Page 34 of This Haunted Heart

“It’s not your knife,” she said through gritted teeth, pressing the blade to my throat. “Where’s my money?”

My cock twitched. The fact that she was arming herself against me shouldn’t have been arousing in the least. The flush of anger in her cheeks, the sparkle of rage in her eyes, the sting as she pushed the blade in and broke the skin, shouldn’t have been attractive either, and yet, there I was, neck bleeding and cock hard and growing harder, picturing how feral she’d gotten as she’d chased her climax beneath me the night before with that same gleam in her gaze.

“Your money is around here somewhere,” I said, glancing behind her at my trunk to throw her off the scent. When she turned her head to follow my eyes, I captured her knife hand and secured her against the frame of the door using my broader body. The struggle for the blade was short-lived. Rynn was not a frail thing by any means, but it wasn’t a fair fight. I had her in height, weight, muscle, and menace.

I drove the knife point so hard into the wood above her, even I would have a difficult time pulling it free again. She tried to punch me, but I’d pressed so close she couldn’t get a good swing in. The blow glanced off my shoulder.

The elbow she threw into my face was a problem, however. She knocked my teeth together so hard they clattered. Immediately a lopsided grin filled my cheeks. The sight of it made her furious.

Grunting from frustration and effort, she nearly slipped free. I grappled her over to the bed, toppling her flat on the mattress. It was a battle to get her onto her stomach. She kicked and scratched at me like a panicked puma.

“Don’t you dare!” she spat, trying to twist away from me.

I dared. I sat on her again, this time straddling her lower back, pinning her beneath me.

“Get off!” she bellowed, twisting like a fish out of water.

“You still have—” I caught myself. I’d been about to say she still had that same spitfire temper she’d had as a girl. The one that always made her think she was three times bigger than she actually was.

“Still have what?” she shouted, struggling to unseat me.

I chuckled. “Never mind.”

“Don’t laugh at me, you horrid serpent! You devil pirate! You wretch! You fiend!”

Worried she’d have a concerned inn owner pounding at our door soon if I didn’t quiet her, I grabbed up one of the tattered remnants of her dress and stuffed it into her mouth. Her muffled shouts continued around the gag until her face went beet red.

I pressed her cheek into the bedding, further immobilizing her. “Is this really necessary, Rynn?”

She spit out the torn satin. “I hate you! I hate you so fucking much—”

“I hate you too, hellcat,” I said sweetly.

“Get. Off. Me!”

“You know how this works. When you’re still and calm, I’ll consider it,” I said.

She roared at that, a sound more animal than woman.

I covered her mouth with my palm, dampening the volume. “No, no. Don’t you dare bite me.”

It took a while, but eventually my hellcat tuckered herself out. Her squirming slowed. Her hot breath bathed my hand, and her skin, now covered in a sheen of sweat, returned to its usual light fawn shade.

Her breathing calmed to an even pace. She stopped trying to wriggle free. When I released her mouth, she sent a death glare at me that could turn milk, but she didn’t shout. I liked her face when it was glaring but decided against telling her that. No need to set her off.

“I’m going to let you up now,” I said. “Do you understand what will happen if you try to knife me again?”

“You’ll sit on me,” she muttered.

“That’s right.” I plucked a bill from the inner pocket of my waistcoat and showed it to her. It was a ten. “This is yours. The next time you’re uncooperative, I burn one of these. A toll for the inconvenience.” To ensure she knew I meant my word, I displayed my silver lighter and struck the flint.

Her eyes flashed, reflecting the small flame. “I hear you,” she ground out.

I smothered the fire with a snap and dropped the lighter back into my pocket. Touching my neck where it stung, my fingers came away bloody.

I forced Rynn to sit up, resting one hand low on her throat, smearing my blood on her skin. “You cut me.”

“That was the idea,” she rumbled.

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