sideline while he’d struggled to survive. Afterward she’d crouched by his bloodied body, shaking her head. Her words had killed something vital inside him.
“You didn’t really think I’d want you touching me, did you? You’re nothing but an animal, 416.” She’d smiled at the men around them and risen to her feet. “Too bad we’re not allowed to kill him. Take him back to his cell. Did you catch all that on camera, Mike? That should impress Doctor Trent with how much he endured before he went down. One of the doctors has a new batch of drugs they want to test on him to see if they can speed up the healing process. You did good, guys.”
He’d lost consciousness then, but if he hadn’t, he would have tried to kill her. He wanted revenge on everyone who had ever hurt him, lied to him, and betrayed him.
Ellie stared up at him with her big, fearful beautiful eyes. If she wasn’t face-to-face with him would she laugh at how stupid he’d been to trust her? Had he been a source of amusement to snicker about when he’d allowed her close without snarling at her or fighting his chains? Had she joked with the staff that 416 seemed not to hate her?
“I’ll stay away from you if you let me go. That’s what you want, right? I’ll quit my job and leave Homeland.” Hope flared in her blue eyes. “You’ll never have to see me again.”
Anger surged, hot and fierce, throughout Fury’s body. If she were truly regretful of her actions, she’d take whatever punishment he dealt out to make them even. That’s what honorable people did. She’d told him she would be willing to do anything to make things right between them but now she asked for mercy. A growl tore from his throat.
Ellie watched as Fury’s expression twisted with the anger that burned inside his gaze. She realized that asking him to release her had somehow set him off. She tensed.
He moved then, grabbed the blanket, and jerked. In a heartbeat he’d torn it away from the bed to expose Ellie’s nakedness. He stood and stared down at her with a callous expression.
“You should understand how it feels to be naked, unable to move, while someone else has control over what is done to you. That’s part of what you did to me. You saw every inch of me exposed. How does it feel to be helpless, Ellie?”
Embarrassment heated her cheeks and she tried to twist away, to roll onto her side, but he’d tied her too tightly. She could only curl her legs up protectively while she tried to use them to cover her breasts. She understood humility without him doing this to her but she didn’t say it aloud.
“Then there was touching involved so I’m going to do that to you as well. That’s fair, isn’t it? Do you know what it is like to have someone’s hands sliding along your skin? Touching your sex? I understand you needed to remove the painful restrictive thing he put on me but your touch lingered. Don’t think I didn’t notice.”
Ellie stiffened with shock and dread but then she took a quick breath. It wasn’t easy but she fought down the panic that tried to overtake her. She understood that he needed revenge. He couldn’t get back at Jacob because she’d killed him and left Fury to suffer for it. She had touched him, gawked at his body, soaked in every naked inch. She supposed she deserved it. He said he wasn’t going to kill her. She could take it if humiliating her was the worst he planned. He’d been beaten and tortured. Some embarrassment seemed tame in comparison.
“Go ahead and look. I do understand.” She eased her legs flat on the mattress and kept still. “Just please don’t hurt me.”
A confused look marred his features as their gazes locked. He glared down at her while he climbed onto the bed to crouch over her body on all fours.
“What?” He sounded as shocked as he looked.
“I understand,” she whispered. “Do it.”
He clenched his teeth but then lowered his body over hers until he caged her under him. If terrifying her had been his plan, he’d succeeded. The silence stretched between them. Her heart rate slowed.
“Reverse psychology doesn’t work on me but I want you to know I won’t hurt you,” he whispered. “I would never make you suffer what I did. I could never bring myself to punch you or make you bleed. I believe I have come up with something fitting. I’m going to touch you. Do you know what is worse than being tortured with pain?”
She didn’t want to know the answer. So far all the responses Fury had given didn’t bode well for her. He waited for an answer, though, and she didn’t want his rage to return. She had to say something.
“No. I think pain is the worst thing ever.”
“It’s when your own body betrays you by wanting something you know you shouldn’t. You learn to expect being let down by others but never yourself. It is a great, humble lesson to learn. It will also give us both the answer to a question on my mind at this moment.”
“Soft. For a woman your size, these are larger than I expected.” He lowered his head when he released his hold on her.
Ellie gasped as his warm breath fanned across her breast a second before Fury’s hot, wet mouth latched on to her nipple. His teeth scraped the sensitive skin as he flicked a raspy-textured tongue over the bud of her breast. Ellie jerked under him and tightly squeezed her eyes closed.
Pleasure shot from her nipple straight into her belly that quivered. She bit her lip to silence a moan, shocked that she’d react that strongly to him. He sucked harder, the strong tugs from his mouth sending jolts through Ellie’s entire body. He didn’t hurt her but she knew he could have. Liquid heat dampened her thighs and she squeezed them together under his body, proof of how turned on she’d become.
His mouth pulled back, drawing her nipple taut until he let go. Ellie swallowed hard as she stared into a pair of intense brown eyes. A soft growl came from the back of his throat. He tore his gaze from hers to lower his attention down her body once more.
