I said nothing.
In my shocked mind, he looked more wolf than man, his eyes blazing down at me and a low growl slipping past his lips, his focus locked on my mouth.
A spark of lightning ripped through the sky, illuminating the sharp angles of his face in the growing darkness. The air crackled with tension as it became apparent his fear and concern had turned into something far more sinister and dangerous.
Pierce leaned over me.
His broad shoulders blocked the worst of the rain. His right hand ran over the top of my left thigh and slipped under my skirt. His palm burned against my chilled skin.
I thought he would stop when he realized my leg wasn’t broken, but his hand traveled higher. The tips of his fingers skimmed my panties and shoved the front of my skirt up to bunch at my waist.
I snatched at the hem and tried to force it back down. “What are you?—”
His hand closed around my much smaller wrist and lifted my arm away, breaking my grasp on my skirt. He bunched the flimsy material back up around my waist. His fingers returned to the narrow waistband of my panties. They hooked inside and dragged the fabric down. My panties slid over my ass to the tops of my thighs.
Shocked, I grabbed at the waistband and tugged, trying to haul them back up. “Wait?—”
I struggled to loosen his grip. “Pierce, stop. What are you doing?” I protested.
His breathing became heavy as his head dipped low. His look skimmed up to mine before returning to my mouth. “What I should have done weeks ago.”
His lips pressed hard against my own. The sharp edges of my teeth cut into the soft inside of my mouth as he ruthlessly swept his tongue inside. He tasted like coffee and rain and the blood from my cut lip. I moaned as his tongue dueled with mine, while his hand once more yanked down on my panties.
I tightened my grip.
Pierce rolled our bodies, turning us both on the ground until I was straddling his hips. With his hand anchored against the back of my head, holding my face close for his relentless kiss, he shredded my underwear.
He swallowed my sharp intake of breath as he rolled again. This time pinning me beneath his weight, settling between my thighs. I twisted my head to the side and sucked in a gulp of frigid sea air, realizing with a start we had rolled closer to the drop.
My heart seized as my fingers dug into his strong biceps. “Pierce, we?—”
Before I could warn him, his hand caught my jaw and twisted my face toward his again, right before he crushed his mouth to mine. The wind and rain battered us as he devoured my soul with his kiss.
He tore at the bow tied at my throat. The sodden material scraped my cold, sensitive skin as he ripped it free. He seized my wrists and stretched my arms over my head.
He had the first silken loops secured around my wrists before I realized what was happening.
I bucked my hips. “What are you doing?” I wrenched my arms, but my strength was no match for his.
He wound the silk tie around my wrists repeatedly and then tied it off until I was bound like a sacrificial offering on the cliff’s edge.
He bit at my lower lip. “I wanted to do that the moment I saw that cute bow tied around your neck.”
I spoke through teeth clenched so tightly they ached. “Untie me. This instant, Pierce. I mean it.”
His eyes narrowed. “My entire fortune could depend on it, and I still wouldn’t untie you, Madison. This is where you were fated to be. Bound. Under me. At my mercy.”
“Please...” The word came out broken. “You’re scaring me.”
He skimmed the underside of my chin with his open mouth. Then tasted my lower lip. “You should be scared. I thought I was in control, but I’m not. Not anymore,” he ground out.
He gripped the open edge of my blouse collar and split it open, sending the small buttons scattering. He palmed one white-lace-covered breast and squeezed. “It’s no good, Madison. Don’t you see? I can’t let you go now.”
I thrashed beneath him, trying to break free. I was half pinned under his tall frame, with his knee braced against my thigh and his left arm still pinning my wrists. “Please. I promise. I won’t tell anyone what you did. I’ll leave town. You’ll never have to see me again.”
He stripped my bra down and flicked one traitorously erect nipple with his tongue then glared at me with those pale, unforgiving eyes. “You don’t get it, babygirl.” He drew my nipple into his mouth and sucked hard.
My back arched off the ground.
