Page 92 of Barbed Wire Hearts

“I’m sorry,” I croak. “I’m not sad. It’s just. . .”

Dakota turns me to face him. He reaches up and wipes away a tear only for another to take its place. “Are you afraid of this, Kate? Of us?”

“No,” I murmur. “No, I’m not.”

“Do you trust us?” he asks.

I nod, knowing without a doubt, I do trust the three of them.

His eyes narrow. “Then trust us to know what we’re doin’,” he growls. “Trust us to take care of you.”

He holds out his hand for the rope and Levi passes it to him. He uncoils it and holds it out between us, gesturing to my hands. “It’s your choice, Kate. I’m not gonna let you leave. But if you want nothin’ to do with us because of that, we’ll take you right back up to your room. You can go to sleep knowing you’re safe and protected. But if you decide that you want us, that you love us. . .” He raises his brow. “Then hold out your hands.”

I stare at him and then glance over at Levi and Wiley. None of them argue, as if this was planned, as if they’re all on the same page. I could tell them to take me back, and part of me wants to say that out of spite, but I have no desire to see the hurt in their eyes at that answer. The truth is I do love the three of them. I love the fuck out of them, and I think they know that. If there were no outside threat, I’d never leave this place. If I could have them to myself forever, I’d keep them. I can either trust them to know what they’re doing, or I can run away the first chance I get. But that won’t change the way I feel about them.

They wait patiently as I think, their eyes heavy on me, desperate for me just as I’m desperate for them.

“You promise no one will die?” I whisper, looking back at Dakota. “You can promise me that?”

He hesitates, and I know he wants to say no. Dakota is pragmatic. If we’re attacked, there’s a chance someone could die. There’s always a chance. But Dakota straightens and nods his head to my surprise. “Yes.”

And I know, even if his words are a lie, he’ll do his absolute best to keep that promise for as long as he’s able to. That’s Dakota Steele, the protector, the stoic hero. He’ll kill someone else before they get a chance to kill any of us.

Making my decision, I slowly lift my arms out in front of me.

There’s a collective sigh around me as Dakota smiles. A little tick in his jaw tells me he was worried I wouldn’t agree to this, that he was prepared to take me back up to my room. He pulls my arms together and starts to wrap the silk cord around my wrists and then up my arm.

“Then punishment is in order,” he says.

“I’m still being punished?” I ask, frowning. “But I’m staying.”

“You still tried to leave,” he points out, tugging the rope tighter, but not so tight that it cuts off circulation. I watch, surprised, as he expertly threads the rope around until it wraps up my forearms and around my wrists, trapping my arms together. He pulls out his knife and cuts it before tying it in a knot. I tug at it, but it doesn’t come loose. “Now, be a good girl and put your arms above your head.”

I do as he says and startle when he hooks the top of the knots onto a chain hanging from the ceiling. It’s usually there to help with any horse that needs help standing up, but today, he strings me up by it and pulls until my toes are barely touching the ground.

Dakota leans forward and pushes me with a finger, making me swing. I struggle to catch purchase with my boots, and he grins. “Perfect.”

The three of them begin to stalk around me, their eyes heated as they study me hanging before them. It’s Levi who steps forward and flips his pocket knife out. My eyes widen, but he shakes his head.

“Relax,” he growls. “It’s for the clothes.”

He cuts up through my shirt, careful not to nick my skin, until he can tug it off. When he gets to my jeans and starts to cut, I hold still, terrified he’ll cut something he’s not supposed to. He pulls the boots from my feet and the socks, leaving me in nothing but a few tatters left of my shirt. I hang naked before their eyes, my arms tied, my nipples pebbling beneath their gazes.

“Do you know why you’re being punished?” Dakota asks as they trail around me.

“Because I tried to leave,” I rasp, my eyes on him.

He nods. “I think that should mean you don’t get to come unless we say you do.”

I open my mouth and close it again, speechless for a moment. “So I’m to be tortured?”

He shrugs. “Call it what you like. Torture, punishment, pleasure, it doesn’t matter. It all leads down the same road.”

He nods to the others and steps back, allowing Wiley to take his place. Wiley immediately drops to his knees and buries his face in my cunt, giving no build up, no teasing. He just slides his tongue along my clit and begins to circle it. I cry out and jerk against my chain, the sound of it jingling echoing in my ears as he devours me. My core starts to tighten quickly, and I throw my head back.

“Oh!” I cry, my legs starting to shake.

“Stop,” Dakota orders and Wiley leans back with a grin up at me.

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