Nitro's Torment (Sydney Storm MC 2)

Easing myself to a sitting position, I squinted when the sunlight streaming through the window hit my eyes. Rain had fallen in Sydney all week and the news had forecast more, so the sun surprised me.

Welcome to your bright, shiny future.

“Fuck!” I screamed out as I wiggled some more to straighten. The pain that shot through my entire body was enough to knock the wind out of me, but I wouldn’t let it. My momentary lapse last night when I’d practically begged Nitro to kill me would never happen again. I refused to allow another human to push me to that edge once more.

I swung my legs off the bed so I was sitting on the edge. Nitro had tied my ankles together with rope, but I was going to attempt to shuffle out of the room. I’d been lying awake for what had to be at least an hour and I hadn’t heard him in that time. He also hadn’t come when I just screamed out. Maybe he was asleep. Or, while I highly doubted it, perhaps he had left the house. Either way, I had to take any opportunity to escape that presented itself.

When I stood a moment later, I held my breath as another round of agony took hold. Squeezing my eyes shut, I counted to ten and then back to zero, centring myself.

They will not break you.

You will get through this.

“You going somewhere?” Nitro’s voice boomed from the doorway, jolting me.

My eyes flicked open. “Yes, out of this damn room. It’d make my day if you untied my feet.”

Amusement crossed his face momentarily.

Then the hard set of his jaw that I knew so well, even after only meeting him the night before, settled back in place. “It’d make my fucking week if you did as I said and stayed put on the bed.”

“I wasn’t put on this earth to make your week.”

He crossed his arms over his chest, drawing my attention to his body. That was a bad move. The man had everything going for him physically that would usually turn me on. Muscles that declared strength, and tattoos all over that told a story were my downfall when it came to men, and Nitro had plenty of all those. He also had thick dark hair and a beard, two more preferences of mine.

Concentrate, Tatum.

You’re his fucking prisoner for God’s sake.

“That mouth get you into trouble a lot, Vegas?”

“It keeps the people out of my life who shouldn’t be in it.”

He nodded slowly, arms still crossed. “Yeah, I imagine it does.” Dropping his arms, he strode to me, his face darkening. “King’s just arrived and I suggest you keep it shut around him. He doesn’t have as much tolerance as I do.”

I squared my shoulders and started to speak, but King appeared in the doorway, interrupting us.

His eyes came straight to me. “Seems you were telling the truth, Tatum. Billy is desperate to get you back.”

“Thank fuck,” I muttered, earning a scowl off Nitro.

I returned his scowl before shifting my attention back to King. Holding up my hands that were still handcuffed, I said, “Awesome. You can remove these now.”

“Not until you tell me what you saw in that hotel last night,” King said as he moved towards me.

Staring at him, I mentally acknowledged the crazy glint still in his eyes. Knowing what he was after, I said, “Nothing. I wasn’t even in that room.”

“Where were you?”

“At the blackjack table all night.”

“Did you win?”

“Five hundred bucks.”

“Who did you leave with?”

“No one.”