Joseph Fallen (The Estate Series) (15 page)

Arianna stood in her bedroom, her eyes looking out the
window that was opaque from the black of night.
 
Her heart raced in her chest as sweat
broke out on her skin.
 
Aaron lay
sleeping in his crib, thankfully peaceful on a night where his silence was a
necessity.
 
After agreeing to
Connor’s plan, she’d not asked for details on how he intended to carry it
out.
 
Instead, she played for her
son until it was time to return to her suite to wait and see if Joseph would
appear.

She’d secretly hoped Joseph would appear, thought that maybe
his presence would buy her more time to convince Connor to give up his plan, to
leave her and Aaron to whatever fate they had in the mansion.

However, midnight had come and gone and she knew Joseph had
chosen to remain in the west wing.
 
On the nights he did appear, he always did so early in the evening,
acting the loving father he wanted people to believe that he was.
 
He’d spread word of Aaron’s arrival all
over the network, had held a party in celebration without forcing Arianna to
attend.
 
That night, she could hear
music wafting down the corridors between her suite and the ballroom and she
cried to know that it was criminals who celebrated the birth of her son.

The silence of her bedroom disturbed her. Her footsteps
against the stone tile sounded like a clock counting down the hour until she’d
know if they would be able to escape.
 
Connor had seemed so sure, so determined that she couldn’t help the
small bit of hope that had blossomed in her chest.
 
She didn’t want that hope, didn’t
welcome the bit of light that would cause more pain if it were extinguished.

When she heard the familiar sound of metal against metal,
she turned to the door, her heart plunging into her stomach when Connor peeked
around the door and entered the room.
 
Closing it behind him, he stood silently, both looking at each other as
if their last moments on Earth dangled before them.

Connor was dressed in all black as usual, the material of
his t-shirt pulled tightly across his shoulders, folding the material at the
ends where it stretched.
 
His
physique unhidden by his clothes, she allowed her eyes to travel over him, the
memory of their one encounter in the cave replaying itself in her head.

“It’s time.”
 

Her eyes closed at his words and her heart felt like it
would beat through her skin.
  
She felt dizzy from her fear, adrenaline rushing through her veins like
a turbulent flood.
 
She moved to the
closet to grab her bags, but Connor took them from her hands before she could
even step back into the room.
 
Hidden within the shadow of the closet, he peered down at her.
 
In their continued silence she could see
the same emotions brushing over her features that she had battering the walls
of her body.
 
His hand came up to
her chin, one finger placed beneath it when he lifted her face to his.
 
Whispering so that only she could hear,
he said, “I know you’re scared.
 
I
know you think what we are about to do is impossible, but I promise you
Arianna, that it can be done.
 
As
soon as we are beyond the walls of The Estate we will be escorted away, hidden
in a place where Joseph will never think to look.”

He lowered his head and took her mouth softly with his.
 
But, when he went to pull away, she
reached up and tangled her fingers in his hair, pulling him into a deeper kiss
filled with pain, desperation, longing and fear.
 
Only when she’d run out of air and had
to breath, did she let him go.
 
A
single tear escaped her eye and he reached up to wipe it away.

“This isn’t goodbye, beautiful.
 
It’s the beginning, not the end.”

Forcing herself to smile, she nodded her agreement, even
though her mind wouldn’t let her believe they would succeed.

Taking her hand, Connor pulled her out into the bedroom and
grabbed a heavy blanket off the bed.
 
He lifted Aaron out of the crib, careful not to jostle the sleeping
child, and wrapped the blanket around him.
 
After handing Aaron to Arianna, he opened the window and tossed her bags
out into the dead of night.

Before crawling out he turned back to her and instructed,
“Stay with me at all times.
 
We’ll
keep to the shadows of the mansion until we can move out into the tree
line.
 
Stay as low to the ground as
you can.
 
Once we are hidden by the
trees, we’ll need to move quickly toward the front walls.”
 
He paused, not wanting to admit what his
plan entailed.
 
Remorsefully, he
added, “I’ll have to kill whatever men we come across.
 
If you see me pull my knife, look away.”

Her stomach turned at the thought of the certain violence to
come.
 
She loathed that Connor would
have to commit it, but knew that it could not be avoided.
 
When she looked to him without response
he nodded his head and crawled out the large window.
 
Reaching back in he took Aaron from her
arms, assisted her through the window and handed him back to her once she was
on the other side.
 
Quickly grabbing
her bags, he guided her through the shadows of the house, before reaching a
point where he indicated for her to bend down and run across the grass lawn
that led out into the woods.

. . .

Joseph’s eyelids hung heavily over his steel grey gaze.
 
In and out of focus, the haze of the
drug he injected only minutes before slithered through his veins, bringing
blessed numbness to his body and mind.
 
It wasn’t enough to disable him; he preferred smaller doses that would
calm the chaos of his thoughts while still allowing him the ability to control
his surroundings.
 

Sitting on a couch in the living room of the suite that,
through the years, served as his quarters, he watched the brunette woman before
him, her naked body dancing seductively to the music being pumped through the
room.
 
He imagined the things he would
do that body, his eyes looking over the healthy weight to her breasts, and the
muscular curve to her abdomen.
 
When
she rotated around, his eyes found her ass – round, yet firm.
 
She was young; most likely barely
twenty, but age had never been a factor to him, he’d found that women were all
the same, a body to use for his pleasure and nothing more.
 
He never found satisfaction with the
women he fucked, his release a bleak drizzle compared to what it had been when
he’d been with his wife.
 
But, he
couldn’t touch her, not while his son was young and still depended on her for
food and comfort.
 
He feared he’d
lose control with her like he had countless women; destroying her in his quest
to find his release, to feed the violence that saturated every cell of his
body.
 
Rage had found him throughout
the years and he’d surrendered to it without knowledge or thought, without so
much as a struggle against the thing that was slowly destroying him.

The other men in attendance laughed and hollered, but it
didn’t draw Joseph’s attention away from the dancing woman.
 
He imagined her chained to his bed, her
body swollen from lust and the pain he would deliver.
 
His cock swelled at the thought of when
they’d fought against him.
 
He
relished the feel of their nails sliding down his back, the way they screamed
when he forced himself inside them, ripping the skin from his girth.
 
It empowered him; his need to dominate
only truly fed when they tried to refuse him.
 
His tastes had started out with the
willing, women who submitted easily without a fight, who had enjoyed being
used, being objectified.
 
But when
the sadistic side to him reared its ugly head, when they’d been exposed to the
level of pain Joseph preferred to impart, that’s when he found the only thing
that could fulfill his ever-increasing need for control.

The woman’s eyes met his, a honey brown that carried no
intelligence within its hue.
 
She
was obviously drugged, a state of euphoria alight on her face and when she
discovered that he’d been watching her, a smile cracked the corners of her full
lips, an invitation extended for him to take what he wanted.
 
He cock twitched and he motioned for the
girl to walk over to where he sat.
 
She smiled brighter, delighted to gain his acceptance.
 
Prowling over to him, she stopped when
she stood between his parted legs.
 
His
hand reached up to her and he pulled her down to kneel in front of him.
 
When she settled on the floor, he
reached out, taking her breast in his hand before bending over to take the taut
peak between his lips.
 
His tongue
flicked out to lave across the swollen bud before he took it between his teeth
and bit down.

When she half cried and half moaned, his pants tightened
more, and he reached down with his other hand and found the moist heat between
her thighs.
 
His fingers pushed
within the soft skin, until he forced them up inside her body.
 
Her hips undulated over his hand and her
muscles gripped him hungrily.
 
Pulling away from her, he sat back, looking to her to satisfy him before
he could take her to his bed.
 
She
watched as he spread his arms across the back of the couch, his legs spread
wide in invitation for her touch.

She giggled, realization dawning on her as to what he was
demanding and she immediately reached out to unbuckle his belt and unzip his
pants.
 
Pulling him free of the
material, her eyes widened at his size, heat and anticipation lighting her gaze
when she leaned forward to take him into her mouth.

His head fell back against the leather, but he kept his eyes
turned downwards so he could watch the bounce to her breasts as she moved up and
down, her tongue running along his length, her lips growing even more full as
she took him impossibly deep.
 
Her
actions weren’t enough to get him off, the violence missing from the encounter,
but it was enough to get him started, to rev up the engines to a point where
he’d drag her back to his room.

When her hands found his balls and she massaged over the
skin, his hips bucked.
 
His heart
sped up delivering another rush of the drug he’d earlier ingested and he didn’t
notice when Emory marched into the room.
 
It was only when the couch sunk beneath him from Emory’s weight that he
looked over to his first guard.

“We have a problem, Joseph.
 
One that requires immediate
action.”
 
Emory’s tone was agitated,
yet excited.

One eyebrow arched over Joseph’s eye and he straightened
slightly, waiting for Emory to continue.

“Connor is attempting to flee the compound.”

Joseph chuckled, unsure why Emory was concerned about
Connor.
 
“He’s not a prisoner, he
can come and go as he pleases.
 
Although I’m not pleased that he left Arianna and Aaron alone in the
suite.”
 
Joseph’s hand reached down
and rested on the head of the woman between his legs.
 
He guided her faster along his cock,
needing the increasing speed and pressure to keep him from going soft.”

“That’s the thing, Joseph.
 
He hasn’t left them.
 
He’s attempting to take them with
him.
 
One of the men you have
stationed outside her window saw them and they’ve been followed into the
woods.”

The woman screamed when Joseph’s fingers tangled furiously
into her hair.
 
Ripping her off of
him, he tossed her to the floor, kicking her away from his feet when he
refastened his pants. She crawled away like a dog, shame turning her cheeks red
when the other men in the room laughed at what Joseph had done.

Joseph’s fury boiled within his veins; betrayed by his guard
and his wife, he saw red before his eyes, thought of nothing but death when he
considered what he had to do.

Making a decision, he stood suddenly, and looked down at
Emory, his voice took on a commanding tone when he ordered, “Gather every man
in my personal guard, have them meet at the front gates.
 
I want someone guarding every possible
exit along the walls.
 
Keep this
quiet, Emory, I don’t need the entire network knowing what my wife has done.”

Emory turned to carry out Joseph’s order and Joseph added,
“Tell the men that follow them not to approach.
 
Connor’s nothing if not lethal, they
won’t stand a chance against him alone.”
 
A sick smile stretching across his face he added, “Plus, I want our
reunion to be a surprise.”

The fallen branches breaking beneath their feet were the
only sound they could hear as they moved through the forest.
 
Connor wanted to move faster, but
Arianna was unable to keep up, the babe in her arms heavy after carrying it
while attempting to navigate the top roots and low lying plants that blocked
their path.

It was a moonless night and Arianna struggled to keep her
eyes focused against the consuming darkness that surrounded them.
 
She wasn’t sure how Connor knew where to
go when their sight was impeded by the thickness of night.

When the lights of the front wall came into view, Arianna’s
heart raced faster.
 
She knew that
they would have to approach the gates, knew that there were men who stood guard
at the entrance.
 
Connor knelt down
when the lights came into view, pulling Arianna down to his side as he looked
out over the lawn to the wall on the far side.
 
Leaning over so that he could whisper in
her ear, his lips tickled along the lobe when he said, “We’re going to have to
move quickly across the field.
 
Once
we approach the wall, there is a good three feet of shadow from the way the
lights are situated on top.
 
Stick
to that area, Arianna.
 
Even when we
reach the guards he has stationed along the walls, don’t move out from the
shadows.
 
If I have to fight, stay
put until I’ve taken him down.
 
Do
you understand?”

She nodded, fear apparent in her eyes as she looked up into
his.
 
His features softened, his
face falling down so he could brush his lips softly across hers.
 
“We’ll be fine, I promise you.
 
I love you Arianna, there’s nothing I
wouldn’t do for you.”

It was a punch to the chest, to hear those words spoken to
her by the man she’d grown attached to over the time that she’d known him.
 
Love.
 
Such a simple word that carried more
meaning that any other she knew.
 
Her heart skipped at the thought that he’d become her guardian, her
savior in a world where there’d been no hope.

“I love you too.”
 
Her voice choked on the emotion ravaging her body, the elation mixed
with dread, anticipation thickened with fear.

He smiled allowing the dimples to appear on his cheeks
adding the boyish look to his face that she’d enjoyed in the rare moments
they’d been happy.

Gripping her around her elbow, Connor guided her from
beneath the trees out to the yard that stretched out before them.
 
Keeping low to the ground, they reached
the shadowed area within seconds, catching their breath before proceeding along
the perimeter of the wall.

All appeared quiet, but when they heard the slight crush of
grass against feet, Arianna looked over Connor’s shoulder and winced to see
three men standing at attention along the wall.
 
Arianna stopped suddenly and watched
helplessly as Connor turned to her and indicated for her to be quiet before he
moved to sneak up behind the men.
 
She noticed that Aaron stirred in her arms and she softly swayed him
back and forth, in an attempt to goad him back into a deep sleep.

Connor moved quickly, a shadow himself as he sped towards
the men.
 
She watched as he pulled
the knife from the sheath at his back, reaching up and running it along the
neck of the first man he approached.
 
The man he’d grabbed dropped lifelessly to the ground, his head almost
completely severed from his shoulders.
 
The other two men turned instantly in Connor’s direction, and were
quickly silenced when he pulled a second blade, sinking one into the temple of
one and into the top of the head of the other.
 
Her eyes held wide, she continued to
watch as he allowed their bodies to fall to the ground, placing his foot onto
the shoulder of one in order to free his blade from the man’s skull.
 

Dizziness from what she’d seen weakened her knees and she
fell back along the stone surface of the wall, closing her eyes to the gore
that littered their path.
 
She could
hear Connor moving about and when she finally felt a hand on her shoulder, she
jumped, but opened her eyes to find his perfect emerald gaze staring back at
her.

Whispering, he asked, “Are you okay?”

She swallowed the lump that was stuck in her throat, and
nodded her head ‘yes’ to his inquiry.
 
He looked her over for another second, before gripping her elbow to lead
her farther along the wall.

They ran into two more teams of men, each one quickly
dispatched and dragged away by Connor.
 
When she finally spied the front of the mansion and when her eyes were
met with the large iron gates, relief started tickling along her spine.
 
A man stepped out of the shadow in the
distance and Connor stopped suddenly, reaching back to push her lower to the
ground as he knelt down.
 
Their
combined breathing was heavy, her heart beating so frantically she feared she
would pass out from the rush of blood it induced.
 

The surrounding area was deathly quiet except for the hushed
voices of three men that stood guard at the gate.
 
Connor turned to Arianna, a smile
peaking out from his lips.
 
“This
should be simple enough.
 
Once we
are past those gates, we’ll only have to travel a little while longer before we
will be picked up and transported to another home.”

She smiled back, the small bit of hope she’d allowed, now
blossoming in its depth.
 

“Stay here.
 
Let
me go deal with our friends up ahead and I’ll come back to grab you when
they’ve been removed.
 
We’re going
to make it, try not to worry.”

Quickly, she pushed up to kiss him once more before he
disappeared into the darkness to kill the final guards that stood in their
path.
 
A few minutes passed and she
grew worried.
 
Sitting against the
wall, she clutched Aaron to her chest, her mind repeating a prayer that Connor
return unharmed.
 
A hand fell on her
shoulder and she jumped from surprise, but smiled again to be met with Connor’s
face.
 
“It’s done.
 
We’re leaving here finally.”

Grabbing her by the elbow, he helped her stand with Aaron still
clutched tightly to her chest.
 
They
moved silently through the shadow, her heartbeat the only thing she could hear
besides the pound of Connor’s boots.
 
Reaching the large iron gate, he pushed the button to open it and turned
to smile at her as the creak of the hinges announced their escape from the hell
they’d been living for years.

Arianna smiled brightly, fear still alive in her heart but
quickly smothered by the feeling of happiness that came with their
success.
 
She couldn’t believe how
easy it had been and she felt stupid for not having attempted it before
now.
 
Shaking herself of those
thoughts, she bundled Aaron in one arm and reached out to take Connor’s
hand.
 
He pulled her into his side,
the warmth of his body chasing away the chill of the night air on hers and when
the gate parted enough to let them pass, he kissed her on the forehead before
saying, “It’s time, beautiful.”

Striding out quickly, they moved past the gates and once
outside the walls, Arianna looked away from Connor’s face and found the
sickening smile across Emory’s.

Arianna gasped and faltered in her step, moving back away
from the two men when Connor jumped to attack Emory.
 
Connor moved to stab Emory in the temple
and quickly kill him as he did the others, but when Emory moved suddenly,
Connor’s knife caught the side of his face and dragged along the skin, opening
his cheek to the point where muscle was split and bone was exposed.
 
Her stomach twisting from the sight, she
continued stepping away until she felt her back press up against a warm body
and arms reaching around to grab not only her, but also Aaron.

She pulled away instantly; not knowing who had grabbed her
and when she heard Joseph’s wicked chuckle sound behind her, her heart fell and
her knees weakened to realize escape had not been as easily gained as they’d
believed.

Her eyes still locked to Connor and Emory while they fought,
they widened to see additional men stepping out from the shadows beyond the
wall.
 
At least twenty men appeared
and moved in to assist Emory.
 
Connor noticed the additional men immediately, spinning quickly to
fight, his blades finding their way across the throats of those who moved too
close.
 
He fought valiantly, his
strength and speed obvious in the movements of his body, but with the number of
men who attacked, it became bleakly apparent that he’d been outnumbered.

When the men had finally contained him and had stripped him
of his weapons, they forced him to his knees facing Arianna.
 
He looked up, one eye red and swelling
from where he’d been hit, his bottom lip stained from where it had been split.

Tears falling from her face, she felt Joseph lean down and
his lips brush across her ear.
 
His
breath rolled along her skin and every muscle tensed at its contact.
 
Pain, absolute and unadulterated tore at
her chest, her sobs breaking free of her body when realization of what was to
come touched her thoughts.

“Do you think it’s so easy to escape me?
 
To run off like a whore into the night
with a guard?
 
I thought you were
better than that, my love.”
 
The
last words were laced with venom, his hatred for her apparent in the lethal
edge to his voice.

She didn’t dare look at him, couldn’t bring herself to look
away from Connor who kept his emerald gaze locked to her in sorrow and
defeat.
 
Emory stepped out from
around the men, blood pouring out from his cheek where Connor had torn it
open.
 
Emory indicated for the men
to lift Connor and when he was back on his feet, Emory punched him in the gut,
causing Connor to bend over in pain.
 
Bringing his fist up, Emory caught Connor in the chin and blood spewed
from his mouth from the force of the hit.
 

Arianna cried harder.
 
She knew they would kill him, would beat him to death before her
eyes.
 
Her body shook violently with
fear and bitterness, waking Aaron from his slumber until he cried out.
 
The small sound broke her heart even
more when she feared what would happen to her child now that they’d been
caught.

“Stop!”
 
Joseph’s
voice boomed out into the silent night sky and Emory stepped away from
Connor.
 
His face was deformed from
where Emory had broken bones and his body hung helplessly, only remaining
standing because of the guards that held him.

Joseph removed one arm from Arianna and motioned one of the
men over to where they stood.
 
“Take
my son.
 
I have a lesson that needs
to be taught to these traitors.”

Her body tensed impossibly tighter and she attempted to
fight against the man who reached for the screaming child, but her efforts were
made useless when Joseph grabbed her arms and forced her to let go.
 
Her eyes only left Connors when they
moved to follow the man who held her child, not knowing if it would be the last
time she ever saw her son.

With Aaron screaming in the background, Joseph pushed
Arianna towards Connor, letting them stand within a few short feet of each
other when he finally spoke again.
 

“I’m disappointed, Connor, I could have sworn you knew
better than this.”
 
Joseph’s hands
moved up to Arianna’s shirt, his fingers finding the first button of her
blouse, undoing it slowly while keeping his eyes trained on Connor.
 
Anger poured into Connor’s stare and
Arianna attempted to pull away from her husband.
 
Joseph grabbed her, his fingers digging
so far into her skin, it caused her to cry out in pain.
 
Losing his sense of delicacy, Joseph reached
around with the other hand, ripping open her shirt, exposing her breasts to the
men that stood before them.
 
“Is
this what you wanted?
 
The flesh of
another man’s wife?”
 

Joseph’s hand rubbed up her torso, eventually cupping the
weight of her breast before tightly pinching the peak between his fingers.
 
She cried out from the pain, tears
breaking free of her eyes as her husband reached down again to remove her
pants.
 
His eyes still locked to
Connor, Joseph continued ripping her clothes away until she stood naked and
exposed to the group of men who held her guard.

Connor struggled against the men who held him, but was met
with the fist of another who stood nearby.
 
More blood burst from his mouth, before that same man grabbed his hair
and forced his eyes up to watch Joseph and Arianna.

Quiet laughter sounded behind her, and Joseph released her
breast to run his hand down along her stomach eventually settling his touch
between her legs, rubbing his finger along the sensitive bundle of nerves.
 
One finger pushing down through the
flesh, he tsked.
 
“She’s become wet
for my touch but, I’ll allow you to watch this time, to see what you could have
had if you’d been a better man.”