Bound By Desire (The Acadian Curse) by Rebecca Lyndon Page A

were pushed against the
far wall. On top of the table there was a pile of neatly folded
blankets and a couple bottles of water.
    There was no rack of shackles screwed deep
into the walls this time. Sarah figured it wasn’t needed in this
reinforced cage. Instead there was only a single manacle about
ankle height attached to the far wall. The thin chain it was
attached to looked long enough to reach the center of the room.
    Grant had already peeled off his jeans, and
T-shirt and laid them in a discarded pile at his feet. He stood in
his blue plaid boxers—she was sure that they were loose when he had
slid them on this morning, but they were getting tighter by the
second—and Grant slipped his right foot through the manacle. It
barely made it through.
    Sarah spun around as the door swiveled shut
on its own. Even though she knew it was coming, she flinched a
little when the sound of the bolt sliding home echoed around the
steel walls.
    She swallowed down hard as he turned his gaze
back toward her. The green was quickly overtaking the brown.
    “It’ll be all right,” she said. It would have
to be. She felt a little guilty for her sudden nerves. She was the
one who wanted this after all. She had schemed and pushed him to
get here. And now that she had what she wanted, she had to admit
she was more than a little nervous.
    Sarah turned her back to him, went over to
the table and ran her fingers over the folds of the blankets. It
didn’t feel much safer on this side of the room, but there was
nowhere else to go. There was nothing else to look at—not even a
clock on the wall for God’s sake—and she needed something else to
focus on while she fought to regain her composure.
    She almost had her heart rate under control
again when she felt the change come over the room. The air felt
thicker, heavier on her skin. She didn’t need to turn around to
know what had happened. She’d felt the same thing last night.
    Her breath hitched, and her hand stilled on
the table. Excitement and fear warred inside her, and she wasn’t
sure which would win. But either way she couldn’t stay like this,
back turned, staring at a blank wall, all night.
    In for a penny…
    Slowly, Sarah turned around. The change was
complete. His arms were folded over his massive chest. Both his
back and his unchained heel were propped against the wall behind
him. His posture could have been mistaken for casual if not for the
hungry stare that he fixed squarely on her.
    Sarah shuffled back a step and stumbled as
her hip hit the table. She managed to reach behind her and grab
onto the lip before she toppled over.
    “I thought that you wanted to be here.” His
voice sent shivers through her.
    “I…I did.” Sarah cleared her throat. “I
do.”
    “It’s a little late for second thoughts.”
    “I’m well aware.”
    “Do you plan on spending the whole night
cowering in the corner?”
    Sarah glanced over at the locked door. It
would stay that way for another nine hours. Last night she hadn’t
lasted an hour before she gave into the desire he stirred in her.
How in the world did she think she would be able to last ten times
that? And was she even sure that she wanted to?
    “I’m leaving all my options open right
now.”
    He laughed at her, a low, rumbling sound that
set her pulse racing. She knew he was mocking her, but she couldn’t
help the little thrill of excitement that raced through her veins.
God help her, she liked it. Not enough to push past her fear and
throw herself into his arms, but liked it all the same.
    “Then why did you bother coming to me
tonight, Sarah?” he asked.
    “To tell you the truth, I’m not a hundred
percent sure anymore. I thought I knew, but now…”
    “So you only came to torment me further,
then?”
    “Further?” Sarah sat on the folding chair at
her side. She even crossed her legs, hoping it would give her the
appearance of being a little more at ease. His chain could only
reach to the middle of the room after