Page 24 of Cherry Auction

“You’re an extrovert. Nothing drives the Mads I knew crazier than being alone. You can’t stand going twenty-four hours without conversation, much less human contact. Physical touch,” I notch an eyebrow up at her, “is your love language, if a creature like yourself could ever be said to feel such an emotion.”

Her mouth drops open to protest and I see the fury on her face. But it takes her a second to actually respond. “You’re wrong! I’m not whoever this Mads person was. And if you’re saying you’ll leave me alone and I won’t have to see your horrible face, that sounds great to me. Leave me the fuck alone! Then this whole thing might actually be bearable.”

I smile at her bluff. She might be in character, but some things you can’t fake.

“Grand,” I bite out. “Then I’ll just leave you to it. But you won’t be locked up in here pleasuring yourself. You only get what I give.”

I walk over to the wall and grab a particularly delightfulset of spreader cuffs—twelve inch, both ankle and wrist, with a long connecting rod in between.

“What the fuck is that?” she demands as I approach her. The cuffs themselves have a fluffy lining, so they won’t hurt her.

“Red!” she says as I approach.

I grin at her. “Sorry, love. I told you, Iwilltrain you. That pony trick only works for so many things. I’ll put these on, then I won’t touch you again until you ask me.”

She tries to flee back over the bed to escape me, but while I allowed it last night, today is a whole new day.

I admit, I enjoy chasing her, pinning her on the bed, and attaching the cuffs first to her wrists, then to her kicking ankles.

I’m chuckling by the time I get her last ankle buckled in.

“You fucking psycho!” she screams at me.

“What can I say?” I smile down at her beneath me, reaching up towards her neck. “You bring out the worst in me.”

Her teeth come at me, biting ferociously. I narrowly avoid losing a finger but manage to get her collar freed from the ceiling chain.

“What are you doing?” she says as I pounce off the bed. She yanks against the cuffs and spreader bar as if the devil himself has hold of her, to no avail.

“Giving you what you wanted,” I say graciously. “Your isolation. But I need assurances my kitty won’t be treatingherself while I’m away. And look, your gracious owner has freed you so you can even make your way to the bathroom and feed station all by yourself.”

She tries to sit up and falls back over onto the mattress. “How? You’ve all but hog-tied me!”

“Aw, pet, if I’d hog-tied you, you’d know it,” I purr. “I use very special knots for that. And I haven’t even locked your hands behind your back. I’m a very benevolent owner. As to how you’ll get to the potty and food, well, I imagine you’ll get there very slowly. Then again, you’ll have nothing but time to figure it out.”

“You bastard!” she screams at me. “Let me go!”

I can only keep grinning at her. She truly is the most gorgeous creature. I never did get her out of her nightie, but considering how spitting mad she is, I’ll let her keep whatever imaginary shields she’s got left a little longer. Breaking in a pet must be a patient process, even if we are on an accelerated seven-day track.

Her long, luscious legs are bent awkwardly by the bar connecting her wrists and ankles. Fuck, seeing Mads all bound up like this is the hottest thing I’ve ever seen, and the club isn’t short on spectacle. But nothing could ever hold a candle to her. She stole my soul too long ago.

“Remember, my pet. I’m watching. You can give in any time. I’m happy to come back and take care of a good, obedient little pet. We were making such progress before you decided to throw your little tantrum.”

With that, I leave her and head upstairs again. She’s not chained to the ceiling, but she also can’t figure out how to move fast enough to follow me. There’s an art to moving when you’re double-barred like that, and it takes time to learn.

“Bye now, love. Remember, all you have to do is call and I’ll come.”

“Never!” rings her parting shout.

ELEVEN

DOMHNALL

She makesit all of thirty-two hours.

It’s quite impressive, really. But then, Mads always was stubborn.

I work from home for the day, one monitor full of code I’m barely looking at, and the other… My other screen is full of the entertainmentdu jour.

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