I couldn’t do it.
I’d done my best to be civil. I’d spoken calmly, rationally. I’d been perfectly cordial and fought everything I was to become something I knew I had to be.
I was the exact opposite of insane.
“You really shouldn’t have said that,” I muttered.
She knew what I expected. I’d told her. It wasn’t my fault she was totally stupid. I’d warned her never to question my mental state. And I wouldn’t permit such ridicule from a girl who didn’t recognise the entire world was fucking nuts.
Punish her.
I stood, towering over her. Moving forward, I grabbed the whip from the top of the bag, slapping it against my palm. “On your knees.”
She scurried backward, slamming into a tree behind her. “Jethro. Please—”
I pinched the brow of my nose. “You insulted my mental state again, Ms. Weaver. I told you what would happen the next time you did.” Bending over, I grabbed her shoulder. “On your damn knees.” With a sharp push, I shoved her from sitting to kneeling.
Tears streaked her dirty face. “I didn’t mean—I’m—”
I cocked my head.
If she apologised, I’d stop. Just one little word. A sign that she was permitting my power over her.
It wobbled unsaid between us. Sorry. I’m sorry. Please forgive me.
Her lips tasted the words, the syllables echoed silently in my ears.
But then she ruined it by sucking in a breath and clamping her lips together. With a glare that shot heat straight into my heart, she planted her hands on the blanket, and cocked her hips.
Fuck. Me.
My cock immediately sprang to attention. The perfect lines of her overly skinny body. The pert breasts and hard muscles of her back and thighs.
Shit.
I squeezed my eyes. What the fuck is going on with me?
Sure, I wanted her. Sure, I wanted to use her and come so deep inside her, she’d taste me for days. But lust had never made me see things like this. Never made me lose the fine frost of control. Every second spent with her undid all my hard work.
She was my pet. Her wellbeing and happiness hinged on me. Just like Bolly, Wings, and all the other hounds tethered in the forest just out of ear reach. I’d left them there so I could sneak upon her silently.
I’d known she was up there. I’d felt her eyes boring into me.
But this was all a game.
What was the fun in reaching the destination when the chase was the best part?
Nila looked over her shoulder, daring me with flames in her eyes. “I hate you.”
Her words slammed me back to earth, her fire somehow giving me back my ice. I smiled. “You don’t know the meaning of hate. Not yet.”
Hair fell over her shoulder, hanging thick and enticing. “You’re wrong again, Mr. Hawk. I know the meaning of it. It’s becoming a favourite emotion of mine. I told you before you’ll never own me. And you never will.”
That reminds me.
“I caught you. You agreed you’d willingly sign that nonsense away.”
“What nonsense?”
I fell to my knees, positioning myself behind her. Grasping her hips, I dragged her against my front. My jaw locked as my erection dug into her firm arse.
She cried out, trying to squirm away—not that it did any good.
I hissed between my teeth at the delicious friction she caused.
“You’re mine. You ran and failed. I’ll have the papers drawn up to ensure you know your place, and we can put this idiocy of you not believing this is your future behind us.”
She gasped as I rocked into her, pressing punishingly hard.
Fuck, who was I kidding? She owned me. Her laughable rage, her stupid sense of fairness. Somehow, she’d ensorcelled me.
Fuck.
Forcing my terrifying thoughts away, I said, “I’ve made you come. I gave you a gift, which you took wholeheartedly. It’s your turn to do the same for me.”
The whip grew slippery in my grip as I pulled back. “You have three questions, and I have a point to make. You ask, and I’ll make it. We both get what we want. Then, when it’s all over, we’ll go home and start our lives together.”
“Until you kill me.”
I sighed. Really? She was so repetitive. “Yes, until I kill you. Now, ask your first question.”
She smashed her lips together, thoughts skittering over her face. Fine, if she needed prompting, I would oblige.
The whip was firm—plaited black leather and two supple ends made for shocking with noise rather than pain. Wings was so obedient, he didn’t need it most of the time. It was fitting to use the equipment on something else that needed breaking in.
I stroked her lower back, ignoring her whimper. “You’re green and unbroken, Ms. Weaver. Don’t think I won’t tame you before this game is through.”
I struck.
The sound of the two leather ends snapping together ricocheted through the woods.
She cried out, rolling her hips.
“Question, Ms. Weaver. I’ll keep striking until you ask.”
To prove my point, I hit her again. “That’s for your smart mouth undermining my control in front of my father and brothers.”
Her skin pinked as I struck again. “That’s for riding my hand like I’d given you everything you ever dreamed of, then looking at me as if I was a piece of shit.”
“How long? How long will you keep me alive?” she screamed, staying my hand.
I paused. In all honesty, I didn’t know. Her mother had been my father’s charge for over two years. She’d known her place enough to permit a brief visit to her old family to sever ties once and for all.
I doubted Nila would ever be so well trained, but I didn’t want to rush what we had. After all, once we reached the final debt, it would be over.
And that…didn’t sit well in my gut.
“It depends,” I murmured, stroking her burning skin.
I waited to see if she’d ask another question, but she remained silent. Pliant and listening. Her quietness soothed my nerves, and I allowed myself to give her a little of what she needed.
You’re doing that far too often.
I shot the voice in my head.
“Years, Ms. Weaver. We have years ahead of us.”
Her head sagged, lolling forward. Quietly, another question came. “And the debts? How bad are they? What do I need to prepare for?”
“Ah, ah, ah, I said you could have three questions in total. That was three in one breath. Pick one or forfeit anymore.”
Nila sighed, a small hiccup jolted her frame. “How bad are they?”