Provoke

“I’m fine.” I smiled. “Couldn’t sleep.”

“Yeah, I thought I heard talking,” he mumbled, rubbing his eyes.

“I was just trying to get onto Laura.”

He nodded, giving me a sympathetic smile. “Hope you get some sleep.” He turned and began to walk out.

“Mace?” He stopped at turned back. “Will you…can you hold me?” My face flamed. I felt like an idiot. He smiled and walked over to the bed, climbing under the covers.

Sighing, I snuggled back into his embrace, my body relaxing.

“Course I will. Anything I can do, I’m here, okay?” I nodded, cupping his hand in mine. The warmth from his body, and the strength from his arms around me was all I needed. My heavy eyes began to close as I drifted off to sleep.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Leeta

Stupid fucking idea.

What the hell had I been thinking?

Mace narrowed his eyes at me. I smiled and reached for his hand, trying to reassure him—or myself—that I was okay. I could do this.

“Leet, I’m not sure about this.”

“It’s a little late now, isn’t it?” I snorted. Wednesday night, and we were sitting in his car, on our way to the destination. “Look, you need to focus. You have to remain as impartial with me as you were with the others.” My chest tightened as I spoke. I hated thinking about him with anyone else other than me. It made me sick. More than that, it made me fucking angry as hell.

“Are you going to be okay?” he asked quietly.

I nodded and pressed my lips together. I wasn’t about to tell him that I was no stranger to kinky shit like this. Now was not the time to delve into my relationship with Ben.

The hardest thing for me was going to be separating myself from Mace. I had to play the victim. What if I enjoyed it? What if, in the moment, I lost myself, and it became obvious that I was aroused?

My reaction hinged on this going well. He wanted fear. That was what this guy lived on. I just wasn’t sure I could play the terrified, submissive role.

#

“We’re here.”

I jumped, Mace’s voice startling me. I looked out the window at what appeared to be an abandoned house. Here?

“It belongs to an acquaintance of my brother.”

Huh. I reached for my seatbelt as Mace’s hand closed over mine. I glanced up at him in surprise.

“Thanks. For this. For not going straight to the cops.”

I nodded. Why did my heart race every time he touched me? Why did I feel like I’d done something wrong by him every time he looked at me with those sad eyes? Why was I the one feeling bad?

The fact that I couldn’t hate him made me want to hate him even more.

I got out of the car, my heart pounding. Mace slipped his hand into mine and squeezed it. I smiled up at him, confused by what I was feeling. Apart from feeling like I was about to vomit, I felt dizzy and more scared than I’d ever felt in my life. I kept thinking about Anna—how scared she must have been.

Taking a deep breath, I took a step toward the house. Mace fell in line beside me.

“I’m right here with you, Leet. As scary as this gets, don’t ever forget that, okay?”

I nodded, swallowing hard.