What the hell did he want from me? Was this a game?—some twisted way of drawing out the anticipation of what was coming? Or was he their lackey?—sent to keep an eye on me until they came back? No, I dismissed the last thought. This man was nobody’s lackey. His clothes, his posture, the tilt of his chin, the aura that radiated from him, the cocky smile, the steely control in his eyes—this man did nobody’s bidding but his own.
So, what did that make him?—the ringleader? He was the alpha who demanded the first bite, and when he was finished the others could have whatever scraps he left behind?
“What…what do you want?” I stuttered in a weak and pathetic voice.
“Ah, you can speak. I was beginning to doubt what Alejandro and Vito had to say about your wicked tongue.”
My wicked tongue? They’d kidnapped me, stripped me and knocked me unconscious, and I was the one with the ‘wicked’ anything?
“Why don’t we have a seat and talk?” he suggested, motioning back toward the other room.
I didn’t want to sit or talk, but at least getting out of this room would put some distance between us. So, I nodded, and then waited for him to leave the room first.
I breathed a small sigh of relief when he’d stepped through the doorway, taking with him the feeling of claustrophobia that had begun to creep in on me, and then I followed him out slowly. But when he sat down on the edge of the bed, I stopped where I was. I was not going to sit on the bed with this man, and since there were no other seats in the room, I decided I was fine right where I was.
“Come closer,” he said in a tone that made it seem like keeping my distance was silly, and yet, two more steps and that was as close as I was going to get.
He chuckled and seemed to let it go. “The first rule you will learn is you will obey. If you don’t, you will be punished however I see fit. Do you understand?”
Understand? No, I certainly did not understand. What the hell was he talking about?
“No,” I cried and backed up several steps.
“No, you don’t understand? Or no, you won’t obey?” he asked easily.
He had to be crazy. “No, I don’t understand what the hell you’re talking about, and no, I will not obey you. You don’t own me.”
“You may not understand, Pet, but you will come to obey me, I assure you.”
I stood there frozen, my mind reeling in shock. This couldn’t be happening. It was beyond insane.
“Now, remove the blanket.”
What? No! Hell, no. I clutched the blanket tighter against me and glared back at him.
“I won’t tell you again,” he said, and though I could tell he meant it, and I didn’t even want to guess at what he was going to do, I stood there stiffly, refusing to relinquish it.
He sighed heavily and rose to his feet. He moved gracefully, like a lion, and I had a sinking feeling I was his prey. He kept coming until he was right in front of me and his presence was ten times more overwhelming—and scary—than it had been in the bathroom. He didn’t look angry. His breathing hadn’t changed and his hands were unclenched, relaxed at his sides, but I knew looks could be deceiving.
I should have run, retreated back to my corner in the bathroom, but he would just follow me there, so I stood my ground.
“I’ll make this easy for you, Pet. Kneel.” His voice was little more than a whisper, but he didn’t need to talk louder. His lips were just inches from my ear.
He wanted me to kneel?—like a dog? I wasn’t some animal he could tame. “I’m not a dog,” I snapped at him.
“No, you most certainly are not,” he agreed as he ran a finger down my jaw. “But you will kneel and you will give me that blanket.”
“Never,” I barked.
“We’ll see about that,” he said, and in a flash, he had my wrists trapped in one, big hand and he was dragging me toward the bed.
I dug in my heels, but I was no match for his strength, and he pulled me with him easily. Once there, he untucked a pair of shackles that had been concealed between the mattress and the box spring and hooked them on my wrists.
I tugged, but the shackles were attached to somewhere in the bed. I was trapped, hunched over at the side of the bed. I couldn’t even stand upright. The blanket had bunched around my waist as he’d dragged me, and he yanked it off, leaving me completely exposed, with no way of covering myself.
I cried and screamed and tugged against the restraints, but it was no use.