“I tell you what,” Beau starts, a confident gleam brightening his gaze. “I’ll put her down and if she goes to you, you’re welcome to leave. If not, you spend the day with us.”
I scoff. “Of course she’ll come to me. I’m her owner.”
He deposits Lulu on all fours and the traitor slides her fluffy body along his legs, meowing her displeasure.
I bend forward, placing my hands on my thighs. “Lulu, come here. It’s time to go home.”
She looks at me for a split second then lies down at Beau’s feet. It seems my cat is a whore for the Wilder men just like her mommy.
“I can’t believe you.” I stomp inside and scoop her up in my arms. “These are very bad men.”
I hear the door slam and spin around to find Shepard blocking my escape route, his hands planted low on his hips.
I narrow my eyes at him. “What are you doing?”
“You lost, so you stay,” he states matter-of-factly.
I lift my chin defiantly. “I didn’t agree to a damn thing.”
Beau snatches Lulu out of my arms and Shepard descends on me, hefting me over his shoulder.
“Put me down, goddamn you!” I shout, kicking my legs.
He climbs the stairs two at a time and takes me into a spacious bathroom before plopping me on my feet.
“I ran a bubble bath for you,” he says, unbuttoning my denim jeans.
I glance at the bathtub and sure enough, it’s filled nearly to the top. Regardless, I’m not taking a bath here. I slap his hand when he pulls on the zipper.
“You’re crazy if you think I’m getting into that tub.”
Shepard sighs. “Look, Sweet Peach, we can do this the easy way or we can do it the hard way. The bottom line is you’re getting in that tub.”
He means it. There’s determination in his steel-blue depths.
“Get out,” I demand, pointing into the hallway. “I can undress myself.”
“Nah.” Shepard shakes his head. “That’s my job.”
“I’m on my period for God’s sake,” I say in desperation. “Give me a little privacy.”
“Don’t worry, Sweet Peach,” he rasps, lifting my shirt over my head and then tossing it onto the tile floor. “I’m going to take real good care of you.”
My bra goes next, then he’s on his knees, pulling my jeans and panties to my ankles. He slips both along with my socks and sneakers over my feet. I wait with bated breath, chewing on my bottom lip. Shepard stares into my eyes and slowly reaches for the string of my tampon.
I grab his wrist. “Please don’t.”
He captures the string with his other hand and pulls the tampon from my body. My flow isn’t heavy, it never is on the first day. Shepard stands and flushes it down the toilet, then leads me into the warm soapy water. I go without a fuss. It’s not like I have much of a choice. I’m buck naked and I’d be caught before making it to the front door, anyway.
I moan, my body becoming soft and pliant.
“Good?” Shepard asks, pulling bodywash from the sink cabinet.
“Mm-hmm. It feels amazing.”
He smiles triumphantly and plucks a bath sponge out of the shower caddy then kneels beside the bathtub.
“Wait a minute.” I squint my eyes at the bright purple bottle in his hand. “Whose bodywash is that?”
