My pulse quickened as I whipped my body around, his knees pinning me to the edge of the bed. And I caught his menacing gaze as he pushed down on my hips. “Please, Knox.”
I didn't even know what I was pleading for.
One of his hands shot up and clamped around my chin, his thumb digging into the side of my jaw so hard I let out a little gasp. “That's what you're going to do.”
I blinked up at his face. “What?”
“Please Knox.”
And with that, he forced me backward onto the bed, knocking the air out of my lungs as I slammed into the mattress. Before I could catch my breath, he was already climbing over me, one knee sinking into the thick comforter on either side of my hips. I tried to buck him off of me to no avail. He was too strong and completely unrelenting.
“Hold still, dammit.” Knox reached for the rope before grabbing both my wrists.
I twisted and arched and tried to wriggle free as he began to loop the curtain tieback around one of the rungs on my headboard, holding both of my wrists with one hand. “No!”
“Do I need to explain how this is going to work?” Knox asked me with a grunt, pulling the rope taut around my wrists. “I get to do whatever I want to you. Your body and all of itsholes are mine.”
Jesus. My head buzzed with the thought of being nothing but an object to him. Just a little fuckdoll with holes to use however he wanted. Stripped of choices. Stripped of control.
My brother’s best friend was tying me to my headboard.
He gave my restraint one final tug before dropping all of his weight on top of me, grabbing a fistful of hair as his mouth pressed to my ear. My chest rose and fell as he let me feel his hot breath on my earlobe.
“Are you starting to understand how wrong you were about me, Hallie?”
I didn’t answer. His beard scratched my cheek, and then his teeth found my earlobe, scraping against it before giving it just a little tug.
My heart was out of control.
“You doubted me. During our little chat at the park, you only gave me a couple of restrictions. That leavesso muchon the table.” His voice dipped even lower and darker. “You had no idea what I was actually capable of, did you?”
Knox pulled back just enough for our eyes to meet, amusement dancing in his eyes like he was enjoying my fear and anticipation.
“You didn’t think a man like me could torture you until you beg for mercy.” As he spoke, one hand slid down the side of my waist, tickling my skin before his fingertips tucked into the top of my underwear. “You never thought I could break you and ruin you over and over to the point you’ll never be the same again.”
God, I’d underestimated this man. What dark secrets had he been hiding? Was that whole charismatic, easygoing personality just a mask he wore? For a few seconds, my fear took over, making me wonder if I should say that safe word now and call this whole thing off.
But my curiosity won, so I kept playing.
“I—I still don’t believe you,” I said, squirming as Knox began to tug my panties down on one side. His body was still pressed againstmine, pinning me in place. “You’re a good man. You’re not some kind of monster.”
The corners of his mouth lifted in a deliberately wicked smile. And without a word, he reached around to his back pocket before pulling out a small, shiny object. I didn’t even have time to register what I was looking at before he opened the pocket knife, revealing a sharp blade.
I gasped.
I had told him I didn’t want to bleed.
“Red” was on the tip of my tongue, but I held it in. There was a two-hundred pound man straddling me with a knife in his hand, yet I still wanted to trust him. He wasn’t really a monster, was he?
What had I gotten myself into?
Seven
Hallie
“I need you tohold still, Hallie.”
Knox slowly lowered his pocket knife to the center of my chest, and I felt the cold, blunt side of the blade graze my skin just beneath my bra. And then, in one quick, fluid motion, he slid the tip of the blade under the center of the garment and cut it, splitting the fabric between the cups.
