“Give your husband a chance to calm the turbulent waters,” Frank advised, opening the double doors that allowed her entry into the suite. “He’s a good man. I promise you.”
She neither agreed nor disagreed. “Thanks for seeing me back, Frank.”
“I’ll be just outside if you need me.”
She offered him a brief, tentative smile. “Thanks again.”
Once alone, Gaia frantically tried to remove her dress, but couldn’t get out of the thing to save herself. She twisted and turned, but the contraption was held together in the back by that damned lock. Her teeth gritted and her nostrils flared as she warbled out a cry of frustration and anger.
“Need some help?”
Gaia’s gaze flew to Ryan. She hadn’t heard him come in.
“I want out of this fucking thing,” she ground out. “Now!”
“Gaia, calm down.” He took the key off his lapel and walked towards her. “Turn around and calm down please.”
“Get me out of this thing!” she half demanded and half begged. Tears filled her eyes. “I can’t do this! I can’t be whoever it is you expect me to be!”
“I expect you to be you,” he said with his characteristic composure. He fiddled with the lock on her dress. “I know this is my fault. You should have been better prepared for all of this while in the hospital.”
The lock clicked open. Gaia tore the dress from her body, oblivious to her own nudity. She didn’t care what he saw. Let him look.
“All of you people are insane,” she muttered. Her breasts and butt jiggled as she walked briskly into the wardrobe. She desperately searched for clothing she could actually wear. “Complete lunatics.”
“Gaia.” She could feel his wolfish gaze on her, all over her. “Would you please calm down so we can talk?”
“Fuck that and fuck you!”
A stinging smack on the ass reverberated in the wardrobe. She gasped, her hazel eyes round, as she turned to confront him. “How dare you!” she seethed. “I am not a damn child!”
“Then stop behaving like one.”
The tears came back. “I just want some clothes and I want to get out of here.” Even she could hear the desperation in her voice. “Please.”
His jaw was set. “You are not leaving,” he bit out. “Ever!”
She wasn’t in the mood to hear that and doubted she ever would be. She left the wardrobe and scurried into the bedroom, hoping to find her gray t-shirt and yoga pants. He followed hot on her heels.
“Damn it, Gaia!” He grabbed her shoulders and bodily forced her to turn around and look at him. “Calm down before you hurt yourself.”
“BeforeIhurt myself?” She caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. She had forgotten she was still wearing the chain linked headpiece and metallic high heels. “Last I checked I wasn’t spanking myself.”
“It was one small tap on the ass.”
“Whatever.” She made to move away from him. “Let go of me!”
“I’ll never let you go,” Ryan vowed. His hands moved to her arms, holding her prisoner. She could feel the tension and anger exuding from him as if those emotions were a living thing. His possessive gaze raked over her face, her breasts, her body. “You belong to me.”
“Maybe I do here in Crazy Town, but there’s got to be some place left on earth where women are free.” A worrying thought struck her. “You do own me, don’t you?”
“Just as you own me.”
“I mean legally.”
A tic started to work in his cheek. “I didn’t create the rules, Gaia. I took over the presidency to make things better, not worse. You don’t know how bad things got at the end of the wars. If the extremists had gotten their way, women wouldn’t even be allowed to vote or own property.”
“Oh my God.”
