Bought (5 page)

He laughed. “Yes, agreed.”

She picked up her bags and headed out the
door. She looked over her shoulder as she walked out but he was
gone.

The doorbell rang and Roni looked into the
peephole, saw John, and she smiled. She opened the door and she
caught her breath. He looked so sexy in a blue shirt with Levis and
a pair of running shoes. His short sleeves drew attention to the
power in his arms and the fabric fit his muscular chest just right.
She liked the way his short hair curled a little above his ears and
the piercing intensity of his blue eyes.

“Hello, beautiful.” He leaned down and kissed
her as she held the door open. It was a kiss filled with a day of
pent-up passion that they both obviously felt.

The kiss rocketed her blood pressure. Who
cared about dinner when she had one hell of a man on her
doorstep?

“Hi,” she said when he drew away. She wasn’t
sure she was going to be able to breathe for a while.

“Smells great.” He sniffed the air as she let
him in and she thought she heard his stomach rumble. “It’s been a
long day and I haven’t eaten much.”

So much for pre-dinner diversions.

He swung a duffel bag off his shoulder and
put it on the floor by the couch. “Mind if I leave this here?”

“Sure.” She smiled and headed toward the
kitchen. As he followed her, she looked over her shoulder. “How was
work?”

“Not real great.” He shook his head. “Got
called out of bed almost as soon as I got home.”

“Wow, you’ve been up awhile.” She paused and
faced him. “What happened?”

He shrugged. “Security issues.” It was clear
that was about all she was going to get out of him about work.

“You must be exhausted,” she said.

Another growl of his stomach. “Right now I’m
more hungry than anything.”

She gestured to the kitchen table that was
already set for two including wine glasses, the bottle of wine, and
a slender taper candle. “Have a seat. Dinner is ready.”

“I’ll help you get everything to the table,”
he said.

He carried out the pan of lasagna while she
took the bowl of salad and the basket of garlic bread—which she had
thanks to Drake.

As she lit the candle, she could tell it
wasn’t easy for the hungry man at her table to hold himself back
while waiting for her to join him.

He insisted on helping her sit, took his own
chair, and then he served up lasagna on both of their plates while
she took care of the salad.

John wasn’t real chatty to begin with and he
was even less so when he was as hungry as he appeared to be as he
ate. There was nothing like having a man who appreciated a good
home cooked meal.

“This is great,” he said after a few large
bites. “I think it’s probably the best lasagna I’ve had.”

“Thank you.” She smiled and dug into her own
dinner.

When he stopped to take a drink of merlot, he
said, “How was your day?”

“Not too eventful.” She thought about her day
and running into Drake. She certainly wasn’t going to mention him.
“Took care of some odds and ends that I needed to catch up with and
went to the grocery store and made dinner. That was the extent of
today’s excitement.”

“I could use a day like that.” John wiped his
mouth with his napkin. “Doesn’t seem to be in the cards. If one
particularly big problem was solved it would make my life a whole
lot easier.”

He paused as he seemed to be working
something over in his mind. “Did you walk to the store?”

“Yes.” She set her fork down. “I always do.
Why?

With a grim look he rested his forearms on
the table. “It’s too dangerous to be walking anywhere on your own.
That means
anywhere
.”

She frowned. “It was only to the store and it
was broad daylight.”

He shook his head. “Doesn’t matter. If
someone is looking for a person with your description, he’s going
to spot you day or night. All he needs is to figure out where you
live.”

Chills rolled up and down her arms. “You’re
talking about the serial killer and the fact that I fit the profile
for his victims.”

He continued to study her. “That’s exactly
what I’m talking about.”

“I can’t just live in fear all of the time.”
She clenched the stem of her wine glass. “I can’t hide away waiting
for something to happen.”

“If it will keep you alive, then you should
do exactly that.” His tone was firm, decisive. “Stay in hiding
until the bastard is caught.”

“Who knows how long that will be?” she said.
“How long would you expect me to be in hiding?”

“As long as it takes,” he said.

Like hell
, she thought. She wasn’t
about to spend her days shaking in a corner.

Instead of voicing that aloud, she changed
the subject and gave him a seductive look. “Last night you said
something about cuffs.”

His gaze turned dark, filled with all of the
danger, fear, excitement, and the unknown she could ever want. Yes,
something about him scared her on some level. She wasn’t sure what,
just that there was an air of danger around him.

“I’ll help you clean up the dishes,” he said
in a low tone. “And then I’ll show you exactly what I’ve got.”

While they finished putting away leftovers
and washing dishes, the excitement within her grew. Every time
their hands touched or his body brushed hers, new thrills tingled
throughout her.

After she dried her hands on a towel, she
turned from the stove to find John inches away. He took her by the
shoulders, drew her close, and kissed her.

She sighed, feeling something intangible deep
inside of her. The man knew how to tie up a woman but her woman’s
intuition told her there was more to the man than what he appeared
to be at face value.

He tasted so good, a masculine taste with a
hint of the merlot they’d had with dinner. He moved so that her
back was up to the countertop and he pressed his erection against
her belly.

“Do you know what I’m going to do with you?”
he murmured in her ear.

“Tie me up?” she said hopefully.

He gave a soft laugh. “If it were only that
easy for you.”

Intrigued, she looked up at him to see a
smoldering look on his features. A look so hot and sexy that it
made her knees weak.

A shiver raced across her skin. “What do you
want me to do?”

He held her by her shoulders and then stepped
back. “Take off your clothes.”

“In here?” She looked around the kitchen and
back at him.

“Don’t make me wait.” There was a warning
edge to his tone that caused the butterflies in her belly to
return. Still a small niggling of fear from doing something as
daring as letting a virtual stranger tie her up. Again.

His expression was dark as he watched her
take her clothes off. She removed her blouse and then her bra and
something flashed in his eyes when her breasts were bared. He
flexed his hands and looked like he wanted to touch her but he
didn’t move.

She smiled inwardly and kept her gaze focused
on him as she pushed down her skirt and let it drop to the floor,
leaving her only in panties. She hooked her thumbs in the waistband
then wiggled out of them and pushed them aside with her foot when
she dropped them to the floor.

When she was naked, she straightened and let
her breasts jut out. She had a full figure, including large
breasts, and men loved them. She had no problem using them to her
advantage. His throat worked as he swallowed, but that was the only
sign that he was affected. It was good enough for her.

“Come here.” The words came out with such
power that she felt the urge to hurry. She forced herself to walk
slowly to him to make him wait just a little longer.

He reached into his back pocket and pulled
out a pair of what looked like real police-issue handcuffs. Her
eyes widened and he took her by one wrist and turned her around so
that both wrists were behind her back. They made a metallic sound,
almost like a zipper, as they were closed to fit her wrists. The
metal was cool against her skin.

His warm breath tickled her nape as he pushed
her long hair over her shoulders and kissed the back of her neck.
“You’re beautiful, Roni. I love your body, love what it does to me
to see you naked for me, and you not knowing what I’m going to do
to you next.”

She enjoyed the erotic feel of his jeans
against her bare ass as he pressed himself against her. He moved so
that he was standing in front of her again.

The next thing he pulled out of his back
pocket looked like two huge zip-ties connected together. He bent on
one knee and put one ankle through one loop and her other ankle
through the opposite loop so that her ankles were cuffed
together.

He rose up and grasped her by one arm and
escorted her into the living room, like a police officer taking a
suspect away from a crime. She couldn’t take very big steps with
her ankles tied so she shuffled her way there. He brought her up
short in front of the bag he had brought with him.

“Stand right there.” His voice was deep and
filled with something almost menacing that made a queer sensation
slide through her belly and she shivered. He hadn’t hurt her last
night and he could have. So what reason did she have to be
afraid?

He opened the bag and she saw exactly what
she should be afraid of.

Battery cables.

With big clamps on the ends.

“What are you planning on doing with those?”
Her voice shook a little.

“They make great nipple clamps.” He said it
casually. “I like to use things you can find around the house.

“Uh-Uh.” She cleared her throat. “I draw the
line at battery cables.”

He grabbed a handful of her hair and jerked
her head back. “There’s not a whole hell of a lot that you can do
about it, is there,” he stated.

“Please don’t.” Genuine fear raced through
her as he reached into the bag.

Relief made her knees weak when he brought
out a ball gag instead of the cables. But then she realized she
wasn’t going to be able to say anything at all if she didn’t want
him to do something.

He put the ball to her lips but she kept them
shut. He cupped the back of her head and forced the ball gag into
her mouth. She gave a muffled sound and tried to shake her head but
he made her be still as he fastened he gag so that it was secured
firmly.

She couldn’t stop looking at the battery
cables with the big copper clamps. He wouldn’t… Would he?

Again he reached into the bag. This time he
pulled out a roll of duct tape and he tore a small piece off and
put it over one of her eyes. She shook her head, not wanting him to
take her sight, but he forced her to be still and put tape over the
other eye.

She was naked, couldn’t walk or use her arms,
and she was in the dark. She couldn’t talk, couldn’t see. At least
she could hear. The ticking of the grandfather clock was almost
welcome.

Her heart raced as he rustled around in his
bag then returned to her. A pause and then he was pressing
something into one of her ears. An earplug. He filled her ear with
another one and the ticking of the clock was silenced.

She tried to slow her breathing and prayed
that John wasn’t sadistic enough to put those battery cable clamps
on her nipples. What did she really know about him?

She felt him press his body against hers and
realized he was naked now. He grasped her hips and rubbed his cock
on her belly, mimicking what she wanted him to do—minus battery
clamps.

Fear of the pain she would feel made her
tremble. She liked playing a lot and she didn’t mind a little pain.
Key word:
little.

What was he doing? How far would he take
this?

He nuzzled her neck and she thought she heard
him murmuring words but she couldn’t hear. He ran his hands along
her body, stroking her, making her want him despite her fear.

When he stepped away she nearly cowered from
the thought of what he might do to her. Then she felt his erection
brush her belly at the same time he pinched one of her nipples. She
held her breath and then something clamped down on her nipple.

She screamed behind her gag, her eyes
watering beneath the pieces of duct tape on her eyes. The pain was
intense enough to make her shake. And then he grasped her other
nipple and then another clamp was put on it.

Pain radiated through her breasts and to her
body. A part of her had thought the pain would be worse, that the
teeth of the clamps would dig into her tender breasts. This hurt
like hell but it wasn’t what she had expected.

She felt his body heat and he pulled one of
the plugs out of her ears. “I love how you look. Love how much
trust you put in me no matter how misguided that trust might be.
Because you really don’t know, do you, Roni?” She shook her head
and he gave a soft laugh. “You should be afraid.”

He put the ear plug back in and she wondered
how she had gotten herself into this. It all started with an
auction, something totally innocent and fun. Well, she had expected
kink to be involved but she just hadn’t thought it through well at
all.

She stood in front of the couch as she waited
for what he was going to do next. Her jaws hurt from the ball gag
and her eyelids felt sticky from the duct tape. The pain of the
clamps had receded a bit, but not enough to make her feel
comfortable.

Where did he go? She’d been standing there
for a few minutes without him touching her. He was making her wait.
Making her wonder what he was going to do next. He’d been away from
her for a while. What was he doing? She couldn’t see or hear him to
know if he was even there. Had he left her?

Something hard slapped her ass and she cried
behind her gag. The pain made her eyes water even more than they
already had. He was paddling her with something hard. It felt like
he was taking a two-by-four against her ass.