Page 9 of Caught By Menace

She glared at him, her dark eyes flashing with such intense hatred. “Don’t tempt me.” She snatched up the chair and wielded it like a bat. “Maybe I’ll knock you upside the head with a chair. How does that sound?”

“Like first-degree assault,” he muttered.

“Exactly! Now get my clothes and get the hell out of my way.”

Menace let his interested gaze rake her naked form. His cock instantly responded to the sight of so much silky, brown flesh. The memory of her struggling beneath him in the forest sent heat rolling through his stomach. So small and hot, her body had instantly called to him. The sight of her naked skin made his heart race.

Her perky breasts heaved with every shallow breath. Her nipples had drawn tight to dusky peaks. Not from arousal, of course. Fear. Cold. All those things could elicit the same response.

His needy gaze moved lower. His fingers just itched to ride the gentle slope of her curving waist to her full hips and thighs. Though petite, she carried more weight than most of the women he’d seen from her planet. She had the sweetest curves he’d ever seen. What he wouldn’t do for the chance to worship between her thighs.

“Are you deaf? Where the fuck are my clothes?”

Her waspish tongue ripped him from his lusty thoughts. Frowning, he said, “They’re in the laundry. I’ll give you clean clothes in the morning. If you cooperate,” he added, figuring this might be one of the few bargaining chips in his arsenal.

“Cooperate?” She scoffed loudly and let the chair drop with a noisy clatter. She gestured to the wall of implements he’d so carefully organized. Some of the floggers and crops and canes he’d had for years. Others, like the gags and clamps and toys, he’d chosen in preparation for bringing home a new wife. “Look, I don’t know what you think is going to happen tonight, but I’ll tell you this, Menace. The only person getting their ass beat tonight isyou.”

And there it was. Under all that bravado, she was afraid. She was scared.Of me.

The knowledge hit him hard. Realizing he’d gone about this all wrong, Menace quickly reassured her. “Naya, I told youearlier today that I will never hurt you. I meant that. Never will my hand or any of those things,” he pointed to the wall, “touch you without your consent.”

“Well, don’t hold your breath! My consent to be battered and abused will never come.”

“Battered? Abused?” He reeled in shock at her strong language. “Naya, domestic discipline and a little rough love between a husband and his wife is not abuse. So long as there is consent,” he added. “It’s sexy. It’s exciting. It’s intimate and loving.”

“Sexy? Intimate?Loving?” Eyes wide, she vehemently shook her head. “I’m sorry but this torture chamber isn’t inspiring any feelings of sexiness or intimacy.”

“That’s because I’ve screwed this up,” Menace admitted. He took a cautious step forward. “I should never have followed the usual protocol for claiming a wife. I should have done this differently.” He exhaled roughly and ran his fingers through his hair. “Can we just—can we call a time-out here?”

Her expression softened. The fists that had been raised and ready to pummel him slowly dropped. “All right.”

“Thank you.”

She gestured to his hand. “Why the hell are you carrying around a sock?”

He glanced at the white sock and sheepishly smiled. “I came in here hoping to offer you a truce. I didn’t have anything else white in my quarters.”

Surprise filtered across her beautiful face. “A truce? Why?”

“Because this isn’t the way it’s supposed to be, Naya. I don’t want a war with you.

That’s the very last thing I want from you.”

She swallowed hard. “What do you want from me, Menace?”

“I want…” He faltered and search for the right words. “I want a wife and a family. I want you to be here when I come home inthe evenings, Naya. I’ve spent the last twenty-four years of my life training, fighting, training some more and trying not to get killed. I’ve earned the right to some comfort, to some happiness. I want—I want that with you. Let me make you happy.”

She moved closer, the caginess gone from her once-mistrusting gaze. Now she looked at him with sadness in her dark eyes. “That’s not the way happiness works, Menace. The people in a relationship have to be happy by themselves before they can be happy together.” She hesitated. “Areyouhappy, Menace?”

“I am,” he replied honestly.

“But?”

“But I’m lonely,” he admitted, baring his secret to her. “Were you happy in Connor’s Run?”

“Most of the time,” she confirmed.

“But?”

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