Crazy Love by MINK

7

Slade

She hasn’t tried to run again. I count that as a win. I have to, given that this kidnapping thing isn’t going like I planned.

I realize I may have been a bit too optimistic with my plan to have her in my bed by now. But at least she’s here with me, safe and under my protection.

“All done.” She finishes wrapping my hand.

“Good.” I stand and return to the stove. Sliding the now cool pan back onto the burner, I turn it on low. I berate myself for admitting to her I have zero experience in the bedroom. Would now be a good time for me to tell her I am one hundred percent sure I can find her clit and please her? Or would that go right into the “creepy” pile with me knowing her cycle? Fuck, I don’t even know. Maybe I should just focus on what I can do to please her right this second. Food.

“You know my favorite food, too?” She watches as I plate up the fried chicken cutlets and then cover them with the warm, lemony sauce.

I grab a lemon from the fridge and cut it open, and add a fresh squeeze to her dish. Then I open the oven and pull out a casserole dish of creamy mashed potatoes topped with her favorite cheeses.

“I should be trying to find a way out of here, but I guess I can wait to escape until after I eat. Wait.” Her tone changes on the last word.

I turn and slide her plate in front of her. “Yes?”

“I’ll sit here and eat this”—her eyes widen as she looks at her plate—“insanely delicious food, but I’ll only do it if you promise you have zero intentions of hurting me.” Her gaze meets mine again.

It breaks my heart that she even has to make that sort of demand. I walk around the kitchen island.

She leans back as I loom over her, then makes a “huh” sound when I take a knee in front of her.

“I swear on my life that I will never harm you, Bunny. I also swear that I will happily give up my life if it means you’re safe.” I put all the conviction I feel into my words.

She swallows, her eyebrows lifting slightly as she does it. “That was—Wow. You really mean all that.”

“Every word. I will never lie to you, I promise. You mean far too much for me to risk losing you.”

She sighs and reaches out to touch my cheek, then pulls back at the last moment. “You know you sound crazy, right? Like, it’s sort of a cute crazy, because it’s all about me. But it’s also… crazy. You know?”

I get to my feet and lean against the counter. “You can think it’s crazy. I mean, I can’t argue with you there. I never in my life thought I’d ever feel anything even close to the way I feel about you.”

She cuts a square of the chicken and puts it in her mouth. When she moans around it, my cock kicks against my jeans.

“Now that I know you won’t hurt me, and that you can definitely cook”—she takes another big bite—“I need to know more about you. We have to figure this out. You can’t keep me locked up here like Rapunzel in a tower, okay? I need to figure out what’s gone haywire in that handsome head of yours to make you do this.”

“Weren’t you supposed to be bedding her by now?” Walter gives me a smug stare from his perch on the counter.

I’ve had it with him. “You’re getting dry food until you change your tone, asshole.”

Bunny stops chewing and gawks at me.

Walter hops up, his tail twitching. “My work here is done.” He snickers and prances out of the kitchen.

“Did you—” She swallows her mouthful of food. “Did you just say that Walter has a tone?”

Look, I’m aware that cats don’t talk. Really. I know this. But maybe cats just don’t talk to other people like they talk to me? I can’t prove or disprove this, but I know two things for certain: Walter speaks to me, and Walter is a fucking asshole.

“He tends to have an attitude with me.” I shrug. “I think it’s normal. He’s probably jealous of me getting all your attention.”

“Pah!” he calls from the hallway. “She’ll always love me best. Cats before cocks, Slade.”

“So you literally believe that my cat speaks to you?”

I told her I wouldn’t lie to her. So I don’t. “Yes.”

She rubs her forehead with two fingers. “We have more to unpack than I thought.”

“Just eat.” I go to the fridge and pour her some sweet tea, her favorite. “I know you’re hungry.”

“It’s really good.” She scoops up some of the mashed potatoes—I used the gold kind, her favorite. “So cheesy, oh my God.” She licks her fork.

Suddenly, it’s extremely hot in this kitchen. I want to swipe her plate away, pick her up, and lay her out on the island for my very own feast.

“You know all these things about me.” She eyes me. “And we’ll have to talk more about that later, because you clearly don’t respect boundaries.”

“No boundaries.” I cross my arms over my chest. “There are absolutely no boundaries between us.”

“Kidnapping is a boundary.” She drinks her tea. I know the perfect amount of sugar for her. Not too sweet, but just right.

“Kidnapping is a means to an end. I just needed you here so I could show you I’m the man for you.”

“Couldn’t you have done that with dinner and a movie?”

“No.” I shrug. “This is the most expedient way to prove my love. I have everything you have ever dreamed of right here. I made this cabin with only one thing in mind. You. Your dreams, your desires, your needs. I want to give you the world you deserve.”

She drains her glass and stands.

I don’t move back, which means she’s only inches away, her face upturned to mine.

“All of that sounds so sweet. It really does.”

I reach down and pick her up, placing her on the counter the way I imagined.

She licks her lips as I move between her thighs. “But this isn’t right. You can’t keep me here. Don’t you see that?”

“I can, and I will.”

“For how long?” Her gaze darts to my mouth and back to my eyes.

“As long as it takes.” I move closer, and when her breath teases across my lips, a shiver of desire ripples down my spine. I need her. I need her so badly that I would do anything to have her—except let her go.

“As long as it takes for what?”

“For you to agree to be my wife.”

Her eyes open wider. “Wha—”

I take her mouth in a kiss. I can’t stop myself. Not when she’s here in my arms, her body warm, her softness my undoing. I sink into her, tasting, touching. She pushes against my chest for only a second before her hands run up my neck and into my hair, exploring me.

I can’t take my hands off her ass, my fingers kneading into her soft flesh as I press my tongue against her lips. She opens for me, and at first, I’m a little lost. But then I get the full taste of her, and I want more. So I take it, kissing her hard as I lean her back until her only support is my arm at her back.

Need like I’ve never known wraps around me like a lasso of fire. Fuck. She’s everything I ever dreamed.

I may have kidnapped Bunny, but it’s already clear that my heart has always been her captive.