Page 27

“Feel my heartbeat,” he instructed, his tone commanding.

My handcuffed hands landed on his chest, under his coat and beneath his sweater. He held them there, his warm skin in contrast with the cold.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

The steady beat of his heart came through, clearing the thick fog in my brain.

“That’s right, baby. Focus on my heartbeat.” A door slammed, locking the memory away. “Open your eyes and look at me.”

Tyran’s voice pulled me out of the memory and my eyelids fluttered open.

I wasn’t sure when we switched positions, but he was underneath me, his big body no longer suffocating me. His face was inches away, my hand on his heart and his on my cheek.

“You got bulkier,” I breathed, blinking. “Stronger.”

“I’ll stop working out,” he murmured. “Fuck, Sienna. Why aren’t you seeing a therapist?”

“Why do you care?” I rasped, my heart still beating wildly in my chest. “You’re here to punish me. So do it.”

He stared at me with those blue eyes that I feared saw too much. He didn’t move again, his body positioned to give me all the space and control, although I knew one wrong move and he’d take that control back.

I swallowed, dragging a ragged breath into my starved lungs.

“Ty, please… Just do what you came here to do.”

My voice cracked. Maybe it was five years of loneliness. Five years of regretting what I’d done and being unable to fix it. Five years of… fuck… Five years of everything gone wrong.

“I said five years of orgasms, but I didn’t say they would only be mine,” he stated matter-of-factly. “I’m not a sadist, little blondie.”

I dragged in another shuddering breath. “So you forgive me?”

“I didn’t say that.”

“If you’d only let me explain,” I started. “I didn’t mean to⁠—”

“Sienna, stop right now. I’m not interested in excuses. Your deed and betrayal deserve a punishment.”

“So what are you going to do? Kill me?” My voice cracked. “It’s clear I’m damaged goods and sex isn’t in my future, and the last time I actually did the deed with a man was a long time ago.”

He tilted his head. “You haven’t had sex in the past five years?”

“I didn’t say that.”

“So you’ve had sex, then?”

“I didn’t say that either.”

There was no chance in hell that I’d admit to him that the moment a body hovered on top of me, I lost my shit.

Tyran studied me pensively, probably trying to get a read on me. I kept my expression blank, reining in all my emotions—or at least attempting to.

“It seems, my little blondie, that I’m forced to change my methods and find alternative punishment.”

I laughed, although I wasn’t amused one bit.

“You’re not a very good punisher. My kidnappers were scarier.”

His expression changed, something dark flickering behind his eyes. He cupped my face and his gaze bored into me.