Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 84980 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 425(@200wpm)___ 340(@250wpm)___ 283(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84980 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 425(@200wpm)___ 340(@250wpm)___ 283(@300wpm)
“You took a cold shower?” She hugged her chest, an awkward position in the cradle of his arms.
“Remember…” He turned toward the door, his voice low at her ear. “Outside this room, they’re watching and listening.”
Her brows pulled together as he carried her out of the bathroom.
Everything he’d just done to her had been in private. Had that been deliberate? Except… Wait. The door stood open. It had been closed until he’d nodded at Tomas to open it. Right before he’d forced her to orgasm.
They can’t hear us in here?
Only when you scream.
Boy, had she screamed. She must’ve sounded as if John were beating her, and he’d encouraged the noise. Almost as if he’d orchestrated it. But for what purpose?
He carried her into the bedroom, both of them nude. Whoever monitored the cameras would’ve heard her shrieks and assumed he fucked her in the bathroom. Hell, he’d even taken care of his erection.
But why go through all the trouble when he could’ve just raped her?
Something was rotten in the state of Denmark. What, exactly, she didn’t know, but this man wasn’t who he claimed to be.
If he thought he had her fooled, he was an idiot.
CHAPTER 11
“There’s another steak.” Luke set aside her finished plate, bone-tired yet too wired to close his eyes. “You need the calories.”
“I can’t eat another bite.” She slumped against the pillows on his bed, her lashes fluttering closed. “Hand me the tequila.”
“You’ve had enough.” He’d allowed her a few sips to take the edge off the pain. “You need water.”
“Shut up and let me sleep.”
Amusement tugged at his lips. She’d been awake and holding a conversation for hours with that concussion. It was probably safe for her to rest. She needed it.
In the next day or so, her face would be black and blue. For now, the ice had reduced the swelling enough that he could almost make out her features.
Christ, she was magnificent. Rough-hewn but at the same time delicately formed. With shimmering raven hair and flashing brown eyes, she was captivating beyond what he’d imagined a cartel slave could be. Or any woman, for that matter.
No wonder Hector’s sons were so possessive of her. Were. Not any longer. She belonged to him this week, and during that time, no one would fucking touch her.
Sitting beside her hip, he adjusted the sheet over his nude lower half. Without a doubt, Vera had tuned in from the monitoring room, listening to the screams from his bathroom. She’d shown too much animosity toward this girl to not be glued to the cameras.
If his efforts to make Vera jealous and cozy up against him didn’t pan out, he had a backup plan with the little fighter. Being imprisoned here for almost three years, Gina knew things about the compound. Hell, she’d seen what lay outside the wall.
She cracked open an eye, then the other, giving him a full-blown glare, frosty and vibrant with malice. “Who are you?”
“A man who doesn’t deserve that look.”
The evening could’ve gone much worse for her, and she knew it.
Delaying the need to cause her more pain was the best he could do tonight. Tomorrow would be a different story.
Tomorrow, he would learn everything she knew, even if he had to fuck it out of her.
What made that more depraved was that he looked forward to it. To capture her tiny waist in the grip of his hands and impale her on his cock… He couldn’t wait. Heat snaked through his groin at the thought of claiming her.
He wanted to do it now.
With her long black curls spread out over the pillow, she conjured images of a dark angel. The bedsheets tangled around sleek, enchanting hips, leaving the rest of her bare like a sacrificial offering for his gaze. Small firm breasts, flat belly, bronze legs, so smooth and enticing… She had a body that wouldn’t quit. Strong, divine, untamed beauty.
The urge to slide his fingers up and caress the reddened skin around her eyes and cheekbones was hard to resist. But she would fight the affection. With the cameras in full view, he didn’t want to have to discipline her, which he would do to maintain his cover.
As it was, this girl was already onto him.
The moment she’d realized he wasn’t fucking her tonight, her hatred had twisted into bewilderment. Fatigue played a part in her confusion, but he’d felt a shift in her.
She wanted to trust him.
If only he could do the same. He’d tried to test her loyalty, asking if he should send her back to Hector’s sons. Her don’t care response wasn’t assuring. Until he knew with certainty she wouldn’t stab him in the back, he couldn’t tell her who he was. Blowing his cover was the quickest way to ruin the mission.
Despite all that, he loved her explosive temper and quarrelsome nature. She wasn’t afraid to throw a bare-knuckled punch or get in his face and run off her mouth.