Chapter 17 #2
Making a call to her brother, who she hated, pretending to have escaped her kidnappers, while one of her captors had sex with her.
Only Steel wasn't her captor anymore, he was …
Honestly, Rose didn't even know how to put into words what she felt for the man. There was still a lingering layer of hatred because he’d brought her here against her will and used her like a pawn, like an object with no thoughts, feelings, or needs.
But there was more than that. There was attraction, plenty of that, and also something more genuine.
Not affection, she didn't know him well enough for that, and she hadn't moved enough past the hate, but it was something softer, warmer.
Telling Steel she belonged to him was stupid, and telling him he was hers was stupider still, and yet Rose didn't have it in her to regret her reckless words.
One thing she was certain of was that Steel had offered every bruised and damaged piece of his soul to her, and she knew it was a gift he hadn't ever intended to offer another person.
Steel’s tongue lapped across the teeth marks he’d left in her skin, and as she watched his dark dead against her porcelain complexion, warmth bloomed inside her. Crazy and twisted though it was, this was more tenderness than anyone else had ever shown her.
“I want my teeth marks tattooed right here,” Steel informed her as he lifted his head.
The absurdity of the statement made her laugh, but it was the fact that she didn't hate the idea of wearing Steel’s mark on her body that told her just how deep the man had managed to drag her in a short space of time.
“We’ll see,” she said, aiming for noncommittal, but from the smirk he gave her, she knew she’d given away some of her interest in the idea.
“Would stay inside you forever if I could,” he murmured, pressing his face into the curve of her neck and breathing deeply.
Before she could echo that plan, because having him inside her was like having a missing piece of herself returned, he’d lifted her off him and set her on the floor beside him.
That was probably for the best. If he knew how deeply he affected her, he’d become even more obsessive and possessive than he already was.
“Guess I’d better go and clean up,” she said, moving toward her clothes.
A hand snapped out to circle her wrist, stopping her, and Steel growled, low and deep.
“Did you just growl at me?” she demanded.
“You are not going off to meet with another man without my cum still on your body. I want everyone to know who you belong to.”
“I believe we’ve had this conversation already. I belong to myself, and it’s not some other man, it’s my brother,” she reminded him.
“You're not washing it off,” Steel snarled, yanking her closer so his other hand could go between her legs, his fingers pressing inside her, scooping up more evidence of what they’d just done and smearing it all over the inside of her thighs.
“You are crazy,” she said, but her voice had gotten husky, and a fresh wave of desire sparked to life inside her.
“Crazy for you,” he agreed, and she knew arguing about this topic was completely pointless. Still, going to see her brother like this wasn't any crazier than calling him while Steel was buried deep inside her.
But his words did stir an echo of concern. “We, ah, might have a problem.”
“Problem?” Steel’s dark eyes scanned the room searching for something he could destroy, only this wasn't something that could be fixed like that.
“I might have mentioned to Ridge that you guys had beaten me and burned me as well as whipped me. I had to say something,” she rushed to add when Steel’s gaze darkened.
“After all, he thinks you abducted me to use as bait, he’s going to think you did more to me than what you showed him on the camera. ”
“Good thing you pulled the ceiling down on yourself then, you're still covered in bruises.”
“Old bruises. He’s going to expect something fresher, and you're still going to have to burn me.”
The howl that echoed through the room made her shiver, but not in fear.
If he’d done that a week ago, she would have been terrified of him, although she would have done her best not to let it show.
But now the sound just reminded her that this man was obsessed with her in a way that afforded her the protection she’d always craved.
“Is it safe to come in?” Voodoo asked from the hall.
“Yes,” she called out, only to have Steel snarl and snatch her off her feet, setting her back on his lap and wrapping his arms around her.
“No,” he growled.
“They’ve seen me naked already,” she reminded him. While Rose was no exhibitionist, she was pragmatic, and if they were going to hit and burn her like they needed to in order to make her story believable, then they were going to need access to her body anyway.
“Look at her, and I’ll tear your eyes right out,” Steel told his team with a deadly calm as they entered the room.
“Did you speak to him?” Blade asked her, ignoring Steel’s threat.
“Yeah. I told him that I escaped, but that I wouldn't turn on the location features on the phone until I was further away from you guys because I didn't trust him to come for me first if he thought he could just get to you.” Running her hands soothingly over Steel’s pecs, she added, “I may have also mentioned that you’d hit and burned me.”
“So now we have to make good on that,” Thunder said, and she nodded.
“Maybe one of you guys could do it, so Steel doesn’t have to.”
Another growl from her grumbly guy, and his hands dug into her hips hard enough that he was going to leave bruises.
“Don’t think that’s going to work,” Lion said with a chuckle.
“Why?”
“Because Steel will kill us if we touch you,” Dragon said simply.
“No he won't,” she quickly assured him, but when Steel didn't say anything, she turned to look at him. “You wouldn't kill your team, would you?”
“I absolutely would.”
“But they’re your team, your family.”
“And you're mine,” Steel said simply. “You shouldn’t have told him that we’d hurt you.” One of his large hands lifted from her hip to circle her throat, squeezing just hard enough that it made it a little difficult to breathe without cutting off her air supply.
“You know I had no other choice,” she whispered.
“I’ll never forgive myself for this.”
That was the only warning she got before the hand on her neck was gone, curled into a fist and slammed into her face hard enough that she would have been knocked to the floor if Steel wasn't still gripping her hip with bruising force.
“Get her pajamas, the ones she was wearing when we took her,” Steel ordered someone, as he leaned in and feathered his lips across hers.
“You have to do this,” she reminded him, ignoring the throbbing in her face and the sensations that the room was spinning around them. “It’s the only way to convince Ridge this is real. The only way to protect me when he finds me.”
Which was the only reason Steel was doing it, she knew that.
If Ridge found her and believed she’d lied and was working with the men he wanted back, he wouldn't keep her alive to torture information out of her, he’d simply kill her and be done with it.
“I’m sorry, little ladybug.” Steel’s voice was tortured as he shifted his hold on her so her back was now pressed against his chest. One of his arms banded across her chest, just beneath her breasts, pinning her in place with her arms by her sides.
His other hand circled her ankle, and he bent her leg up so he could switch hands, leaving him one hand free.
“This is how I'd do it if I was really torturing you.”
Making a concerted effort not to look directly at her naked body, Voodoo handed Steel a lighter, and Rose shivered as she realized Steel intended to burn the soles of her feet.
It was a good idea, because it would have made it harder for her to run if they really were holding her hostage, but it was going to hurt like hell.
“Focus on me,” Steel ordered, his teeth digging into her neck and then immediately soothing her skin with his tongue, as he held the small flame close to her skin, searing her flesh and making her flinch.
No matter how much this sucked, it was worth it. Once her brother was dead, had paid in blood for his crimes against her and Steel and his team, then they’d be free.
Free to explore this messed-up thing they had brewing between them.
Free to maybe find the love and acceptance she’d always craved.