“No,” he says, his expression closed down.
“Knight, I want to talk to my friend,” I whisper-yell.
“Then talk,” he says calmly.
“In private.”
Instead of releasing me, Knight lifts his chin and speaks directly to Betty. “Betty, while I appreciate your concern for Octavia and both your and Cody’s friendship, I will not take kindly to you attempting to insert yourself into my marriage.”
“Excuse me,” Betty splutters.
Ignoring her, Knight turns his attention to Cody. “It was nice to see you, Cody, but I think it’s time for us to leave.”
Smiling sadly, Cody nods. “Give me a minute,” he says, taking Betty’s hand and leading her a few feet away.
Spinning angrily in his steel-like hold, I tip my head back to glare at Knight. “You do not get to dictate how and when I speak to my friends,” I snarl furiously.
“You wanted to come here, so I brought you. But I will not allow anyone to affect our marriage,” Knight says slowly, his eyes going cold, his expression lethally calm. “We’re leaving. We’ll come back in a day or so.”
While I’m not scared of the man looking down at me, and I don’t believe he would physically hurt me, the startling realization that I don’t know him at all makes my skin prickle with apprehension. He could be dangerous. He could be deranged. He could be as crazy as I’ve accused him of being, and for the first time since I opened the door to him, doubt creeps into my mind.
I’ve allowed the sense of peace and calm he invokes in me to suppress all the very real and sensible questions I should be asking myself. Like, why the fuck am I letting myself get carried away with all of thisyou’re minebullshit he keeps spouting?
Shuffling, I try to step back, but his hold on me stops me from moving. “Let go of me,” I say quietly.
“No,” he says, too calm, too unaffected.
“Get your hands off me,” I say, trying to mimic his tone, but failing when my voice cracks.
Instead of releasing me, he boldly bends down and lifts me off my feet, hoisting me into the air and over his shoulder.
“Put me down,” I shriek, as he turns and strides toward the door.
“Oh my god, Octy,” Betty calls.
Ignoring her, me, and Cody’s laughter, Knight keeps walking, his huge body beneath me calm and relaxed while I squirm and kick. “Knight, you fucking asshole, put me down.”
Not reacting in any way or even pausing in his stride, Knight walks us to the ATV, then lowers me into the seat. The moment I’m not hanging from his shoulder, I start to fight.
Throwing my arms, I shove at him, trying to push my way out of the seat and away from him. Instead of getting free, I end up tightly restrained beneath the harness that Knight continues to tighten, until the straps are pressed firmly against my nipples and around my waist.
“If you release that harness, I’ll bend you over this ATV and spank your buttocks bright red,” Knight threatens calmly, his eyes steely enough that, despite how placid he looks, I know he’s not making an empty threat.
“When we get back to the house, I’m taking my things and leaving. If you try to stop me, I’ll call the cops and tell them you’re keeping me hostage,” I growl, crossing my arms across my chest like a petulant child.
His expression stays frustratingly indifferent as he circles the hood and climbs into the seat beside me, making quick work of his own harness before he starts the engine, and we fly away from the Barnetts’ home.
Refusing to even look at him, I stare to the side, trying to map the path that leads through the woods from the Barnetts’ place to Knight’s house. By the time we reach the fence that lines theborder between the two properties, I already know there’s no way I could find my way back to Betty’s without getting lost.
Anger and a weird sense of loss bubble painfully in my stomach. I’m furious at Knight for acting like a crazy Neanderthal, but I also feel a lingering sadness at losing the peace he’s offered me since he showed up and told me he was taking me home.
The bubble I’ve been floating along in has popped, and reality has rushed in, drowning me in all the reasons why allowing a stranger to consume me is yet another stupid decision I’ve allowed myself to make.
Bright sunlight is replaced with the garage’s artificial light as Knight steers the ATV into the house before killing the engine and leaving us in deafening silence. The metallic click of him unfastening his harness seems to echo off the walls, and for a moment, I’m so mesmerized by it I barely notice him releasing my harness, until he drags me across the ATV and onto his lap. Banding his arms tightly around me, he climbs out with me pinned to his chest and strides purposefully into the house.
“Put me down,” I say, keeping my voice level, despite my racing heart.
Ignoring me, he strides through the living room and up the stairs, carrying me straight into our bedroom.
