Page 71 of The Sadist and the Brat

Twin emotions of relief and trepidation flooded through her, “Oh. Good.”

“You want a head start?”

“Yeah.” She rolled to her toes, bouncing a little. “Give me three seconds.”

“That’s not much of an advantage.”

“I’m not actually trying to get away,” she reminded him.

His eyes gleamed. “Good. One-Mississippi…”

She turned and sprinted for the stairs before he hadMississippiout of his mouth, ducking behind them and taking a sharp left to dart behind the partition wall that separated the guest room from the dining area. She looked around, searching for a hiding space. The bed was huge, and there was enough space between the duvet and the floor for her to see that there was space under the bed.

Her heart pounding, she scrambled under, belly-crawling until she was centered under it, and waited.

She couldn’t hear anything over her own panting breaths, and realized if she thought she was loud, he could probably hear her. She remembered reading somewhere that it was easier to breathe silently through an open mouth, so she let her lips part, concentrated on breathing as silently as possible, and listened for footsteps.

She didn’t know how long she was under the bed, not a sound reaching her straining ears. It felt like an eternity, her body tensed and flooded with adrenaline, her heart pounding so loud in her ears that the sound all but drowned out the pants she couldn’t seem to control. She was so tense and on edge that when a hand finally clamped over her ankle, it was almost as much a relief as it was a shock.

Instinct took over and she screamed, loud and long, and tried to jerk her foot free, drawing her knee up toward her body. But her leg was yanked back, hard enough to make her grunt, and the unmistakable sensation of rope wrapping around her ankle registered a beat too late.

She tried to scramble forward, clutching at the rug with her fingers and digging in with the toes of her free foot, but he was too fast, quickly looping rope around that ankle as well, then began dragging her back.

She tried to find purchase, to resist, but the rug was old and thin, with almost no pile to speak of, and her fingernails simply skidded over it. Pain flared in her thighs, her belly, her breasts as he dragged her back, the thin weave like sandpaper against her tender skin. Her nipples, already sensitized, felt like they were going to be ripped off. She tried to push up on her elbows to make some space, but he was moving too fast, and when her elbows skidded out from under her, she hit her chin on the floor.

It snapped her teeth together, momentarily stunning her, and her chin burned. By the time she shook it off he’d dragged her out from under the bed, flipped her over and was wrapping her right wrist in rope with a gleefully sadistic grin.

“Asshole,” she snarled, and drew her knees back to her chest, preparing to kick.

He simply leaned into her, pressing his chest against her feet and pinning her knees to her chest. “That’s ‘sadist asshole’ to you.”

She twisted her right hand in his grip, found it implacable, and struck out with her left. She missed, the punch skidding off his shoulder instead of his face, and before she could try again he had that hand, too, and pinned both to the floor.

“No face hitting,” he admonished.

“That wasn’t one of the rules,” she protested feebly, her voice a thin wheeze. The way he was leaning on her made it hard to draw a deep breath, and a lick of panic tickled her throat.

“I know.” He looked bemused. “I forgot who I was dealing with.”

She concentrated on breathing shallowly and took stock of her body. Her nipples felt like they’d been run through a cheese grater, her hips were screaming from the almost bent in half position he had her in, and her chest felt as though there was a full-grown man resting on it. Which there was. The panic was still there, dancing slyly at the edges of her senses, but it wasn’t overwhelming. In fact, it was turning her on.

That was a surprise, as Sadie had never been the kind of submissive that got off on being scared. She wasn’t unfamiliar with the concept, of course. Several of her friends enjoyed it, and she’d had Doms attempt that kind of play with her before. But she’d always found it unbelievable, and therefore boring. They weren’t really going to hurt her, and if they tried, she had her safeword, so how could she possibly be scared?

But with Jack…

She wasn’t exactly afraid of him, because she knew he wouldn’t cause her real harm. He was too responsible, too ethical a Dom for that. e But hewasa sadist, and much more willing to hurt her than anyone she’d ever played with before. And despite her experience, she couldn’t seem to anticipate him.

It was exhilarating.

She wiggled under him, testing. But his grip on her hands was firm, his weight on her solid. “Can’t breathe,” she wheezed, and put a touch of panic in her tone.

“You don’t think that’s going to work, do you?” he asked, amusement gleaming in his eyes. “You disappoint me, Sadie.”

She narrowed her eyes, a pithy retort on her tongue, then let out a shocked gasp when he suddenly lifted off her. She didn’t have time to do anything but suck in a single, convulsive breath before she was on her stomach and he was straddling her hips, dragging her hands behind her.

He had her wrists bound almost before she could catch her breath, then the heavy weight of him shifted off her butt. She tried to take advantage of her momentary freedom and managed to roll over halfway before he shoved her back onto her stomach, one hard hand on the back of her head. She spit out a chunk of hair, grunting when his weight settled on the backs of her thighs. When he let go of her head, she wasted no time looking over her shoulder.

She had to blow the hair out of her face to see him, then blinked in surprise. He was facing her feet, and for a brief, confused moment she couldn’t figure out why. When the rope around her left ankle loosened, she realized he was retying them. She considered trying to buck him off, but it wouldn’t get her anywhere, so she decided to conserve her energy for whatever was coming and settled in to enjoy the view.

---