Madison was not amused. “Fuck you.”
“There was no other way to find out what he was up to,” I explained calmly. “I had to smoke him out.”
“And I was just a poor little nobody you could use. My life means nothing to you, does it? I was just another townie bitch.”
I deserved every word, but that didn’t mean I was going to take it.
Every few seconds, a lightning flash illuminated her upturned face, highlighting the glimmer of tears on her cheeks.
She trained her gaze past me, just over my shoulder. Her voice was even. “Open the door and let me pass.”
How did anger make her even more alluring? “No.”
“You can’t keep me prisoner in this room!”
“You underestimate me.”
“I mean it, Pierce. Let me go. I have a life to get back to. You cannot hold me hostage like some princess trapped in a tower.”
I leaned close, relishing the scent of my soap on her skin. “Watch me.”
Her eyes betrayed her plan. They darted to the right, in the direction of the en suite door which led back into the bathroom, seconds before she turned and tried to make a dash for it.
I snatched her around the waist from behind, using her momentum to lift her from the floor and swing her around.
“Let me go!” Her scream was drowned out by another boom of thunder.
“Apparently, I need to use other means to persuade you to listen to reason.”
She kicked out as she clawed at my arm. “I don’t care what you have to say! You’re a liar and a monster!”
My grip tightened around her tiny frame as I tore the towel from her body then carried her to the bed and tossed her on it. I snatched up a discarded silk tie from the nearby nightstand.
Smoothing it, I raised an eyebrow and let out a dramatic sigh. “I’m sorry you feel that way, Madison. I thought you had softened toward me.”
She tried to scramble to the other end of the bed, her wide, fearful eyes on the tie.
Her mouth opened but whatever she intended to say died on her lips.
With a powerful arm, I hauled her arms over her head and secured her wrists to the headboard.
“Pierce, no! Please, stop! Don’t do this!”
“You are leaving me no choice. You won’t listen to reason, Madison. I wanted to be nice to you. I could’ve even been sweet, but you refused to obey.”
I turned away from her and stalked toward the fireplace.
She was going to be mine.
I would bind her to me in every way imaginable—body and soul—until there was no escape.
“Pierce, please! Untie me. I’ll be good, I promise! I’m sorry I got angry. I’ll listen.”
I turned to face her.
The firelight danced in her eyes, the flames casting a warm glow over her naked skin.
Her lips quivered.
