the upper half his powerful arms, hiding the ink there. His forearms and hands are left bare, revealing the tattoos that turn his skin into a canvas. They make him look dangerous and sexy, something the sandy blond beard only accentuates. The man looks like a living deity, the embodiment of some dark and evil, paganistic, leather-clad god.
Why, oh, why does he have to be so beautiful? Why can’t he look like Seth?
Cracking the other bottle of water open, he downs half of it and makes his way over to me.
“Sore?” He watches me, making no move to free me or remove the gag.
I glare at him.
His lips twitch. He reaches up and pulls the bandana out of my mouth, tossing it aside, but he still doesn’t untie my binds. I swallow, working moisture into my mouth and moving my tired jaw. My mouth is parched, my throat dry as the desert. I hate the gratitude I feel toward him for taking the gag away.
“Thirsty?” He holds up the water bottle.
“What do you think?”
Yikes. What is wrong with me? Do I have a death wish? I’m completely at his mercy here and hardly in a position to backtalk him. Usually I’m better at picking my battles than this.
At his mercy. The realization of my predicament makes my skin tingle. A quiet ache has started between my legs.
He takes a sip. “I was going to fuck you, but if you’re going to shoot your mouth off, I can always leave you tied up for the rest of the night. I’ll just jack off and make you watch.”
He’d totally do it, too. At the thought of being left like this for hours, with my arms feeling like they weigh a ton, I press my lips together. My back is starting to ache, and my feet are already sore.
And yet, at his mention of him fucking me, that ache in my sex intensifies.
“Let’s try this again,” he says, as if he can see my regret for my reply. “Do you want some water?”
I nod. It’s amazing how it can feel like you’re dying of thirst when you have to rely on someone else to quench it.
“Ask me nicely.”
I roll my head back and take a patient breath. “Spider, may I please have some water?”
He comes to stand beside me and reaches up, carefully tipping water into my parched mouth. The water feels amazing going down, crisp and cool and refreshing. I want to gulp it all down, but he pours it slowly so that I have to drink a bit at a time.
“Take it easy Wildcat. The only thing I want you choking on tonight is my cock.”
I almost do choke at his remark.
I’ve been to that party before. I’d hated him for that, and yet the words cause my core to throb, my mouth to water for the taste of him on my tongue.
I let him set the pace, drinking down every drop slowly until the bottle is empty. A few drops of water drip onto my chin and down to my chest, and I pant.
“Greedy little thief.” Spider rubs his palm over my jaw and chin, down over the cuts he left on my chest, smearing the cool water on my skin and making me shiver. Then he claps his palm against my thigh, rubbing it, heating the skin.
“Spider, please untie me now.” The pleading in my voice annoys me.
“Not yet.”
I huff. “I’ve been like this for hours. My arms are killing me.”
“You should have thought of that before you stole that wallet. And it’s only been an hour. Stop being so melodramatic.”
Melodramatic? Is he for real right now?
At my sidelong glare, he just grins.
“We have business of our own to take care of before you can have your arms back,” he says.
He moves to the side of the bed so that he’s in full view of me. He slips off his cut and then reaches over his head, pulling his shirt off.
My throat works at the sight of the tattoos that cover his perfect skin. They accentuate the muscles on his ripped form perfectly.
Catching the spider tattoos on his pectoral muscle and shoulder, I look away from them. They remind me far too much of the man who’d opened his heart to me. The man who’d never look at me with the cruelty his eyes hold for me now.
Spider sets his shirt down. Then he flicks open his belt.
I glance up at my arms, taking stock of my position as