Page 8 of Morally Grey

My ears perk up. “Is that why you killed her? Did you default on your payments or something? Did you?—”

“It’s none of your concern. Could you stop fucking asking already? I don’t want to talk about it, especially with someone who plans to turn me in.” He flops onto his ass and looks around. “Are you gonna feed me or anything? I’m fucking starving.”

“If you want something from me, you’ll need to give me something in return.”

I go to smirk, but the smile slides off my face as he gets to his feet and steps into me until my back is against the wall. When I can’t walk backward anymore, he keeps coming, sandwiching me between body heat and concrete.

“I want to make something very clear, Briar. The arrangement you believe you have is not the arrangement you have in actuality. My legs may be shackled, but my hands are very much not. If I want to strangle the life from your lungs and snatch that key from your pocket, I will.” He leans closer, until his breath is close enough to send goosebumps over my skin. “You have a tame tiger in the basement. Tame, but not domesticated. You’d do well to remember that.”

His mention of the shackles around his legs brings the smirk back to my face. I reach into my pocket, grip a small remote, and depress the largest button. Grey screams as his legs buckle beneath him, sending him to the floor.

“What the?—”

I press the button again when he tries to stand, and he lets out another scream before sitting back on his elbows and panting up at me. As I squat beside him, I smile.

“A tiger, huh?” I flick a quiff of dark hair from his forehead. “You’re looking more like a house cat to me.”

He sighs and looks away from me. That’s fine. I’ve delivered my message, and he heard it. The next time he wants to intimidate me, he’ll think twice. The leg shackles aren’t the only device rigged with a pretty hardcore electric shock.

I step toward a toolbox and pull a set of wrist cuffs from the second drawer. They’re just cuffs, with no chain holding them together, but they pack a little secret.

“Give me your wrists,” I demand when I reach Grey’s side again.

He rolls his eyes and holds out his hands. “What is this, some sort of tracking device?”

“No.” I strap the first cuff over his wrist, then secure it with a latch. These don’t lock, unfortunately, but they don’t really need to. Not as long as I’m supervising. “They provide another point of control.”

“How the fuck was this even useful in the bedroom?”

I shrug. “I dunno. I never got to try them. I found out he cheated, and then we broke up before we could use them. Maybe it’s for pleasure delay.”

“Pleasure delay?”

“Yeah, like edging. If you started beating your dick, I’d shock you each time you got close to coming.”

“Wanna try it?” he says, and his hands go toward his pants.

With bated breath, I wait for him to reveal his cock. I’m curious, what can I say? Fucking shoot me.

But then his jaw drops, and he looks up at me. “You were going to let me pull it out!”

“What? No I wasn’t!” I hurry to my feet and start for the door.

He laughs behind me, and I hate what that sound does to my insides. “Don’t try to hide it now. You wanted to see my d?—”

The crackle of electricity silences him, and he grits his teeth as he loses control of his arms.

“I’ll be down in a bit with some dinner. I hope you like ramen.”

With that, I shut off the light and hurry out of the basement before the urge to turn him in overtakes me. That rewardamount still isn’t high enough yet. And I still don’t have the answers I need.

Chapter Six

Grey

Once I’ve finished the ramen, I push the bowl away from me on the concrete floor and lean against the wall. When you finally eat after days of going without, it does a number on your insides. My stomach clamps down in another cramp, and I try not to make a sound as I ride it out.

“Something bothering you?” she asks as she places my bowl beneath hers. “You don’t look so hot.”

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