Stolen Mafia Bride by Mae Doyle
Marcelo
Tess looks absolutely feral. She’s not sitting on the bed so much as crouching, ready to launch herself at me at any moment. I wouldn’t be surprised if she came at me and tried to claw her way past me to get out the door, but for the fact that she can’t free her leg from her restraint.
She’s tricksy, that’s for sure. Never in my life did I think that she’d be able to slip out of a cuff on her ankle, but I also didn’t think that she’d be willing to spit on herself and then suffer the pain that comes with dragging the metal over your skin and off your foot.
“Don’t you fucking dare,” she hisses, but I don’t stop. I’ll pin her to the bed if I have to so that I can get this on her. She might think that she has claws and that I’m afraid of her, but Tess doesn’t scare me.
Nothing scares me. I’ve never been afraid of anything in my life.
Fear would keep me from doing my job. It would make me weak and open our entire family up to attack from outsiders who want what we have. I’ve never been afraid and I’m sure as hell not going to start now when dealing with Tess, no matter how angry she looks.
“It won’t hurt if you sit still,” I tell her. “But I will do whatever I have to in order to get this on you.”
She glares at me then her eyes dart down to the collar in my hands. It’s the newest prototype, much sleeker, dare I say more delicate, than it used to be. One quick snap around her neck and Tess won’t be able to take a shit in my house without me knowing about it. There’s a small red light blinking on the collar. Next to it is a green one that glows constantly, letting me know that it’s connected to the security system.
Not only does it contain a GPS, which alone would be reason enough to put it on Tess, but it will shock her if she tries to escape the house. There’s an electrical field that surrounds the house designed to keep anyone wearing the collar inside. If, by some stroke of luck, she managed to get out of the house, she’d still have to contend with the second field that’s at the end of the yard.
The field in the house will deliver a shock strong enough to put Tess on her ass and make her think twice about trying to escape again. The field at the perimeter is strong enough to keep her from being able to walk for a while.
Right now, though, I have to get it around her neck. “Listen, Tess,” I tell her, holding it out a bit from my body, “either you put this on yourself or I’ll hold you down and do it.”
“I’m not an animal,” she hisses.
“You sure as hell sound like one right now,” I snap back. “Move your hair out of the way. Consider this the first necklace that I’m giving you.”
She glares at me but does as I ask, slowly lifting her hair up. When her neck is exposed I lean forward, putting the collar around it. The two ends touch and there’s a soft beep as the magnets turn on and the entire thing is locked in place.
“There,” I tell her, taking a step back to admire how she looks, “now you’re good to go.” I pull the handcuff key from my pocket and free her ankle. “You’re the nurse,” I say. “What do you need to treat that?”
She glares at me for another moment before finally tearing her eyes away and looking down at her ankle. I honestly don’t think that she needs much of anything, maybe some pain pills and some ice, but she’s the expert. The last thing that I want to do right now is call in the family doctor, although I will if necessary.
“Ice,” she says, lightly tracing her fingers along the swollen skin where she rubbed the handcuff back and forth in an effort to get free. “Maybe a tensor bandage to wrap it tight, but I won’t know that until I’m up and moving around.” She glances up at me like she’s trying to gauge how much she’s able to ask for and how much I’m willing to give her. “Tylenol?”
“You got it. Stay here and off it. I’ll be right back.” I turn from her, but before I can even make it out of the bedroom, I hear her standing up. When I whip around and see her right behind me, she juts her chin out like she’s daring me to say something.
With a sigh, I walk towards her. “You don’t listen, do you?”
“Not to you.” Her words are brave but she sounds a little nervous. Still, I’m not sure that she’d run even if she wasn’t injured. She’s really nothing like any other woman that I’ve ever met before.
I need to get to know her better.
I want to crawl inside of this woman and discover what makes her tick. She is a jumble of everything that I find desirable. Her pouty lips beg me to kiss them and I want to pull her delicious curves to my body.
But first I need to make sure that she’s healthy and whole. Before she can protest, I bend at the waist and put my shoulder in her stomach, picking her up and throwing her over my back like a sack of potatoes. She lets out an indignant cry but doesn’t fight me when I turn and carry her from the room.
She’s light. Too light. After I get what she needs to take care of her ankle, I’m getting her something to eat.
“You’re a brute,” she mutters, her hands pummeling into my back. It took her a moment to realize that I meant business and that I was going to carry her out of the room.
Reaching up, I caress her ass through her workout clothes before I smack it. She sucks in a gasp as the pain travels through her body. I massage her cheek again as I carry her down the hall to the kitchen.
“Want to keep up that fight, Kitten?” I ask her. “If you want to act like a wild animal then I’m more than happy to treat you like one.”
She doesn’t hit me again but she does bare her teeth at me when I set her down on the counter. I keep medical kits stashed in every room of the house but I wanted to bring her in here because the light is so good. She’ll easily be able to see what’s wrong with her ankle and I can keep an eye on her while I make her something to eat.
“You put a fucking collar on me,” she snaps, yanking the kit from my hands when I hold it out to her. “How the fuck did you think I was going to act?”
“Grateful that I didn’t just kill you, maybe? That’s what the rest of the family wants me to do.”
That shuts her up. She sucks in a breath, looking up at me. Her hair has fallen out of its ponytail now. She’s sweaty and exhausted and in dire need of a shower. The thought of soaping up my little kitten makes me hard again.
“You’re all monsters.” Her hands are rummaging in the medical kit and I glance at them to see if they tremble when she speaks.
They don’t.
“Monsters to some,” I agree. “But you may be surprised to learn that sometimes the people you think are monsters are actually the ones who are good.”
She snorts skeptically but doesn’t glance up at me. “Doubtful. I know a monster when I see one. And I’ve never read a story where the monster turned out to be a good guy. That’s just a lie that monsters tell themselves to make them feel better.”
“Maybe in the stories that you’ve read,” I tell her, lifting her chin so that she has to look at me. Her eyes widen when she realizes how close I am but she doesn’t pull away. “I may be a monster, Tess, but I promise I’m not going to hurt you.”
“Then let me go.” She swallows hard after giving her demand and I drop her chin. Even though I’m no longer touching her, she doesn’t stop staring at me. “Prove that you’re not a monster and let me go.”
I chuckle, reaching out and brushing some of the stray hair from her cheeks. She winces as my fingers touch her skin, like I’m actually burning her, but she doesn’t pull away.
“I said that I wasn’t a monster, Tess. I didn’t say I was a good guy. I’m never letting you go, and that’s just something that you’re going to have to get used to.”
