Page 60 of Regally Binding

Liss pushed him away as he tried to grab her hand to help her up. “Nope.” She stood and sashayed further up the stairs. The slit of her dress revealed her thigh. “This is my party, and I will have fun.”

“Don’t make me chase you.” She froze to the spot. Why did that sound so fucking hot? “I’ve done this the nice way, so now the hard way,” he growled. The sound vibrated in her pussy.

“I’d like to see your hard way,” Liss sassed, hiding how her hands shook.

“I’m giving you to the count of five,” he growled.

She imagined him counting to five before slamming her against the wall and fucking her into submission. Liss looked over her shoulder and found Bear staring at her bottom. She grinned, wiggled her eyebrows, and jiggled her bum. “My eyes are up here,” she replied. “And FYI, you don’t get to tell me what to do. You’re not the boss of me.”

“That’s where you’re wrong. I’m not only your boss, but I also own you for the next week. Now be a good girl, or I’ll put you over my knee,” he replied, his tongue darting to lick his lips. She ran up the stairs, but he climbed the stairs in strides and was quickly right behind her. He grabbed and tossed her over his shoulder before handing her her bag and walking her back down the stairs. “I’m taking you safely to bed.”

“You wish,” she said, wiggling against him.

There was a sound at his earpiece. “I’m on my way,” he replied.

“Where are we going?” she asked as he stepped through an unfamiliar corridor. It was rudimentary compared to the others she’d seen that night, with no fancy lighting or paintings on the wall. She gripped her clutch bag tightly as he pushed open the doors.

“We’re heading to the servant’s exit. It’s secure.”

The split above her leg was getting wider and was close to revealing her underwear. She tried to grab the material, but it caused Bear to huff as he held her tightly against his shoulder.

She rolled her eyes.

“Less sass from you,” he grunted.

“But—”

“I’ve got eyes in the back of my head, and I saw your reflection in the glass door we passed through,” he conceded. All the corridors merged as she languished against him. They passed through another door. Smells of roasted meat and creamy dishes filled this corridor.

“I like it up here,” she announced. “It’s a new perspective, and I don’t have to walk. My feet hurt, although I adore the fancy shoes. Thank you for buying them; they are beautiful.”

They’d reached an entranceway now. “My pleasure.” Bear pulled Liss off him and placed her in the corner of the cramped space.

“We’re here. Bring the car,” he said into his earpiece as Liss shouted, “Feet! Sore feet!” She dropped her bag to use both hands to unsnap her shoes.

“I’m not picking you up again, so you’ll have to put them back on.” He stared daggers at her.

Liss parted her lips, but he pressed against the earpiece again. His shoulders tensed. Mentally, he wasn’t in the same space as her, and the low chatter she picked up from his ear turned into a frantic blasting. She couldn’t distinguish the words, but his eyes darted around the small space, and his hand went under his jacket.

“A threat? We knew something was off. The car is arriving now. I’ll bring her straight there.”

Liss tucked her bag under her arm and grabbed her shoes, but unceremoniously, Bear flung her back over his shoulder. Her handbag hit the floor.

“My bag,” she shouted as he pushed through the doors.

“There isn’t time. You can replace everything in there.” He strode across the asphalt. Darkness surrounded them in the back of the palace. Gone were the ladies and gentlemen in all their finery.

“But it’s important!” Bear was still professional, but his body was more rigid beneath her than before. He’d raised his shoulders and was primed for action. “Bear, please.”

She didn’t care if she was bought all the jewels in the world if she didn’t have her keepsake.

“For fuck sake,” he grumbled. It was fast becoming his catchphrase. He kept Liss tight to him as he returned to her bag, grabbed it off the floor, and held it close. Bear rushed them back outside. He reached a new black four-by-four. He quickly looked around it, careful not to swing her around, before dropping her and her bag in the front seat and clicking in her seatbelt. Within minutes, they were speeding out of the palace grounds by a secret exit that avoided the long driveway.

With his fixed expression and mouth set in a thin line, she didn’t ask questions. He handed her another water bottle and a chocolate bar, and she thanked him before consuming both. Liss sneaked a look in her bag and found the heart talisman. She gripped it and stared out of the window.

The city’s lights flashed by, but soon, they were less frequent. Her eyes drooped, and her heart slowed after the frantic escape. Eventually, when she couldn’t fight the tiredness any longer, her eyes fluttered closed.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

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