Page 44 of Suspicion

She went with a yelp as he tugged her toward him, breathing hard as her nose skimmed his. “What warning?” Digging in her heels, she pushed back, balancing on the edge of the bed.

“About leaving.” His gaze was unrelenting, although he allowed her to resume her place.

“I’m not leaving.” Her heart was thundering in her chest. “But I don’t want to call you sir.”

“I know you don’t, little girl, but as I’ve told you before, this isn’t about what you want.”

She clenched at the way he made that sound. His straightforward tone belittled its significance. This was happening to her, yet somehow, she had no choice in any of it. Her head wanted to burst at the injustice.

“If you want to eat, then you’ll obey.” His arrogant sneer was almost intolerable.

“Fine.”

It wasn’t fine. She swore if her hands hadn’t been bound, she’d have swung for him, but she wasn’t an idiot. If she was violent, then she invited ferocity from him, and that was something she wouldn’t be able to stand. If Alexander had any redeeming quality, it was that he’d never raised his hand to her. True, he’d rarely been there, but she still gave him credit for that. Violence against women was, for Ella, an unforgivable sin.

Like the way he treated me last night. Her breath hitched at the recollection. He trussed me up and stripped me. He groped me and gagged me. Isn’t that bad enough?

Yes. It was terrible, but it wasn’t the same as being punched or slapped and kicked. Tucker was a monster, then, but he seemed to be one with a glimmer of a conscience.

There was hope in that.

“Go on, then.” Releasing her ropes, he rose to his feet. “Let’s hear you say it. I want to hear you call me sir.”

Chapter Eight

The Honorific

Tucker

“For fuck’s sake.” Her words were a sigh. Evidently, Ella knew what he expected, but it still wasn’t clear whether she would deliver.

“Say the word.” He couldn’t resist his arrogant tone. The look on her face was priceless. The life his, and likely other people’s, money had extended to Bennett’s family meant the wildcat had probably never had to comply with anyone before.

This was a whole new experience for her.

“And if I can’t?” Her otherwise flawless brow creased. “This isn’t easy for me, Tucker, but I guess you know that.”

“If you can’t… or won’t,”—which was surely more to the point—“then you’ll be bound to my bed for the rest of the day.” God help him, but his cock roused at the enticing prospect. He wanted her bound there, but he wasn’t ready to say it out loud yet. Keeping Ella wasn’t supposed to have been about sexual attraction, but it was there, taunting him, whether he admitted it or not. “You may eat, but you’ll wait for me to finish first and will be gagged while I have my meal.”

“Are you crazy?” Her eyes widened. “Why would you want to treat me like that?”

“Like what?” he snorted, suppressing the real answer. He wanted to treat her that way because it turned him on to belittle her. It was a kink he’d long repressed, but still, it was there, taunting him. “I’m still offering you food and shelter.”

“You’d be treating me like an animal!” Her tone was exasperated. “I don’t deserve this, Tucker. It’s bad enough like this.” Her arms rose to reveal her ropes once more. “I haven’t done anything wrong.”

“Not ‘Tucker.’” Come on, little girl. His gaze locked with hers. “You know what to call me.”

It didn’t matter to him which choice she opted for, of course. Whether she melded and started to refer to him the way he wanted or whether he had the pleasure of tying the beautiful blonde to his bed—he couldn’t lose.

This was Tucker’s game, after all.

But he was interested to know her choice. Was she so stubborn that she was prepared to find herself gagged again? Or would she finally cede?

He was about to find out.

“And if I say the word, you won’t gag me again?” Her blinking green eyes drilled into him.

“I won’t gag you now,” he corrected.

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