Chapter 3
RAFE
Ididn’t like lying to Jax, regardless of our rocky history, but I didn’t see how I had much choice.
We stood firmly planted on opposite sides of the fence when it came to handling Alex’s brother.
After three beers and more silence than either of us could stand, he left.
We weren’t comfortable with the elephant between us—the one we never spoke of.
Last thing I wanted was to stomp all over his pride, so I tried not to rub Alex’s presence in his face.
But he knew I was going to fuck her six ways to Sunday.
And I knew it bothered him, but shit, he was the closest thing I had to a friend. To a family, for that matter. Even after the hell he’d put Alex and me through, I couldn’t cast him aside. Our bond ran too deep.
Too bad he wanted it to run deeper.
I double-checked the locks, made my way to the bedroom, and peeked at the gun I’d hidden an arm’s length from my pillow.
Rounding the bed, I came to a standstill at the end.
The longer I stood like a statue, my cock hard as fuck as I feasted on the sight of her, the more I wanted to shake her awake.
As if sensing my presence, she stirred, though she couldn’t move with her ankles and wrists secured to the anchors on the wall and floor.
Grabbing her today had been a last minute emergency, but I’d been preparing for this day for a while, like a paranoid lunatic building a fallout shelter.
Except I hadn’t been preparing for another threat against us—I’d simply wanted to be ready when the day came that I wouldn’t be able to stay away from her anymore.
Not if…when.
So I’d mounted anchors for restraining her, had tucked away whips, paddles, and other implements in drawers—ready to deliver painful strikes—along with clothing and barely-there lingerie. Assuming I let her wear anything at all.
Her low groan brought me back from the dark pit of fantasies that teased from the edges of my mind. The drugs were wearing off, but not fast enough for my liking. I tugged on the chain to the overhead light. Her lids fluttered, revealing two jade eyes that zeroed in on me.
She blinked several times then parted her lips. “Where are we?”
A simple question, untainted by fear or doubt. That’s how much she trusted me. Shit, how I wanted to be worthy of her trust. If anyone was fearful here, it was me because six months apart had taught me only one thing; I needed her with every fiber of my sadistic being.
“You’re home.” I peeled the hoodie from my torso and tossed it on the floor, then I lifted a knee and slowly climbed onto the bed. Crawling over the mattress like a lethal predator, I settled my knees between her spread thighs.
“Where’s home?” she asked, chest rising and falling rapidly.
Her dark curls trailed behind her in a riot on the pillow.
I fisted my hand in those silky locks, keeping her immobile, and teased her mouth with mine.
She darted her tongue out to wet her lips.
Fuck, she was already killing me, and I hadn’t even kissed her yet.
“Your home is underneath me, sweetheart.” I inched back, parted her jacket single-handedly, and took in the cleavage peeking from between the unbuttoned collar of her purple top. I couldn’t help but wonder how many assholes had raped that expanse of flesh with their eyes as she went about her day.
She pulled at her bindings, her neck straining as she eyed the cuffs trapping her wrists. “Afraid I’ll run?”
“I don’t know,” I said, quirking a brow in challenge. “Will you?” Grabbing her chin, I ran my tongue along the seam of her mouth, but she twisted her head to the side. “You’re mad at me,” I said.
She scoffed, refusing to meet my eyes. “Hurt, mad. Take your pick, Rafe.”
I winced. Hurt was much worse than mad, and she was both. I unlatched the buckles and gathered her hands above her head, telling her without words that she wasn’t to move.
And that was the twisted beauty of us—we understood each other without making a sound.
She’d lie there and take it, no matter how fucking angry or hurt she was.
Silencing a groan, I gripped the collar of her shirt and ripped it down the middle.
In the midst of flying buttons, my gaze traveled over the black satiny cups of her bra before coming to a standstill on the white bandage that covered her belly.
Rage ignited, so intense and hot it was nearly uncontrollable. I was ready to blister her fucking ass.
“Rule number one,” I bit out between clenched teeth. “The only one allowed to hurt you is me.” I wrapped my fingers around her throat. Squeezed. Watched her startled eyes grow huge.
Frightened.
Fuck.
Breathing hard, I loosened my grip. I’d learned a lot about control during our separation, but I wasn’t about to push it—not when it came to her.
“Did you cut yourself again?”
“No,” she wheezed. “Look underneath.”
Keeping one hand clamped around her throat, I slowly peeled back the bandage.
Everything inside me combusted. The sight of my name inscribed on her belly, eradicating Zach’s claim on her incinerated me.
But it went deeper than the layers of her skin.
She’d found a way to brand me on her soul.
The delicate letters flourished over her stomach, accompanied by butterflies with perfect wings.
She’d found freedom in that ink. Swallowing hard, I met her gaze and cursed the sharp sting of vulnerability in mine.
“I just got the last touch up today,” she whispered. “I couldn’t let you go, no matter how hard I tried.”
Strength failed me. I collapsed onto her belly, my lips brushing over my name on her pale skin, and squeezed my eyes shut.
Somewhere inside me, the beast had clawed its way out and now it was snarling, impatient to claim and own.
That’s why I’d left the note and drugged her.
Never mind her phobia of water—at the base of my being I’d wanted to mess with her head, show her that she belonged to me, even if she was a willing captive.
Especially because she was a willing captive. A headstrong, sexy captive with a self-destructive streak I was determined to break. I intended to be a hard ass, a consistent enforcer. She’d have zero fucking wiggle room with me from here on out.
But fuck, I hadn’t expected this.
“Thank you,” I said, dotting kisses over her stomach, following the path of my name.
“For what?”
“For being mine.”
And she was. Fuck she was, even if I didn’t deserve her.