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“I don’t know what you’re going to do,” he said. “And I’m not about to find out the hard way. You can’t lock this door again.”
“I can’t close this door again,” I said. “Now get the hell out.”
I held my breasts tighter and glared at him. If I could, I’d get up and start hitting him, but I didn’t want to release my chest. He lingered for a moment and a little smile played on his lips.
“You look good naked,” he said.
“Oh my god,” I said. “I’m not kidding, get the hell out of here.”
He grinned and stepped out of the room. I heard him sit on the bed a few feet away, although at least he couldn’t see me anymore. I groaned and moved my hands away from my chest, sinking back down against the tub. My heart was racing from fear and excitement, and we lapsed into silence for a few long moments.
I couldn’t believe he just kicked down the door like that. I thought he’d go away if I just held my breath long enough and ignored him. Instead, he thought I was trying to drown myself, and saved me. I was both angry and a little grateful that he’d come and try to help me, which was confusing and only made me angrier.
“We should talk,” he said from the other room.
“No, we shouldn’t.”
“Look, I get it, I saw you naked. If you want, I’ll strip down and we can be even.”
I frowned a little and actually considered it. He was a gorgeous man, after all.
“No, thanks,” I said.
“Suit yourself.”
I closed my eyes and tried to pretend like he didn’t exist anymore. I floated in the bath water, focusing on my breathing.
But I couldn’t help it.
“Are you still there?” I asked.
“I’m still here,” he said.
“Can you just go away and give me some privacy, please?” I asked. “I’m not going to run or hurt myself. I just want to take a bath and unwind.”
“I’ll leave you alone,” he said. “But we need to talk first.”
“About what?”
“About the rules.”
I let out a frustrated sigh. “What rules?”
“You’re going to be staying with me for a while,” he said. “And unfortunately, I can’t spare a guy to watch you all day and all night. Which means you’re going to have to stick with me whenever I go out.”
“So what?” I asked.
“So, that means there are going to be a lot of opportunities for you to get yourself into trouble. Do you understand?”
I snorted. “You’re telling me that I’m going to have a lot of chances to escape.”
“Sort of,” he said. “I’m not sure you could get far. But you can certainly make things difficult for me.”
“Sounds like a good idea then.”
“Colleen,” he said, sounding annoyed. “You might want to rethink that. Fact is, you won’t get away, but if you make my life difficult then I’m going to have to make your life difficult. I’ll be honest and say that I don’t want that. I want to take care of you, at least while you’re under my protection.”
“You’re not protecting me,” I said. “You’re the one that took me. I need protection from you.”
He laughed and I wished I could see his face so I could slap him.
“Maybe,” he said. “That’s one way of looking at it. But there needs to be rules if this is going to work.”
“Fine,” I said, ready to get this stupid conversation over with. All I wanted to do was take a bath and now I was totally rattled by his insane rescue attempt. “What are the rules?”
“First rule is, don’t try to run. If you do, I will catch you, and I will punish you.”
“How will you punish me?” I asked.
“I’ll strip you naked and spank you,” he said.
I took a sharp breath and my mouth hung open for a moment. But I gathered myself together.
“Liar,” I said.
“I’m not lying,” he said. “I’m not the kind of man who hurts women. But I’m certainly the kind that spanks them. And I will spank your pretty little ass nice and raw.”
“Go to hell,” I said. “That’s insane.”
“I know,” he said. “And I think it’ll be enough to make you rethink trying to run.”
“Fine,” I said. “What are the other rules?”
“No running,” he said. “No screaming, no fighting, no drawing attention to yourself. When we’re here in the house, you have total freedom to do as you wish, but you may not have access to a phone or a computer, at least until I think I can trust you. If you play nice and you don’t make trouble, I promise that you’ll make it through this war and I’ll let you go home.”
“How about you just let me go now,” I said. “That way we can avoid all this. I’m not worth anything to you. Uncle Mathis doesn’t care about me.”
