Thankhim?
I open my mouth. Darryl tilts his head. I remember the stars I saw, the pain that bloomed in my face this morning. It’s numbed since then, though if I probe my cheek, it stings, and the last thing I want to do is let him hit me again.
I shut my trap.
Chase jingles his wrist. The metal clangs. His forehead furrows. “Consummate… you mean?—”
“That you need to claim this woman as yours before you can keep her? That you won’t get to protect her as your wife until I know you’re able to fuck her and take care of her like a man? That’s exactly what I mean.”
Hecan’tmean that. I can’tdothat.
Chase takes a step closer to me as though he can sense I’m seconds away from losing it.
“How will you know?” he asks. “We tell you after we’re done, and then you take these cuffs off?”
And then we can leave?
We can fake it. I’m sure I can make that bed squeak, moan loud enough that the whole house thinks I’m being dicked down, then stomach being called Chase’s wife until we can get the hell out of Dodge. Isn’t that what Maverick said? Men can leave, and they get to control their wives’ destiny.
I can?—
Darryl’s bushy mustache dances as his lips quirk upward in the most perverted smile I’ve ever seen.
“Well, I can’t just take your word for it, can I?”
That smile makes my queasy stomach drop down to the soles of my feet. Now that I have Rory’s jacket back on, though, it’s my suit of armor, and despite what Maverick has said, I haven’tcompletelylost my backbone. “What does that mean?”
“That I’m going to have the pleasure of watching you, of course.”
CHAPTER 18
Darryl likes to think he’s a gentleman himself. Instead of ordering us to strip and get to fucking, he tells us to take a few minutes to talk, to get to know each other, so that when he comes back, he can expect the show to get on the road.
If you believe that, I’ve got a bridge leading to Brooklyn to sell you.
I’m sure he can sense there’s some hesitation on our part. As long as he doesn’t get the idea that Chase and I already know each other, I think it’ll be okay, but he probably didn’t want to waste any time trying to cajole us—or threaten us—into having sex for his own enjoyment.
Not when he can get laid on his own.
How much do you want to bet that he went off in search of Chloe? For whatever reason—and I think I might have a guess—she basically threw herself at the grizzled leader. I wouldn’t be surprised at all to know that he decided not to wait to see what she was willing to offer him.
Maybe I’m being catty, but the big guy looks like a one-minute man. In that case, I don’t think we’ll have that much time to ourselves.
The moment Darryl is gone, I turn to Chase, taking him in again without anyone watching my actions with suspicion.
“You look like hell.” The words just come out. I point at the scratch on his face. “Where did you get that?”
He brushes me off with a wave of his free hand before reaching for me. His actions are shy and gentle, and when his thumb nears my eye, it ghosts over the bruise I know is there. I’m suddenly aware that, while Chloe’s make-up job was good enough to keep the men in the crowd from noticing the mark, Chase is only about a foot away from me.
He’s so close that, when he takes in that sharp breath of air, it’s like he’s stolen it from me.
“Never mind about that. This looks painful… and fresh.” His jaw clenches so tightly that I see lines in his neck as sharp as razors. “Who did this to you? Was it that Maverick prick?”
What? “Maverick? No… no, he didn’t do that to me.”
He exhales; I feel the heat on my skin. Chase wants it to have been Maverick, I can tell, but just because it wasn’t, that doesn’t mean he’s any less furious. “Then who? Who did this to you?” His eyes flash angrily. “Tell me. I want to hurt them back.”
I could tell him. I could let him know that Darryl punched me to get me up on the stage, but I know Chase. From our own friendship, and everything Hallie used to tell me about him. If I admit that it was Darryl, the next time that man walks through the door, Chase will go after him—and probably end up lurker chow for his trouble.
