Page 481 of Lessons in Cruelty

“Fuck you.”

The point of the ice pick dimples my skin just below my belly button. “Good girls get treats. Bad girls get internal bleeding.”

He tilts his head, sending his eyes into shadow as he angles away from the spotlight. I can’t make out how serious he is right now, but whether or not this is part of the game, I don’t feel the need to test him.

Is it cold in here?

Yes.

Would I prefer to keep my top on?

Maybe. But it’s so damp, I’m not really sure if it’s keeping me warm or making me colder.

Also, I never bothered putting on a bra tonight. Melissa’s jacket was thick enough to hide a nipple stand, and honestly, I’ve gotten used to going around without one. The top was silky enough that the friction wouldn’t annoy me either.

Regretting that decision now.

Hey, guys love tits, don’t they? Maybe mine can run interference while I figure a way out of this that doesn’t involve losing a few pints of blood.

Moving slowly so I don’t startle him into turning me into a shish kabob, I drag my silky black top up and over my head.

I was right.

He’s mesmerized by my tits.

It’s all he can focus on the moment they’re bared to the cabin’s cool, dingy interior. I slow down as much as I dare, turning his command into a striptease.

Kai’s lips part, and he shifts his weight like he wants to climb onto the sofa and start sucking on my nipples.

Not sure I’d stop him if he tried.

“Wanna touch them?” I purr. “Go ahead. I won’t mind. As long as you’re gentle.”

Kai scoffs. “I’ve got an ice pick on you and you’re asking me to be gentle?”

The top is still sliding down my arms when he snatches the fabric, twists, and somehow gets me in a wrist lock before I can blink.

I stare at him for a second and then make a grab for the ice pick. I mean, it was barely two inches away from my hand.

But all it takes is a sharp tug at the fabric bundled around my wrists for Kai to fuck up my plan.

He slides his knees onto the sofa, pinning me against the backrest as he forces my arms up and then yanks them behind my head.

I grunt in pain. “Trying to dislocate both my arms at the same time?”

“Keep going and I’ll gag you again.”

“Promise?”

He smirks at that, and, fuck it if that doesn’t annoy the shit out of me. Kai only needs one of his large hands on the tangle of fabric behind my head to keep me subdued.

I know he wasn’t in the Boy Scouts. But maybe one of his girlfriends was into bondage or…

Hang on.

Wait just one fucking second.

Why did my brain just serve up a flicker of a forgotten memory from the night of the Rain Dance?