She pitched a package of chicken in the cart and sighed. Shopping was a mistake. He wasn’t ready to be around other people, much less a busy crowd. Somebody was going to get hurt before the day was through.
Feeling him press against her, she glanced over her shoulder with a twinge of hope. Maybe, given a little more time, he would come back around.
“Grab one of those,” Sebastian directed, pointing to the section of duck. “The meat is rich and fatty. It will do you some good.”
She couldn’t help feeling skeptical. Images of Easter ducklings flickered through her mind, and she scrunched her nose. If he was trying to spur her appetite, it wasn’t working. “I’ve never had duck before, let alone made it.”
He shrugged. “It’s very good as long as you know how to cook it properly. I will show you how.”
“Sebby,” she started, her tone pleading. She held her tongue as his expression hardened and his piercing stare trapped her in place.
“Is everything going to be an argument with you today, Taylor?”
“No, sir.”
She flushed as an older gentleman caught wind of their conversation and paused. Shooting them both a look of question, he shuffled by. The heat searing her cheeks deepened as she turned her attention back to Sebastian. His glare continued to drill into her and she stilled an apprehensive shudder.
“I am starting to think you are trying to bait my anger, Taylor. Put it in the cart. We will finish this discussion when we get home.”
“Sebastian, please don’t be like this.”
“Like what, Taylor?” he asked, leaning over her. “What is it you think I am doing?”
“You’re backing me into corners and looking for reasons to punish me.”
His shoulders jerked with a humorless huff. “I don’t need to look, sweetheart. You are giving them to me on your own.”
She winced when Sebastian reached up and stroked the back of her head, the tenderness belying his smoldering expression. She’d endured that gesture enough to know it was an unspoken warning of things to come, a menacing herald of pain.
“You’ve forgotten how things work between us, Taylor,” Sebastian murmured. “It’s my fault for being so lax with you. I’ve been too forgiving and negligent in my duties to keep you on track, but I assure you that is a situation we will remedy.” He leaned over and brushed his lips across her temple before pressing them against her ear. “You are going to fall back into line, darling. I don’t care what I have to do or how much pain that takes.”
Unable to help it, she stumbled away. Tears pricked her eyes, and she frantically scanned their surroundings in a bid for help. The rueful slant of Sebastian’s mouth warned he knew exactly what she was doing. Saying nothing, he folded his arms and reclined a hip against the meat counter. The unspoken dare burned steadily in his gaze.
She wanted nothing more than to run. This was bad. So bad. He wasn’t himself. Whatever he’d been through was making Sebastian even more menacing and cold. Her heart hammered, and her stomach was twisting into painful knots. Asking someone to help would only be handing them a death sentence. Of that much she was certain. Her desperate gaze darted to the other end of the store. Maybe she would make it out the front doors. She might even make it out of the parking lot but, eventually, Sebastian would find her. He would use every high-tech resource available, and he wouldn’t stop until he’d found her. Her terrified brain couldn’t even bear to fathom what would happen then. One thing she did know—if he didn’t kill her, he would definitely make her wish he had.
Seeing her shoulders slump, Sebastian arched a brow.
“Are you finished?” he asked with a surprising measure of calm.
Body sagging in defeat, Taylor offered a mute nod. It was pointless. There was no escape, and like always, he knew exactly what she’d been thinking. The thought made her blood run cold. She grabbed the cart to keep from sinking to her knees. Causing a scene would only make things worse. Maybe, if she was lucky, he would cool down by the time they got home. At least enough that she’d be able to sit right after a few days. As terrifying as the notion was, she had no doubt that would be quick and painless in comparison to whatever lie in store for her now.
The rest of the shopping hadn’t taken nearly long enough. Neither had putting the contents of their overflowing cart away. Taylor found herself wishing Sebastian would stop helping several times. He was quick, proficient, and more than determined to get through the task as quickly as possible. A frigid bolt of fear zapped through her when she heard the sound of the pantry door clicking shut. He turned to face her and she knew, without being told, where to go.
Her legs felt heavy and leaden as she made the arduous climb up the steps. She didn’t bother pausing in the sitting room. Hoping compliance would at least help shave a point or two off her punishment, she headed straight into the bedroom while Sebastian shut the heavy wooden double doors to the master suite. The strength she’d tried to cling to fled as she watched him secure the lock and approach. Her eyes darted to his, her petrified brain wondering why he would lock the doors when they were alone.
When fumbling behind her offered no viable forms of support, Taylor sank to her knees. The gesture didn’t earn her any favors. His hands shot out and he wrenched her to her feet. She whimpered, doing her best not to cry, despite his brutal hold.
“I warned you not to keep pushing me,” he growled.
She slackened in his grip, unable to tear her eyes away from his numbing stare. There wasn’t just anger in those sage pools. There was hatred. The pale slits narrowed with rage, and something close to disgust crawled across his chiseled face.
“You enjoy this don’t you?” he asked, cocking his head.
“No, Sebastian. I swear. Stop…please just calm down…don’t do this.”
“After everything you’ve done today?” His smile was a cruel, sadistic farce. “I don’t think so, darling. You all but begged me to punish you this morning. I should have listened to you then instead of trying to rein you back in, but I hear your message, Taylor. I hear it loud and clear.”
The room spun when he buried his nose in the hair above her ear. She could feel him drawing her scent in, breathing it deep into his lungs. But it didn’t stop there. His other hand inched up her throat, coming to a stop just under her chin. It didn’t tighten, but its weight was heavy and sinister.
“Are you enjoying this, sunshine?”
She tensed against his raspy whisper.
“Is this the side of me you wanted to see?” he murmured against her ear.
All she managed was a mute shake of her head. He released her and she hit the floor at his feet. Sebastian shot her a hard of disapproval as he stood above her with his hands locked behind his back. Her swallow was so strained it hurt. That was why he’d locked the doors. It ensured his hands or a bullet would stop her in her tracks before she even managed to pull them open. Sebastian stared down the end of his nose, his lips quirking with an unrepentant twitch.
“Go ahead. Try it,” he urged, tilting his head toward the doors. “Did you forget what will happen if you try to run from me, Taylor? Do you need a refresher course on that as well?”
“No! I-I don’t want to go. I just want you, Sebastian. Not this…you.”
“You have me, sweetheart. You will always have me. I’m the one who no longer has you. You’ve made that much perfectly clear. Whether you acted on your desire to leave or not, the thought is still there. This is something else we will work on correcting together.”
“Can you blame me?” she choked. “Look what you’re becoming, Sebby! Look at how you’re acting. How am I supposed to feel anything but scared?”
Tilting his head, his pale eyes narrowed even more.