I crack a broad smile. Beasts inside me stretch and crawl from the depth of my soul where they usually stay hidden from normal people. “What’s that? Having a hard time making out your words,Princessa Castel.” I flick the ashes from my cigarette into a nearby tray and take a long drag, letting her get a good look at me.
Fear flickers in her tired eyes. Wheels and cogs tumble and grind. Her thoughts might have a covering of webs over them, but the gears are turning. Slowly, realization hits.
Red hits those pale cheeks and gives her a nice coloring. After seeing her flirt with the reaper for days on end, it’s nice to see she’s not going to die before I get some answers.
There I go again, being all mother hen and shit.
Because I know people, I remain leaned up against the door frame and wait for what comes next. She tugs on her arms and feet, but they don’t move. The arbor knot is a specialty of mine and the more she moves, the tighter they become.
“Might not want to do that.”
My warning goes unheeded.
She jerks again and the posts she’s tied to strain, give a little but hold. She’s strong. But not strong enough.
“You keep pulling like that and those knots will cut off your circulation. I don’t think you’ll enjoy losing your hands and feet when they stop getting blood.”
She spews a few lines of gibberish I barely make out.
“Six, maybe eight hours and then…” I make a sawing motion over my wrists to make sure she understands.
She tugs again, and this time adds in body motion. And I let her, knowing what is coming next.
She stiffens and looks ready to cry.
Pain. It has a way of controlling people. I prefer to work smarter, not harder.
One jerk to the left and she now knows what I do.
“ARGH!” She goes still and tries to look at her body for the source of pain. Another round of muffled curses hammers through me.
Pain glitters in her eyes when she brings them to me. “Wut hawwened? Wut dwd uw do to me?”
Again, more muffling, but I get what she is saying. My brows raise. “Me? I’m innocent. I saved your life, is what I did. But what I should have done is send your broken body back to your father.” I drawl out slowly from the shadows. That deepens the red on her cheeks and sparks of unease ignite behind those black lashes.
A river of hair spills over her beautiful brown skin as she looks at her hands and then her feet. When her eyes hit mine again, the strength of unhinged anger arrowing at me is powerful.
I chuckle low. “Killing me with your eyes isn’t gonna work,Princessa. Wishing won’t work either. I’d be dead a long time ago if people got their wishes. There’s no one who will save you, so stop moving before you reopen your wound.”
Fingers ball into fists and she tries to mumble something around the tie in her mouth. I have to admit, the lasers shooting out of her pretty eyes have my dick jerking and my fingers itching to release the ties around her wrists and ankles. Seeing her deliver on all the silent threats she’s hitting me with ought to be a hell-raiser kind of night.
Tired of all the mumbling, I unhook my ankles and slowly cross the room, mentally preparing for anything. With every step I take, the Colombian princess drinks in everything there is about me—boots, jeans and my lack of a shirt. It’s fast and complete. Something someone her age shouldn’t know how to do. I add that detail about her to my growing pile of curiosities.
I plant a hand on the wall over her head and lean in until the specks of gold tucked between the green of her eyes come into view. Moonlight flickers between the crack of the sheer curtains. It highlights the murderous intent gleaming back at me and I smile.
“I take this off, don’t scream. No one can hear you. Got it?”
I slip a finger behind the tie doubling as a gag and pull it from her mouth to hang around her neck.
“¡Te voy a matar, cabrón! Innocent?I can’t believe anyone in all your life has ever applied that word to you.” My captive snaps her teeth and nearly takes my finger off in the process. I jerk back, laughing.
“Damn, baby. Take it easy.”
My Spanish is a little rusty, but I knowassholeandkillin every language there is. “Si, está bien. You can kill me later. First, I want answers. Then we can play.”
“Untie me and let me go!”
It is cute that she thinks she has any control in this situation. Her accent is thick and sexy as fuck. Her eyes hold mine unflinchingly. For a moment, I wonder what put so much anger into her. It’s not the fact I have her tied to a very comfortable bed. Something else—or someone else—has pumped this beautiful woman with enough fear that she questions everything at first sight and that is a damn shame.