“Um, thank you,” she said eventually.
“No problem.”
The woman stared at him like he was suddenly a stranger. One she clearly didn’t know how to take. Her eyes were wide but the little line was back, sitting between her brows. He’d baffled her. Confused would work fine. He could use that. She stretched her toes, rolled her ankle.
“Better?” he asked.
“Yes.” With a tight nod she slipped back beneath the blankets. “Night.”
“Night.”
The cuffs were likewise stuffed beneath the mattress, waiting. Her arm lay atop the blanket, hand curled into a fist. He snapped one end around her left wrist before she knew what had happened. Locked the other around his own limb and they were a done deal. Her elbow jerked back and smacked into his arm. Her fist flew at him, the one she’d bruised bashing Neil. He caught it midflight before she could do herself any further damage.
“What are you doing!” she screeched.
“Noise, Roslyn.”
“What are you doing?” She tugged hard on the sudden, unwelcome connection between them. Lips drawn back, enraged.
“You didn’t think I’d just let you run loose?” He didn’t smile, kept it matter-of-fact. “Ros, you did attack me. And I am holding you against your will.”
“But—”
“Of course, we’re going to have to sleep closer together.” He slid across the bed, laying their joined hands down between them. Or his half of the pairing, at least. Hers wavered in the air, unsettled. “There we go. More comfortable?”
“No. I want the chain back.”
“Too late.”
Her jaw hung open and her eyes were bright with hate. He’d seen it often enough from her to know it. “No. Nick …”
“Actually, I sleep on my side. Just a minute.” He lay down on his side and wound his arm around her middle, pulling her toward him. From this close her flowery scent gave him a headspin. “You can lie on your back with my arm over you, or you can be on your side with my arm around you. What would you prefer?”
“Why are you doing this?”
“It’s done, Ros. Move on.”
Her eyes promised murder. A brutal death without a hint of remorse.
“Well?” he asked.
Her lips screwed up like a cat’s ass. With a growl she turned onto her side, presenting him with her back, because she always slept on her side too.
“Good choice.” Nick moved in for the kill. He molded his body to her back, keeping his arm tight around her. Of course she squealed and scrambled to try to escape him, getting nowhere. “Easy. Take it easy, Ros.”
She continued to fight, squirming and kicking back at him. He trapped her feet beneath his legs. Slid his other arm beneath her neck and held her against him with both arms. Without bringing his dick into it, they couldn’t have been humanly closer. His beauty bucked, twisting and turning for a few moments more. Pointlessly. The back of her neck dampened with sweat.
Shoulders heaving, she panted for air. “You fucker, you promised! No touching in a sexual manner.”
“I won’t take it any further.”
“How can I trust anything you say? You’re a goddamn liar.”
“This is your second night with me, Ros. It’s time to move things on a little. We’re sleeping together. Only sleeping. Nothing more.”
“So you’ll move it on until you’re raping me?”
“No,” he said. “Never.”
Fingernails dug deep into his arms as she tried to work her way free, again getting nowhere. “I repeat. A fucking liar.”
“Hush. Go to sleep.”
“Nick …” A pleading tone intruded on her anger. He already knew what she would say, or close enough to it. Either way, things were staying the way they were.
“It’s done. Sleep.”
She growled again, low in her throat. If there’d ever been a sexier noise, he hadn’t heard it. He shifted his hips back from her ass to hide the tell-tale state of his dick. It involved loosening his grip on her a little, but not a lot. Her hair smelled nice and the back of her neck even better. Salty-sweet perfection, not helpful at all to the state of his libido. “Is that better?”
“Awesome, you asshole.”
Silence held for a few minutes. He could almost hear the cogs and wheels turning in her head. Without a doubt, she was the noisiest thinker he’d ever met. Or maybe it was the grinding of her teeth again.
“Let it go,” he advised.
“Inflicting yourself and some semblance of intimacy upon me will not engender any sort of bond between us, Nick.”
“No?”
“No.”