by Kit Tunstall
*****
Madison sat quietly on a settee, curled into a ball. Cleo had come and gone after bringing her clothes to wear for their imminent departure. Perhaps she’d found Madison’s monosyllabic answers rude, but she couldn’t summon the energy to care right then. She was too consumed with worry and anxiety. What was Archer going to do to her? In her mind, she could hear the crack of the whip on her back and shuddered as her brain conjured phantom pain to accompany the image.
At least if he whipped her, she would be home soon. There could be worse fates awaiting her than a lashing. As the commander of the Northwest Federation, he could order any punishment he saw fit, and someone would carry it out. No one would protest if he wanted her drawn and quartered or just “disappeared” quietly.
She jumped when the door opened, but otherwise didn’t move as Tiernan entered the room. Anger emanated from him, and his lips were white from the way he’d clamped them together. Drawing further into herself, she waited to see what he would do.
He stalked to her, stopping just a few inches from the settee to loom over her. “Why?”
She didn’t have to ask for clarification. “I need to go home.”
“No.”
Madison shook her head. “You can’t just keep me here.”
He arched a brow. “I can do whatever I want. You belong to me now.”
Anger overrode fear, and she unfurled from the settee to stand up, facing him while leaving several inches between them. She shook her head emphatically. “Slavery is illegal, if you haven’t heard.”
He leaned closer, his breath against her cheek when he spoke. “I’m the commander, in case you haven’t heard.”
She balled her hands into fists. “That doesn’t give you the right to take what you want.”
Tiernan snorted. “Who’s going to stop me?”
“Ugh, you’re impossible.” She turned away from him. “I’m going home.”
He let out a ragged sigh. “Why would you want to? Don’t you know what I’m offering you?”
“Yeah, a chance to be one of your rotating bedmates.”
His hand fell on her shoulder, his fingers stroking softly. “Is that what’s bothering you? If you don’t want to share, I’m sure you can find a way to keep me exclusively in your bed.”
With a grunt, she shrugged him off. “No, that’s not what’s bothering me.” Okay, maybe a little, but she wasn’t going to admit that. “I have responsibilities at home. My family, the winery. I can’t just abandon them.”
His voice took on a chilling note. “Those obligations can be removed.”
Eyes wide, she spun back to face him. “Are you threatening my family?”
Without denying it, he said, “Look, let’s calm down. You aren’t thinking straight. When you see what your life will be—”
“I don’t want it, and I don’t want you.” Tears burned her eyes, and she scrubbed at them. “How could I have been so wrong about you? I thought you were tender, but you’re just a bully. A spoiled brat who takes whatever he wants at the expense of anyone in the way without concern.”
His eyes darkened, and he scowled. “You don’t get to speak to me that way.”
She should have been frightened, but she was just too irate to be quiet. “Why would you want me to come back with you when I don’t want to? You don’t even know me.”
Tiernan’s gaze raked her face. “I know you’re beautiful.”
“That’s shallow.”
He arched a brow. “What other criteria would I take into account for a lover, Madison?”
She growled with frustration. “You can’t even give me a good reason for ripping me from my life. How can you think this is okay? I don’t understand how you can justify taking someone who is unwilling.”
Eyes narrowed, he reached for her, jerking Madison into his arms. “Because of this.” He thrust his hips forward, pressing his erection into her stomach. “Even right now, when I could happily wrap my hands around your throat to shut you up, I’m hard and aching for you. Just the memory of how you feel wrapped around me is enough to make me want to bend you over the table and satisfy myself.”
A tear streamed down her cheek. “You’d kill my family just for your lust?”
His mouth tightened. “Don’t be so dramatic.” He pushed her away, careful to make sure she was steady on her feet even in his rage. “You don’t have to make it like this. You could come to the capitol with me as my personal companion without all this nonsense.”
“And if I don’t?”
Tiernan sighed, looking tired for a second, before his expression morphed to a cool mask. “I’m sure we can find a pair of leg chains and handcuffs. I’ll chain you to my bed if that’s the way you want it.”
Her spine stiffened. “What happens to my family?”
He lifted a shoulder. “That’s up to you. If you come willingly, I promise you’ll be able to talk to them at least once a week.”
Madison arched her brow. “Uh huh. How am I supposed to do that?”
“Blaney has a communications system, and I’ll task Sergeant Nash with ensuring your family is brought here on a designated day to talk with you.”
Anger was still bubbling inside her chest, but fear for her family was tempering it. Still, she pushed further, wanting to hear him admit just how far he’d go to have her, to fortify her own defenses against his superficial charm. “If that isn’t enough for me, and I still choose to stay here?”
He laughed harshly. “Staying here isn’t a choice, Madison. You’re coming with me. If you force me to drag you out of Graceport like a prisoner, you can expect the treatment given one. You won’t receive special considerations or favors.”
“My family?” she probed.
He stared at her, his expression grim. “Their fate is the one thing you do get to choose.”
Madison gasped, hating him more than any person ever at that moment. If she’d had a knife, she would have stabbed him with it. “You’re a monster.”
“Perhaps I’ll show you how monstrous I can be when we’re back in Seattle-Archer.” His gaze didn’t leave hers. “Now, decide. Are you my personal companion or my prisoner?”
Angling her chin high and pushing back her shoulders, she scowled at him. “You already know the answer to that. What choice do I have?”
“None,” he said with a tinge of satisfaction.
Keeping her voice cold and distant, she asked, “May I at least say goodbye?”
He scoffed. “You’re not leaving this house until we’re ready to travel. Write them a letter, and Nash will deliver it.” He started walking toward the door. “But hurry, because we leave soon.”
She waited until he closed the door behind himself with a solid thud to toss one of the pillows from the settee in his direction. It wasn’t nearly as satisfying as she’d hoped and couldn’t compare to her longing to toss a brick at him instead.
Mouth compressed, she went to the writing desk nearby, easily finding an inkwell, feather quill, and paper. Her eyes burned with unshed tears, but she couldn’t let them fall. If her papa saw a tear-stained letter, he might come after her in a vain attempt to rescue her. She couldn’t allow that. No one in her family could be at risk. This was a conflict she’d have to fight alone—and the commander was in for a battle. If he thought she was just going to easily surrender to his sex demands, to be his compliant companion, he was about to learn differently.
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