Page 10 of Suspicion

“You have my apologies for the man who fathered you.”

For once, she suspected his tone might be genuine, and fleetingly, she wondered what the history was between him and Alexander. Tucker had said her father owed him money, but the flicker of anger in Tucker’s eyes suggested there was more to the matter than only cash.

Nothing would surprise her. Alexander Bennett was known to be callous and dismissive, and he had a proven track record of offending both friends and enemies. She’d wager he’d crossed swords with Tucker—on multiple occasions.

“The question of paternity doesn’t change what’s happening here.” His voice jarred her back to the heart-stopping reality. “You’re coming with me, and I would prefer not to have to fight you to get there.”

“Tucker, I…” She hesitated, unsure how to reach out to him. So far, he hadn’t done anything to harm her, and that was good. She had to hope there was a man with a conscience trapped inside his strapping form. Someone who would listen and take mercy on her. “Please. I can’t just let you do this.”

“So, you plan to fight me?”

She noticed his wry amusement. Oddly, his unspoken scorn reminded her of her father.

“I can’t fight you.” She might as well admit that much. “Look at me compared to you.”

“I’m glad you see that.”

“I’m just asking for you to be fair.” Tears stung in her eyes again, but she adamantly refused to acknowledge their existence. Things were dreadful enough without melting into a flood of tears in front of the giant. “Why would you do this to me?”

“It’s not personal.” He sighed, closing the space between them until she was forced back to the tree. Pressing against her, he captured her bound wrists between their bodies, leaving her nowhere to go. “It’s business.”

Business? She could have spat in his face at his cold and aloof response. How was she a part of business? She was a human being, for God’s sake—a woman with a life and mind of her own, not an asset to be passed around as collateral.

What made him—or her useless father—think this was acceptable?

“I don’t want this.” In the end, it was all she could say.

She turned her head away from him, attempting not to breathe in his masculine scent. She didn’t want to acknowledge that the brute smelled like sandalwood—the one scent she adored on men. She refused to accept that anything about him was alluring.

The rage simmering in her veins was being drowned out by her expanding terror. His proximity was as unwelcome as the prospects he outlined for her. He had no right to use his physicality to coerce her. What decent man would treat her this way?

A man who isn’t decent. Shards of cold dismay exploded within her, raining down her body as she struggled to make sense of what was happening. A man like my father.

“I understand.” One of his hands reached around her and pulled her against him. She froze at his outrageous liberty, her trepidation soaring as his fingers splayed at her back. “And perhaps this is the first time anyone’s said this to you, but this dynamic…” His attention flew between them. “It’s not about what you want.”

Chapter Four

The Necessary Distraction

Tucker

Just look at her.

An unexpected swell of emotion stirred as Tucker stared, his gaze devouring Ella’s delicate features as her mouth parted in apparent horror. Her lips looked temptingly soft, revealing a glimpse of whatever cosmetics they’d once worn before her low-life father had abandoned her. Despite the trepidation dancing in her eyes, they were the brightest shade of green he could ever recall seeing before. As his gaze scanned the rest of her face, he noticed attractive gold and pearl earrings attached to her delicate lobes. Evidently, she was as spoiled as she was tempting.

But I can’t be tempted.

The pretty little rich girl should hold no allure for him. She was the very epitome of all that he loathed and resented—the type of person who clung desperately to their possessions, caring more for aesthetics than what genuinely counted. He knew those women—had known them in a time before the wilderness—and he had no time for them. In his opinion, the things that truly mattered in life could be counted on one hand. Tucker enjoyed the outdoors, the Earth, and the many blessings she bestowed. He preferred a simple existence, having already tasted the alternative.

Everything about Ella was so unlike the life he’d come to value. Yet gazing at her, he couldn’t deny, if only to himself, how enticing she was and how—should he be stupid enough—he might allow a distraction like her to become a permanent feature.

His balls tightened at the electrifying prospect. There was no space for a woman in his life, yet fleetingly, the idea of keeping her filled his mind. Ella would certainly offer a pleasant diversion from his daily routine, and even after so many years without a woman, it wasn’t difficult to imagine how.

She’d make an appealing feature in his cabin if only she’d learn to stop arguing and behave. In his mind’s eye, he could see her on all fours, providing her master with the footrest he required after a long and hard day. For too long, he’d had to make do without one, but he was certain Ella would do a more satisfactory job.

There were plenty of other roles she could take on around his home as well. Each might normally be considered mundane in nature, yet the possibility of her presence abruptly brightened them all. If he could learn to trust her, then she could make herself useful with the broom and sweep the outside decking. Of course, he’d insist she did so chained and naked, her nudity squeezing the hours of opportunity into a rather small window—especially as the autumn draped its colorful shroud over the forest—but it was a limitation he was prepared to accept in order to admire her. Tucker was willing to bet there was a tight and toned body hiding under her awful attire.

She’s still too young. His hand balled momentarily as the concept resounded. I’m old enough to be her father.

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