Page 228 of Those Who Are Bound

Taking the measure of her, Jonah nodded.

Elliott recalled fondly, “I remember seeing you sitting up there, looking so damn hot.”

His expression told her the feeling was mutual.

“But the image that comes forth the strongest?” She hesitated. “I… I picture you. Naked.” She jerked her thumb over her shoulder to indicate the raised platform. “Up there.”

He surveyed the space she indicated, then looked back at her, searching.

“Tied. Being fucked before your god. Giving me what you give him.”

Jonah tilted his head. “What do you think I give Him that I don’t give you?”

“Devotion. Blind loyalty. It doesn’t matter, that’s the point.” She stopped because the raised platform was behind her now, and she’d run into the edge. “Because it means something to you. And I want you to give that up for me.”

Jonah frowned. “What will you give up in return?”

Elliott blinked. “Nothing.”

He scratched his jaw, looking over the area behind her again. “That doesn’t seem fair.”

“It isn’t meant to be fair. Or… logical.” Biting her lower lip, she watched him look around a space that was familiar to him; home, comforting. “I want you to renounce everything you believe, for me.”

A brief expression as though he found the suggestion amusing crossed over his face, but he quickly sobered before he asked, “And then what?”

Sadly, she answered, “And then… then I won’t want you anymore. The minute I get what I want… I no longer want it. You.”

He frowned, his gaze swinging back to her as he regarded her intently.

Shrugging, she reminded him, “I told you, it wasn’t them. It was me.”

“Why would they do that?” He scanned her. “You’re beautiful, obviously. The sex was exciting, although not as exciting or good as ours.” He looked at her again, not for confirmation, because he didn’t need it. He was curious about the motive for the others.

She shook her head anyway. It wasn’t; hadn’t been. Jonah transported her—stupid expression, but it was true. No one had ever done that to her—for her—before. But she knew that wouldn’t stop her compulsion to want to ruin him. It wasn’t enough that he could tie her down. She needed his submission, for him to break. To disappoint her and prove her right—about what, she’d never figured out and didn’t examine—but it gave her the reason to taunt, to emotionally maim. It was why they’d hated her; ghosted her.

“Men like to test themselves and come out on top, pardon the pun.” Now she tilted her head. “And a few of those men would look at me, see what I was offering—kinky sex that they’d thought about but never tried before—and thought they could control me. And I’d let them, at first. And then I broke them.”

“How?”

“Different ways, depending on the man. But I showed them a side of themselves they weren’t willing or ready to face. They despised me for being their mirror. If I sensed a weakness, I was compelled to expose it.”

“You went for weak men.”

Elliott nodded, a small gesture, barely detectable.

Jonah’s gaze hardened. “You think I’m weak.”

Elliott glanced away. “Everyone has a weakness.”

There was a heavy silence as he pondered her words. Then he asked, “What’s mine?”

She looked around the building, at the choir loft and the pipes for the organ. Her gaze roamed over the stained-glass windows telling stories of mythological creatures. The red and gold patterns of the sanctuary sparkled in the natural afternoon light. Meeting his pointed gaze again, she answered simply, “We’re surrounded by it.”

He slowly drew in a breath, likely to even his temper. His nostrils flared. It had been a bold accusation, and it didn’t sit well with him. He thought his belief gave him strength. But she saw it as a weakness. It made him vulnerable to her; to others. But mostly, because the moment he’d revealed that goodness in him, she’d smelled blood.

“We’re here for a reason.” It wasn’t a question, but a statement of fact. “Your imagination, your… vision. It’s to test me.”

She shook her head. “To humble you. You haven’t been listening to me.”

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