Page 256 of Enigma: The Complete Collection
“Five minutes, then we can go home.”
Isaac’s gaze rockets back to me. The anxiousness veiling his usually stout eyes lessens, replaced with the spark of interest. As the veins in his neck thrum, his nostrils flare when he inhales deeply. My knees curve inward as desire melds through my body, clustering in my core from the wickedly sinful smile etched on his mouth.
“Five minutes. You’re not to move from the end of the bed, and you must leave the door open. As soon as this is done,wego home,together. My house, my bed, my ru—”
“This isn’t a negotiation, Isaac.”
His curling lips have my pulse racing. “No, it isn’t a negotiation. These are a set of terms you must adhere to if you want to talk to your brother.”
I cross my arms in front of my chest. “And if I fail toadhereto your rules?”
My breathing stills when he takes a step toward me. “I'll take you over my knee and spank you until you do submit.”
Holy cupcakes, I think my womb just combusted.
I know he’d never intentionally hurt me, but behind closed doors is an entirely different story. My inner vixen is a little more deviant. She provokes him until his dominance is unleashed. She loves having his unbridled fury released on her in the bedroom. The bites, the hard slams of his cock, the demanding control, she basks in it all. I'm a strong and independent woman, but I happily surrender all my power to Isaac in the bedroom because the rewards for my submissiveness are earth-shattering.
“Okay,” I whisper, shamelessly allowing my hankering to overrule my rational-thinking brain. “Five minutes, thenwewill go home.”
My panties dampen from his provocative smirk. He moves closer, catching my wrist before lifting it to his mouth. My heart drums against my ribs when his well-carved lips kiss my palm before he places it on his chest. His heart’s thumps almost match the intense throbbing between my legs.
Ryan smiles uneasily as we stride toward him. “Don’t get too—”
“Too close. I know,” I interrupt with a roll of my eyes.
Ryan grins. “If you feel you’re in any danger, cross your fingers behind your back, then I’ll move in.”
My lips set into a hard line as I nod. I need to remember that Ryan and Isaac are looking at Enrique as a kidnapper and possible murderer, whereas I'm looking at him as the five-year-old boy who played with cars on the dirty kitchen floor while I prepared us a bowl of stale cereal for dinner.
I smile to erase the anxious lines carved in Isaac’s forehead before walking through Enrique’s hospital room door. Sensing my presence, Enrique lifts his head. I don’t know how I missed our similarities at the beginning, but there's no doubt he's my brother. The bone structure of his face is similar to mine but more cut and manly, his hair is the same shade, and he even has a lone dimple in his cheek, instead of the two most people have. My uncle always joked that it was where I was shot in a previous life.
The only difference between us is Enrique’s eyes. Although they appear identical to mine, his are colder and unreadable.
“They said you wanted to speak to me.” I fight the urge to roll my eyes for how timid my voice comes out. I'm stronger than this. I was raised stronger than this.
“Come closer.”
My gaze shifts back to the window partition Isaac is standing behind. “No, I'm fine here.”
His brows furrow. “I won’t hurt you, Isabelle.”
“You drugged me, kidnapped me, then tied me to a chair. You’ve already hurt me.”
Metal hitting steel bounces around the room when Enrique scrubs his hand across his face. My teeth grit as I shake my head. They have him handcuffed to the bed, yet they’re still worried about him hurting me.
“If Col arrived at the warehouse without you being bound, he would’ve never believed you were there against your will.” Enrique’s tone is stern yet full of sorrow.
I nod. Col’s file portrays he was paranoid about being infiltrated by undercover agents. Apparently, he never worked out that Tobias was an agent.
Enrique’s eyes study my body before assessing my face. “Did he raise you right? The man who bought you?”
My heart squeezes. “You knew I was sold?”
“No,” he replies with a shake of his head. “Not until Col arrived in Las Vegas a few months ago. I could see the excitement on his face when he requested to see Vladimir. He looked like a man who had discovered a genie in a bottle. He thought you were his pot of gold under the rainbow.”
“But Vladimir didn’t care that he’d found me. He wasn’t interested.”
Enrique’s lips twist. “He had already made his money from you.”
