Shockingly, Mount pulls out my chair and pushes it in while I take my seat at the massive dining room table that looks like it could easily seat twenty people. His place setting is at the head, and I’ve been seated directly to his left.

I don’t make eye contact with him as I sit, because I swear the man can read my mind.

To my shame, his parting words made me wet enough that there was no need to search for lube to slide the toy back inside me where he demanded.

What the hell is wrong with me?

I should be disgusted and repulsed. Screaming for someone to let me out of this damn house—which I still haven’t gotten to see because Scar hooded me and carried me to dinner. But instead, all I can do is picture Mount grabbing a fistful of my hair and holding it tight while he bends me over the table and mounts me like his name suggests.

Again, what the hell is wrong with me?

There’s fucking with someone’s head, and then there’s what Mount is doing to me. I don’t think a name has been invented for it yet. I’m pretty sure it’s not Stockholm Syndrome, because I definitely hate him and would run in the opposite direction the second I got the chance, if there weren’t threats hanging over the heads of my friends and family like guillotine blades. Then there are the two warring parts of me—the one that wants what he threatens, and the one that rebels against every word of it.

“Do I need to check?” Mount’s deep voice whispers in my ear as he releases my chair.

Before I can respond, the toy buzzes to life and I jolt in my seat, giving him his answer.

“I didn’t think so.”

I want to slap that arrogant smirk off his face, but I can’t even imagine the consequences for that action. Thankfully, the vibrator stills before the first course is served. By the time I’ve finished spooning up my oyster soup in silence and it’s been cleared away, I know what I have to do.

“We need to talk terms.”

The efficient waitstaff serve the salad course before Mount responds. “The only terms to be discussed were those of your willing submission. You agreed. End of discussion.”

I drop my fork and the silver clanks against the delicate china plate. I’m too pissed to give proper thought to how strange it is that a man as brutal as Mount would surround himself with such finery.

“No. That’s not how negotiations work.”

He raises one dark eyebrow at my response, and I have to wonder if that’s an ability bestowed only upon arrogant men specifically for moments like this.

“Besides, this conversation is about the end of our bargain. I need to know exactly how long you’re going to keep me here, because you’re screwing with my life and my business.”

The smirk that tugs at the corners of his mouth is one I’m beginning to recognize, and it never precedes anything good for me. “So eager to repay your debt and be done with me?”

“Absolutely.” I spit the word out like something foul.

Mount, dressed in a suit that fits him to perfection as usual, rests his forearms on the table and leans in. “There is no end to our bargain until I’m done with you.”

Rage, my familiar friend, builds in my belly. “And when will that be?” I try to keep the question as civil as possible.

His smirk turns lopsided, throwing fuel on the fire. “I’ll make sure to send you notice in writing.”

If my eyeballs could shoot flames across the table, Mount would be incinerated in mere moments.

“That’s bullshit,” I say, my bravery growing.

All traces of humor fade from his face. Did I cross the line?

“No, what’s bullshit is that my repayment is in the form of pleasure, and I haven’t gotten a single fucking bit of it from you yet.”

He shoves his chair back from the table, rattling the china and sending water spilling over the edges of our crystal goblets.

“You’ve got a bum hand, but your mouth sure as hell works.” He nods down at his lap. “Get on your knees.”

My lungs heave with fury, because the only thing I can picture right now is Brett sitting behind a desk, ordering Temperance to suck his dick in order to get a raise.

They’re all the same.

“Go fuck yourself, Mount. I’ll never get on my knees for you.” I mean every single word of what may be the most dangerous vow I’ve ever made.

A muscle in his jaw flexes as his nostrils flare. A server enters the room quietly, no doubt to check to see if we’re ready for the next course.

“Get the fuck out.”

His order sends adrenaline dumping into my bloodstream, because he never drops his gaze from mine. I shove away from the table, ready to run. I thought I was a stand-and-fight girl, but it turns out I’m more of a flight girl.

The server disappears, shutting the door with a decisive click, but I don’t even clear my chair before Mount slams his palm on the table, making the china jump.

“Not you. You’re not leaving this room until I get what I want. You made the deal; you honor the deal. Willingly.”

“I hate you.” The truth rings in all three words.

“Then I guess we’re gonna have a lot of hate-fucking until I’m done with you.”

The vibrator springs to life at the highest, most intense setting. It pulsates inside me, adding a surge of lust to the maelstrom of emotions rioting through me, overwhelming everything else.

“How long do I let it go before I stop it and deny you?” His question is rhetorical, and besides, I’m incapable of answering. “As many times as I’ve been denied access to that sweet cunt? Or until you beg me to come?”

My fingers curl into the lace-and-linen tablecloth as I try to hold on to some semblance of my sanity.

How can I want this man? I hate him.

But I’ve never craved anyone more.

He changes the settings over and over, driving me to the edge and stopping each time right before I come. I’m ready to scream in frustration because it’s only a matter of moments before I break, and I refuse to let him bring me to my knees, literally or figuratively.

“Just fuck me already and let me come, you sadistic son of a bitch!” The shrill voice echoes in the massive room, and I hardly recognize it as my own.

“Fucking finally,” he says, and I’m too far gone to care about the triumph in his tone. Mount rips the tablecloth aside, sending the china and crystal crashing to the floor.

He reaches for me at the same moment I step toward him. Both of his hands reach out and lock around my waist, yanking me closer before lifting me onto the table between his spread legs.

Mount doesn’t bother with the slit in the dress. He shreds the delicate silk down the center, starting right at the deep V neckline, until it floats to the floor in tatters. His massive hand closes around my neck, and he presses me down until my spine touches the table.

“You push me to the edge like no woman ever has, and now I’m going to fuck you like I’ve planned from day one. The way you’ve been dying to be fucked your whole life.”

“Arrogant bastard.” My words are quiet, muted by his hold on me, even though he’s not even remotely cutting off my air supply.

“I’m ruthless, not arrogant, and you’re about to learn the difference.”

Mount withdraws the hand at my throat to rip off his suit coat and then tugs the toy from my body. He holds it up, once again in obvious satisfaction because it’s dripping from me.

“You fucking love this. You don’t just want it, you need it. And I’m the only man who’s going to give it to you.”

He shoves down the zipper of his pants and the top button goes flying. I don’t get a chance to see his cock before he buries it to the hilt with a single thrust.

“More.” That plea can’t be falling from my lips. I would never beg like that.

I’m aware of nothing but the wild lust surging higher and faster as he stretches me to the point where pleasure blurs with pain, and it sends me soaring. My inner muscles clamp down, and in a single moment, I’m no longer lying flat on my back on the dining room table, but instead I’m wrapped around him and tearing off his shirt like he shredded my dress. Any thought of my injured hand is obliterated as I dig my nails into his shoulders and claw at him like a wild animal in heat as my orgasm crashes through me with more ferocity than anything I’ve ever experienced.

Mount growls as his hands drop to my ass, gripping my cheeks as he lifts me off the table and pumps into me over and over. I don’t know or care if I’m leaving marks, but I’ll be damned if I beg him for anything again, especially to let me come. I close my teeth over the thick muscle of his shoulder in an attempt to muffle my screams.

I fail, but there’s no way Mount can hear it over his own roar as his cock pulses inside me, spilling his release.

As soon as I can form a rational thought, it’s—

Holy fuck, we didn’t use a condom.