Page 30 of Bought
I stared at the rug beneath my knees, shivering in anticipation. “I’m not afraid. Only, you’re going to be disappointed because being a brat is kind of my thing.”
His grip shifted. “Disobedient and so quickly. What did I say about not speaking until you’re spoken to?”
The press of his fingers against my skin was warm, strong, his grip so firm. “Do I answer that? Or is that a rhetorical question?”
He said nothing, a powerful presence behind me.
“I think you’re wrong,” I said, unable to stop myself, nerves making me babble. “I think you do like a brat. You like it when I disobey you.”
He ignored me and when he spoke, his voice was cold. “First punishment will be restraint.”
I heard him shift and the hold on my wrists slackened. Only to tighten once again as I felt him wrap something around them — that silk tie again.
Here was my first test and while reflexive fear prickled through me as he pulled the binding tight, I shoved it aside. Then his fingers were at my throat as he undid the catch of my cloak and pulled the whole thing away, leaving me naked and kneeling on the carpet.
Goosebumps rose all over my skin. This was different from when I’d stood naked in front of him in that room in Arcadia. Then, I hadn’t known what to expect and I’d been afraid and confused at how deeply he’d affected me. But I wasn’t confused now. I knew why my skin felt tight, why there was a heat inside me, an ache, a hunger.
It was him. It was all him.
I could feel him standing at my back and I knew he was looking down at me. The pressure of his gaze was an almost physical force.
He began to walk in a slow circle around me.
My mouth dried. The way he looked at me was so intense, as if he was examining every part, and I shivered at the thought of what he might find.
I’d never wanted to be beautiful or desirable to anyone because beauty was dangerous. It drew notice and it certainly seemed to draw the notice of all the creeps.
But for the first time since I could remember, I wanted to be beautiful. I wanted to be desirable to him.
Are you though? Are you anything at all? You know you could disappear, and no one would know, no one would care.
But that was a hateful thought, the doubts that would come at me in the dark sometimes when I couldn’t sleep, and I didn’t want it in my head.
Isabel would care. She was my friend.
And what will she think of you now? Naked and on your knees for her father?
I shoved the thought away, suddenly aware once more of my own vulnerability. I didn’t want to be anything to anyone, and I certainly didn’t want his judgment to be important to me. I didn’t care about his opinion one way or another.
I lifted my chin and looked up at him.
His beautiful face was set in hard lines, icy blue eyes blazing. He’d stopped in front of me and folded his arms. “Did I say you could meet my gaze?”
“No. But you didn’t say I couldn’t either.”
He didn’t reply, merely tilting his head and giving my body a slow, deliberate scan, his expression impenetrable.
Yet more heat prickled through me, the subtle pressure between my thighs telling me that I was a liar, that I did care what he thought.
“So, is that it?” I demanded, unable to stay quiet. “Or is your obsession with tying my wrists all you’ve got?”
He said nothing for a long moment. Then he stepped forward, reaching down and taking my chin in a firm grip. “There’s no need to be so desperate,” he said coolly. “You already have my attention.”
I tried to laugh. “I’m not desperate, I’m—”
His thumb pressed down over my mouth, silencing me. “Settle. As I said, you have my attention. And now you’ll be getting a second punishment too.”
Every inch of my skin tightened. His grip on my chin, his thumb pressing against my lips, the sheer power of him towering above me, made my feelings tangle around each other and knot tight. Excitement and fear and anger and desire… I couldn’t sort them all out.