She narrows her eyes. “It would serve you right if I did. You’ve kidnapped me.”
“You’re too sweet for vengeance,” I say. “Now go back and tighten that knot.”
* * *
Briarlee
Tie him up? Sure. Why not. He’s turned into a fucking asshole, and being tied up is probably the best thing for him.
The fact that he trusts me to do this isn’t heartwarming anymore. It just pisses me off. He doesn’t respect me. My thoughts, my feelings, my opinions, they don’t matter to him. He thinks of me like an ambulatory fuck doll, a robot he can carry around and give orders to.
I walk around the tree, make sure the ropes are tight and yank the knot into a secure position. He’s not getting out of there any time soon.
“Okay,” I say. “Done.”
“Good,” he grunts, before chucking the rest of that poisonous brew down his face.
He closes his eyes and rests his head back against the tree. Can I still admit to myself that he’s a very handsome man? I can’t really avoid the truth. He was always good looking, but this treatment is enhancing all his natural features, making him hyper-masculine, beefing him up. I can see the ropes straining even tighter as his musculature swells.
I’m too angry at him to admit that I find this hot, but I do. I can’t help it. My body reacts to his like a moth does to a flame.
When he opens his eyes, he looks at me directly. There’s hunger in his gaze. Something raw, and powerful, and so fucking primal. Almost like I’m looking back through thousands of years of evolution, to a creature who wants only to dominate and fuck and ravage me.
“Briar,” he growls. “Come here.”
I stay right where I am. This is the Regenermax talking. He didn’t tie himself to a tree for no reason.
“Briarlee…” His voice is a low rumble of pure command. “I want you.”
“Well, you can’t have me,” I tell him. “You tied yourself up, remember? You didn’t want me either.”
“I always want you. I hunger for you. You’re the one thing in this world I will always protect.” His voice is pure gravel and lust.
“You’re not protecting me. You kidnapped me. I was trying to get help. You stopped me.”
He gives a deep sigh. “Naive little girl. They are coming for me, Briar.”
“There’s no evidence for that.”
“Come here.”
He commands me again, and I know why. The front of his pants is tented with a brutal erection. I know how that would feel inside me. I know what he will do to me if he gets loose. It was written all over his face when he had me tie that knot. When he has control of himself, even he knows that what he becomes under the influence of the drug is something that needs to be contained.
I stay where I am, saying nothing.
“I can smell you,” he grunts a moment or two later. “You’re aroused.”
“I am not,” I lie, defying his animal senses.
“You are. Undo these ropes and let me have you. Let me show you what you are, Briarlee. Let me make you remember why you came with me in the first place.”
“You said you didn’t want me seconds before you took that drug.”
“I wanted you,” he growls. “I was being pathetically weak and civilized. That doesn’t work with you. I should have fucked you senseless and whipped your ass red when I found you with that phone. I should have made you scream my name until you forgot your own.”
I sit there, knowing he can’t reach me, feeling his frustration building. He did this to himself, but now I have control. It’s an interesting feeling, seeing him so vulnerable, and so fierce at the same time. Like having a lion leashed in front of me. He is seething with sex. If I were to cut the rope holding him, he would be on me in an instant.
“Is this the real you? Or is this the drug talking?” It’s what I’ve been wondering since he revealed the truth. This dominant, fiercely sexual man—is he a figment of a drug? Does he disappear as soon as it wears off? Or is the drug like a window to the soul of the real Daniel? The Daniel who has been in there all along, pretending to be mild-mannered and gentle all the while harboring rough dreams of claiming me in every way he can.
“Untie me and find out,” he smirks handsomely.
“I’m not untying you,” I tell him. “I might not ever untie you.”
“Oh?” He cocks his head to the side. It’s not the reaction I expected. I anticipated rage and fury. Truth be told, I’m disappointed. This felt like my chance to get back at him, but he doesn’t seem to care when I tell him I’m thinking about leaving him tied to that tree forever.