Total pages in book: 113
Estimated words: 107115 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 536(@200wpm)___ 428(@250wpm)___ 357(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107115 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 536(@200wpm)___ 428(@250wpm)___ 357(@300wpm)
Once he settled them in place, he catalogued her reaction. She’d tensed slightly, apprehension tightening her mouth.
Matt lifted one padded piece from her ear. “Breathe. As you exhale, drop your shoulders.” He waited as she complied, almost looking as if she didn’t have a single care. “Good. Green, yellow, or red?”
“Green.”
She wasn’t afraid to rely on him. Then again, she trusted him with her physical safety. It was other forms of trust they needed to grow.
“Come with me,” he commanded, then settled the earpiece back in place and took her hand. He led her to the kitchen and eased her into the empty chair before sliding the headphones aside again. “Wait here. Don’t move.”
Madison obeyed, but cold purpose muted his thrill. Quickly, he whipped together her breakfast. After all, for what he had planned, she would need her strength.
Soon, he shoveled steaming eggs onto a plate, along with Greek yogurt, a peeled tangerine, and a surprise or two. He lifted her earpiece one more time. “Open your mouth.”
Madison hesitated, then parted her lips. He settled a forkful of fluffy eggs on her tongue. He followed that with a tangerine wedge.
“Hmm,” she moaned.
Matt glowered. He’d warned her not to react… Since Todd was never going to be predictable, he couldn’t afford to be, either.
He tapped her lip. She opened without pause, and he slid something she wouldn’t expect into her mouth, watching intently as she bit down.
When he’d first moved to Louisiana, One-Mile had taken him to a gumbo place that had damn near burned off his tongue, so he knew Cajun peppers were sweet…but they also packed heat. Idly, he wondered how long it would take her to balk at the one he’d just fed her.
Matt saw the exact moment the spice lit Madison up. Her whole body tensed. Something like panic crept across her face.
When she tried to spit the pepper into her hands, he shoved them to her lap and clamped her wrists together with one big hand. With the other, he lifted the headphones and snapped his next command into her ear. “Swallow.”
“It’s too spicy!”
“Your punishment.”
“For what?” she choked out.
“I said not a word.”
She stuck out her tongue. “I just moaned.”
Adhering to the letter, rather than the spirit, of his command wouldn’t cut it. “You reacted.”
“Water!”
“Swallow,” he reiterated implacably.
Grimacing, Madison forced down the pepper.
Matt handed her a glass of water and watched her gulp it. “Listen, adapt, and comply the first time I say something. That’s the point of this exercise. Food won’t hurt you. Your husband will. Now, I don’t want any other reactions. Am I clear?”
She looked almost chastised. “Yes, Matt.”
“Open.”
She hesitated, clearly torn between submission and fear.
“The longer you make me wait, the more I’ll punish you.”
Tears of frustration leaked from the sides of her blindfold before she finally pursed her lips, then blanked her expression and dutifully opened her mouth. He slid another pepper onto her tongue. She held in a cry, chewing and swallowing in silence, trying not to react. Still, her grimace was unmistakable. Todd would notice it, too.
“Better.” He refilled her water and handed it to her. “But not good enough. Keep trying.”
She gulped down half the water as he shifted the headphones back in place, then resumed feeding her.
They fell into a rhythm. He touched her lip. She parted. He settled food on her tongue. She chewed, her mouth a grim line no matter what he fed her before she swallowed without a word or sound. When the eggs, yogurt, and peppers were gone, he extracted the last bite from its wrapper. After one final tap on her bottom lip, she opened. In reward, he settled a square of chocolate in her mouth.
Madison’s expression hardly changed. But he knew she had enjoyed his unexpected gesture. He followed up with a soft kiss to her shoulder, then handed her the water glass one last time.
Once she’d emptied it, he gently wiped her mouth, set the cup in the kitchen sink, then guided her to the living area.
Time for her next test.
In advance, he’d laid a bath towel across the oblong coffee table. Now, he urged Madison onto the flat surface, toes pointing toward the front door. She stiffened as he lay her back, lifted her head, and slid a throw pillow beneath.
Next, he dragged his thumb across her cheek, then sprinted to the other end of the table. The moment he took hold of her ankles and planted her feet on opposite corners, spreading her wide, she tensed even more and tried to press her knees together.
Jaw clenched, he bent and lifted the ear protection. “Madison, should you react to anything I do?”
“Permission to speak?”
“Once. Quickly.”
“If Jack or Deke comes back, the first thing they’ll see is my naked hoo-ha.”
“You’re right. The question is, do you trust me?”
He could almost feel her thinking. She was weighing the horrifying possibilities of people she knew seeing her pussy against whether the possessive beast inside him would let that happen.