I smiled. “I’ll get your things, little rabbit. Stay here.”
Leaving him on the bed, I took the stairs two at a time and headed out to the garage. I hadn’t even locked my vehicle yet, but the garage door was down, and this neighborhood was mostly safe. Once I had his messenger bag, though, I did lock the truck, and the door that led into the house, too. I took the chance while I was downstairs to clean up the Chinese, putting the leftovers in the fridge and the empty containers in the trash.
By the time I got back up to the room, it was ten minutes later. When I walked in, I wasn’t surprised to find Mark curled up on top of the comforter, softly snoring. Laughing quietly, I dropped his messenger bag next to the bed, put his glasses on my dresser, and then slowly lifted him. It wasn’t easy to juggle him while trying to get the blankets yanked back, but I managed to make it work before laying him on the sheets. He grumbled something but snuggled deeper into the bed when I dragged the blankets over him. I thought I heard him say “thank you.”
I kissed him on the cheek and went to the bathroom. He’d want clothes for tomorrow, and I had a feeling that suit wasn’t cheap, which meant it wouldn’t do it any good laying crumpled on the floor. A half hour later I had his work stuff as fresh as it would get without a trip to the dry cleaner and hung on the clothesline outside the back door.
Once I was satisfied, I turned off all the lights and finally went back upstairs to Mark, half expecting he’d run off again. I was grateful he hadn’t, though. I slid into the blankets on my side and dragged him closer, tucking his head under my chin. He grumbled some more and threw his arm around my stomach.
“Good night, wolfie.”
I held back my laughter at the strange nickname and kissed his head. “Good night, little rabbit.”
10
Mark
The morning had startedas sweetly as last night had ended. Cam had brought me a light breakfast in bed—toast with a spicy avocado spread and an egg on top, accompanied by a tall glass of water. He’d murmured something about not wanting me to be dehydrated, an odd but kind gesture. Maybe he worried about that because he worked outside?
I’d gone into the bathroom and used an extra toothbrush to get minty fresh, flashing myself a toothy smile in the mirror to make sure I hadn’t left any bits of food hanging out.
By the time I made my way into the upstairs hallway, the sun was streaming in the windows. I headed for the stairs to go down to the kitchen and grab something else to munch on—the way he’d been fucking me warranted a free fridge pass. Cam ambushed me before I ever set foot on a step, scooped me up, and flung me over his shoulder. The world readjusted with dizzying speed.
Again.
“Put me down!” I demanded from my precarious perch, slapping at his shoulders as he turned and carried me back to his bedroom. His only answer was a sharp smack on my ass. My boxers did nothing to protect me from his hand and the hit kept stinging. I tried to squirm away from the sensation, but he had a firm grip on me. My cock thickened with the way I rubbed against him.
“Cam,” I gasped out, and his low chuckle did unholy things to my insides. Blood rushed to my head as I let myself dangle. He opened the door to his sex room—Dungeon? Did people into kinky things actually call them that?—and dumped me down into a cage that could maybe fit a big dog, which definitely hadn’t been in here last time. I sat on my ass, stunned, as he slammed the top down over me and neatly padlocked it in place. He’d set up my prison in the middle of the room, far away from anything else, including the walls. I knewdamned wellthis hadn’t been here the last time we were together.
I slapped at the black stainless steel bars above me, and he stood back to cross his arms and smirk. Shirtless and only in his boxers, he was a sight, even as rage twisted up my guts. His thick arms bulged in all the right places, and the dark hair under his belly button made me want to see the trimmed nest that surrounded his cock. I swallowed hard.
“Someone obviously enjoyed their Erector Set as a child. Did you make this yourself?” I sniped as I shook the sides. Yes, it was solid.Fuck.
“You’re not going to get out that way.” He sat down and crossed his legs at the ankles, practically glowing with joy.
“What happened to the Cam from last night? The sweet guy who put me to bed?” I rattled the bars and then, in disgust, flipped him off. I crossed my arms and glared, which only had him snickering like an asshole. The absolute nerve of him. The more I scowled, the harder he laughed.
He wiped at his eyes with the heels of his hands and sighed out the last of his humor. “Aren’t you going to ask me why you’re in there? How you’ll get free?”
“Like I care,” I hissed. The small space didn’t bother me, it was theindignityof it all that stuck in my throat.
“Oh really? You’re prepared to stay there, rather than ask your Alpha what you’ve done to deserve this punishment?” Some of his amusement died and was replaced with speculative heat that didn’t particularly make me want to roll over and capitulate. My heart pounded, and I bit at the inside of my cheek for a second. Fuck it. I didn’t want to give in, and I wouldn’t.
“You don’t get to do things like this to me!” I pointed at the bars. “This is inhumane.”
His eyebrows climbed. “You’re my mate. The human part is debatable when I have you riding my dick and you’re scratching and clawing and coming like an animal. You ran away. You left after telling me you wouldn’t the other night.” He leaned back, resting his hands on the floor behind himself, and proceeded to look smug. “You can’t blame me for wanting to keep track of my mate when he lies and doesn’t do as he says he will.”
Closing my eyes, I breathed deeply, the way they’d taught us to do in our destressing seminar last month. I snapped my eyes open and still felt like I would fly apart. I swiped at him through the bars but couldn’t reach him. If he’d been closer, I was almost certain I would have clawed his eyes out. “You can’t keep me in here forever.”
Cam twisted on the spot, going to his hands and knees. His arms and body moved in a feral way as he crawled over with pure murder written across his features, and I slid back to the other side of the cage, my body buzzing with terror. He pressed his face against the solid bars. “No, just until you learn your lesson.”
“And what’s that?”
The baring of his teeth wasn’t a smile; in fact, it was just the opposite—a warning. “You belongtome, little rabbit, which means you belongwithme, especially if I tell you that’s what’s happening. And you damned well better do whatyousay you will, or that little pat on the bottom is going to be a dream compared to what I’ll do to you.”
Part of me wanted to flip him off again—so I did. The spot where he’d whapped me on the ass ached on the hard bars of the bottom of the cage.
He snorted and stood, casually stretching and taunting me with his freedom. His nose wrinkled as he considered me for a second, and then he left. When he came back into the room, I was surprised as he set a low metal bowl beside the cage and slid my book and glasses in through the bars. He held up a large mug of coffee and I almost begged for it. The scent taunted me. I wanted caffeine but refused to degrade myself to get it. He set the mug outside my cage with a glass straw in it, close enough I would be able to drink it if I was willing to bend down and do it. I glared at him.
