Page 59 of Vicious Games

The attendant smirked as he placed the chair in the corner, bowed to Roman, and left.

Before he closed the door, Roman called out, “Don’t open that door, no matter what you hear, until I knock.”

My stomach twisted at the ominous command.

The attendant bowed his head a second time. “Yes, sir.”

Roman unbuttoned his jacket and sat. He steepled his fingers and stared at me. “You tried to leave me.”

I took a deep breath. I needed to handle this carefully. “Roman, take these things off me.”

“I warned you not to leave me again. I warned you what would happen if you did.”

“You should be the one locked up in here, not me, if you think anything I did justifies this.”

Ignoring my comment, he rose and took off his jacket. “You shouldn’t have tried to leave me.”

I lost it. I leaned up as far as the leather cuffs would allow and rattled the restraints again. “I tried to leave because you are a psychopath! Because you literally just tried to frame me for attempted murder! Because I’m locked up in a fucking asylum right now on your orders!”

Breathing heavily, I fell back onto the bed. I rolled my head back and forth as I stared at the ceiling. My voice was low and strained as I continued, “Because you think love is something to be possessed and controlled. Because as much as you fascinate me, you terrify the ever-living hell out of me. Because I’m locked in your fucking killing jar and I’m slowly dying.”

Roman let out a frustrated sigh as he unbuttoned his cuffs, then slowly unbuttoned his shirt. “I’ve tried to be patient with you, kitten, but I see now that I have been too indulgent.”

He shrugged out of his shirt and set it aside. The white bandage close to his shoulder was stark against his tanned skin. His hands went to his belt buckle.

My eyes widened. “What do you think you’re doing?”

He whipped his belt off and set it aside. “It’s time you understood you are mine. We are fated to be together. Only death is going to separate us.”

I rolled my shoulders, trying to sink deeper into the mattress, the only escape available to me. “You’re insane.”

My gaze zeroed in on the bandage again. “How far did you go? Is it just a superficial knife wound, or did you actually shoot yourself to convince me I had done it?”

Roman smirked as he kicked his shoes and socks off and unbuttoned his trousers until they hung low on his hips. “I’m nothing if not detail oriented. And who says you didn’t shoot me?”

My mouth opened and closed several times before I could form the words to respond to his audacity. “I know, Roman. I know it’s all a lie. I saw the newspaper. It was your brother Richard’s wedding. Not ours, because I said no.”

His gaze narrowed. “Don’t say that word to me,” he growled.

Feeling my sanity slipping from my grasp, I risked it all. Smirking, I said, “No.”

He picked up his belt and stalked toward me. Climbing onto the narrow bed, he straddled my hips. He then wrapped the belt around my throat, not tight enough to cut off my air, just tight enough to be a threat. “Go ahead. Say no to me again,” he warned.

I hissed through my clenched teeth. My heart raced. I could feel the blood rise in my cheeks as I clenched my thighs against my own rising arousal. Every nerve in my body tingled and responded to his threat. This was the real peril in loving a man like Roman. Your very body became addicted to the deadly rush of adrenaline the danger of his nearness caused. I chased the rush, running headlong into my own destruction. “No.”

Roman pulled on the belt, lifting my torso up as his mouth slammed down on mine. The moment he pushed his tongue between my lips, I bit down. Hard. His head reared back. He placed a fingertip on his tongue and stared at the crimson drop. He smiled. “That’s my bad girl.”

I returned his macabre smile. This must be what it felt like to dance as Rome burned.

He leaned down to claim my mouth again. I reveled in the coppery taste of blood as I kissed him back, straining against my restraints.

Roman tore my hospital gown down the front and palmed my breast before pinching my nipple. I craved the bite of pain. I kissed him more fiercely, dueling with his tongue as I licked and bit at his lower lip.

Roman skimmed his mouth along my jaw as he wrapped his fist around the tail end of the belt. The metal buckle pressed against my throat, driving me wild. I forgot all his sins in this moment. I just wanted every toxic, fucked-up inch of him. I writhed on the bed, struggling against my restraints.

Roman pulled back.

I whimpered.

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