“No. Get down on the floor.”
“What?”
“On all fours. You’re going to crawl.”
Shit. I couldn’t think of anything more humiliating than crawling across the floor like a dog, my ass and pussy even more exposed to him than they were now. Knox wanted to turn me into a pet for his entertainment and amusement, and it was the most degrading thing I could imagine. My body trembled, but I knew I couldn’t say no.
“Okay,” I whispered, lowering myself to my knees. My body trembled as I knelt there, mentally preparing myself for this. How would I be able to look him in the eyes at one of our family celebrations after this? Would I ever?
Knox shifted beside me, and a second later, I felt the bottom of his shoe against my back. He drove my body down until my palms slammed against the floor. The sudden impact tore a raw, sharp gasp from my lungs. “I’m not playing games,” Knox growled, his foot still pressing down on my back. “You’re going to do as you’re told or face the consequences.”
“I—I’m sorry,” I cried out, my elbows shaking.
He lifted his foot off of me. “Crawl. Straight ahead.”
I did exactly as I was told, inching forward on my hands and knees across what I assumed was Knox’s living room. I didn’t hear his footsteps behind me, which had to mean he was staying back to savor the view.
“Veer left.”
I followed his instructions, shifting to the left. My breasts swayed as I crawled, which only added to my humiliation. I felt like cattle being herded or auctioned off, with no dignity left to cling to. Yet beneath the shame and embarrassment, there was a flicker of arousal. All I could think about was how badly I wanted him to grab me and fuck me right there on all fours, but I should’ve known I wouldn’t be that lucky.
“Left,” he said again, his voice sounding closer now. I felt his leg press against my right side. “Turn.”
I turned left, my shoulder brushing against a doorframe. I shivered when Knox gathered my hair up in one hand and yanked me upward without speaking a word. Before I could even find my footing, he shoved me down on a bed.
I fell flat on my face against the mattress, struggling to catch my breath. When I tried to lift myself up with my palms, his palm found the back of my head, pressing my face down into the bedspread. He straddled me from behind, lowering his mouth to his ear. “Ready to find out what happens when you trust a monster?”
His thick comforter muffled my whimpered response. I bucked on instinct, and Knox’s body lifted—only for his hand to rear back and come down on my ass in a loud smack that echoed across the room. Stinging, fiery pain radiated across my skin, and the second it let up, he slapped me again.
Harder this time.
“Aaaggghh!” I yelped into the mattress.
I braced myself for a third slap that didn’t come. Instead, he shifted on top of me, his hands grabbing my hips to flip me over in a brutal motion. My body flailed like a ragdoll, reduced to nothing but an object for him to toy with. I had no will of my own left to fight back.
Before I had a chance to recover, Knox grabbed one of my wrists, slipping it into a cold, leather cuff faster than I could realize what was happening. He pinned my opposite wrist down next before tightening a cuff around it, too.
“Much more effective than curtain tiebacks,” he muttered, sliding all the way down my body. I tugged on the restraints, realizing they had very little give.
My ankles came next. He forced each one into a cuff, buckling them down and pulling the straps until my legs were locked open, my pussy completely on display. I tried to draw my knees together, but there was no use. I was spread-eagle on Knox Ballard’s bed and completely at his mercy.
All because he saw the stickers on my Kindle.
“Perfect,” Knox murmured from the foot of the bed. “No kicking or fighting back. Just a wet, helpless little cunt tied down for me to fuck.”
The warmth that washed over my entire body was equal parts terror and arousal.
The mattress dipped as he crawled up over me again, his knees on either side of my hips. His weight settled gradually, his chest hovering just over my bare breasts, until I could feel every slow exhale across my collarbone. I’d never been more turned on, blindfolded, restrained, and spread wide open beneath him.
He leaned closer, his lips brushing the bottom of my earlobe. “Hallie,” he said, his voice alarmingly calm. “How long do you think it will take for them to notice you’re missing?”
“Missing?” I tilted my head back, trying to see his face from the bottom of the blindfold. “What?”
Knox let out a slow, quiet laugh, one of his hands roaming up my side until it found one of my nipples. “Who do you think will notice first, your mom?”
He rolled my nipple between his thumb and forefinger with gentle ease, barely pinching.
“Let’s see, it’s Sunday now, right? She’ll know something’s up by Tuesday morning.”
