Page 36 of Not Another Dark Romance

“Or what?” I challenge. “You’ll chain me up tighter?” His eyes darken for a moment, and I push harder.

“Oh, what, now you like the idea? Are you imagining all the things you could have been doing to me? You suddenly want to fuck my face? Put your straight dick right down my throat? Too bad. My offer is off the table.”

He scoffs and shakes his head before disappearing up the stairs, leaving me alone with what feels like a small victory and hopefully the promise of my art supplies. I settle back against the air mattress with all my pillows and blankets, feeling accomplished as I take bites of the hot food he made for me.

Being a bit pushy might not get me freedom, but it certainly gets me what I want in other ways. And if Zane thinks he can resist my charm forever, he’s got another thing coming.

16

How did I not think about his fucking bills?

I’m constantly stressed enough about mine, and I didn’t even think to check if his shit needed to be paid. I’m a fucking idiot. What if people from the bank show up at his place? Do they even do that? I have no idea how any of that works, but if he doesn’t pay anything for long enough, surely someone would show up there? A landlord at the very least.

He made it seem like he’d help me make sure everything was paid though… which is so fucking weird. Why would he do that? I know he’s claimed he doesn’t hate the situation, but that’s a whole other level of him embracing being kidnapped. If someone did realize he was missing, there’s not much to connect us, but I did go to get his dog, and just in general the fact that no one is looking for him makes things a lot easier for me if I do decide to kill him.

Obviously, I need to get his art supplies if he’ll help me pay his bills, but I just don’t have it in me to deal with that tonight. I fucked around at the brewery for long enough, delaying having to face Mason after thinking about him while I got off, and now it’s nearly midnight. I have no idea how long it’ll take to load up all his supplies, but it seems like tomorrow’s problem.

As much as I don’t want to add another thing to my plate, I still feel guilty about everything. It doesn’t actually make the reality of killing him any less awful, but I like the idea of his final days being less shitty. He’s already got the air mattress and the audiobooks. Now painting can be another thing to help him enjoy this time as much as possible.

I stomp up the stairs, unable to shake the shitty feeling in my gut. Ugh, why do I feel guilty about being so short with him tonight? I obviously didn’t know how to act around Mason after jerking off to thoughts of him, but he has been a pretty perfect “kidnappee,” as he called himself, he doesn’t deserve my anger.

I get ready for bed and set my alarm a bit earlier than I’d originally planned, so I have time to go to Mason’s house before I have to grocery shop with Grant. Fuck, I wish I had more money so I could just order it all new, but I’d imagine someone who sells their art for as much as he does would use nice supplies, which I definitely can’t afford.

It sounded like he might want to keep selling his art… I wonder if he’d want me to post it and send it for him so that we could use that money for his bills… is that what he meant? It really would be convenient if it seemed like he was still posting on socials and paying for everything.

God, what am I doing? How long am I planning to keep him here with me? At some point am I going to have to move him out of his apartment so he doesn’t have another year’s commitment on his lease?

Fuck, I can’t think about this in too much detail right now. I’ll just have to trust that he tells me about every bill he has, I don’t think I have any other options at this point. I’m scheduled to close at the restaurant tomorrow, so I guess my morning off will now involve another trip to the apartment of the man I’ve kidnapped and trapped in my basement.

Awesome.

“I got your shit!” I call out as I awkwardly pull the basement door open while also holding a canvas that’s taller than me.

“Well, good morning to you too!” Mason yells back as I carefully descend into the basement. Guess he’s no longer mad at me.

“Morning.” I set down the canvas where I know he’ll still be able to reach it with the length of his chain.

He walks over to run his hand down the blank fabric before he turns to me with that falsely sweet smile. “Should I threaten to annoy you more often? Was that the key to getting what I want? Or did you finally realize how appealing the idea of using me for your sexual pleasure would be and you want to apologize for being so mean since I took it off the table?”

I roll my eyes. “It was actually the threat of your unpaid bills landing you on a missing person’s list.”

“Huh.” He shrugs. “Whatever works, I guess. I’d offer to help you bring everything down, but I’m guessing my chain doesn’t reach the top of the stairs.”

“You expect me to believe you don’t know how far the chain reaches?” I scoff. There’s no fucking way with all the time he’s had alone down here that he hasn’t tested it.

“I don’t care if you do, it’s the truth. What’s the point? I’m literally chained to the beam; even if I could get far enough to open the basement door, I’m not leaving this house until you trust me not to turn you in.”

Yeah, that won’t be happening, but I don’t bother to remind him of that because he never listens anyway, so I comment instead. “You’re so strange.”

He only smiles bigger. “I’m your little psycho, remember.”

I shake my head and go back upstairs. It takes several trips, and my breathing is a little labored after so many flights carrying everything, but eventually all the groceries I picked up during my quick shopping trip with Grant are put away, and his art stuff I took from his apartment has been re-set up in my basement. I wore big sunglasses, baggy clothes, and a hat to disguise my appearance in case anyone saw me, but I didn’t even see anyone else at his building.

He’s standing in front of the largest canvas with his head tilted and his hands tucked under his chin.

“What? Did I miss something? Why do you still look so pissed?” He shakes his head no but doesn’t elaborate, so I go on. “Do you need anything else? Since apparently you feel like you have the right to demand things while being my literal prisoner.”

He turns to face me again with a satisfied smirk. “I was actually focusing on how shitty the lighting is down here, trying to think about how that will affect my art, but if you’re offering, can you put our new audiobook on? I’d also love to lose these handcuffs so I can paint properly, or even to have another opportunity to jerk off. I’ve been so horny with all my fantasies of how much fun we could be having with me chained up down here.”