Innocence : A dark Captive Romance (Deviant House Book 1)

  Contents

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Playlist

  Author warning

  Names

  Prologue

  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

  Epilogue

  Afterword

  Also by T.L. Hodel

  About the Author

  Copyright 2021 T.L Hodel

  FIRST EDITION

  All rights reserved.

  If you are not reading this book via a licensed copy sold by Amazon, you have a pirated version.

  This book should not be copied, duplicated, or stored on any retrieval systems except for brief excerpts quoted in book reviews.

  Thank you for supporting indie authors by buying books or reading subscriptions through legitimate channels.

  Cover Design by Mayhem Cover Creations

  mayhemcovercreations.com

  Edited by Just Ask Her Productions

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblances to actual events, locales, or persons living or dead, are coincidental.

  For my beautiful cousin Tammy.

  You are one of the strongest people I know. This world is a better place because you’re in it.

  I love you and hope that all your dreams come true.

  Playlist

  ‘Wicked Game’ by Daisy Gray

  ‘Hallelujah’ by Jeff Buckley

  ‘Every Breath You Take’ by Chase Holfelder

  ‘Cruel Summer’ by Malia J

  ‘Angel’ by Massive Attack

  ‘Where Did You Sleep Last Night’ by Nirvana

  ‘Happy Together’ by Filter

  ‘Paint It Black’ by Hidden Citizens

  ‘House Of The Rising Sun’ by Lauren O’Connell

  ‘In The End’ by Tommee Profitt

  ‘Go Fuck Yourself’ by Two Feet

  ‘Eyes On Fire’ by Blue Foundation

  ‘Yellow Flicker Beat’ by Lorde

  ‘Let Her Go’ by Jasmine Thompson

  ‘Dark In My Imagination’ by Verona

  ‘Skin’ by Rihanna

  ‘Dirty Mind’ by Boy Epic

  ‘Dirt’ by Depeche Mode

  ‘Gimmie What I Want’ by Miley Cyrus

  ‘Dynasty’ by Milia

  Warning: This book contains non-consensual and dubious-consensual sexual situations, past trauma both physical and emotional, abuse, foul language, references to child abuse, sex trafficking, murder, violence and forced bondage. If you are a reader sensitive to such material, this might not be the book for you.

  Name pronunciations:

  Lorenzo: Lore-en-zoh

  Kya: Ki-yah

  Carmine: Car-mine

  Tobias: Toe-by-us

  Jackson: Jack-son

  Liam: Lee-am

  Ashley: Ash-lee

  Ciara: See-air-ah

  Ralph: Ral-ff

  Sophia: So-fee-ah

  I swallowed back the thick sludge of bile this place called coffee. It wasn’t the worst cup I’d had. That award went to the Morningside Café in a little town outside of Detroit. This vile drivel was a close second. Couldn’t really expect more in a town like Worthington.

  They had three restaurants–if you could call them that–none of which could cook an egg to save their life. The one down the street did, at least, have a tolerable brew though.

  Then again, I wasn’t here for the coffee.

  The portly waitress with a pencil in her bun beamed down at me. “Can I get you a menu?”

  Her name tag decorated with sparkly flower stickers and a fake ruby pin made me tsk. Flo. The name was fitting. Everything in this town seemed to be stuck in the fifties. The streetlamps, architecture, and even the people. Like Flo, with her curly red hair and too much make-up.

  “Would you like to hear the specials? My personal favorite is the beef stew.”

  Her bright red lips parted, spewing more menu choices, none of which I was interested in. I’d be safer digging through the dumpster than eating anything the overweight cook with a nicotine addiction had put his hands on.

  I slid my mug over. “Just a refill.”

  Flo did her dutiful job, tipping the steaming pot in her hand to refill my mug. That happy sunshine spark in her rosy cheek would call to Tobias.

  He liked his women thicker than my other brothers and I. Claimed they could handle more. A valuable asset for a woman to have when it came to the youngest Cordoza.

  “You’re not from around here, are you?”

  Simplicity should not be encouraged. So, rather than answer Flo’s question, I arched a brow. Anyone with eyes could see I didn’t belong here. The Brioni suit I was wearing was worth more than the vehicles I saw driving down the street.

  “Not much of a talker, are you?” Flo hummed, “That’s alright. I suppose there’s something to be said about a little mystery. But just between you and me, all mysteries are meant to be solved.”

  “Is that so?”

  She nodded. “In my experience, it’s the quiet ones that want to be seen the most.” She tipped her chin and gave me an inquisitive smile. “I bet you have all kinds of secrets, just waiting to be discovered.”

  Flo should be careful. Digging around in closets was dangerous. She might find herself in a situation far worse than any skeleton she stumbled across.

  “I don’t think you’re related to anyone in town. I would’ve heard about someone like you.” She paused to give me a quick scan, lingering a little on my arms and chest.

  The corner of my mouth lifted at the pink hue flashing through her cheeks. Flo liked what she saw. Most women did. My dark hair, olive complexion, and light eyes called to the weaker sex. They flocked to me like moths to a flame. So blinded by beauty, they didn’t know it was too late until they got burned.

  “Do you have a friend in town?”

  I sighed, slightly annoyed by her persistent prodding. “No.”

  “I didn’t think so. If you’re born in Worthington, you die in Worthington.” Her hand twirled through the air. “I know every single person in this town. Who they’re dating, what they do on Saturday nights, and all their bad habits.”

  Most people in these little clutches of populace thought they knew their neighbors. They grew up with the kid down the street, so naturally they’d know if he was up to no good. All those true crime documentaries made me shake my head. Some woman claiming, ‘He always seemed so normal, mowing his lawn and walking his dogs’.

  Would people never learn? No one ever truly knew who someone was. I’d bet my luxury jet that Flo had no idea what her esteemed mayor was up to behind closed doors.

  Her curious eyes roamed over my open laptop. “Are you here on business?”

  “You could say that,” I said, clicking the laptop closed.

  “What kind of business are you in?”

  Curious kittens didn’t last long in my world. Neither did busy Betty’s that enjoyed spreading gossip, and Flo appeared to be both.

  “I obtain and distribute product.”

  That product being prett
y young women, and sometimes men. Much like the tiny redhead I delivered to the mayor two days before. My eldest brother, Jackson, found her on the streets of New York sucking dick behind dumpsters for her next hit.

  Those were the simple targets. Coaxed into following with the mere promise of a dime bag. Nice and easy, Jackson called them. I called them boring. Addicts were already broken.

  Flo’s nose scrunched up. “I can’t imagine Worthington has much to offer.”

  Oh, but it does.

  “You’d be surprised what one can find in the most unlikely of places.”

  This town was the last place I would have chosen to come. It was Jackson who insisted I be the one to hand the girl over to her new Master. Part of the new management rules he’d put into effect. As much as I hated to admit it, he had a point.

  While the quality of our product put us at the top of the food chain, that wasn’t an excuse to become comfortable and lazy. There was a reason our father was dead.

  “I guess that’s true. Why, just the other day I was at a yard sale…”

  The bell above the diner door chimed, instantly drawing my attention off the nosy waitress. My gaze zeroed in on the small girl shuffling in with her head hung. Strands of auburn hair fell like a curtain around her face.

  I watched the silky locks sway with her movements. Imagined how they would feel wrapped around my fingers. The image was so vivid, I was a bit disappointed when the girl reached up and carefully tucked her hair behind her ear.

  She was why I was here.

  Kya Caruthers. The diner owner’s daughter.

  The slaves we trained were excellent at pleasing their masters. They knew how to satisfy a man, but they were tailored for someone else. Every once in a while, I like to indulge in my own little pet. A woman built just for me. And when I tired of her, I sold her.

  There was always something that drew me in. A piece of them that I wanted to own.

  The first had possessed a genius IQ. The second was a fighter. The third, I just wanted to use in every way possible, and the fourth thought no man could bring her to her knees.

  When I was done with them, none of their assets mattered. They were the same as any other used up slave. Begging for someone to validate their existence.

  With Kya, it was different. I couldn’t pinpoint what I wanted from the girl. Perhaps it was her purity that called to me, or the quiet way she shuffled around, avoiding the world.

  Either way, when our time was done, she’d be nothing more than a hollow shell of her former self. Because I needed to posses every inch of her innocent soul. One word flew through my mind when she had bumped into me on the street a week before.

  Mine.

  “Kya,” Flo called out from beside me, “what happened to you?”

  She quickly tugged her sleeve down, covering a fresh bruise on her wrist and muttered, “Nothing.”

  My nostrils flared as I clenched my teeth to hold back a growl. Some other asshole had marked my property.

  Flo sighed deeply. “You have to stop letting Bobby Manchester push you around.”

  I made a mental note of the name and sat back, sipping my horrid coffee as Flo slipped away to join Kya behind the counter. This was the moment I’d waited for every day this week. The time when my pet could no longer hide behind her oversized sweaters.

  There were two things I’d learned while watching my new toy. Kya had an incessant need to please her parents, and she didn’t like to be seen. But she couldn’t hide from me.

  I saw everything. Every curve in the slender body she tried to hide under yards of fabric. The way she was constantly tugging at the braided leather bracelet on her wrist, and how her pale lavender eyes avoided meeting the gaze of anyone she met.

  Yes, I saw Kya Caruthers, and desperately wanted to draw out the strength she was hiding. Only then could I really break her down.

  My breath sucked back in anxious anticipation as her fingers wrapped around the bottom of her sweater. The slow pull of the fabric over her head wasn’t nearly as intoxicating as the pink hue tinting her fair complexion.

  If she got this embarrassed taking off a sweater, what shade of red would she turn when I striped her completely? Would she try and hide herself from me? Shy away in modesty? Was she a virgin? Now that was a thought that truly got my dick hard.

  Virginity was a valuable asset. We weren’t allowed to claim the innocent ones for ourselves. But Kya wasn’t being taken to be sold. Yes, she would eventually be auctioned off like all the others, but until I tired of her, she was mine. Mine to play with and torment. My shiny new toy to take home and break.

  My eyes wandered over the old and faded Rolling Stones t-shirt she’d striped her sweater off to reveal. If I tilted my head the right way, I could see the outline of her bra. Soft fabric holding up smooth, firm mounds I couldn’t wait to get my hands on.

  I took my time, skimming over every inch of her exposed flesh. It was a pity her mother only made her wear a black apron and not the same uniform the other waitresses did. I wasn’t a fan of that teal blue dress; I’d like to see Kya in one though.

  My intention was to leave before my pet approached my table. There was much to prepare and little time. But by the time I pulled my eyes off her gently swaying hips, the sweet melodic tone of her voice hit my ears.

  “Can I get you anything else?”

  She would sound absolutely delicious singing for me.

  When I didn’t answer, she repeated her question. “Would you like anything else?”

  The girl was a natural. Head hung in an almost obedient pose. It truly was a thing of beauty. It was the little things that gave her away. The tick in her jaw, along with tiny impatient huffs. Perhaps I could use this encounter to my advantage? A test of sorts.

  “Excuse me,” she shuffled on her feet, obviously uncomfortable with my silence.

  Her right hand toyed with her shirt, while the other tightened around the pot of coffee in her grip. She wasn’t sure what to do. Should she go? Should she stay? Her body was practically begging for direction. Still I remained quiet. Content to watch her nervous twitches.

  That is, until her gaze shifted to the next table.

  “I’m sorry, were you talking to me?” I tipped my head at the curtain of hair hiding her face, “Or the floor?”

  The way her knuckles whitened with her tightened grip caused me to smirk. She might pretend to be a timid little thing, but there was a fighter buried somewhere in there.

  “It’s polite to look someone in the eye when you speak to them.”

  Kya released a disgruntled little huff that had my dick ready to punish. “Do you want something, or not?”

  Testy, testy pet.

  “You are a rude little thing, aren’t you?”

  She kept her head hung, refusing to look at me. Which was exactly why she was going to. One of the first things she’d learn was that what she wanted, no longer mattered.

  “I’m not being rude,” she argued quietly.

  “Yes you are. In fact, you’re being quite rude.” My lips curled at the tick in her jaw. “Didn’t your mother teach you any manners?”

  That did the trick. Kya’s chin shot up, blazing glare shooting daggers at me. But it was the way her mouth hung open, words caught in her throat, that filled me with satisfaction.

  My pet might be angry with me, but she liked what she saw. The hue that poured through her cheeks and down her neck was testament to that. I’d like to follow that path with my tongue and taste her embarrassment.

  “It’s rude to stare, little girl.”

  Her big eyes rounded in shock. “W-what?”

  The stutter in her tone had me pushing back my primal urge to claim.

  “I said it was polite to look at someone when you speak to them,” I sat back and folded my hands in my lap, “not to gawk at them like some prepubescent school girl.”

  “I was not–“

  “Oh, but you were. Now, why don’t you try speaking to me in a proper manne
r.”

  She stood there for a second, her lips pinched in a tight scowl, before stamping her foot in frustration. “Would you like anything else, sir?”

  That’s it, Pet.

  “A smile would be nice.”

  I thought she might give me more attitude when her jaw clenched. Instead, Kya forced a smile on her pretty face.

  “Do you want something else?” Not only could I feel the venom dripping off her words, I could taste it. She really hated me now.

  Excellent.

  “Just the bill,” I said, giving her a large smile.

  Kya stormed away and I pulled out my phone to text the pilot.

  Have the plane ready, we leave in two days.

  I took a few minutes to email Jackson so everything would be ready when I brought my pet home, and then packed up my laptop. That was when Kya stormed back and slammed the bill down. I cocked a brow at the table, hand twitching at my side with the desire to correct her.

  “Here you go,” she sang sweetly.

  If we were back at the house, she’d already be choking on my cock.

  I stood up, straightening my shoulders to pull my body to its full height. Kya immediately shrunk back. The girl wasn’t stupid. I was six foot five of solid muscle, and she couldn’t weigh more than ninety pounds soaking wet.

  “You should watch how you talk to people.” I stepped into her space and glared down at her shocked expression. “You might get cut with your own sharp tongue.”

  Her throat bobbed with a heavy swallow, causing my dick to twitch. Submission was a beautiful thing. It could save your life. Apparently, Kya’s mouth didn’t have the same self preservation instinct.