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“You want to speak?” He folds his arms over his chest and raises an eyebrow. “Then you can answer my questions.” He reaches behind him and pulls out a gun—my gun. “Why do you have this?”
I stare at it. In his hand it looks so small, so insignificant. Had I really thought I could frighten Arman with a toy?
“Protection.” I raise my eyes from the toy to his eyes. If I can manage to hold his gaze, maybe I can convince us both I have the situation under control.
And what a little liar I would be.
“It’s not a real gun, Amanda.” His use of my full name jostles my confidence for a moment. I take one step, a tiny movement toward the door, and he swoops in, his arm wrapping around my middle and swiping me from the floor.
“I told you to stay put today, didn’t I,moy malen’kiy voin?” he asks while carrying me down a long hallway. I try to kick at him, but he has me twisted away from him. My soft shoes against his leg aren’t doing anything to stop his movements.
“You don’t own me, Maxim! You can’t tell me what to do!” I push against his arm with both hands. If I had a taser, I’d be able to get out of his grip. I should have gotten a taser instead of the stupid gun.
He brings me into a room, a bedroom with a huge four-poster bed in the middle and large picture windows along one wall. I’m dumped in the middle of the bed, and he turns his back on me to head toward a closet.
“What are you doing?” I ask, but he’s not paying me any attention. He disappears into the closet for barely a breath before he’s stalking back to me with a pile of rope in his hand.
“Tell me,moy malen’kiy voin. Where did you go today? What made you rush over to Arman’s with a gun and threaten one of the most powerful men in the city?” He slowly runs the rope through his hands, seemingly enjoying the feel of it against his skin.
“You’re not using that on me.” I try to raise my eyes to his, but I can’t stop looking at his hands. He told me earlier he’d tie me down if he had to. His enjoyment of the bindings makes me think it wasn’t an idle threat.
“Answer me now, or we’ll start your punishment and add more for your disobedience right here.”
“I… you’re… you can’t be serious.” Not even twenty-four hours. I haven’t even known this man for a full day, and he’s got me bumbling my thoughts and words. It’s more than just my attraction to his looks that’s messing with my brain. It’s his command of every moment we share together. It comes so easily to him. If I push him, he won’t fall over. He’ll stand firm. I can feel it. And if I retreat, he’ll follow, and I feel that too.
“Last chance.” He takes a step in my direction, but I throw up my hands as though I can ward him off in some way.
“No! Okay! Fine.” I want to scream, but I doubt it would do anything other than make him more excited to move forward with his plans. “I met with someone my brother used to hang out with. He texted me this morning, and I thought maybe he’d seen Gunner.” I sink back a little, the defeat from this morning finally seeping in. “He hadn’t. But he did tell me that the Romanovs had taken him a few months ago. That Gunner got himself into trouble with them. I just went to Arman’s to ask him about my brother.” I sigh. “It was stupid. I acted irrationally and completely on emotion instead of taking a minute to think it through.” I slide off the bed. “I was an idiot.”
He stares at me a long moment. “You’re not an idiot,moy malen’kiy voin.” He removes the space between us. “Hold this.” He hands me the coiled rope. It’s softer than it looks, not coarse and stiff the way I would expect rope to feel.
“What are you going to do, Maxim?” Will he back off from the punishment he’s promised because I’ve been honest with him? Did I earn a reprieve?
“I’m going to punish you.” He grabs the neckline of my sweatshirt and yanks it hard, splitting it right down the middle. I gasp, taking a step back, but he’s not done. He fists my bra in the middle and tears it in half. My breasts spill out and I’m left standing half naked in front of him.
“Maxim!” I try to move away, but his hands are at the button on my jeans. He works it open and unzips them. Maybe he’s not able to tear denim, because he shoves his hands into the opening and shoves my jeans down to my knees. “Wait!”
He pushes them down to my ankles, and I fall back onto the bed when he picks up each foot to wiggle them over my feet. My shoes get lost in the material by the time he’s done.
“Thank you.” He takes the rope from me. “Now get out of those torn clothes,” he instructs while he finishes uncoiling the rope. “Then lie on the bed with your hands over your head.”
No reprieve then.
“I’m not doing that.” I raise my chin and jump from the bed to my feet. I won’t cover myself. Because fuck him. If he wants to look, he can look. I may not get to the gym… ever, and maybe ice cream became my dinner of choice a while back, but I’m not going to cower away from his gaze. Let him look.
“That’s where you’re wrong,moy malen’kiy voin.” He steps forward until I can’t get anywhere else but to sink onto the edge of the bed. “You said earlier that I can’t tell you what to do. That I don’t own you.” He leans down until I can feel his breath on my lips. “That was wrong. You see, when you brought a weapon into Arman’s house, you invited the Romanovs into your life. I’m responsible for you now,moy malen’kiy voin. Which means you’ll follow my rules, or you’ll pay my consequences. And right now, your consequence is a lashing. Now lie on the bed with your hands over your head so I can get you bound properly. I don’t want your hands getting in the way and hurting yourself. I only want my belt to land across your ass.”
Heat rushes to my face at the same time that the blood drains out. He can’t be serious.
“I’m not letting you use a belt on me.” The words are in the right order, but I can’t get enough energy to put much force behind them. Too much of my strength is being used to remain upright beneath his dark stare.
He sighs. “That’s not something you get a say in right now,moy malen’kiy voin. Do it yourself, or I do it for you, and if I have to… I double the lashes.”
“You’re cruel.” I swallow back the fear climbing up my throat.
He leans down more. His nose brushes against mine. “You haven’t seen cruel yet,moy malen’kiy voin. Now move.”
Maxim
