As promised, I'm officially back to continue on with Breaking Eden! Please note that this hasn't been edited yet. Feel free to rip it apart. Tell me what you like or hate. I want to make BE the best book it can possibly be so honest feedback is always welcome. Thanks for reading! :0)
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10 – We Got Ourselves a Winner
Ben paused outside Declan's bedroom door and glanced at Eden. He held her hand in his, not firmly or with force, but gently and with affection, as though his next few words were true.
"Do you trust me?" He intertwined their fingers and offered her a kind smile.
"If I'm being honest, I don't know. I want to though, trust you that is. But-"
"You can't." He finished her thought.
Eden's cheeks turned pink with embarrassment and she nodded.
"One day you will. I would never willingly want to harm you." The corners of Ben's mouth turned up. "But until that day comes, I will continue to prove myself worthy of your trust."
"Thank you." Eden's grip tightened around Ben's hand, trying to convey that she did indeed mean every word she said.
She would love nothing more than to trust Ben, or anyone in this new house of horrors. Trusting the others would make Eden's life less lonely and boring. It would bring her the company she so desired to have while locked away in her room.
"Everything will be as it should in due time" Ben said.
Yet, there was a voice within Eden's mind, warning her relentlessly to trust no one. She was safer alone. The others were working against her, trying to win her will over, trying to trick her into excepting her new situation, excepting them and this house. This was something Eden would never allow.
They only want to cause you pain. The voice spoke within Eden's mind, urging her to hold strong. They wish to add to your misery, your torment. They'll fill your head with lies of trust and love but only cause you pain. They'll trick you into wanting Declan and all of them. Then you'll become one of his mindless Stepford slaves, doomed to serve is every wish.
"Eden," Ben returned that same pressure around her hand, "Are you ready?"
She glanced back down the hallway from which they came, wondering if she could make another attempt at finding another way out.
"Thinking about making a run for it?" Ben asked almost jokingly. "I'll release my fox if that's what you wish to do."
Eden's eyes filled with bitter sadness, "Where would I go?"
"Search the mansion grounds a little more and get better acquainted with the land." Ben sighed, knowing it would be a waste of time. "Perhaps you should find Jude, maybe?"
"She's the one who sent me to you." Eden's gazed shifted toward Declsan's door. "Every ending will lead back to this spot, back to Declan and to whatever he has instore for me. He'll always win won't he?"
Ben spoke quietly now, as though offering Eden a small pep talk, "Listen to Master speak, obey his commands, and act without hesitation. Demonstrate your need for his guidance and control. Allow this to happen and you'll win Master's favor."
"And if I don't? Then what?"
"Then he'll be forced to punish you. It's as easy as that." A hushed laugh escaped him.
"What happens if I do everything you say?"
"Master may grant you an act of pleasure instead of pain. Personally speaking, I would be forever grateful to have won if granted a night in your bed."
"Declan will never grant me anything but pain and misery." Eden's demeaner shifted. She squared her shoulders as the light within her eyes began to dim to a weak shimmer, "Let's just get this over with."
"Eden-"
"I don't think you get it." Her gaze finally met his. "I haven't signed the contract, Ben. And I don't plan to either. So, whatever happens tonight in this room won't be consensual. Declan's plans to beat me into submission. Force my hand to sign." She sucked in a shaky breath and franticly wiped at her cheeks, "The sad thing is that I actually don't blame him. I've-"
Eden stopped herself from finishing her thought. What she wanted to say was that she'd been with men like Declan, grew up with them even. They'd take what they want by force because they could. Those boys then grew up to become monsters and continued their cycle of abuse.
They took and took and took until there was nothing else to take. They were boys like Kelan, men like Declan. Even Ben. They were all the same or so Eden thought.
Ben spoke, "I believe in you. Tell me what you want me to do."
Eden stood in silence, staring that this kind mans face. She wanted to hug him and tell him she forgives him for whatever Declan will make him do. Even more so, she wished to kiss his lips and traced the curve of his smile with her fingertip's miles and miles away from this house.
Instead, Eden didn't respond at all.
She raised her hand and knocked three times against Declan's door so Ben wouldn't have too. It was shortly after their conversation started that she understood that he was staling the inevitable.
There was movement on the other side of the door, the sound of shuffling of feet deep within the room, the loud scrap of a chair echoed from within, and then a muffled voice told them to enter.
Upon opening the door, Eden sunk deeper into the void of nothingness, willing her mind to check out of her newfound reality, yet it wasn't as simple as she hoped. The smoky tendrils of the void, that were once all too eager to drag her back, weren't there. It was as though the void wanted her to earn their protection now, was making her fight back harder than before and forcing her to not give up hope.
A sickening pit of dread settled into her stomach as the sight of Declan sitting behind his desk reading some leather-bound book.
"I've captured the red fox, Master." Ben spoke with complete confidence. His chin high. His gaze unwavering, almost challenging the other man.
Declan glanced up from his book, eyeing them both with a raised brow, "Splendid. Go 'round up the others. Tell them a winner has been announced and a celebration is to commence."
"Yes, Master." Ben released Eden's hand after depositing her near Declan's desk. Then without so much as a glance towards Eden, Ben left, closing the bedroom door quietly behind him and sealing her fate.
Declan set his book down and motioned Eden forward. "Come, Eden. Allow me to look at you a moment."
Eden stepped forward, stopping short of Declan's desk. There was no way she'd allow him access to her. She made sure to keep the wide oak surface a barrier and refused to cross it, even if he told her too.
If Declan chose to grab her, Eden would run, although she didn't know how far she'd get.
"You lasted longer than I thought you would." He leaned back in his chair, crossing his leg over the other. "Did you get a proper look at the mansion grounds? Perhaps you found a route of escape I haven't thought of?"
"We both know I wouldn't be here if I did." Eden's tone was short, almost clipped.
"I suppose you're right." The side of Declan's mouth lifted as he added, almost taunting her, "Then again, maybe you want to stay after all. Stay here with me. With us."
Eden narrowed her eyes, "You think to highly of yourself. Why would I ever want to stay here?"
Declan stood.
The sudden movement made her step back. The pit of dread had now morphed into a churning fear that made her want to vomit.
He rounded the desk then say on the corner of the desk, his gaze devouring Eden silently.
"We both know that's a lie, Eden. You'll fight me, but we both know how this will end."
"How will this end?" Eden took another step back.
"With you on your knees begging me to keep you."
Eden shook her head and almost laughed. "Never."
Declan's gaze dragged up her body. For the first time, he was utterly serious, not a hint of humor to his words. "Stop fighting me, Eden. Give into your desires and all this pain can go away."
His fingertips reached for her cheek, but she side stepped his hand.
"You don't get to touch me."
"Is that so?"
Eden glanced at the bedroom door, "I'll run, do whatever I can to find a way out."
"You had the opportunity yet gave up so quickly. Why is that?" Declan stood when Eden took another step away from him, "Run and you'll force my hand."
Eden's response was to take another step away but now Declan matched her step by step.
"Where will you go, Eden?" His cold stare bore into hers, "Have you thought of that?"
When Eden took another step back, Declan grabbed her wrist, holding her in place with a firm grip. "There's nothing outside the mansion grounds. You're safer here, with me. With us."
"You call this safe?" A laugh bubbled up inside her when she motioned towards his hand on her arm. "I'm as unsafe here as I am out there."
"I'm starting to think you enjoy this, fighting me, forcing me to punish you."
Eden opened her mouth to speak, but no words came, only a deafening silence hung in the air between them.
"I understand your need to fight. They all do at first. But imagine the pleasures you're denying yourself. Give in to me, to the others, in this very room and everything can change." Declan closed the distance, their bodies almost touching, "So I'll ask you again. Where will you go, Eden?"
"I don't know."
"To whom are you safest with?"
The imagine of a smile appeared in her mind, it was kind and gentle, unlike the one Declan now sported.
"Ben." Eden spoke his name with such conviction that it even surprised herself.
Once again, Declan's fingers grazed Eden's cheek. Her response was to only stand there, staring up at Declan, as her mind filling with imagines of her and Ben together, enjoying each other's bodies. Yet those images were fleeting, morphing into a cloud of silky smoke.
Soon Ben turned into Declan. It was Declan's mouth that she enjoyed, savoring his every touch. In this smoky nightmare, there was no pain, only a mind-numbing pleasure that brought tears to Eden's eyes.
Declan thumbed away her tears, "Stop your suffering. Surrender."
She willed herself to give to his touch, his words, his body, but her heart broke inside of her chest. She found herself leaning into his warm palm, her eyelids growing heavy with defeat.
"Were you ever truly safe out there on your own?" His tone was affectionate as though he no longer wanted to fight either. "The world is a cruel place. It offered you nothing but misery, both in body and mind. You suffered a lifetime of hurt. Allow me to make it go away and stop resisting."
A chill of weakness swept through Eden, causing her skin to prickle in goose bumps. She tilted her head back, her eyelids still heavy with desire until their parted lips brushed together.
Only there was no kiss to be had. She inhaled the fresh scent of his breath and forced herself to speak the words roaring through her mind.
"I can't." For a moment, Eden wasn't sure if she actually spoke. All she knew was this. Declan was toying with her mind. Her emotions were in overdrive and he was using them to his advantage by trying to make her believe life would be better here with him, under his control. But it wouldn't, not really.
Declan's other hand came to rest against her other cheek, forcing her head back almost painfully as their lips brushed again. Time slipped by.
When he spoke the coldness returned, "Until you bend to my rules, you give me no other choice. We carry on as normal." His hands were off her face, his mouth no longer against her egger lips. "The others will be here shortly."
Declan left Eden there, standing less than a yard from the desk, to stew in her own internal misery. He rounded the desk to retake his seat, picked up his book, and begin to read as though she was no longer with him in the room.
Eden stood staring at him as the thought of running from the room faded from her mind. Again, she was plagued by the thought of how unfair it was to be so close to such an exquisite man who didn't deserve her. Yet here she was, watching him with growing desire radiating through her.
Within her mind she replayed every vile thing he done to her since she entered this house. By the end, she had snuffed out that flame and in its place was a cold fury.
Minutes trickled by, turning into what felt like hours of standing, waiting for the others to return.
There came a light tapping against the bedroom door. It was only then that Declan closed his book and placed it back on the desk.
"You may enter." Declan spoke, his eyes never leaving Eden's. "It's time to celebrate."
Words: 2,248
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