Bound by Bliss (Bound and Determined #2)(92)

She struggled harder, trying to bite and scratch.

Scream. She should scream. Even here, surely a scream would be answered.

Even as the thought formed in her brain, a door clicked open behind her and she was shoved through. By the time the yell left her mouth she was firmly behind a closed and—she heard the click—locked door.

She let out one last scream, loud and shrill.

Temple’s hand landed across her mouth, the force of the gesture sending waves of pain through her head.

“Bite me and I’ll make you pay,” he said, pressing even harder.

God, he was not a drunken fool. He might be drunk, but this edge of cruelty must always have been lurking underneath. The alcohol only released what was already there.

She fought against him, even more determined to make her way free. Maybe the key was still in the lock. If she could just get out the door, and get to Stephan…



Her hands were jerked up suddenly and she found them caught high above her head, something cold and metal latching about her wrists. She tried to jerk against the bands, but found herself held tight from above, the feeling of heavy cold cuffs about her wrists.

Temple’s hand stayed firm about her mouth.

Calm. Be calm. It was clear that she could not struggle against him and whatever held her from above.

“I’ve alwaysh wanted to try these. I love the full access that they grant—and the control I have if I raise or lower the height.” Temple spoke into her ear, but his words seemed to fill the room. “I am going to remove my hand now, but if you scream again I will gag you. I don’t want to do that. I like mouths. You can do so many things with mouths.”

She was going to vomit, whether from fear or the not-fresh stench of Temple she was not sure. And things to do with mouths. She didn’t want to think of that here.

“I don’t know Duldon’s tastes, but if you scream I will assume that you want me to gag you, that you enjoy the feeling of having something between your lips.” He leered at her and licked his own lips, as if his meaning were not clear enough.

Enjoy that? Enjoy any of this? Still as he dropped his hand away she did not make a sound, only worked to moisten her lips and her dry mouth.

“There, that is a good girl. I knew you could be a good girl.” He smiled and stepped back and let his eyes run up and down, surveying her. He reached forward and with a twist of his fingers the cloak fell to the ground, leaving her only in the light dress and chemise. His focus dropped to her breasts, which were, and she hated to use the word, heaving. His mouth opened and closed, his tongue licking again, coating his mouth in shine.



“Please let me go. This is not how you want to behave. You know me. You know I am not this type of woman,” she tried to explain. Not that there was a “this” type of woman.

Temple’s eyes moved up to her face. “Never used to think you were. I thought you were the marrying type. Thought you’d be good for that. I even thought I might marry you. My mother said you had good hips for babies—although she thought you wild. I guess she was right.”

“No, she wasn’t. I am not wild at all.”

“Then why are you here? It’s not the first time. I saw you here before, with him, with Duldon. Everyone here knows what he likes.” Temple’s eyes glanced to the crop that he’d dropped along with her cloak. “If you can do that with him, then you can do it with me. I’ve always wanted to try, but the girls who will do it charge too much. I didn’t know ladies did it for free.”

Temple seemed more sober by the moment, but clearly not more open to reason.

“I really do not want to be here with you.” She had to try one more time, regardless.

“You have to say that. I know even here you need to pretend to be good and innocent.”

“But, I am. I am still a virgin, untouched.”

He gave her a look that let her know very clearly what he thought of that.



“I am. And my father will be very upset.”

Temple showed no response to that.

“And Lord Duldon. He will not take kindly to this.”

Temple did respond to that, but not in a good way. “Bloody ass. Always telling me to leave you alone, like you belonged to him, like I wasn’t good enough for you. I knew you didn’t feel the same. You wanted me. I could tell by the way you looked at me. And then last time when you wanted to play, wanted me to think that you wanted to escape. I knew you were only playing hard to get. But then I saw you with him. Why did you let him touch you like that?”

Bliss yanked against the metal cuffs, hard. She could not believe this was happening to her, not now—not when…when…God, why had she fled from Stephan? Why had she run from everything that she wanted?

Taking the chance to glance about the room, she looked up. The cuffs that held her hands were attached to a chain that ran up to a bolt in the ceiling. Who had a bolt in the ceiling other than to hang hams in the kitchen? She shuddered at the images that placed in her mind. She did not need to think of herself as a piece of meat.

“Answer me.” Temple was growing impatient.

What exactly had Temple seen? She knew she could not let him think she preferred Duldon to him, that she actually found him distasteful. “I didn’t let him touch me. He just did. But I didn’t want to let you catch me either. I truly am not that kind of girl.”