstairs, where I will be surrounded by things I can use as weapons, anything that can inflict harm. I’ll get out of this house, even if I have to kill him first.

  He rests his chin on the top of my head, his breath warm on my scalp. The smell of him makes me want to gag. I wish my hands were knives I could drive into his heart.

  He breaks the embrace and kisses me softly on the lips, then he lifts a strand of my hair and studies it for a moment. He rubs the lock between his fingers. “Filthy. So much dust, sweat, and tears in this lock.”

  I don’t respond. He wouldn’t want to hear what I have to say.

  He lets go of my hair and sighs. “We have to do something about it. But first I want to give you a short tour of the basement.” He pulls me to his side and escorts me out of my darkest dungeon. He’s holding me so tight it’s hard to breathe. The only good thing is that his support allows me to stay upright even when my body is tempted to fold.

  First, he takes me to the room across from mine. The hairs at the back of my neck rise when he unlocks the door and pushes it open with a shoulder. The darkness in the room disappears when he flicks on the light.

  “Baby, there’s something you should know.” He places both hands on my shoulders and turns me to face him. “I lied to you. You’re not the first woman to live in this house. I’ve owned it for a few years now.”

  The stench that assaults my nostrils distracts me from his words. Is it blood? Urine? Feces? A mixture of all those things? Whatever it is, it makes me want to throw up. But throw up what? There’s barely anything inside my stomach. I can only heave dry air, my hands clutching my belly.

  Dax doesn’t seem to mind the smell at all as he moves me deeper into the room.

  “This was Patricia’s room. She was blonde, slim, and had an ass that made me want to fuck her every time I saw it. She was my first, you know.” He bares his teeth. “I thought we would be together forever, then she betrayed me.” He points to the dirty strands of hair on the floor. “That’s all that’s left of her.”

  “What did you do . . . to her?” A part of me is still refusing to believe he’s a cold-blooded murderer, still holding on to fragile strands off hope that he lied, that all this is some sick game. But I fear the answer I will get is not the one I want. I can see it from the grin on his face, from the way his eyes darken to pools of pure evil.

  “I think you know,” he whispers into my ear. “So, tell me what you think I did to her?”

  I close my eyes briefly, forcing myself to hold it together even though it’s a struggle.

  “Hush.” He lays a hand on my head and runs it down my hair to the back of my neck. “I can see you’re exhausted, my darling. It’s all right, I’ll fill you in.” He takes my hand and pulls me out of the room. Outside, I expel the stale air from my lungs.

  He turns to me again. “I had to erase the bitch.” His mouth pulls into a sour, tight-lipped grin. No sign of the man I fell in love with.

  I wrap my arms around my body, feeling as though a bucket of ice water has been poured down my back.

  Before I can recover from the shock of his confession, he takes my hand again, still smiling. “Come on, I have other ladies to introduce you to.”

  Chapter Three

  All the rooms he shows me are identical, dirty and dusty with strands of hair everywhere. Like the room I’d been locked up in, none of them have a window.

  What freaks me out the most is that each room actually has a nameplate on the door—Laura, Simone, Jolene, women I feel connected to even though we have never met. Unanswered questions swirl around my mind. Who were those women? How did they end up in his web? What happened to them? What will happen to me? I wish he would tell me more about the women, but all he shares with me are their names and the colors of their hair. All his victims were blonde, like me.

  “The tour is almost over.” His breath touches my cheek as he whispers into my ear. Nausea churns the pit of my stomach. “Let’s go to the last room.”

  When we reach the entrance to the final room, which apparently belonged to a woman named Charlotte, something warm trickles down my inner thigh. I’m horrified that I’m peeing myself, but I’m not surprised. I’ve held it in for so long until my stomach cramped, and now fear has triggered the flow. I’ve officially reached my lowest point. Here I am, a woman I never thought I would be.

  “Let me go, please,” I whisper as his arm snakes around my waist. “I won’t say anything to anyone.”

  He snorts. “You really think I believe that?” He tightens his grip on me while opening the door with his free hand. Once the door swings open, he gets behind me, both arms tight around my body, as if we’re two lovers standing on a balcony somewhere romantic, admiring the sunset.

  Once more, my body jerks as I gag at the smell. My nose refuses to get used to the smells of evil around me. Dax ignores my discomfort.

  With his body, he nudges me forward until we enter the room. The strands of hair under my feet make my skin crawl and my toes curl. Worse, my skin is itching in reaction to the urine. Having an itch and not being able or allowed to scratch it can be torture. But what’s a little more torture with what I have already experienced at the hands of this monster?

  I try to struggle again but stop at once when he moves his hand to my throat and squeezes a little. “I can kill you right now, if that’s what you’d prefer. If you value your life, you’ll stop fucking with me.”

  I imagine death by strangulation to be painful. I’m not ready to die that way. Or any other way.

  Tears roll down my cheek, but I no longer fight him until he shuts the door to the room. He said it was the last room, but there’s another door he had not opened. What’s behind it?

  “My work room.” He points to it, reading my mind. “Want to see it?”

  I don’t speak so he makes the decision for me. “Come on, darling. I have a big surprise for you.”

  When we reach the door, he turns me to face him. “It’s time.” The tip of his finger brushes my tear-streaked cheek. I recoil inwardly. What I really want to do is swipe his hand away, but that would be a mistake I’m not ready to make. He tilts his head to one side. “Aren’t you curious about what’s about to happen?”

  Of course, I’m curious, but my stomach tells me I won’t like what he has in store for me. Knowing wouldn’t help me. Better to just keep my mouth shut.

  “All right then, I’ll just show you.” One of his hands lets me go so he can open the door.

  This one is different, clean to the point of being sterile. No dust, no hair, no disgusting smells. And it’s furnished with two wooden chairs, a metal table, a metal shelf, a chest of drawers, and a sink. My gaze flutters to the small
round window high up on the wall above the table.

  While I’m standing before him, my limbs shaking, he loosens the cord of my bathrobe. By the time I realize what he’s doing, he has yanked the robe off my body. It sweeps down my skin to gather at my feet.

  “What the hell?” I twist around to face him.

  “Your skin needs to be free for what’s about to happen.” He spins me around again. Before I turn on him, he plants a hand between my shoulder blades and shoves me forward into the room. His earlier gentleness has completely disappeared.

  A gasp pushes itself up my throat as I fall to my knees. He picks me up by the hair and drops me into the chair. On instinct, I shoot to my feet again only for him to slam me harder back into the chair.

  “You’re seriously testing my patience.” His hand is so tight around my locks, forming a painful ponytail, that I don’t dare move. His free hand yanks open a drawer and rummages inside it. It comes out holding the coil of a thick, beige rope.

  “Don’t,” I say in a choked voice, “you don’t want to do this, Dax. You said . . . you love me.”

  He pauses for a heartbeat to press a kiss on my sweaty forehead. “That hasn’t changed, my love. It’s why I’m doing this.” I don’t have a chance as he ties my hands behind my back and around the chair, then binds my knees to the chair as well. Finally, he wraps another piece of rope around my waist.

  Unable to handle the pressure building up inside me, I release a scream that shakes both of us, wishing the sound would break through the glass of the small window.