I angled my head close to her neck and brushed my mouth along the slender column of her neck, wanting to feel her erratic pulse against my lips.
Inhaling the shampoo scent that clung to her hair, I drew her earlobe between my teeth and sank their sharp edges into her soft flesh. My tongue traced the mark before I rasped in her ear, “You ever pull a stunt like that again, and I’ll bruise your ass with my belt. Do you understand me?”
When she didn’t respond, I took her jaw and tilted her head back. “Do. You. Understand. Me?”
She pressed her lips between her teeth before nodding.
“Good girl.”
I straightened and turned away.
The toe of my boot caught the nearest guard and I rolled him over. Ignoring his moan, I reached down to his belt and worked the key ring free, searching for the smallest key which would fit the handcuffs. I freed Madison.
She immediately took a step away and hugged her forearms to her chest, rubbing her wrists.
It wasn’t rational, but the way she seemed to be forever attempting to evade my nearness was grating on my nerves. I grabbed my suit jacket off the table and closed my hand around her upper arm.
Three men in suits waited in the hallway when I swung the door open.
“Take care of that.” I jerked my head toward the room.
The tallest one nodded. “Yes, boss.” He motioned for the other two to follow him as he crossed the threshold and closed the door.
I dragged a resisting Madison down the narrow hallway as numerous people cast us curious glances even as they scurried out of our way.
When we neared a set of metal double doors, Madison dug in. Pulling back on my grasp, she cast her head left and right, searching for help that would not arrive. “What are you doing? Where are we going?”
“We’re leaving.”
Her mouth dropped open and she leaned away from me, trying to break my grasp. “I can’t just waltz out of the courthouse! I’m still under arrest!”
I curved a hand around her neck at the base of her skull and yanked her forward. Uncaring that we had an audience or what the consequences of my actions might be, I claimed her mouth. Swallowing her whimper, I pushed my tongue past her lips, needing to taste her, to feed on her.
When she wrenched free, the blush had returned to her cheeks.
I leaned forward and swept my tongue across her bottom lip. “When are you going to learn, babygirl? I’m in charge. The rest of the world be damned.”
I kicked the doors open and hauled her outside into the thunderstorm that was already raging. It had nothing on the storm brewing inside of me.
CHAPTER 15
MADISON
This was insane.
No, it was completely fucking certifiable.
His grip on my hand tightened as he dragged me across the parking lot to some super-expensive-looking black car. The rain hit like needles against my bare arms. My flats slapped through puddles, soaking my feet, every step sending a hard jolt up through my shins.
I looked over my shoulder expecting to see a small army of guards with guns drawn running after us, but no one came.
Who the hell was Pierce Worthington?
Did money really buy this much power?
This was another setup. It had to be.
Pierce opened the passenger door and motioned with his head. “Get in.”
