I turn my back on her to leave, but this time, she grabs my arm with both of her hands, wrapping them tightly around my forearm and yanking me around, forcing me to face her. “He likes to watch, you know,” she discloses in a last ditch effort to get a final dig at me, “and having threesomes is his thing, but just wait until he shares you with one of the bodyguards. He’s huge, really huge, and he loves giving it up the ass…hard.” She emphasizes the word with a sneer, and I desperately try to keep a grip on my emotions.
That’s the second time she’s mentioned Nick being into threesomes, and there is no way in hell I will ever let my body be used as a fudge packing factory.
“And when your sweet, little princess ass can’t handle that, or any other kink he decides to throw your way,” she pauses for effect, “well then...that’s when you’ll wind up being sold.” She makes fists in front of my face, then simultaneously her fists burst open and she splays her fingers out wide as she speaks. “Poof...gone into the underground world of slavery.”
I sober up quickly. A revolting shiver trembles through my body as I stand here frozen in horrified shock, because he did say he’d sell me if I didn’t comply or bend to all of his demands. I close my eyes tightly, wishing I could be transported away into the next solar system.
“Tara, enough!” a deep, rumbling voice bellows out from behind me, causing us both to jolt back with wide, startled eyes. It’s Nick, and apparently she didn’t see him approaching, because it looks as if she just swallowed a rotten egg whole. My body trembles as Nick snakes both of his arms protectively around me, encasing me from behind as he provides me refuge from this evil bitch.
I’m relieved Nick showed up when he did. I’m not sure which path I was going to take with her. I’d been debating between beating her to a pulp or…or…ah hell, I’m so frazzled I don’t know what I would’ve done, but being the new kid on the block, it couldn’t bode well for me.
“You are so far out of line,” he drawls slowly, his voice deep and full of anger. “Once your master finds out you’ve been causing my woman mayhem, I’m sure he will be highly displeased with you.” Her eyes go as wide as saucers from his statement. Nick snaps his fingers with a loud pop, which in turn startles me, but the gesture is meant for her. She immediately bows her head as if he just hypnotized her, and then she begins to kneel on the floor before us on shaky limbs. “You disgust me.” His loathsome words drip over the top of my head as pure contempt pours from his voice. The man scares me with his show of domination and power.
I’ve had enough of the dog and pony show; my nerves are a mess, and my stomach twists with thoughts of being sold if I can’t handle his kink. I feel bile threatening its way up past my esophagus, and I swallow hard, trying to tamp it back down. There is no place to run and hide. I have nowhere to turn to, except into the arms holding me hostage. If there is an inkling of truth to what Tara has just said, I know I’m doomed, and I don’t want to be sold. If I have to choose the better of the two evils, then, of course, it would here, with Nick.
Nick’s display of solicitude unexpectedly overtakes me and begins to simmer down my insecurities. I find myself twisting my entire body around within his arms of steel, snuggling inside his fortress, seeking out comfort and reassurance. Once I do this, I still don’t feel as if I’ve accomplished my task, so I wrap my arms around his trim waist and gently lay my head against the hard contours of his chest. Please, don’t sell me.
As if I’m not dealing with enough already, I have to contend with some psychopathic female who wants to dig her long talons into me and draw blood. The emotional aftermath of this woman’s declarations have my eyes misting with tears. I tense, willing myself to hold it together. The feelings of fear and frustration snake their way through my mind as I grab onto the back of Nick’s dress shirt and begin clutching and twisting the fabric in my hands. Nick picks up on my distressed body language, and he responds in kind by tightening his broad arms around me and pressing his lips to the top of my head in a loving gesture.
“Shh, my love, I promise no one is going to hurt you or sell you.”