Page 90 of Lucky's Trouble

I try to get a read on him, but he’s making it hard. His demeanor and tone are gentle and kind now, but I know it’s an act. At any moment, he’ll flip a switch, and the real him will come out. He can’t be trusted, no matter what he says or does. After all, the asshole paid money for and stole me away from the life I was just starting to enjoy.

Not wanting to piss him off, I place my hand in his. His fingers are ice cold, startling me. I jerk away, but only for a second. Bracing myself, I allow him to help me out of the cage. He drops my hand and lifts the leash, wrapping the metal around his fist until there’s tension between us.

“You’re just as lovely as I thought you’d be.” He takes me in from head to toe, his gaze stopping at my breasts. Not wanting to give him the satisfaction of my humiliation, I stand tall. I can do this. I spent the better part of two years nearly nude with people watching me, fantasizing about me, touching me. This is no different.

At least, that’s what I tell myself.

“Mmm, but you’ll be a hard nut to crack, won’t you?” He loosens the chain and circles me to inspect all angles as if I’m a used vehicle and he’s checking under the hood. “I see the way you look at me. You don’t trust me, and that’s fair. The way I acquired you is unconventional, but I guarantee you’re better off with me than you would be with Neal.” Completing his circle, he stands before me again. “I’ve seen some of the girls he’s taken a special interest in like he did with you. They were. . . worse for wear.”

“I left him weeks ago. You didn’t take me from him. You took me from my family and my friends.” My voice cracks. “From my boyfriend.”

“Boyfriend? Oh, you mean the biker?”

How much information did Neal give this guy? And how did Neal even know where I was? Did he recognize Lucky when he paid him a visit? There are so many questions and no one to get answers from.

“Yes. You took me from him, and I want to go back.”

“That can’t happen. Surely you know that.”

“Please,” I whisper, not trusting my voice.

“Please, Sir,” he corrects. “From now on, you’ll address me as Sir.”

He wraps the chain around his fist once again, pinching the leather handle between his thumb and first finger. I jump when he slaps it down on my nipple, that’s erect due to the chill in the air. A sharp sting travels through my breast.

“This conversation is boring me, and besides, it’s pointless. You’re my pet now, and I don’t let my pets go. Not until I’m done with them, at least, and you and I haven’t even begun.” He pulls me over to the side of the bed. “Climb on up, Pet. I’m ready to get started, and I think my other pets are getting jealous.”

Since there’s a fucking cage under the bed, the mattress sits too high for me to simply climb on. I place my hands on the silk sheets and attempt to hoist myself up, but it’s no use. I’m too short.

Sir chuckles and approaches me, placing his hands on my ribcage, his thumbs dangerously close to my breasts. “Allow me.”

He hoists me up as though I weigh nothing. I scurry away until my back meets the black leather headboard, not wanting his touch anywhere on me. Even though I’m here against my will, it still feels traitorous, like I’m cheating on Lucky. At some point, my body became his. The rest of me, too. I have twenty-four hours to figure out how to escape before I’m back in this room where this Sir won’t allow me just to watch from the sidelines.

“You don’t seem to remember me, but I’ve seen you before. Actually, you danced for me in one of those filthy rooms.” He undoes the buttons of his sleeves as I wrack my brain, trying to remember. “I find clubs like that disgusting, but Neal insisted he had a special girl I’d like.”

“When?”

“About a month ago.” He slips his shirt off, revealing even more of his tattooed skin. Unlike Lucky, his chiseled muscles do nothing for me. Lucky uses his strength to protect and care for me. This man. . . well, I don’t know what he does with his, but I think he’s about to show me. “It wounds me that you don’t remember, especially when I remember it so well. It was the night I purchased you.”

“What?” I croak out.

His shirt drops to the floor before he hops onto the bed, lowering to all fours, crawling toward me, and looking every bit the predator he is. “You were wearing red, and after you danced for me, I decided it’d be the only color I ever wanted to see you in again.”

I blink, thinking back to the days before Lucky took me away. Red never was my color, but Neal gave me a red set I only wore once to keep him happy. Neal told me about an important client of his and insisted I make his private dance special. If I didn’t, it’d be the final straw, and my position at the club would be taken away.

I’d been pressing my luck with him and knew he was serious. But I’ve danced for so many men and never really saw their faces. I didn’t want to. It made it easier somehow to think of them as money, not people, so it shouldn’t surprise me that I don’t remember Sir.

“I grabbed your ass, and you smacked my hand away.” He crawls up my outstretched legs. “You and I both knew I could’ve done anything to you in that room, and no one would’ve saved you. I’m too important to Neal. You could’ve screamed bloody murder, and still, no one would’ve stopped me. But each time I reached out, you slapped me.”

There’s awe in his tone, as though it’s a novelty that a woman wouldn’t want his touch. And maybe it’s true. If there’s one thing I know, it’s that everyone has a price. Everyone.

He continues to move up my body until his muscled arms are on either side of my hips. I cower in response, slouching down on the bed, not wanting to be this close to him. Not knowing who he is, what this room is about, or what he’s planning on doing with me terrifies me to my bones.

“I’d been looking for a challenge for so long, and you gave me one that night, practically dared me to buy you, body and soul. So, I did.” He plants his fists on the sides of my head that’s ended up on the pillow, and his knees press against my hips, cradling me and looking at me like I’m his shiny new toy.

When he smirks, the memory of him comes back in flashes. The man whose smarmy grin put me on edge. Even knowing I was supposed to impress him, I couldn’t let him touch me. Instinctually, I knew he meant me harm.

His black hair falls forward, hanging over his eyes. “Then I got word you ran away. I could’ve come for you that first day—you weren’t hard to find—but I wanted to wait until you felt safe and secure. It made ripping you from that life so much sweeter.”

---