Read Save Riley for Free Online

bed.
    “Ms. Riley, I need you to calm down. Stop trying to leave and stop yelling,” he said tiredly. “I will not let you out until we’ve fulfilled our agreement and I will not tolerate raised voices in my home unless they are mine.”
    I ran out of the room and he sighed heavily behind me. There had to be a way out of this place and I was going to find it. I was standing in the hallway wringing my hands knowing that going down the stairs wasn’t going to lead to anything other than more coded doors, so I ran the other way and started pulling on doors. Doors that wouldn’t open; doors that had small electronic pads under the handles.
    “Ms. Riley. Come back. Now ,” he said in a stern voice that echoed down the hallway.
    “Stay the hell away from me,” I yelled back as I moved to the next door and pulled with all my strength.
    In a matter of moments, I felt his strong hands on my arms pulling me away from the door. He spun me around to face him and used one large hand to hold my wrists together like a vice. He gave me a stern look paired with a soft smile as struggled to get out of his grip.
    “I won’t tolerate disobedience in my home, Ms. Riley. I believe that if I ask something of you as simple as to not run around my home, not scream, and not try to break my doors and windows down, that you should kindly abide by that,” he said his voice as soft as his smile.
    “Then why don’t you let me out and you won’t have to deal with my ‘disobedience’”, I shot back, still trying to get out of his grip.
    He laughed loudly at my words. I didn’t find anything amusing about what I said and he seemed to think that holding me hostage in this fortress was a game of some sorts.
    Oh God. I’m probably going to die here, I thought frantically. And that’s when my inner heroine surfaced. I knew that if I calmed down there was a slim chance I could talk myself out of this situation.
    “What’s your first name?” I asked taking a steadying breath.
    “Jaxton. I’ve already told you that you can call me Jax, Ms. Riley,” he replied, not loosening his grip.
    “Why do you call me Ms. Riley instead of Riley?” I asked in genuine curiosity.
    “Because I believe in manners. Until you give me permission to call you by your first name, then I’ll refer to you as Ms. Riley,” he said matter-of-factly.
    “You officially have my permission to call me Riley,” I replied carefully.
    “Thank you,” he said with a pleasant smile.
    I nodded, “How long do you plan on keeping me here, Jax?”
    “I was thinking of forever, of course.” My vision blurred at his words. I felt the tears threatening to spill over but I blinked a few times, refusing to let them. “But I also have a trial period. I think that you’re just what I need to feel enough and I’m sure that once you become acclimated to how I like things to be, you’ll find that I’m quite good for you as well.”
    Keep talking, Riley. Whatever you do, don’t give up.
    “What arrangement did we come to?” I asked my voice barely above a whisper.
    “Oh, Riley,” he said softly brushing the hair off of my forehead. “Your grandmother died. In exchange for fare to the funeral, you agreed to let me accompany you and spend time together when we got back.”
    I furrowed my brow trying to remember and letting the tears finally fall. My grandmother was dead? I turned my face away from him for a moment and took a small steadying breath. Okay. I would accept that. For now.
    “What do I have to do to get you to trust me?” I asked.
    He chuckled and tightened his grip around my wrists. It wasn’t particularly painful, but I was worried that if he gripped any tighter, he might leave bruises on me.
    “You can’t talk your way out of my home, out of our arrangement, and out of being obedient, Riley. You have to earn certain privileges with me and trust is the last one you’ll be rewarded with. But I think that for the rest of the day I’ll let you walk around