Page 69 of Ruthless King (Mount Trilogy 1)
I tug at my bindings. “Are you . . . are you going to leave me like this when she comes?” I heard him request a female, and was actually thankful for that.
“Will you behave if I let you free
?”
“I hate that word,” I tell him. “You make me sound like a child.”
He lowers to a crouch and reaches for the buckle on one of my ankles before rephrasing his question. “Are you going to make me regret not gagging you and keeping you bound? Because the consequences of your actions over the next hour will affect not only you, but someone else’s life.”
I let several hammering heartbeats pass before I nod. “You have nothing to worry about.”
At that reply, he huffs out a laugh and unbuckles that ankle and then the other before moving to free my wrists.
“Why is that funny?”
“Someday, I might tell you.”
When my legs are free, I slide them shut, well aware I’m going to have to spread them again, but this time for a stranger with a needle. I’m finally going to get the naughty piercing I’ve wanted since college but was never brave enough to actually get.
Is that what Mount’s doing? Pushing me outside my comfort zone?
Undoubtedly.
And I like it.
Within fifteen minutes, there’s a knock at the door and Mount calls out, “Enter.”
The bookcase slides open, and Scar escorts in a woman who isn’t a stranger.
“Delilah?”
Her eyes widen beneath her bright blue bangs. “Holy shit. I didn’t see that coming.”
“And you’ll keep your mouth shut about it,” Mount says to her, his tone threatening.
Delilah looks from me to him, her posture stiffening. “I’m only doing this if she’s willing. If this is something you’re trying to force on her, you’ll have to find someone else.”
Mount’s expression hardens to granite like it did this morning, and I wonder if I’m the only person who sees the other side of him. What Magnolia told me this afternoon makes me think that’s the case, and I’m not sure what to do with that knowledge yet.
“Do you want to live until morning?” Mount asks Delilah, and she bites down on her lip.
There’s no way I’m going to let him hurt her. For the first time, I modulate my tone before I speak to him, in consideration of my recent discovery that he isn’t the same man when there’s someone else in the room.
“She’s a friend. It’s okay.” I reach out a hand and catch the arm of his suit jacket to give it the slightest tug.
Mount drops his gaze to where I’m touching him before dragging it up to my face with a new intensity.
“She won’t say anything,” I say quietly.
The weight of his silence nearly crushes us all. Finally, he speaks. “Then we have no issue.”
When I release my hold on his arm, he flexes his fingers before balling them into a fist. He uncurls them a second later and shoves his hands into the pockets of his suit pants.
I look across the room to where Delilah stands. Her posture is tense, as if she’s poised to run for the exit, and I can’t say I blame her. The Mount she’s subjected to is the ruthless bastard everyone else knows.
“I want to do this,” I tell her.
“You’re sure?”
