UNDER BY DURESS (9 page)

He moaned. “I wouldn’t dare . . .”

~ Chapter Seven ~

“What are the odds of meeting another bear?” Rossini asked as Tahima helped him to negotiate a particularly steep drop.

“Long. It’s rare to encounter them. Two in one day would be really unfair.”

She checked her bearings. They had been walking two hours and were making much better time now Rossini’s hands were cuffed in front of him. They were definitely on the right track. Gramps had used to help her down this slope when she was a kid. The forest tended to look the same, but as long as they stuck to the trail she would recognize the shortcut down.

“Where have you climbed?” he asked.

“Mainly Shenandoah National Park. I climb walls when I’m in the city to keep fit.”

“New York City? Is that where you work?”

“Yes.”

“So are you on vacation?”

“I’ve taken three months leave to sort out Gramps’ lodge. Going to renovate it and then rent it out.”

“You don’t want to live here?”

“I love it here, but it gets lonely. I like people around me.”

“Family?”

“A brother. He lives abroad.”

“What does he do?”

Tahima glanced at him suspiciously. “Why do you want to know?”

“I’m not going to have him knocked off, Tahima. Any more than I would you.”

“But you could if you wanted to.”

Rossini stopped dead. He looked genuinely upset. “No, not even if I wanted to. That was my father’s way. Not mine.”

She didn’t answer and they plodded on for another mile in silence. Rossini was obviously smarting from her accusation, so it didn’t surprise her when he picked up the conversation where they’d left off.

“Have you any idea how hard it is to prove you’re not the man who sired you?”

“That’s a strange way to describe your own father.”

“I don’t hate my father, you know. I despise him. He was cruel and vicious.”

“Dominating?”

“That too. Do you think I’m cruel and vicious?” His voice was low. The question was important to him.

Tahima stopped and faced him. “No, I don’t,” she said honestly. “I think you can be controlling and commanding, but not cruel. I’m sorry I assumed you were, just because you’re a Rossini.”

He smiled, almost shyly. “Well, I guess that’s progress.”

She couldn’t resist baiting him a little. “And I can’t deny you’re as attractive as you are dangerous.”

She continued walking, forcing him to catch her up.

“Why do you say dangerous?”

“I bet you’re ruthless. Get what you want. Anything ever thwarted you, Rossini?”

“Not until yesterday.”

Tahima stumbled.

He smirked as he went past her. “If my hands weren’t cuffed, I could have caught you.”

“Well, it wasn’t necessary. And you’re fine, too. So don’t start.”

“Right now, maybe. I’ll wait to see what’s around the next corner.”

“I got us this far.”

“We nearly drowned.”

“I wasn’t intending to go that way.
You
wandered off. Are you trying to goad me?”

“No. And I won’t wander off again. I learned that lesson. But what you did to me afterwards . . . That was worth every bit of discomfort you put me through first.”

Butterflies invaded her stomach. She caught his arm, pulling him to a halt. He turned to face her.

“Why are you saying this?” she asked.

His expressive eyes darkened, but this time with desire. “I’m trying to explain how I feel about you, Tahima. Once you hand me over to the sheriff, I might not see you for a while. But I want you to know that what happened back there will stay between us, and in a good way. Remember that.”

Tahima didn’t know what to say. Or how she felt. The thought of not seeing him again was depressing.

“I won’t forget you,” he added.

“Why do you say that?”

“Because I don’t want to be the second man to break your heart. And this situation we are in is difficult. Everything twisted around.”

Tahima decided this conversation had spun out of control. He was talking like there was something between them. They had known each other less than twenty-four hours. Nothing could exist between them. Thirty minutes of sex and punishment meant nothing.

Tears pricked her eyes. Two years meant nothing.

And yet she couldn’t let it go. “Twisted around?”

For a moment, he didn’t look like he was going to answer. Then he raised his cuffed hands and stroked the under curve of her jaw with his fingers. “I think you’ve been hardcore submissive for some time, Tahima. I dabble in the BDSM scene. I enjoy some aspects. I definitely enjoy getting my way. I love making a sub happy. But you’ve experienced a darker side. Stephen broke the trust and now you’re flailing.”

Tahima’s fists clenched. Bile churned in her stomach. He had no right. “
Stop right there
. You don’t know anything about me, or what I’ve done.”

Bull-headed bravado settled on his face, but his hands dropped away. “Do what you like, Tahima, but you are going to hear this. Because while you don’t talk about it, whatever that little shit did to you will continue to mess with your head.”

Tahima pulled out her stun gun.

He backed up a step. “That won’t stop me saying what you need to hear.”

“Then I’ll gag you.”

He paled. “You’re kidding.”

Her heart raced. She wasn’t kidding. More tears welled. He was battering at a dam inside her she hadn’t known existed. “Don’t make me, Rossini. I don’t want to.”

“Mannaggia,” he said softly. His eyes dropped to her Gramps’ boots. Finally, he looked up. “Okay, Tahima. I don’t want to be gagged. You win. Again.”

The relief left her weak at the knees. “Good. Start walking. I don’t want to look at you for a while.”

His lips thinned at her waspish tone, but he did as he was told.

She watched him stalk off as much as his leg irons allowed him to. Tahima wanted to crumple to the ground and cry, but anger, or pride, wouldn’t let her. Instead, she followed Rossini slowly, fighting once more to bury the memories of her life with Stephen. Memories that had lurked at the back of her mind for months.

Stephen hadn’t just hurt her. He had damaged her.

*****

A whole hour passed before Tahima started to pay more attention to their surroundings. Rossini had followed the path and had covered the ground fast given his curtailed stride. She had gradually lagged behind. She hadn’t minded, but now they were nearing the canyon she ran to catch him up.

“Stop.”

“What now?” he griped.

Tahima began parting the undergrowth to his left. She took off her backpack and used it like a shield to force her way through. “Stay close,” she advised him.

He closed in behind her. “Sure you’re not lost?”

“My. Aren’t you testy?” She emerged above the canyon. “This is the easiest way down.”

He stepped up behind her and looked over the rock ledge they were on. “Merda.”

“It’s not even ten foot.” She started sorting through the climbing equipment.

Rossini sat on a rock, cuffed hands resting on his knees. “I can’t be bothered to argue.” He watched her work. “I suppose there will be a snake in residence in this cave, or a mountain lion; something ridiculously lethal that will bring this endless misery to a premature, but fitting end.”

Tahima turned to stare at him. “You bitch like an old woman.”

He scowled at her and she decided to ignore him. He was in a foul mood and now wasn’t the time to provoke him. She double-checked that the two pitons that would support them were firmly embedded in the rocky ledge. Then she tugged hard on the long rope she’d secured to them before throwing the free end over the cliff edge.

“Well, I’m ready.” She planted her hands on her hips, the shorter lengths of rope hanging from her hands. “You’re going to have to stand up.”

He offered her his cuffs with a petulant expression and she hauled him up. At least, this time he knew what to expect. Once she’d harnessed them both up, she placed the rope in both of his hands.

“Just sit and stay upright. I’ll lower you down.”

He nodded, expertly walking back over the edge until he was settled in position. Tahima began releasing rope until it went slack. She looked over.

He stood looking up at her. “Ten foot my ass.”

She grinned. A minute later, she stood beside him removing his harness. “You’ll be pleased to know there’s no more climbing.”

He studied their new surroundings. “How far to this cave?”

She pointed left and he immediately set off walking down the canyon. Tahima left the rope length they had used to rappel down. She wouldn’t need it and it might prove useful to the next person prepared to force their way through the shrubs.

Dusk was setting by the time they reached the cave.

“You got your flash?” Rossini asked, clearly expecting the worse.

His nervousness restored her humor. “Do you have a phobia for spiders you want to tell me about?” She ignored the dirty look he threw her and got out her flashlight. She wouldn’t mind knowing the cave was uninhabited, too.

A careful search of the cave revealed no critters. She hadn’t really expected any. The cave had always been unoccupied whenever she’d passed by in the past. On the spur of the moment, she went back outside and took out her cell phone to check for a signal. She got nothing. Rossini came to look, too.

“Hoping for a rescue before dark?” she asked him.

“Jail’s looking more and more appealing.” He raised his cuffs. “Get these off for a start.”

She frowned then slipped the cell phone into her jeans pocket. “I’ll make it easier tonight. No bed here though.”

“Water and oatcakes would be something.”

“I’m going to get firewood while it’s light.”

“So there
are
critters.”

“A fire won’t do any harm. And the cave will get cold.”

“I can carry,” he offered.

Suddenly, Rossini looked like a boy on his first camping trip.

*****

They managed to collect enough wood to last the night. Tahima broke out the matches. The kindling caught straight away.

“Happy now?” she asked Rossini as he settled in front of it.

“Hot sex would make it perfect.”

Tahima actually thought about it. She pictured his teeth grazing her nipples. Her breasts swelled. Nerve ends fired in concert.

“Please tell me you’re thinking about sex and not gagging me,” he said quickly.

She smiled at that—gagging was obviously a limit. Hard or soft she wasn’t sure. “I was thinking sex. No games. But one hand stays cuffed. I’ll stake a piton in the ground.”

His eyes lit up. “I get to touch, no leg irons.”

Tahima yielded that one and raised him. “No mouth to mouth.”

His face fell. “Why?”

“Keeps it impersonal.”

“I see.”

He didn’t see, she could tell, but a kiss from this man would undo her completely. Just the thought of his tongue exploring her mouth was reducing her to jelly. They had no future and she needed reminding of that.

Tahima looked at him as she poked the fire to life with a stick. His body was screaming his desire for her, and the scorching expression in his eyes was playing electrical havoc on her senses. Trepidation mixed with anticipation. She was going to give Rossini almost free rein with her body.

Suddenly, she was horny as hell.

“I don’t know what I’m most hungry for,” he said. “You or food. Although I could murder a rare steak right now.”

Tahima threw the stick onto the flames and ran her gaze up and down his body. He needed to be naked. “Thinking about it will only make it worse.”

“The steak? Or me?” he asked, his voice husky.

Her eyes shot to his. The lust lurking in their dark depths made her catch her breath. When he raised his cuffs towards her, she smiled and hauled him up. He stepped close enough to snag the waistband of her jeans with his cuffed hands and reel her in. Tahima was physically incapable of resisting him. His fingertips seared her skin wherever they touched flesh. She desperately wanted those hands to move lower.

“It’s going to kill me not to kiss you,” he said.

She reached up and put a hand to the nape of his neck then tilted his head towards her. Her lips touched the corner of his mouth then hovered above his lips before traveling to the other side.

Rossini gasped and tugged her T-shirt from her jeans. A thumb rubbed her tummy sending shivers up her spine. The handcuffs prevented her pressing up against his hard length. Frustrated, she rose on tiptoe to explore the soft skin at his throat with her tongue. He tasted salty. She wanted more. She wanted it now.

She unbuttoned his shirt, her fingers caressing his smooth chest and then his navel until she was pulling his shirt free from his pants. She pushed his shirt aside, exposing well-defined pecs. Her mouth returned to the hollow of his throat, and continued its journey before detouring right to his rigid nipple. He bucked when she grasped it in her teeth.

The involuntary movement was what she had been waiting for.

He moaned when she stepped back. He looked magnificent—horny and vulnerable.

“Wait there,” she whispered.

She scattered the contents of the backpack searching for the final piton and hammer. His eyes followed her every movement. She drove the piton into split rock near a sandy area that she hoped would be more giving than the rock outside the crystal cave had been.

Then she stood in front of him and slowly went down on bended knee. When Rossini lifted his cuffed hands above her head, she held her breath. The stun gun was out of immediate reach. He could fight her for it. Knock her out with one blow.

She unbuckled his belt with trembling fingers.

“
Cazzo
, Tahima,” he murmured, his voice rough with need.

Her fears subsided. He wasn’t thinking of anything else but what she was doing to him. Her pulse quickened. “Patience, Rossini.”

She pulled the leather strap smoothly through the loops holding it in place, enjoying the sight of his crotch stretching the material tight. She threw the belt aside, and then leaned forward to grab his zipper with her teeth. She tugged the zipper down as her fingers unhitched the clasps. He shifted to keep his balance.