Page 34 of Room Seven

With his other, he pushes wild strands of hair from my face, giving me a close-up view of the new ink. I see it. Tucked in between a heart encased in flames and a dagger piercing is my name on his left arm.

My gaze lifts to his, and he slowly drops his hand.

“I got that in Mexico. A tiny shop in the middle of the smallest town on earth.” He speaks slowly, as if he’s remembering the pain. “It took four sessions to do both sleeves. Maybe I’ll show you sometime.” His playful, yet sad brush of knuckles over my cheek does things to the tethers around my heart.

I stop struggling to hold his gaze and that is when I feel the web of emotions gently seek the other.

My brain says make the asshole pay, but my body morphs from cold to hot in less than three seconds.

Viper settles his substantial weight on the side of the bed, and drags me to his side.

“Those blue laser beams are cutting me to the soul, baby girl. We only tied you up for your own safety. I’ve never seen someone fight to be rescued.” He shakes his head, and that smile turns into a perplexed grimace.

I didn’t realize I was still glowering at him.

“FWUUW YUWW!”

This gag is ridiculous. This rope is starting to burn. And I need to pee. I inhale sharply through my nose and try to keep my anger at boiling point, but I never was good at staying made at Viper for long. I suspect the other two know it and sent him in as the mediator.

I hold my tied hands up and shake them.

“Are you done? We have some things we need to talk about. Like your marriage status.”

Done? Never. I’ll never give up fighting, but scowling takes a lot of work and my face is getting tired.

I nod.

His tight expression says he doesn’t entirely believe me. But that ever present mischievous smile slithering across his lips says he hopes more fight in me.

“I’m going to untie you. There is some paperwork we have to take care of. And then we all need to talk. Agreed?”

Mirsha and Luther finally decide to work their way back into the room. Luther comes to stand at the side of the bed while Mirsha uses the doorway to hold himself upright.

Both look about as mean as the snake coiled around Luther’s shoulders, and that is just fine by me.

Too bad for them. There are a lot of points I want to get across the second my lips can move. Tied up and gagged isn’t helping my cause. And really, what the fuck else am I going to do? If I keep fighting them, they will just leave me here.

A few tugs and I’m set free. I yank the gag out just in time to see a curvy, petite blonde Barbie walk in with kind eyes and not a single glance for any of the men. She pushes Mirsha out of the way and heads straight for me.

On some other world and an entirely different day, I think we would become fast friends. Her take no shit despite her size attitude makes her BBF material.

She’s decked out in the cutest leather skirt and a sparkly top reveals big boobs and a tiny waist. Long blond hair dips to her hips and those thigh-high boots add some inches to her five-foot height.

She sticks out one hand while the other clutches a set of papers I remember all too well from my last time here. It was a waste of time then and most definitely is now.

“Hi. Welcome to Club Sin, I’m Magnolia.” Southern charm winds around her words. Georgia, maybe. Savannah, I figure. Her eyes are only for me and the ropes tangling around my feet and hands. And let’s not forget the discarded tie.

“Do you need help? Are you okay? If club rules have been broken, I need to call management.”

The serious tone of her voice makes me peer over her shoulder to see if any men in black suits have barged into the room.

“Yeah, no. We’re good. Just some fun and games.”

I toss my bindings off my wrists and throw my legs over the side of the bed.

I take her hand and instantly know she is way too soft for a place like this. She must have someone or a lot ofsomeonesguarding her around the clock. “Magnolia, right?”

She nods and Mirsha goes back to leaning his Herculean shoulders on the dark door frame again. The way he crosses his arms pulls nicely at the expensive cotton of his shirt. Memories of all those muscles holding me close are only a tug away.

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