But his words did stir an echo of concern. “We, ah, might have a problem.”
“Problem?” Steel’s dark eyes scanned the room searching for something he could destroy, only this wasn't something that could be fixed like that.
“I might have mentioned to Ridge that you guys had beaten me and burned me as well as whipped me. I had to say something,” she rushed to add when Steel’s gaze darkened. “After all, he thinks you abducted me to use as bait, he’s going to think you did more to me than what you showed him on the camera.”
“Good thing you pulled the ceiling down on yourself then, you're still covered in bruises.”
“Old bruises. He’s going to expect something fresher, and you're still going to have to burn me.”
The howl that echoed through the room made her shiver, but not in fear. If he’d done that a week ago, she would have been terrified of him, although she would have done her best not to let it show. But now the sound just reminded her that this man wasobsessed with her in a way that afforded her the protection she’d always craved.
“Is it safe to come in?” Voodoo asked from the hall.
“Yes,” she called out, only to have Steel snarl and snatch her off her feet, setting her back on his lap and wrapping his arms around her.
“No,” he growled.
“They’ve seen me naked already,” she reminded him. While Rose was no exhibitionist, she was pragmatic, and if they were going to hit and burn her like they needed to in order to make her story believable, then they were going to need access to her body anyway.
“Look at her, and I’ll tear your eyes right out,” Steel told his team with a deadly calm as they entered the room.
“Did you speak to him?” Blade asked her, ignoring Steel’s threat.
“Yeah. I told him that I escaped, but that I wouldn't turn on the location features on the phone until I was further away from you guys because I didn't trust him to come for me first if he thought he could just get to you.” Running her hands soothingly over Steel’s pecs, she added, “I may have also mentioned that you’d hit and burned me.”
“So now we have to make good on that,” Thunder said, and she nodded.
“Maybe one of you guys could do it, so Steel doesn’t have to.”
Another growl from her grumbly guy, and his hands dug into her hips hard enough that he was going to leave bruises.
“Don’t think that’s going to work,” Lion said with a chuckle.
“Why?”
“Because Steel will kill us if we touch you,” Dragon said simply.
“No he won't,” she quickly assured him, but when Steel didn't say anything, she turned to look at him. “You wouldn't kill your team, would you?”
“I absolutely would.”
“But they’re your team, your family.”
“And you're mine,” Steel said simply. “You shouldn’t have told him that we’d hurt you.” One of his large hands lifted from her hip to circle her throat, squeezing just hard enough that it made it a little difficult to breathe without cutting off her air supply.
“You know I had no other choice,” she whispered.
“I’ll never forgive myself for this.”
That was the only warning she got before the hand on her neck was gone, curled into a fist and slammed into her face hard enough that she would have been knocked to the floor if Steel wasn't still gripping her hip with bruising force.
“Get her pajamas, the ones she was wearing when we took her,” Steel ordered someone, as he leaned in and feathered his lips across hers.
“You have to do this,” she reminded him, ignoring the throbbing in her face and the sensations that the room was spinning around them. “It’s the only way to convince Ridge this is real. The only way to protect me when he finds me.”
Which was the only reason Steel was doing it, she knew that.
If Ridge found her and believed she’d lied and was working with the men he wanted back, he wouldn't keep her alive to torture information out of her, he’d simply kill her and be done with it.
