Red Silk (Steamy Romantic Fantasy)

Part 2

Dancing shadows surround me. There could be a crowd of monsters out there and I wouldn't know. There could be anything lurking out of my small circle of light. Perhaps if I make myself smaller they won't notice me. I grip the sheet and curl against the headboard, my heart running a mile a minute. Staying alone in a medieval castle at night isn't all it's cracked up to be.

Something is moving. Maybe. Is it? Or have I just lost my mind? Yes, it's getting closer. I can see a shape now. It's male. And tall. Star basketball player tall. Don't scream, don't scream, don't scream. Oh gosh he's reaching the bed!

I squeak and squeeze my back against the headboard. I don't care how it looks. I reached full-blown panic five minutes ago.

"Moira... A pretty name. An ancient name. Don't be afraid. I have no wish to harm you."

The voice is strange, melodic. Hypnotic. I really want to obey but my brain won't listen.

"Pl..please, I changed my mind. Let me go."

"You are not a prisoner, sweet Moira. You agreed to come here. You signed a contract."

"I'm sorry, I can't. I don't know you, I can't have sex with a total stranger, I'm not that kind of girl. I thought I'd manage but I can't. I can't..."

"Then let's get to know each other, shall we? Ask me questions..." He sits on the edge of the mattress and I scoot away.

Yet he sounds reasonable. I breathe a little easier.

"What's your name? Why can't I see your face? What..."

There's a brief chuckle. I want to hear that sound again. It's so... enticing.

"You can call me Dour. And I like to live outside the grid. The least amount of people who can identify me the better. I don't want to have to hire bodyguards or check over my shoulder when I'm out in public."

Ok, it makes sense. He is filthy rich after all. He must have enemies and plenty of mobsters willing to kidnap him. I relax a small bit. "Why me? Plenty of girls would love to do this for less than what you are spending. This whole 'genetic compatibility' scam is silly."

There's a pregnant pause. "It's not, actually. I have a rare condition which would result in a damaged child, should I not find the right mother. The remedial gene is carried exclusively by a few women of Scottish Celtic descent. Your surname gave me a hint you might be one of them, and I hit gold."

"Well, I didn't. I'm not a prostitute, I won't have sex for money."

"I'm paying you for surrogacy, not to have you in my bed. But if this is the issue for you..."

I have no clue what happens next. One minute I am sitting with my thighs to my chest and the next I am on my elbows and knees and unable to move. Soft ropes tie my wrists to the headboard and my ankles are restrained apart. I can't straighten my legs, I struggle and there is no give.

"What have you done? You have no right!" Fear has deserted me. I am fuming. Who does he think he is, treating me this way. I am no one's toy.

Another chuckle. He's finding this funny. I am not amused.

"Take these off me!" I'm becoming hysterical. I can't stand feeling so vulnerable. He can do anything he wants and I am powerless to stop him.

I freeze when a cool hand brushes the small of my back and slides down to my calves. Then it climbs, hiking up the soft fabric, revealing my thighs, the lower part of my ass...

"Stop," I beg, "please, stop."

"No."

My whole buttocks are uncovered, and he stills.