Caged: A Dark Mafia Romance

“Now get up and get in the cage,” he commanded again, sparing me that shame.

Not having a choice—not unless I wanted this situation to get worse—I got up quickly, walked over to where it was placed, bent over and climbed into the cage on all fours. At least I wouldn’t be touched by Eddie any longer and I could pull my knees up to my breasts and try to conceal my stolen modesty on some level.

Once I was all the way in, balled up the best that I could, Eddie walked over to his bed, pulled off a white fur blanket, and tossed it inside.

“I’m sure you’re cold,” he said as he then closed the cage and latched the lock.

There was a small part of me that wanted to tell him to go fuck himself and take his fucking blanket with him, but he was correct. I was cold. And that blanket not only looked warm, but it would cover me fully for the first time since I was kidnapped. I yanked the fur up to my neck and completely drowned myself in the blanket. I would have covered my head too if it weren’t for the fact that my curiosity was winning out. I couldn’t take my eyes off Eddie, wondering what he would do next.

“It’s late. We’ll start again tomorrow,” he said. “It’s best you get some sleep.”

Sleep? How did he expect me to sleep? Though I could see outside via the skylight and it was fully night, I doubted I would get any rest. Wrapping the blanket a bit tighter, I wondered how many hours I’d lie in my cage waiting for the first light of dawn.

And what did he mean by “we’ll start again tomorrow”?

There were so many questions running through my head—all with no answers. This was nothing but complete madness, and there was no way I could come up with a reasonable solution to conquer this. But I had to try. I had to think… think…

So, he locked me in a cage.

Was this his plan from the beginning?

Now what?

Just as I was drumming up the courage to ask, Eddie turned and left the room. It wasn’t until his bedroom door shut that it hit me that I was truly inside an animal cage. I wouldn’t be able to stand but could crouch or kneel if I wanted to. I also could completely lie down and stretch out since it was slightly longer than I was. I put my hands on the bars and shook as hard as I could, but nothing happened other than the cage moving slightly. I also shook the door to see if it was possible to open, which it wasn’t with the lock in place.

I was kidnapped.

Trapped.

At his mercy.

Caged.

But I refused to cry.

I would not break.

I would not allow this beast to tear me down.

He was the animal. Not me.

He belonged where I was.

He should be in this cage.

He was the damn beast who needed to be confined.

I gasped for air as my heart beat so hard against my chest, I felt actual pain.

I couldn’t breathe.

I couldn’t breathe!

Closing my eyes in hopes that this nightmare would somehow end, I did everything to steady my breathing. In and out, I chanted internally. Just like I had told Dylan, I knew I needed to remain calm. If Eddie wanted me dead…

No, he didn’t want me dead.

He wanted me in a cage.

Chapter Seven

Nayla Bell

I must have fallen asleep, because when I awoke, sunlight was shining through the skylight window above my prison bars. Cocooned in the fur blanket, I had surprisingly slept well considering I was locked in a cage inside a killer’s bedroom. Even though I had been on a metal cage floor, the blanket had provided enough cushion that I didn’t wake up feeling achy or stiff. The soreness from yesterday’s spankings had also dissipated, and it was almost as if the entire nightmare of being kidnapped hadn’t happened, except when I turned my head and saw Eddie Vasco sleeping soundly in his bed, the Band-Aid the good night’s sleep had provided had been ripped off in a flesh-tearing way.

He didn’t snore.

I expected him to snore.

All dragons in their lair snored.

I sat up and ran my fingers through my hair. Not that it mattered what I looked like at this moment in time, but it gave me a small piece of humanity. Especially since I was covered in fur, huddled in a cage like a scared animal.

I watched Eddie sleep. He didn’t look like a kidnapper, a killer, a creature of the night who stole innocent people from the safety of their homes. He didn’t look evil or vile. In fact, the man was handsome. I already knew that since I had been staring at his pictures on my living room wall for longer than I cared to admit, but seeing his face lying peacefully against his pillow, and glancing at his tattoo-covered arm that peeked out from the blanket and hung over the side of the bed, he had a sexy appearance I had never seen before. This is what the man would look like if I were to wake up to him after a night of him fucking my brains out. And I had no doubt that a man like Eddie would know exactly how to fuck a woman’s brains out.