I will use him to make me stronger, better—invincible.

I wanted to become a woman whose arsenal included lust and sensuality, regardless of my slight frame and inexperience.

“Kiss me,” I murmured, tugging my hair gently in his hold.

Jethro shook his head, his fingers tightening around my ponytail. Tracing the tip of his tongue once more on my bottom lip, he whispered, “I don’t kiss my enemies.”

My heart became an inferno, sending flames blazing with every beat. “You just fuck them?”

His mouth twitched into a roguish smile. “Only if they beg.”

His body pressed against mine, his thigh going purposely between my legs.

My eyes snapped closed as he rocked against my throbbing clit. “Would you beg, Ms. Weaver? How hot and frustrated do I have to make you before you’ll beg me to drive my cock inside you?”

My brain spasmed at the thought. The answer? Not long. I would beg right now if it meant he would forget about the debt and take me back to his room. I wanted to see where he slept. I wanted to infiltrate the home ground of my opponent and undermine him right at the source.

“You’re all talk. You won’t even kiss me, let alone fuck me.”

Jethro yanked my head back. Pain shot down my spine. “How wrong you are, Ms. Weaver.” Then a vindictive smile replaced the black desire. “Very clever, though, I must admit.”

I blinked, trying to dispel the fog of lust and keep up with him. “Why?”

His thigh slid out from between my legs; his fingers untwined from my hair. “Very clever to make me focus on other things than the true reason of why we’re here.” Stepping back and sucking in a deep breath, he dragged a hand through his hair. “You keep on surprising me, and I keep on despising what you show me.”

I laughed tightly. “Doesn’t look like you despise me.” I cocked my chin at the straining erection in his trousers. “I think you like me, and despite what you’re going to do and who you are, I still find you attractive.”

And believe me, if I had a cure for that insanity, I’d take it without hesitation.

Cruelly, he snatched my free wrist, wrapping the remaining cuff tightly. Quickly securing the buckle, he muttered, “The way you threw yourself into my brother’s arms hints you might have a desire for all Hawks.” His breath was hot in my ear as he spun me to face the post. “You’re just a conniving manipulator.”

I cried out as he disappeared behind the post and hoisted my arms high with the aid of a hidden winch. Another jerk and my wrists burned in the supple leather. My torso smashed against the damp wood as my body weight transferred from my toes to my arms.

“How does that feel?” Jethro asked, coming back around.

My shoulders screamed; my blood throbbed with effort to reach my raised fingertips. I dangled with no chance at escape.

How does it feel?

It fucking hurt! It made my previous thoughts of lust seem ridiculous.

All concepts of seducing him disappeared. I only wanted this over fast, so I could admit defeat and lick my wounds in private.

“I asked you a question,” Jethro growled, his hand stroking my spine.

I flinched at his touch. It was sacrilegious, because even now it still made my core clench with want. “It hurts. Is that what you want to hear?”

Jethro’s torso pressed against my back, squashing my cheek against the damp wood of the post. The crispness of plants and the musky scent of earth overpowered his smell, giving me a welcome reprieve from the man who drove me mad.

“You look rather tempting like this, Ms. Weaver. Perhaps it will be me begging before this is done.”

I couldn’t stop my skin shivering with awareness or my heart seizing with anxiety and desire.

“Don’t touch me,” I hissed.

With a small laugh, he pushed away, ceasing contact.

I twisted my neck, never letting him from my sight. I hated having him so close. I hated that I had no power to stop him. I hated how he stood there, wrapped in silence, watching me like some mystery he had yet to solve.

We didn’t speak, waiting to see who would break first.

Finally, after a minute, he said softly, “I’m going to give you a history lesson, Ms. Weaver. You’ll listen closely and understand why you’re repaying this certain debt.” Pacing, he added, “Every debt will begin this way. The history will be told, then the debt repaid. You’ll be informed of what your ancestors did to mine. You will apologise and repent for their past sins, and only then will the extraction take place.”

Coming close, his body heat burned me. His words were tiny whips lashing my ear. “If you do not repent and permit the debt to be paid, you will be beaten. If you do not accept why a debt has to be paid, the extraction will be taken twice. Do you understand?”

Twice?

Double horror.

Double terror.

Then…I laughed.  Morbid, yes, but the image in my head was comical.

“You mean to tell me, you’ll behead me twice?” I smiled. “Are you necromancers as well as lunatics? Please, inform me on how that will work.”

His hand lashed out, spanking my denim-clad behind.

I groaned, jolting in the binds. I couldn’t unravel the painful smarting from his strike and the throbbing in my nipples and clit.

Shit. Don’t let him see that he’s broken my mind already. If he touched me, felt how drenched I was, I would never live with myself again.

“I’ve had enough of your mouth, Ms. Weaver.”

“Are you sure? Didn’t seem that way in the forest with my lips around you. Did you know that was my first ever blowjob?”

He sucked in a breath. His hand landed in my hair, fisting the thickness and burning my scalp. His lips tickled my ear as he whispered, “You keep taunting me with what happened in the forest. Do you think just because you swallowed that I’m what…grateful? Sentimental? In love?” He shook me. “What, Ms. Weaver? Shall I not remind you it was you who clenched around my tongue so hard you almost fucking bruised me? Every lick and fucking taste I had of your pussy, I drove you wild.” He trailed the tip of his tongue from my ear to my cheek.

I trembled, every part of me tightening.

“We’re on even ground. Orgasm for an orgasm. Don’t think it gives you power, because it doesn’t.”

I breathed hard, trying to find some resemblance of the hatred I’d nursed. But he pressed his body flush against mine, grinding his erection into the small of my back.