Chapter One

Pointed

Tucker

"Thanks." Her gaze fell to the cup of water he'd brought straight from the outside tap, her breaths coming faster as she waited, presumably, for him to offer it to her.

He hesitated intentionally, enjoying the flicker of desperation in her delightful eyes. As her focus flitted back to him, the question she wanted to ask was obvious. It was there on the tip of her tongue, but she never articulated it.

Are you going to make me beg?

The non-vocalized query raised an interesting point. Ella had been far more compliant since he'd attached her ropes to the overhead hooks, but the smokescreen of calm barely shielded the wildcat inside her.

Beneath the surface of her fear, he saw the animal pacing, waiting for its chance. Once it was unleashed, he had little doubt it would savage him.

He couldn't let that happen, wouldn't allow it. Having wrestled her to this juncture, he couldn't let her seize back even the semblance of control.

Until Bennett paid up, Ella was his.

Hisproperty.

The sooner she accepted that, the better it would be for them both.

"Please, may I have some water?" Exasperated anguish crackled in her voice. He'd brought her the drink, but with her body so effectively bound and immobilized, there was no way she could help herself.

She had to ask for his help.

"Here."

Suppressing the urge to chuckle at her discomfit, Tucker reached for the cup. Ella was clearly not the type of woman who was used to having to seek help, let alone beg for it. Her plaintive performance was divine.

He couldn't recall a more scintillating vision than the woman trussed up in his barn. Once again, he was goaded by the thought that perhaps it wouldn't be so bad being responsible for her after all. He could keep her there, bound and pliant as his own little distraction…

Buoyed by the depraved notion, he lifted the cup to her full lips.

"Open." He waited as her mouth parted, those gorgeous green eyes huge as he tipped a little of the liquid past them. "Good?"

A line appeared on her brow as he shifted the cup a few inches away. "Is it clean?"

"Is what clean?"

That was not the response he'd been expecting. He hadn't envisioned that the refreshment would inspire ecstasy, but a little thankfulness for his effort wouldn't have gone amiss.

"The water." Her attention fixed on the cup as if she couldn't decide if she wanted to drain the contents or never see it again.

"Of course, it's clean." He couldn't believe what a brat she was being. Even given that she was Alexander Bennett's daughter, he might have expected a ‘thank you' for catering to her needs. "I drink this water every day."

Her gaze shot to him, searching his face for any signs of duplicity.

"I'm not trying to poison you, Ella." He sighed, his grip tightening on the cup as his irritation flared. "I'm trying to help you."

"By keeping me tied up like this?" She stamped her foot against the floor, inadvertently creating a tremor that raced up her delectable body.

"Actually, yes."

Was she so self-indulged that she'd forgotten what had happened when she'd dashed out into the trees? Ella had fallen flat on her face in the dirt, primarily because she'd left without so much as a flashlight. She was fortunate not to have seriously hurt herself.

How long was she likely to last out there without Tucker? She was undoubtedly much safer restrained in his barn than loose in the wild.

"Oh, fuck you!" There was venom in her voice, her gaze narrowed as she spat the insult.

"Really?" He straightened at the affront, acknowledging how he was triggered.

A naughty mouth like Ella's warranted punishment, and Tucker could think of a few interesting ways to enact penances, but he wasn't a fool. He accepted that his new guest was pissed off, and he understood why. The irony was that the whole reason she was tethered before him in the first place was her smart mouth and lack of boundaries. If she could just learn some basic respect, he was sure they could get along just fine.

Though I accept what I deem to be ‘fine' might be a relative concept…

Either she tried to do as she was told, or she was going to hate every moment of their time together. That choice was all hers.

"Are you sure you don't want to apologize and try again?" He hovered the cup in front of her, taunting her with the drink he knew she yearned for. "I'm offering you what you want."

"What I want?" Her voice rose. "Seriously?"

Had the ropes not been confining her, Tucker wondered if she might have flown at him. Yanking at her binds, she lurched forward, and there was no mistaking the revulsion in her eyes.

"I'm not fucking apologizing for this." She signaled north to where the ropes held her, then down to her boots.

He noticed how the tension in the ropes had pulled her up to the balls of her feet. It was an unexpected benefit of her new position. If he could get her out of those joggers, he imagined how much the stance would accentuate her no doubt slender legs.

"I'm not apologizing for any of this! This is all you and my odious asshole of a father."

"You should drink, Ella." He sensed his fury growing as he thrust the cup at her. "It will be some time before you get another chance."

"Wh—" Whatever she was about to say was stopped short by the cup as it pressed against her lips.

"Drink." His voice was a snarl as he tipped the vessel, forcing the cold water into her mouth.

He knew he was pouring the water so fast, her labored gulps couldn't keep up. That much was obvious from her gasping breaths and fraught mewls, but still, he continued. The truth was he reveled in the power, in the knowledge that he would decide when she drank and when she didn't, just as he would decide when and if she was released from the rafters.

He smirked as the first of the water trailed down her chin, along her neckline, and soaked her sweater.

"Stop!" Recoiling from the cup, she shook her head in an attempt to compose herself. "What are you doing?"

"Helping you." God help him, but he was relishing the moment. Pausing the flow of the liquid, he took in the shocked look on her face. Her stunned expression was priceless. "You said you wanted water, so here you go."

"Not like this!" Outrage echoed in her voice. "You're soaking me."

"Not yet." He frowned. "Your sweater's still virtually dry. Look…" Putting down the cup on the ground, he walked toward her and yanked the hem of her olive-colored sweater up and over her head. Trapped behind her neck, the jumper revealed a sincerely shell-shocked Ella.

"Put that back!" Obviously, she couldn't believe he'd seen fit to remove a layer, although he'd already exposed her delicious ass in the woods. The gesture was intended to remind her in no uncertain terms that she was helpless and that he held all the power.

He hoped she got the message.

"I don't think so."

His balls tightened as he drank in the tight tee shirt that had been hidden under her sweater. He could tell precisely where the water had drenched through the fabric, and the thin layer of clothing left little to his imagination. Beneath the tee was an outline of her bra, and even through that, Tucker could see her pebbling nipples.

In response to the cold.He drew in a sharp breath. It's not because she finds me attractive. The realization rattled in his head. It doesn't matter.

Whatever the cause, Ella was breathtaking.

"Drink up." Collecting the cup, he moved toward her again, already certain what the outcome of his next actions would be.

Sure, Ella might benefit from another sip or two, the water refreshing her dry throat, but the majority of the remaining fluid was destined for somewhere other than her mouth. Tucker wanted to see her standing there, her body stretched to the roof while her fabulous breasts were outlined by her drenched tee shirt.

He couldn't remember ever wanting anything more.

When he woke that morning, he'd have told the passive observer that his major pleasures were this simple life, complemented by the return of the assets he was owed. That he'd left all other desires behind him, but no—he would have been wrong. Now, he sought Ella's denigration even more.

"St-stop!" she spluttered around the rim, running her feet back a few inches in an attempt to dodge the incoming cup, although naturally, her efforts were futile.

Ella could only flee a small distance in any direction, whereas he could move anywhere and any way he wanted. She'd take the water he offered, whatever her opinion.

"Now, now." He practically laughed as he tipped the water over her. His shaft swelled as she struggled against the current. Her head thrashing from side to side seemed only to invite more of the fluid directly to the destination he most craved. Within moments, the front of her tee was soaked, the fabric eating up the spreading liquid as if it, too, was thirsty. "Let me give you what you need."

"You bastard!" Jaw hanging open, she looked dumbfounded as she processed what had just happened. "Look what you've done!"

It was an exceptionally poor choice of words. The one thing Tucker was doing was looking. Discarding the cup into a nearby bale of hay, he glanced back at her, reveling in her distress and sodden clothing.

"I'm soaking." She heaved in a breath.

"I see that." Moving closer, he was able to see the complete outline of her puckered teats, their presence goading him to act even further.

"I'll freeze." Her eyes conveyed simultaneous outrage and misery.

"It gets surprisingly warm in here." Maybe it was only him, but he couldn't recall being so hot for a long time. The heat seemed to be coming in waves, amplified by the growing arousal in his pants.

"You can't leave me like this." Sniffing back her raging emotions, she met his eyes. "Tucker, please!"

"You're right." Completely mesmerized by her dilemma, he stepped forward. "I couldn't possibly leave you like this."

Reaching for her right breast, he trailed a lazy fingertip around the mound, circling over the top of her wet tee until he grazed the shape of her nipple.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Evidently, she was less enthusiastic about his attention than he was.

Shame.His lips twisted. He was loving every bloody minute of admiring her incredible body.

"Taking care of you." His free hand rose to mirror the same actions with her other breast, and before long, both thumbs and forefingers skimmed her taut buds, teasing them through the material.

Her tiny whimpers filled the air, her eyes widening as her body responded to his touch. For one scintillating moment, time appeared to halt as her nipples lengthened between his digits.

"Stop." Her previously angry tone had shifted into a low gasp. An indication of her own need, perhaps? Or maybe he was only dreaming. "You have no right."

Rights? That was a laughable idea for a woman who'd been passed from one man to another without her assent.

"I told you." Locking gazes with her, he smiled. "You're mine, Ella, and that means these tits are mine as well."

Brushing a hand down the length of her wet tee, he grasped the hem of the top and jerked it up to follow the path of the sweater. Dangling from her ropes, the captivating Ella found herself abruptly topless, save for the soaked silky bra clinging to her tempting goosing skin.