Tingles erupted across my body. “You can’t order me around.”
“Sure I can,” he said cockily.
“Arrogant asshole.”
He pointed at me. “Just listen to reason for once.”
“Point that finger at me again and I’ll slice it off.”
I felt the air between us change, charge.
This. I latched onto it. Focusing on the anger was better than the hurt and pain, better than what was in that file.
I leaped at him.
He caught me. Damn him for being so strong. He rolled me in the damn blanket again like sausage. I tried to free my arms.
“You’re going to rest, Lark. You’ll sleep and we’ll talk in the morning.” He lifted me with ease. “I’d toss you over my shoulder, but I don’t want to hurt your wound.”
“Bastian.” I tried to free myself. “You’ll regret this.”
His low, sexy laugh surrounded me as he headed inside. “I don’t think I will.”
He strode straight to his bedroom. He dropped me on the bed and I bounced once on the mattress. I tore free of the blanket and glared up at him. “You can’t keep me here.”
He pulled something from his pocket, and I heard the clank of metal. Before I knew what was going on, he grabbed my arm, and I found myself handcuffed to the headboard.
“Really?” I yanked on the metal chain.
Bastian looked very satisfied. Then he reached up and started unbuttoning his shirt. My heart skittered. A second later, he slipped out of the garment, and I froze.
Oh, my God. He was perfect. His chest was all smooth muscle, with no chest hair. His abs were lean ridges and dips, and I didn’t know where to look first.
“You aren’t going anywhere.” He turned and strode into his walk-in closet. I caught a glimpse of it through the doorway and saw that—no surprise—it was enormous. No doubt it was packed to the gills with designer clothes.
“Asshole,” I yelled after him.
“You’re just working that out now?” he called back.
I sank back against the pillows.
He came back wearing a pair of silky, dark-blue lounge pants. They rode low on his hips and clung to his muscular thighs.
In an instant, I was wet between my legs.Dammit to hell.
He turned off the lights, then reached for me. When he started unbuttoning my jeans, I jerked.
“What the hell?”
“Hold still.” He stripped the denim down my legs. “You can’t sleep in your jeans.” He lay down beside me. “Sleep now.”
There was no way I was going to sleep. I smacked the pillow with my free hand, noisily. “That’snothappening.” He was too close and he smelled too good.
“It will.”
CHAPTER 14
BASTIAN
