Page 11 of Tied

Chapter 6

Cain

Riley stares up at me, her pretty eyes widening and her pouty lips forming a perfect little O as she processes my words.

And then she starts laughing.

I expected several things to happen. I anticipated her crying, maybe screaming for help, possibly even trying to tear apart the ropes binding her wrists.

But no, little Miss Riley laughs at me!

I’m too taken aback by her reaction to come up with a response before she makes it even worse by blurting out, “Oh, that’s a good one! You almost had me there!”

Her entire body churns under heavy tremors of amusement as she tries to regain her composure.

“I’ll admit, I was scared there for a minute,” she says, smiling at me. “Back then, you promised me you’d have more in store for me, but I honestly never expected you to go to such lengths to make this happen! How did you even find me?”

She’s not getting it. She thinks I’m joking.

She thinks this is a game—just like it was the last time.

This is not how I thought this would play out, but maybe it’s for the better? If she thinks it’s a game, she’ll be more eager to play along. She’ll get another taste of what I can do to her. She’ll remember her growing addiction.

She will be such much easier to handle.

As insulting as it may be, I should see this as an opportunity.

“Asking a lot of questions again, aren’t you?”

I step closer, reaching up to trace my index finger down her cute face while she casts a dreamy smile up at me.

“I’m sorry,” she breathes, mischief already playing on her expression, and she winks at me. “You know I can’t help it.”

She’s so fucking delicious. So alluring, so aware of herself, and yet so fucking naive.

A gasp escapes her lips as I reach to the back of her scalp, grabbing a fistful of hair and yanking her head back harshly. Excitement flares up in her grey-green eyes and the smile that vanished for a split second as I made my move comes back with a vengeance, now taunting me to go further, to take her like she needs to be taken.

“How long has it been?” I ask her, moving my face so close to hers that I can sense the heat of her breath on my skin when she speaks.

“About six months,” she responds in a low voice. “A little longer?”

Yearning laces every syllable of her words, and it echoes deep inside my core.

“Have you missed me?”

She wants to nod, but can’t because I’m holding her in a tight grip.

“Yes.”

There’s everything in that single word.

The need. The longing. The unbreakable desire we share. That goddamn pull neither one of us could resist back then.

I knew it was still like that for me. I knew I needed her back, and I knew I would get her back, no matter how long it took.

But there are no words to describe how gratifying it is to see that same attraction still flickering in her gaze. Her lips part, trembling with greedy passion as her eyes urge me to go on, to kiss her, to take her.

It’s impossible to resist.

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