One kick. One fucking kick would snap the chain on the door, and he’d be in the path of her gorgeous—albeit furious—glare. Big breath. “Charlee, please don’t make me do this from the hallway. I’m only asking for one minute.”
The silence was so stifling he thought he might pass out from the anxiety of it.
“Sixty seconds,” she said. “Then Master Conrad has permission to toss your deceitful, cheating ass to the curb.”
Ouch. That was vicious, but if she’d been indifferent and numb he would’ve been more worried. He could deal with her ire.
The door snapped shut and reopened all the way. Only one end of the room was visible. She was hidden around the corner. Master Conrad stepped aside and locked them in.
As Jay sized him up, he knew the other man was doing the same. Alpha male? Yep. Wielding weapons? Nope, unless Jay counted the guy’s fifty extra pounds of muscle. That settled, he moved around the bend and froze.
Sweet Mother of God. Bent at the waist with legs spread, Charlee’s ass arched up and out in a trussed offering. Her wrists and elbows were bound together behind her back. A long rope connected her wrists to a point on the ceiling, raising them at a horizontal position in relation to her torso, forcing her to double over. His mouth went dry.
Her hair hung in sheets from her inverted head, reaching for the floor. A metal rod connected one ankle to the other, forcing her feet to stand wider than her shoulders.
Every inch of her flawless skin was on display, but he couldn’t drag his eyes from the visual feast between her legs. Her folds were swollen and glistening. The tiny pucker of her ass peeked between her spread cheeks.
His face heated, and his cock engorged. She was his, and he shook with the primal impulse to prove it.
He rolled his shoulders and reminded himself that she was probably mortified having him see her like this, considering the gut-wrenching position he was in the last time she saw him. He was there to soothe her and help her.
Moving toward her, he remembered he wasn’t alone. Another fucking man shared his glorious view. A sideways glance confirmed Conrad didn’t have a hard-on, and his eyes weren’t directed below Charlee’s waist. That saved the man from an automatic beat down.
“Forty-five seconds,” she ground out.
Fuck. Shoving his hands into his pockets to dissuade himself from touching her, he shifted to squat beneath her bowed head.
Rancor burned in her eyes. “Like what you see? Where’s Ella to take care of that problem in your pants?”
Christ, her hurt was palpable, a hiss singeing his skin. He coaxed his lips to smile. “I love what I see, which is why I’d never cheat on you.”
Pain flashed through her glare. “Thirty seconds.”
“I think Roy paid someone to poison your egg salad to separate us for the night.”
Her eyebrows crawled together, her face red from the stooped position.
“Did he know you liked those little oranges in your salad?”
“Yes.” A whisper. “He knows everything about me.”
Not everything. The sick fuck didn’t know how to make her happy. He drew in a lungful of air. “Ella confessed she was hired by Roy to drug my water and…seduce me. No doubt he expected you to catch me in the act and flee.” He scooted closer, placed his fingers over the rapid pulse on her throat. “I don’t remember any of it, Charlee. I don’t even remember singing the encore at the show.”
Her lashes dropped, fringing her cheeks. “You were hard as a rock, thrusting your dick at her, spurring her on. Drugged or not, that shit is seared into my eyes. How do I know your accusation against Ella isn’t a trick to get me back on the bus?”
Bile simmered through his chest, and his fingers flexed against her neck. “I’ve got a metric fuckton of faults, Charlee, but I’ve never lied to you.”
Her breath hitched, and she held it, bottom lip trembling as she searched his face.
Boots appeared beside his sneakers. “She’s been in the strappado long enough. I need to let her down.”
Jay nodded and climbed to his feet. This time, he didn’t stop his hands from roaming her spread thighs, the horizontal line of her spine, and the silky tresses of her hair. She didn’t cringe, so he continued his exploration as Conrad removed the spreader bar and untied the knots.
Conrad worked meticulously without an unwarranted touch or lustful glance. When her hands were free, Conrad cupped her wrists and offered them to him. “Massage the bound area to assist the blood flow.”
Jay raised her arms, rubbing and kissing the circle of pink around her wrists.
She wiggled free from his grasp and touched a finger to his dimple, his chin, and his lips. He held himself immobile, not breathing, waiting.
A glassy sheen slid over her hypnotic eyes and a tear escaped, glancing off her cheek. “Am I…are we safe here? If Roy orchestrated our separation, could he have followed me here?”