wine reminded her of the deep red of blood as it ran through arteries. I’d brushed it off at the time. Now it made me kind of nervous.
She took a sip. “To what do I owe the pleasure, Brad?”
I took the glass from her and set it on the table. “Go get dressed, and we’ll talk.”
She picked the glass back up and took another sip. “You want to talk to me? You’ll do it now, and I won’t be dressed. In fact…”
“What?”
“I don’t think I feel much like talking. That is, unless you get undressed as well.”
“No deal.” I yanked the glass from her again, drips of burgundy splashing onto her naked torso.
“Well”—she batted her eyes—“the bedroom is your domain, and I’m happy to talk in there if you’d like. You still have to get naked, though.”
Fine. If it took getting her into her bedroom to listen to me, that was what I’d do. I lifted my T-shirt over my head.
She sucked in a breath.
“Get in the bedroom. Now.”
She trotted to the closed door and opened it. “You going to finish getting naked now?”
“This is my domain, as you’ve admitted. I give the orders in here.”
She sat down on the bed, her body flushed with heat. “God, yes. You give the orders in here, baby. Always.”
“That’s right. Never forget it.” A pair of handcuffs sat on the dresser. “Where’s the key to these?”
“Top drawer.”
I opened the drawer, found the key quickly, and placed it in my pocket. “Grab a rung of the headboard.”
She moved slowly to the head of the bed.
“Faster!” I yelled.
She nearly jumped and grabbed a rung with her right hand. I quickly cuffed her wrist and clicked the other cuff into place around the rung.
“What are you going to do to me, Brad? I want juicy details.”
“Shut the fuck up, or you’ll get nothing.”
“But—”
I grabbed a roll of duct tape, also on top of her dresser. I ripped off a piece and slammed it over her lips. “I thought I told you to shut the fuck up. Since you can’t be trusted to obey me, I’ll take care of it for you.”
She moved her hips. Yeah, she was turned on. News to her, though. She wasn’t getting any tonight. At least not from me.
“You will answer my questions with a nod or shake of your head. Do you understand?”
She nodded, her eyes wide.
“Are you wet right now?”
She nodded.
“Do you want me to fuck you hard?”
She nodded, this time quickly with jerky movements.
“I’m afraid I’m going to have to disappoint you, then. You’ve been a very bad girl, Wendy.”
She undulated her hips. She knew what I usually did to her when she was bad. I spanked her or flogged her. She loved that.
Not tonight, though. Not ever again.
“More questions first,” I said.
She nodded.
“Did you pull a gun on Sean Murphy?”
Her head remained still, and her cheeks went white.
“You must think I’m stupid. Did you really think he wouldn’t tell me? Now answer me, or you’ll get nothing. Did you pull a gun on Sean Murphy?”
She nodded slowly.
“Did you go to Daphne Wade’s dorm and tell her I’d hurt her?”
Again, whiteness flooded her rosy skin.
“Answer me!”
She nodded again.
Not that I needed her nod to know the truth. I never doubted Murph or Daphne. But now that she’d admitted it, we could move forward.
“You ever go anywhere near either of them again, you’ll regret it,” I said between clenched teeth.
Now her cheeks reddened again, but this wasn’t the turned-on blush of earlier.
I’d seen Wendy angry many times before. We were still in the bedroom, and in here, I was the boss. I moved toward her and unceremoniously ripped the duct tape from her mouth. “Don’t say a fucking word,” I whispered.
She kept her mouth shut.
“Let me tell you what’s going to happen here,” I said. “You’re going to leave Sean Murphy alone. He can take care of himself, but stay the fuck away anyway. He’s not your business.”
She opened her mouth, but I silenced her with a gesture.
“I’m talking now. You’re not to say a damned thing.”
She nodded jerkily.
“Murphy, or anyone else I know at school. You stay the fuck away. Especially from Daphne Wade.”
“You don’t know everything about your sweet, innocent Daphne,” she said.
“Did I tell you to talk?”
She shook her head.
“Right. I did not. Open your mouth again and I’ll tape you back up and leave you this way. You can think about it all night while you’re cuffed to the bed with no one whipping you or