Tormented

She looked at him, bewildered. “Then I’m screwed. I’m fucked.”

He stared intently into her eyes. “Yeah, babe, you are.”

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Maybe he was wrong. Maybe she didn’t have any secret about De Reyes and Chang to reveal.

No. Ben trusted his instincts. She had hesitated once too often for him to believe she was completely innocent.

Knowing her arms would be sore, he said, “Let’s try something different for fun.”

Flipping one of the switches on the wall, he brought her back down to the floor.

“How can I prove to you I don’t have anything on Carlos and Dawson?” she asked as he unhooked her wrists and undid the shirt binding them.

“You can’t if it’s not the truth,” he said gravely before dragging her over to the wooden table.

“Our week together is just supposed to be about sex. I didn’t sign up for anything else—especially extortion!”

He tossed her onto the table and held her down by the throat. “You sure you want to go down that path, pet?”

He wanted to point out that she had started it all with her phone calls to Sam, but he didn’t want to scare her too much. She might shut down and call an end to their week. What would he do if she did?

He didn’t want to let her go. For a variety of reasons. But he couldn’t falsely imprison her. That would be a felony in California and could impact the family far worse than any scandal over a sex auction.

She tried to pull him off her. A fruitless endeavor. And even slightly entertaining. As fit and strong as she was, she had no chance against his strength, fueled by both ardor and anger.

A pair of scarlet leather cuffs dangled from one edge of the table. He grabbed them and fit one over her wr

ist. He had to let go of her throat to secure the cuff. She tried to scramble away, kicking him in the stomach, but he shoved her back down onto the table. He surprised her with his roughness, and he took her moment of pause to cuff her other wrist. But she wasn’t done struggling and almost kneed him in the groin.

He pinched a nipple and twisted it hard. Her brow furrowed in pain, and her mouth fell open.

“Behave yourself,” he warned. Seeing that defiance still shone in her eyes, he added, “You want to do this the hard way? I’m happy to play hard, pet.”

She frowned but made no further movement. He pushed himself off the table. All her writhing beneath him had caused his blood to boil. God, he wanted to fuck her so badly.

After getting two cords of rope, he bound each of her legs to a leg of the table before stepping back to survey the length of her beautiful body stretched over the surface. Apparently she had come to her senses, for she hadn’t fought him this time. As a reward, he turned the vibrating egg back on. He retrieved a set of sheer black nipple cups, a bag of clothespins and string.

“Where are those going?” she asked.

He caressed her side, from her breast to her hip. “If you don’t want to give up the information I want right away, I’m okay with that. There’s nothing on my schedule but you, pet.”

“Why are you so damn convinced I know anything?”

He debated telling her what he knew, what he had seen and heard, but he didn’t want to show his hand just yet. There was time.

His hand went lower, past her hip to her thigh. She had such baby-soft skin. Perfectly smooth. Perfectly unblemished. Despite the flogging it had received. She was a canvas waiting to be painted upon.

“You tell me,” he said.

She rolled her eyes at his non-answer, then gasped when he cupped her mound, grazing his digits over her folds.

“Oh, oh!” she huffed, grimacing when he dragged a finger along her clit.

“Better turn this off,” he said of the egg. “Don’t want you coming.”

She groaned when the vibrations stopped. He watched the heaving of her chest before taking up the nipple cups. He lubricated the rims of the cups to create better suction. Squeezing one, he placed it over a nipple and gently released it.