Total pages in book: 117
Estimated words: 108616 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 543(@200wpm)___ 434(@250wpm)___ 362(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 108616 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 543(@200wpm)___ 434(@250wpm)___ 362(@300wpm)
As she repeated the rules over and over, he kept his eyes down with respect, his mouth shut in obedience, and his mind focused on memorizing her words.
Liv sent the text to Van, and thirty minutes later, she walked to the door and put her hand on the keypad. Josh was ready. As long as he didn’t look at the yet-to-be-used butt plug she’d left on the mattress.
She glanced back, her shadowy gaze peering over the kerchief. “You can guess why I’m only in panties.”
He raised his eyes, swallowed. The test with Van would be sexual in nature. Since she wasn’t asking a question, he kept his guess to himself and drew a deep breath.
“I don’t know what Van has planned, but he will test your limits.” With her chin tilted up, she faced the keypad.
As she punched in the code, he knew she would do what was necessary for her family. He returned his attention to the floor and girded his spine.
Chapter 24
The aroma of greasy food followed Van into the room. Josh’s mouth watered. He couldn’t stop the growl escaping his stomach, but he kept his lips clamped, his eyes down, and his knees on the floor.
A takeout bag dropped within grabbing distance, not like he could steal a lone French fry. The rope-entwined straight jacket held his arms firmly around his torso.
Van’s ratty sneakers paused in the space between Josh and Liv, and the toes turned toward hers.
Without moving his head, Josh strained his upward line of sight, marking the tension in Van’s legs as they flexed against the denim.
The man’s broad shoulders curled forward, his hand lifting her chin gently. “Liv.” His whisper was strained, presumably from the sight of the bruises on her neck.
The distraught reaction set Josh’s blood afire, considering the yellow-purple marks around her eye still lingered.
“Don’t.” She stepped back and turned away. Good girl.
Van stood motionless for a moment. Then he reached for her hand. She pulled it away before he made contact.
“What can I do to fix this?” Van gestured between her and himself.
She was impossible to read with her body turned away and her voice so damned wooden. “You could’ve warned me what he was planning before you left me unconscious, bleeding, half-strangled.”
Van kept his back to Josh, his fingers flexing at his side. Seconds passed, indicating some kind of deliberation. “You’re right, Liv. I fucked you over, and I hated every fucking minute of it.”
As much as Josh didn’t want to believe him, his voice cracked with soft-spoken guilt.
Eyes on the floor, Josh held his spine straight as Van shifted and sat before him.
He pulled a paper-wrapped burger from the bag. “Sorry about the gun thing last night. That was a dick move on my part. We cool?”
Was this guy for real? If he glanced up, he’d probably get nicked by the sharp silver gaze of crafted bullshit.
“She’s starving you, isn’t she?” Van held the burger beneath his nose, taunting him with the heady fragrance of grilled meat and ketchup. “Go ahead. It’s yours.”
Not gonna lie. It was going to chafe like hell to eat from that hand, but he needed energy more than his pride. He opened his mouth.
“That pleasure belongs to his Mistress.” Liv’s bare feet moved into his periphery.
God love her. He would thank her later. With his mouth. On her satiny skin. Something to anticipate. His penis jerked.
Van lingered, the burger hovering before Josh. The hesitation produced a burgeoning hum that dragged beneath the skin. Unable to see their expressions, Josh was excluded from whatever unspoken communication passed above his head. Not peeking was torture.
At last, Van relinquished the food and traded places with her.
The soft curves of her bare breasts filled Josh’s view. The impulse to reach out and run a fingertip over one of those pink nipples was consuming. Good thing his arms were restrained.
She took two bites for every one she gave him. From the unhurried offerings she placed on his tongue to the possessive hand curled on the juncture between his shoulder and neck, she radiated an aura that compelled lowered eyes, humbled gratitude, and an unquestioning desire to please her. No wonder the girl, Kate, had fallen so spectacularly into her subservient role.
But he was not a terrified slave, crawling to compliance to escape the bite of her whip. Initially, he was supposed to be emasculated, hopeless, empty. Mr. E changed the game when he threatened Liv. Now he was supposed to be the slave so consumed with fear that he would risk his life to make sure nothing happened to his Mistress. Instead, his heart drummed with faith in the power of God, in her courage, and in his ability to save her.
As she fed him, Van perched behind her on the mattress, hands clasped between his bent knees. “How did you get him to hold still for rope bondage?”