Page 73 of My Sweet Poison
I rose on my toes and let out a short squeak of surprise.
Elijah turned his hard gaze on me.
My cheeks flamed.
Pierce shifted to block me from his judgmental butler’s view. “I trust you’ve taken care of the car?”
“Of course, sir. Sheriff Walsh is waiting in your study to see you. Shall I send someone to fetch the girl? A doctor or policeman, perhaps?”
Pierce swept past the main entrance as Elijah stepped aside. “Serve Walsh some coffee and let him wait. I’ll see him when I’m ready.”
“Already done, sir.”
“On top of it as always, Elijah.”
There was a central table with a floral arrangement the size of a small car. Stained glass windows shattered the light into jeweled shards across dark mahogany paneling. The wallswere draped in heavy damask, the ceilings soared stories above my head, and every surface dripped with crystal, carved wood, and antique curiosities that probably cost more than my entire apartment building.
Everything in this place made me want to explore, everything except for the man holding my arm and Elijah looking at me like I was a rodent a barn cat had dragged inside.
Pierce called back to him. “Elijah, please have Mrs. Bigsby prepare the Blue Room in the East Wing for our guest.”
He bowed. “I have already taken the liberty of having her prepare the Green Room in the family West Wing, Mr. Worthington. It would be far more suitable.”
Pierce’s gaze hardened. “Thank you, but I would like our guest in the Blue Room. Mrs. Bigsby knows.”
Elijah flicked a quick glance between me and Pierce and back again. “Very well, sir.”
What. The. Fuck.
Elijah departed, and I leaned close to Pierce. “So is ‘Blue Room’ code for the dungeon?”
Although we were in America and not medieval England, there wasn’t a doubt in my mind that this place had a dungeon.
Creepy gothic mansion? Check.
Ballroom no one had used since the 1920s? Check.
Cold dark dungeon, complete with shackles and the bones of the last dog that peed in their yard? Double check.
“It’s where I keep naughty girls so I can ruthlessly punish them with no one hearing,” he rasped back as he gave my ass another hard squeeze.
My thighs clenched.
That was the real horror. Our tryst in the woods had been terrifying and incredible, and all I could think was, what would Pierce be like in a bed when he wasn’t battling the elements and a head wound?
This monster had taken everything from me, and my own body couldn’t stop wanting more.
Pierce led me to another set of doors further down the hallway to the left.
He pushed them open and walked several steps into the darkened room.
When I hesitated in the doorway, he turned and held out his hand.
Behind him, a magnificent library loomed.
Bookcases stretched to the ceiling, crammed with gilded leather volumes and faded scrolls. A grand black marble fireplace dominated the far wall, its mantel lined with antique silver candle holders. Deep armchairs and reading nooks filled the shadows.
Oh, my god. The man literally had the library fromBeauty and the Beast!
