Total pages in book: 156
Estimated words: 160192 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 801(@200wpm)___ 641(@250wpm)___ 534(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 160192 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 801(@200wpm)___ 641(@250wpm)___ 534(@300wpm)
What was he thinking about?
“I suppose I also wanted a chance to get to know her . . . to ensure that she was right for you.”
“And what criteria were you basing that off?” he asked.
North shrugged. “I have my ways. You know that.”
“You traumatized her. You said it yourself. She refused to bathe or change clothes.”
“Yes, I thought I was going to have to drug her again to get her undressed.”
“You were going to drug and then undress me?” she asked suddenly.
Jared turned to find her wrapped in a towel with another one around her head.
She looked far cleaner but still worn out.
“Shit. I left your pajamas out here,” Jared said, walking over to grab them. “Go get dressed then we can hook you up.”
“I don’t want an IV,” she said stubbornly, glaring at him then North.
“You’re getting the IV. No arguments,” Jared told her.
She’d get tough love if that’s what she needed to be healthy and safe.
Well, not love.
Angie narrowed her gaze at him. “No arguments?”
He handed the pajamas to her but she just stared down at them.
“Would you like some help putting them on?” he asked.
“No,” she said, snatching them up and disappearing into the bathroom and slamming the door.
“She’s going to be a handful,” North told him.
Jared shot him a look. “Just as well I have you to help.”
North held up his hands. “Nothing to do with me.”
“You brought her here.”
“I’m just the mode of transportation. You were always the final outcome. Not me.” North turned to leave.
“I know there’s something more. I’m going to get to the bottom of this, North. And when I do you’re going to regret keeping things from me.”
There were two reasons that Jared hadn’t gone after her when she’d left after his father’s death. Because he knew she was better off away from him and his family. And because if he saw her again, he’d want to keep her.
He walked back over to North, placing his hand behind his neck and holding the other man tight. Jared pressed himself close so his lips were only an inch or so away from North’s.
“You locked her up and scared her. I would never allow someone to hurt you like that.”
“The difference being that I can’t be hurt,” North told him.
“Don’t start that bullshit with me,” Jared told him in a low voice. “With everyone else you can act the part. But not with me.”
North’s breathing started to grow faster before he visibly took a deep breath in, then let it out slowly
Jared moved his finger along the other man’s lips. “To think that you came so close to being able to come again.”
“Did I?” North asked dryly. “I’m pretty sure that a person can be permanently injured from orgasm denial.”
Nice try.
Jared opened his mouth to reply, but before he could say anything, Angie spoke up.
“Wow. Is that true? How long would you have to be denied an orgasm for it to cause a permanent injury?”
Jared frowned and turned toward her. What the hell? And how had he not heard her re-enter the room?
“Who the hell has been denying you an orgasm?”
Oddly, that question didn’t come from him. He half-turned so he could see North.
But he was just as interested in the answer.
“Did I say that out loud? Crap,” she muttered. “Never mind.”
“No, that’s not the right answer,” Jared told her quietly. “Who have you been involved with? One of Zander’s team?”
“God, no!” she said. “Not that it’s any of your business.”
Hmm.
Time for a reality check.
“It is while you’re under my roof. My house. My rules. Remember?”
She suddenly looked nervous which he didn’t like. Yeah, he could be an asshole. He could be dangerous.
But he’d never, ever harm her.
“I didn’t agree to any of that, remember?” she said with a bravado that he was certain she didn’t feel.
He ran a finger down her cheek. “I’m going to take good care of you while you’re here, Angie. But I am a man who likes to be in charge. You’d do well to remember that. I’m always the boss. And if I’m not around then North is the boss.”
“Ah, no, he isn’t,” she countered. “And I’m not doing what either of you say.”
“Then you’re going to find yourself in trouble,” Jared told her.
“What will you do? Beat me?” she asked.
“Never,” he vowed. “Like I told you, I‘m not my father. I’d never hurt you. What I want to do is very far from hurting you.”
“Unless it’s a hot bottom,” North pointed out. “I told her that I would keep track of her transgressions for you.”
The look she gave North would have fried a lesser person. But North just stared back at her calmly.
“No one is spanking me for what I did while I was kidnapped.”
“You’re right.” Jared nodded. “I won’t spank you for anything you did before I was in charge of you.”