Total pages in book: 65
Estimated words: 59320 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 297(@200wpm)___ 237(@250wpm)___ 198(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 59320 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 297(@200wpm)___ 237(@250wpm)___ 198(@300wpm)
The fact was, Erik had grown soft on her, and he knew it. Soft, though his cock seemed to grow exponentially harder at even the thought of her dark, lustrous hair or full, inviting lips. The way she looked at him, as if daring him to do his worst, not because she thought she deserved it but because she was curious, made Erik mad with lust and desire.
It didn’t take more than a few hard strokes from his hand before he came loudly in his bed. He didn’t even have the frame of mind to be embarrassed by his outcry. He wiped the mess up with a delicately woven pillow and tossed it across the room, not feeling the relief he craved. He still wanted her, still thought of her, and had no idea how to “break her in” without hating himself for it.
If only she could want it, he thought as he sprawled uneasily in his bed, the smooth sheets providing no comfort. If only she knew she’d like it.
And then, the idea came to him. It was perhaps more forceful and brutal than he preferred, but he could only hope she wouldn’t hold it against him when he was done with her.
If he could ever be done with her.
The next morning, Erik awoke with the rising sun, still hidden behind patchy layers of low-lying fog, and started moving. There were no souls stirring in the early hours, thanks to the copious amounts of wine the men had shared the night before, and Erik was pleased to see there were a few casks left. He snatched one off the opulent dining table with one hand, keeping a coil of thin rope in the other.
He went down the narrow, rocky stairs to the dungeon, shuddering at the damp and darkness. He was glad they were moving off that day and hoped Rolf would allow him to keep Cherine in a proper room in the next manor. She was lucky she hadn’t caught an illness while she’d been down there.
He paused at her thick door, debating on whether to knock, then decided the sound of him unlocking was warning enough. Besides, as much as he wanted Cherine, he couldn’t forget for a second that she’d do anything to escape and probably wouldn’t bat an eye if he wound up dead in the process. With that in mind, he pressed the door open and dropped to a crouch, just in case she was on the other side, ready to club him with the washing brush or a leftover plate.
He wasn’t too far off. The minute the door was wide enough, Cherine made a run for it. Erik leaped up and caught her in his arms. She screamed, and he quickly rammed the piece of rope in her mouth to stifle it. He spun her around, a dance of panic in the darkness, making the rope cross behind her head. He brought it down to her arms, where he quickly tied her wrists together, much like he did with his belt before. He was foolish to have removed it in the first place, but she had been so weak up until then; he didn’t think she was much of a threat.
And she wasn’t, not now that Erik had her essentially muzzled, her arms tied together. He held her roughly by her arm, trying to convey his strength, the fact that he couldn’t take things like this lightly. She moaned and sputtered against the rope in her mouth, but as long as she was breathing, he didn’t care. He was actually glad she chose to fight back; it was going to make the next part easier.
Erik took her to the corner of the room, where a single wooden chair sat. He ignored the terror in her eyes, thankful that the light from the torches in the hall didn’t travel quite this far.
“I’m not going to hurt you, Cherine,” he said, and she muttered something violently in return. “But I can’t have you trying to escape. And I can’t have you screaming either. You may think I’m a monster, but I can assure you, the men out there are far worse. Far, far worse.”
This calmed her down for a moment before she realized he was trying to sit her down. She bucked and squirmed, but Erik was fast with his hands, even in the near dark, and in moments, he had her bottom on the seat, the rope wrapped around her and the back of the chair.
He went for her legs next, and Cherine responded by kicking him right in the jaw. He bit down hard from the impact, tasting blood, and he couldn’t help but glare at her. Luckily, he knew the taste of blood would soon be replaced.
He grabbed her legs and tied them as far apart from each other as they could go, hooking them around the corners of the chair, then stood back and looked down at her, seeing only the rough shape of her body and the glint of torchlight in her eyes.