Claimed

He stroked her tear-stained face. “Shh, baby. Don’t cry. Stop crying. It’s okay. It’s all going to be okay, I promise.”

She looked at him, beseeching him with those lovely green eyes. In that instant he forgave her for breaking his heart.

Smoothing back her tousled hair, he murmured gently, “Kelsey, sweetheart. Listen to me. If I take off the gag, you have to promise not to scream, okay? I know you’re scared and confused, but things are different now. I understand you didn’t mean to hurt me, and I forgive you. Together we’re going to build a new kind of love—or rather, an ancient kind. The primordial and profound love of a strong man and the woman he has claimed.”

She continued to stare at him as if she had no idea what he was talking about. No matter. He would show her what he meant. He would teach her. They had time.

All the time in the world, now that she belonged to him.

Chapter 3

She was caught in a huge, sticky web that held her from all sides. The harder she jerked against her restraints, the more entangled she became. The spider was advancing, its huge fangs glistening with blood as it sidled toward her on the long, furry stalks of its legs. Kelsey opened her mouth to scream, but could only manage a strangled whimper. The spider opened its slathering jaws—

“Kelsey! Hey! Wake up. You’re having a bad dream. Just a dream, sweetheart.”

Kelsey’s eyes flew open at the sound of a man’s voice. What was a man doing in her apartment?

As she came more fully awake, she saw her boss, James Bennett, peering down at her with an expression of concern. His normally perfectly-combed hair was flopped forward onto his forehead and, as her eyes traveled down his bare chest, she saw he was naked.

All at once the horrifying, unbelievable events of last night blasted into her consciousness with the ferocity of a tornado. She tried to roll away from her abductor, but found her arms were numb, her legs still spread wide on the man’s bed.

James continued speaking as if everything were nice and normal. “Wow, it’s already six-twenty. We’d better get up if I’m going to get to work on time.”

Kelsey remembered now—he’d pulled that fucking sock gag out of her mouth finally, but had refused to untie her arms and legs, even when she’d pleaded with him. He’d draped his naked body over hers, one strong arm and leg keeping her pinned to the mattress. He’d fallen into a heavy, inert sleep, his breath on her neck, his snore in her ear.

She’d lain awake for hours, fruitlessly trying to work her way out of her bonds, hoping to slip from beneath the sleeping man and make her escape. After a while, though, she had given up, too exhausted to do much more than lie there in a stupor. And somehow, apparently, she’d eventually fallen asleep, only to be pursued by terrifying nightmares. At least those she could wake from.

“Did you sleep okay?” James asked in a solicitous tone.

“Did I what?” Kelsey blurted, incredulous. She glanced down at her body—there was a sheet over her lower half, but her breasts were bare. Her destroyed blouse still hung by the sleeves over her numb arms. “You raped me, James. You have me bound hand and foot. If I slept at all, it wasn’t well.” She fought to keep her fury in check, remembering his rage the night before.

“Please,” she begged instead, “untie me. Please?”

James regarded her solemnly for a long moment. “If I do, you have to promise not to do anything stupid like try to run away. Can you promise me that?”

Kelsey pressed her lips together to keep from screaming. What did this lunatic want from her?

He frowned, shaking his head. “What am I thinking? Of course you can’t promise. Not yet. It’s not fair of me to expect obedience when I haven’t had time to train you.”

Train her?

Fear shivered through her veins like ice. James Bennett was clearly insane, and dangerous as hell.

James slid out of the bed. Kelsey closed her eyes to avoid looking at him. She heard him coming around to her side of the bed. She felt the give in the mattress as he sat beside her, and she turned her head away.

She heard the drawer on the night table open and then close. “Kelsey. Look at me. Look at what I’m holding.” His previously solicitous tone had taken on a hard edge, and Kelsey didn’t dare to refuse him.

She turned slowly back to him, peering through half-closed lids. She gasped when she saw the gun, its muzzle pointed in her direction. She tried to scream, but her voice had died in her throat, and she only emitted a small, strangled squeak.

James kept the gun pointed at her. “I won’t harm you as long as you don’t give me cause. But you need to understand that I mean business. As long as you obey me and do what I say…” He let the incomplete sentence hang menacingly in the air.