A shiver hit her system at the possessiveness in his words. The man scared her on so many levels, and the fact that he had enhanced strength was at the bottom of that list. For her entire life, she’d had to be a mini grown-up, always in control, handling anything life gave her, studying and chores beyond her years, pain and suffering most people would never endure.
She never had a chance to let go, let someone else take the reins.
But Steel’s dominance made her want to submit, to let go of the tight control she kept on her life and herself and let him take over.
Which terrified her.
What if he turned out not to be trustworthy? What if she gave him power over her and he abused it? What if she allowed herself to let him in and he used that to destroy her?
Chapter
Fifteen
December 31st
2:16 P.M.
It was the last day of the year.
Tomorrow should be like any other day. Steel had never cared before that a new year was starting, it had always just felt like more of the same. Especially these last ten years. It wasn't like they went and watched the fireworks somewhere. There was no family celebration or hanging out with friends. They were each other’s family and friends.
So New Year’s Day had always been just another day, except for this year.
This year felt different.
Bigger.
Like it was not just the start of something new, but the start of something bigger.
It was more than finally having a name for the doctor who had messed with their bodies and stolen their lives from them in the process. It was more than having a way to finally get to him, to get the revenge they’d been dreaming about for a decade.
“You going to just stand there staring at me, or do you have something to say?” Rose demanded, looking up from the book she was reading.
“Brat,” he murmured as he stalked into the room.
Even though it had been his idea to stop locking Rose in her room, to do something to try to earn her trust, he hadn't slept a wink the previous night, worried that she would try to make a run for it when she thought they were all sleeping. Just because she knew that she’d be caught, between the cameras and their enhanced skills, she didn't stand a chance at getting out of this mansion undetected, it didn't mean she wasn't desperate enough to try.
But she hadn't tried.
And in fact, when she’d come down to the kitchen this morning, she’d looked stronger and more rested than he’d seen her. Bruises still mottled her skin, and she still wore a cast, and he knew from the stiff way she moved that she was still in pain. But the dark circles under her eyes had receded, and she was fresh and clean from a shower, dressed in clothes he’d bought for her.
It wasn't quite as good as seeing her in his clothes, but that primal caveman side of him liked seeing her in things he’d provided for her.
“You really must want to be punished,” he told her as he stopped before the chair she was curled up in and drew himself up to his full height.
“I don’t think you have any intention of following through,” she informed him with one of those sweet smiles he knew was designed to egg him on. “You keep mentioning punishments, but so far, you have yet to deliver any.”
Her sassy little voice made him laugh. “Don’t think it’s a punishment if you want it, little ladybug.”
“Never said anything about wanting it,” she said primly, making him laugh again. Ruining her was going to be sweeter than any smile she beamed at him. “Now, were you leering at me from the doorway for a reason, or was it just to be creepy?”
Snapping his hands around her wrists, careful to keep his hold on her broken one gentle, Steel had her out of her chair and flush against his body before she could blink. Holding her so her feet were off the floor, and she had no choice but to let them hang there or wrap them around his waist, he was pleased when she chose the latter.
“Appreciating the view, not leering, little ladybug,” he told her as his hand came down on her backside, harder than he’d done the day before, making her whole body jolt forward, rocking her center across the bulge in his pants.
Instead of crying out at what wouldn't have been more than a slight sting, or telling him to stop, Rose moaned, and arousal sprang to life in her deep green eyes. Bringing his hand down again, he drove them both crazy as the friction was enough to remind them of what they weren't ready to do yet.
A third spank was all he knew he could handle before he stripped her naked and had his fun with her, so he set her back on her feet, leaving her dazed and breathing hard.
