Her Billionaire, Her Wolf(30)
The warm light made Sara's eyes sting but it was welcome as the details of the room lifted into view.
The walls were stone, in some places covered with tapestries, but largely bare.
And except for the table upon which the candelabra stood, the room was empty but for one object that held Sara's attention.
An enormous baldaquin bed dominated the room. It was richly made up in deep red silks embroidered in fine gold thread.
"You can understand, I am sure, when I tell you that I take precaution quite seriously,” he said.
“I am a man surrounded daily by predators. Even among my trusted staff, good people like Flair, all of them go about their duty but always with an eye turned toward the least weakness.
"A man in my position learns quickly that being careful is not enough. One must be extravagant in caution.
"So it was that I voyaged here alone, and why you followed after me, separately. Basic precautions, nothing more.”
Braze walked across the room, appearing to survey the thick stone walls, before turning back to face her.
"You can well imagine, however, that my staff is the least of the difficulties that assail me.
"There are outside influences who search endlessly to gain a foothold in the company. Predators, one and all, who circle around me, intent on finding a fault line or fissure, anything that might aid them to gain an advantage, whether it be in my professional...or personal life."
With a gesture of his hand, he indicated the bed.
"You have already shown me confidence with the leap of faith it must have taken to leave for parts unknown.
"Now, I shall oblige you to show the true measure of the trust you place in me.
"On the bed, Sara."
She moved slowly toward the baldaquin. Something tickled at her, a sense of imminent danger.
"Why the hesitation, Sara? You did not come all this way for only a fireside chat and dinner."
He grinned then, and she could not help but think that it was a carnivorous smile, one that smelled its prey very near.
"I know I did not," Braze said.
She went to the bed then hopped up to sit upon its edge. The bedding was so thick and piled high that she had to jump a little to perch herself there.
"That's better," he said, "But really, you must lie down in the middle, Sara. That is where your comfort is assured."
She slid herself backward then toward the head of the bed. The silk pillowed around her as she moved and she imagined it would be like lying upon a cloud.
Once squarely in the middle, she let herself lie back upon the luxurious coverlet. Despite their surroundings, surely somewhere deep beneath the seaside château, the scent of fresh, clean bed linens was reassuring.
Braze cast her an appraising look and nodded.
"That's better." His words were edgy as if seeing her in the middle of all that blood red silk whetted his appetite.
He stepped away from her, then Sara heard the sounds of chains clinking. She looked to the side to see Braze drawing a thick chain through a metal loop fastened directly to the stone wall running behind the bed. But what chilled her more than the chain itself was that it terminated in something that resembled a handcuff, only far more massive.
That's no handcuff...that's a manacle.
In an instant, he had joined her upon the bed, kneeling at her side. With exaggerated slowness, he took her wrist and lifted it into the air.
"Trust me, Sara...trust me so that I can trust you." His eyes implored her.
Instead of screaming for help that would never come, she nodded. There was the metallic sound of a latch closing, then the cold of the manacle embraced her arm in its rusted grasp.
Before she could change her mind, Braze walked quickly to the other side of the bed to where the twin of the first manacle and chain awaited. Its hold was just as frigid as it went round Sara's forearm, locking into place.
“Ok. Now Sara, I would like you to lift your arms straight out above you and hold them together, wrist to wrist.”
The chains were heavier than she thought, but with some effort she brought her arms up, held straight above her chest.
Then, Braze pulled on a chain, drawing one arm away from the other still held straight out. When it reached a certain angle, he slipped an enormous bolt through a link in the chain, just behind the loop in the wall.
“You can rest that arm now.”
He went to the other side to do the same, and even if it meant that Sara could no longer bring her arms together...
There’s no way to fight him off now...so stupid...
...it was a relief to let her trembling arms fall to the mattress.
Braze stood still looking down at her for a long moment...long enough that it made Sara uncomfortable and she was forced to look away. Then, she heard his voice.
“You have a secret.”