Page 70 of Knight's Desire

“You forgot the obey, crazy asshole!”

“—forsaking all others until death do us part. I already have my ring.” He held up his left hand to show her a simple, wide gold band on his finger. Then he smiled at her like a predator that trapped his prey. “And you have yours.” His gaze flitted down to the shackle encircling her ankle, and a new wave of fury engulfed her.

She screamed and jerked away, ignoring the pain in her hands and ankle her movements caused. She wasn’t getting away, but she wasn’t giving up without a fight.

“By the power vested in me, I now pronounce us—”

“We are not married,” she spat at him. “It’s not legal. I will never belong to you!”

“You already do.”

Her breaths were coming in hard pants. She pulled herself up, straightening her spine to her full height. Her lips curled in a smirk as she readied to deal a blow she believed would cut him to the quick.

“How can I be yours when I belong to another?”

The next few minutes passed in a blur. One moment she was staring up at David in triumph, certain she’d rattled him. The next moment, he spun her around, his arm encircling her neck to hold her back flush against him. His hold was tight enough to make breathing a struggle. She felt something press against her temple and knew David held the gun on her. Then she saw what had him spooked.

“Brick.” His name left her throat on a hoarse whisper, but relief flooded her to see Brick move stealthily into the room, his gun locked and aimed directly at David. She saw his eyes flick over at her only briefly, his focus remaining entirely on her captor.

“Let her go.” His voice was calm but hard as steel.

David tightened his hold around her throat, and she gasped for air, her hands pulling at his arm to loosen his hold enough for her to breathe.

“You make a move on me, I put a bullet in her head. The way I see it, I’m the one in control. You need to be the one to put down your gun.”

“Not happening.” Brick circled around them, light on his feet as he moved, his body tense like a wire wound too tight. “You think I came here alone? There’s no way you’re getting out of here.”

David jerked her as far away from Brick as her shackle would allow. She cried out when he pulled her one way and the chain tugged her another, but the sound was strangled.

“What’s it going to be?” Brick taunted him. “You can’t take her with you while she’s chained up. You’re not getting out of here without my team taking you down. You don’t have a lot of options left.”

She felt the pressure disappear from her temple, but her heart stopped when David pointed the gun at Brick. She started struggling even harder, hoping to knock him off balance, but he only held her tighter, cutting off her airway until spots appeared before her eyes.

“Let her go, Leonard, or I’ll drop you right here.”

She could feel her strength wane, and she was teetering on the edge of blackness. In one last effort to get David to release her, she reached behind her. Thinking she could hit him in the stomach, she was sickened to feel his cock straining against his slacks into her back. He was aroused by what was happening.

There was no way she was letting this sicko take her or hurt Brick. She grabbed, her stomach rolling, her vision blurring. Then she squeezed and twisted and pulled. She knew a moment of satisfaction when David shouted, shifting his body away from her, his hold loosening. She dropped to her knees, gasping, and coughing as she struggled to suck air into her lungs, but she wasn’t done fighting. She rolled back, connecting with his legs hard enough to cause him to fall over her in a tumble of limbs.

“Oooompf,” she gasped as his body falling on her knocked the last of the air from her lungs.

She thought she heard shouting. She thought she heard something crash. But all her oxygen-deprived mind would process was the weight being lifted off her, allowing her to draw in a deep breath, wincing at how sore her throat was. She rested her head on the floor, closing her eyes, ready to give in to the darkness.

Someone shook her, and she tried to protest. She wanted to sleep. She wanted to forget where she was or what was happening.

“Brick! The keys!”

Someone shouted way too loud, and she pressed her eyelids tighter, shaking her head against the interruption. Then the rich sound of a kind voice reverberated in her ear.

“Hope, I need you to wake up. Tell me you’re alright. I need to hear you say it. I need to know what he did to you.”

The voice was one she recognized, the sound so welcome that her eyes flew open. She stared into deep blue eyes that made her feel safe and loved. Then she reached up to encircle her arms around his neck. She pulled him to her and held on for dear life.

“Oh my God!” Her voice was a croak, but she didn’t care. “You’re here. I knew it. I knew you’d be here.”

Brick gathered her into his arms and settled on the floor, holding her tightly against him. The wedding dress bunched up uncomfortably between them before falling over their legs like they were draped in a lacy curtain. She clung to him, tears of relief falling freely.

“Hope, are you hurt? We need to get you checked out.”

---