Part 11 (1/2)
Lock froze and pulled away from her, his teeth gritted with rage. The b.i.t.c.h had played him with the wiles of a seasoned wh.o.r.e! His hand clamped over hers that still held the key. ”Drop it.”
Her blue eyes opened wide. ”But, Lock-”
”I know what you're after. Don't even think about it, Sparrow. This key is mine, just as you are.”
”I'm not yours!”
He glanced at her hard nipples and kiss-bruised lips and said with a smile, ”Aren't you? I don't think a woman who sucked my c.o.c.k with such feeling belongs to anyone but me. Finish your bath and I'll get you a towel and fresh clothes... Come to think of it, I'll just bring you the towel. I like you naked.”
”If you don't bring me clothes, Lock, you will regret it,” she spoke through clenched teeth.
His eyes swept her firm, round b.r.e.a.s.t.s and sleekly muscled arms and belly. He didn't think he could get any harder than he'd been moments ago, but the idea of her chained there naked all night made him feel like a steel pike. He said, ”I'm sure I will, but it's a risk I'll have to take.”
Chapter Ten.
”Give me some clothes!” Sparrow sang at the top of her voice.
The house had been dark for hours, the lanterns long burned-out. Lock lay on his stomach, a pillow clutched over his head to drown out the b.i.t.c.h's incessant screeching.
”Clothes. Clothes. I want clothes!” she chanted.
Lock jumped out of the bed. ”Will you shut up!”
”Not until you clothe me.” Sparrow began singing a folk song and Lock was mystified that such a beautiful woman could have such a terrible voice. Sparrow began adding her own verses, ”Bring me some clothes! I'm cold to my toes!”
”It's sweltering in here!” he snapped.
”Not when you're naked.”
”Get under the blankets.”
”No. I want clothes!”
Lock trudged to her corner of the room and grasped her shoulders, holding her so they were nose to nose. He hissed through clenched teeth, ”Shut your mouth or I will cut out your tongue!”
”No you won't. I'm through being intimidated by you, Lock,” she told him and slid her arms around his neck, pressing her naked b.r.e.a.s.t.s to his bare chest. The sensation nearly made Lock groan. She squirmed closer, and Lock began to feel as if he had a permanent erection. She whispered in his ear, ”I want something to wear. I can sing all night and sleep all day while you have to tend the farm tomorrow.”
”I don't have to.”
”Of course you do! It's your farm now, remember? If someone doesn't take care of it, you'll have nothing. So, what will it be?”
”I don't give a d.a.m.n about this farm. I can take you out of here any time I want.”
”And no matter where you go, Lock, I can sing all night!”
She began humming, and he kissed her, his hands roaming over her back and b.u.t.tocks. She slapped his wrists. ”None of that! I won't make love with you while I'm tied up.”
”You'll sleep with me whenever I tell you. If I choose to respect your wishes-”
”Respect? Hah! You don't even know the meaning of the word. Now give me some clothes!”
He sighed deeply, took one of his s.h.i.+rts, and tossed it to her.
”Getting soft, are you?” she asked as she slipped the s.h.i.+rt over her head. It hung past her knees, and she settled into the blankets. ”Goodnight, Lock.”
He growled in response and returned to the bed. To his annoyance, touching her had aroused him so much he was unable to sleep for nearly an hour.
Sparrow smiled to herself as she finished cleaning the dishes and stretched out on her blankets. Lock had awakened her before he'd left, and she knew he'd done it for spite about her behavior the night before.
Now she prepared to catch up on the sleep she'd missed. She closed her eyes and remembered the feeling of his body against hers, the way he'd run the soap over her. He was spiteful and arrogant, but he wasn't as vicious as he pretended to be-at least not with her. She knew his reputation and wasn't foolish enough to believe he wasn't guilty of the crimes he was accused of, but she did know that even though he chained her up, he still felt something for her. It was just a matter of which of them would come around first and admit there was more than l.u.s.t between them.
Sparrow guessed it was noon when Lock returned to the house carrying a bag of meat sc.r.a.ps that he added to the stew.
”Did you go hunting?” she asked.
He wiped his hands, stained with b.l.o.o.d.y juice, and glanced at her. ”I'd intended to, but I realized there was no need. You have a farm full of animals waiting for slaughter.”
She stared at him. ”You killed one of my animals? Which one?”
He shrugged. ”Just the cow.”
Sparrow felt her belly drop to the floor. ”You killed Daphne?”
”Why not? She's an animal, isn't she? Or should I say was.”
Sparrow's vision blackened with rage, and she ran as far as the chains would allow, her hands stretching toward him like claws. ”You b.a.s.t.a.r.d! You killed my cow!”
”For the next few days we'll have Daphne stew, Daphne pie, Daphne...”
Sparrow thought she might be sick. Daphne! She hadn't just been another farm animal, she'd been Sparrow's favorite. Daphne with her dark brown eyes and sweet face. Any feeling she had left for Lock dissolved with the tears that streamed down her face. She turned from him, lay on her blankets, and cried.
”All this over a b.l.o.o.d.y cow?” he snapped.
”Go to h.e.l.l!” she sobbed.
She felt his hand on her shoulder and she jerked away.
”I didn't kill the d.a.m.n cow,” he said. ”I'm cooking a rabbit.”
”You're a liar! It's my cow. You are the most unfeeling son-of-a-b.i.t.c.h I've ever known! You'd do anything to get back at me for saving your life. Shea-Ann warned me not to buy you, but no, I wouldn't listen. I felt sorry for you. What a fool!”
”Will you stop crying?”
She ignored him and continued sobbing, releasing the sadness and frustration she'd repressed since she'd brought the b.a.s.t.a.r.d into her house.