I like being alone with him, too.
So much.
I rest my back against the outside of her stall, and he leans against the post next to me. “Am I keeping you from other chores?”
He shakes his head. “Not this afternoon. Do you have to get back to the house?”
I look at the time. Barely an hour has passed. “No message from your mom. I’m good.”
He adjusts his hat and gives me a sideways look. “I have an idea, if you want to try something.”
“What’s that?”
“I told you we don’t judge anyone around here. You and your trauma are safe here, Hope. If you think it would be good to know how to defend yourself, or respond to a threat in some way—like tying up a man, for example—I’m happy to help.”
I shiver.
His brows pull tight. “Too dark? I just want to give you skills that might be useful.”
I shake my head. “Not too dark.”
How many times did I fantasize about overwhelming Derek and escaping? But in the end, I never could. I had to wait until he was gone and took the coward’s way out. “How…would we…?”
“You could start by securing a person. Me.” Helifts one corner of his mouth in a self-deprecating smile. “You want to tie me up?”
I laugh.
I stop laughing.
And then, heart pounding, I nod. “Maybe.”
He nods, too. “Good. Okay. Stay here.”
I watch Shadow eat as Zane saunters down to the rope room. When he comes back, he has a loop of brown rope in one hand, and he’s also carrying a wooden chair, which he sets in the middle of the aisle.
I take the rope from him. “How do I…?”
“However you want. This is just practice, to get you used to the idea that you can do it.”
My pulse is in my ears. In my throat. In my wrists.
My fists clench around the rope as he sits down. His long legs sprawl out in front of him. His forearms rest on his knees, and he isso much man, even sitting down, that I have to remind my lungs how to do their job.
“You’re a very agreeable prisoner,” I mutter.
“Let’s assume I’m being forced to hold still for you, or maybe inebriated.” He rolls his shoulders and holds his arms out.
"Are you sure?"
"Completely."
"I don't know what I'm doing."
"You know four knots you didn't know an hour ago."
"Zane, I'm—" My hands are shaking. "I've never?—"
"I know." His voice is very quiet now. Very steady. "But youcan. That’s important to know, to have that confidence. This is just practice. To let youknow what it feels like to hold all the cards for a minute.”
