Page 124 of To Catch a Sub

“He took me to his bedroom, chained me to the bed, and cut them off. With a knife.” Her words fell like stones.

“The wound on your side?” Landon asked softly.

“Yes.”

“What wound?” Andrei was frowning.

Landon looked over, one brow raised. How had he not noticed the massive cut?

Unless Andrei hadn’t seen Colette naked as part of whatever aftercare he’d done.

Good.

“The next morning he left for St. Petersburg. He took a good number of men with him. The place wasn’t exactly deserted, but close. He locked me in his bedroom with a chain around my ankle.”

“Clearly his preferred method of restraint,” Rolf said.

“Yes.” Colette stood, and for a minute he thought she’d hit her limit, that she was going to walk away from this conversation. God knew she had every fucking right. Instead, she skirted the table to stand in front of him. Landon held perfectly still, not wanting to move in any way that might scare her.

Colette held out her hand. Slowly, Landon curled his fingers around hers.

Colette raised their joined hands to her neck, then guided his fingers into her hair.

“Do you feel it?” she asked.

He sifted through the cool, soft strands, not sure what he was supposed to feel. But then he found it. A piece of denser hair—a small braid with something hard but not cold laced through it. It was at the base of her head, near her nape.

“It’s a hard plastic handcuff key,” she said softly. “I always have one braided into my hair.”

“And no one notices?” Andrei asked.

“Did you?” Colette countered.

“I didn’t.” Landon hadn’t noticed, and he’d had his hands in her hair and around her neck plenty. But the key was small and warm, thanks to the proximity to her body. If he had felt it, he might have almost thought it was a knot in her hair.

Now that he was touching her, he didn’t want to let go. Landon carefully cupped the back of her head with his fingers, massaging gently. He wasn’t entirely sure his touch was welcome, until she pressed against him, tipping her face so her cheek rested on his wrist.

“You waited,” Rolf said with approval. “Let him torture you while you waited for the right moment.”

Colette closed her eyes, turning her face against Landon’s wrist until her trembling lips made contact with his skin.

Landon couldn’t hold back any longer. He tugged Colette down onto his lap, wrapping his arms around her. She yelped, and he immediately let go, gripping the arms of the chair.

“I’m sorry, I had no right to touch you—” he started.

Colette turned on his lap, sitting side-on and tucking her knees up, toes tucked between his thigh and the arm of the chair. She curled up into a little ball, and it broke his fucking heart.

Landon hugged her tight, wishing she wasn’t wearing the stupid fucking corset which kept her from relaxing all the way. He was about to ask one of the others to bring him a blanket so he could cover her and then help her out of the corset without exposing her, when Colette sat up.

She took several deep breaths, and he could see the way she marshaled her defenses. Her shoulders straightened, her head came up, and her lips turned up in that almost smile that both made him crazy and made him want to kiss her.

Colette dropped one leg to the ground and braced an elbow on Landon’s shoulder. One brow arched, and she smiled in that teasing, knowing way that made him want to kiss her and spank her.

He had different responses to each of her smiles. He was so fucking gone for this woman, it was pathetic.

Seeing her like this, the familiar smile that so often left him frustrated curling her lips, something inside him relaxed.

“I wasn’t protesting sitting on your lap,” she said. “You know I feel safe with you.” It was a matter-of-fact statement that hit him right in the gut.