Tugging off his tee-shirt, he tossed it into the corner then headed for his private bathroom. He couldn’t hear water or movement in the bathroom so on opening the door he wasn’t surprised to see her sitting on the floor motionless wrapped in a blue towel.

‘Move,’ he said, bobbing his head back into the bedroom.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, facing the bathroom door, he waited a few seconds while she pulled herself onto her feet and came into the bedroom. She stopped a couple of feet from the bathroom.

‘Close that door then come and stand here,’ he said, pointing to a spot on the floor near him.

Her velvet brown eyes simmered with a seething frustration that she didn’t voice. She closed the door and came to the place he indicated.

‘We start here, forget who you were before and everything that happened to you. This is the moment your life begins. As your owner I have a responsibility to you too. I’ll take care of your wellbeing, your food, shelter, and necessities. You’ll also live in luxury, I have the ability to give you anything and everything you could ever want.’ The money he had was accumulated from his work with the Stark’s and everything around them belonged to Maurice, but she didn’t need to know that.

‘You can’t buy me,’ she said. ‘You’ve got the wrong girl if you think that I’ll fall for that.’

‘Do you think we’re gonna have you turning tricks?’

‘I make the choices in my life. The only thing that I have to do is what I choose to do myself.’

‘You have a clean slate,’ he said. ‘You’ll never have to fear enemies while you’re under my claim. Being my property has its advantages.’

‘I see none,’ she said. ‘Let me go home.’

‘I am your home,’ he said, pouncing up from the bed to loom over her. ‘You’ll do exactly what I tell you without question or I’ll make you regret every minute you breathe. You’re gonna become so dependent on me that you’ll forget how to live without me and being apart from me will cause you physical pain.’

‘Never! I won’t ever surrender my free will.’

Smiling down at her, the growl of perverse pleasure in his gut came from the knowledge that he’d break that fiery spirit. He would own her wrath and direct it as he saw fit. ‘You’ve already lost it, because your life belongs to me. I have the power of life and death.’

‘You’ll kill me if I don’t comply?’

‘What other use do I have for you?’ he asked. ‘Drop the towel.’

‘Not a chance.’

‘We can play this game, but you know I’ll win. Do you want to go back to the basement for five days? It makes no difference to me if you rot down there.’

‘So drop my towel and then what? You’ll force me to have sex with you?’

‘No one has forced you into anything. Everything that has happened here, has been your own choice.’

‘It wasn’t my choice to be bound in your basement.’

‘It was after day one. I don’t know what being down there achieves for any of us, but it was your choice not to do as you were told, that decision resulted in you going back down there. You were given a chance to make the right decision.’

‘I won’t have sex with you,’ she said. ‘I won’t.’

‘You are the only person who has mentioned sex,’ he said. ‘All I want you to do is drop the towel. When you behave you’ll be allowed to sleep out of the basement and that means sleeping in my bed. When you are in my bed you will be naked at all times, unless I stipulate otherwise.’

‘You’re sick.’

‘You’ve never been naked for a guy before? I find that difficult to believe.’

‘I’ve been naked for men I’m attracted to.’

‘And you’re not attracted to me?’

Taking hold of her wrist, he ran her fingertips over his steely abs. ‘What are you doing?’ she asked, trying to pull away, but she was feeble against his strength.

‘If it wasn’t for what you’re going through, you would be attracted to me. You were attracted to me in Vegas.’

‘Your ego is showing again,’ she said, but she wasn’t trying to pull away now. Loosening his grip on her just slightly, she let her fingers drift up and down of their own accord.

‘I noticed you in Vegas,’ he said, keeping his naturally husky tone soft.

‘You kept staring at me,’ she said, her eyes flitted down, but he pushed her chin up with a finger to make her look at him.

‘You noticed me too.’

‘Your eyes are electric blue,’ she said. ‘I didn’t think the sapphire glow was natural.’

‘I’m all real,’ he said. ‘Are you?’

‘I don’t wear contacts,’ she answered.

‘I wasn’t talking about your eyes.’ Far as he could tell she didn’t see his hand coming, so when he took a handful of breast and squeezed she jumped back.

‘Don’t touch me!’

‘You’ve touched me.’

This declaration confused her, though he knew that the disorientation and bad decision making would be influenced by her starvation and dehydration, the effects of which would still be lingering.

‘I didn’t… I…’ Her confusion gave him scope to manoeuvre.

‘Drop the towel, show me that body, and you’ll have a reward. Would you like some more food and something to drink?’ She nodded. ‘You know the rules. Let me hear your answer.’

‘Yes.’

‘Then drop the towel or its back to the basement, I’m getting bored with this now.’ He prepared himself for the latter then after three tense beats her hands fell to her sides and the towel dropped to the floor.

‘You’re a clever girl,’ he said, stepping back to check out the details of her body. ‘Maybe this will work out between us after all.’

Her tits were high and round with dark, dusky nipples that lilted up toward him, in perfect placement for his mouth. They had to be double-D and her hunched forward shoulders told him that she wasn’t proud of the oversized beauties, but the vibrating pressure building in his groin was damn proud.

‘Push your shoulders back.’ She did a half-hearted job. ‘Unless you want me to touch you, get them all the way back.’ She did as she was told and thrust her chin up at the same time. ‘Better.’

He took his time examining the abs he’d already seen then further down to her crotch where there wasn’t a hair in sight.

‘Your friend gave me cream and told me to take it all off, I assume you’re into that.’

Though there was censure in her tone he didn’t care, with narrow eyes and a gnarled smile he answered. ‘I do and you’ll keep yourself groomed at all times.’

Walking around her set her off-guard, just as he wanted her and after scrutinising his fill of her pert ass he found himself wanting more than he should at this stage of proceedings. But before he could think about taking it, the door opened and Bruno came in. The girl ducked to retrieve the towel, but Dax was faster and he tossed it toward the bathroom allowing Bruno to check her out too.

His colleague’s perusal made her bristle, but she’d have to get used to it because if she was to be Trystan’s girl she’d be expected to be naked in front of most of Trystan’s friends, associates, and family members as well.

The youngest Stark had never been particular about protecting his woman’s modesty. Tryst was more likely to boast about what he had by putting it on show, so she’d probably spend most of her married life topless at least. From what Dax had seen, it would make a good show, and it was technically his role to get her used to what she’d experience in her married life.

‘You’re a lucky fucker, Dax,’ Bruno said. ‘Give us a twirl.’

She didn’t look like she was going to comply. ‘Do as he says,’ Dax said and though she growled at him, she did a three sixty.

Bruno whistled with approval. ‘I’ve got a laundry list of ideas on what we can do with that. You got your hands on the cans yet?’

‘Not yet.’

‘Mind if I do?’ Bruno asked him and Dax shook his head so he started towards the girl.

She ran to the corner and grabbed Dax’s discarded tee-shirt to yank it on. ‘I won’t let you touch me!’