Free Bound by Lies: Bound #1 (Adult Romantic Suspence) by Hanna Peach Page A

He reaches a hand in and
pulls me out.
    The dress that he sent with the note cascades out of the cab
after me and spills around my ankles. It is a strapless full-length gown in a
brilliant blue satin. I felt like a princess when I put it on, so in honor, I
wore my hair up in a French twist and secured it with diamante pins. Above us
the gilded hotel entrance, studded with down lights, glitters like diamonds.
    He greets me with a kiss on my cheek. He whispers, “For as
long as I live, I don’t think I’ll ever get used to seeing you.”
    I melt into his arms and my heart trills as it clings to his
words. For as long as I live… Maybe Caden and I could carve out a future
in this version of together?
    Behind me I hear a car pull up in the hotel driveway. But
I’m not looking. I am staring up at this beautiful man who somehow decided that
I was his. A valet interrupts us and hands Cade a set of keys. “Here you go,
Mr. Thaine.”
    What?
    I turn and stare at the black town car as if it has grown
legs and feelers and has started wriggling. I keep on staring when Caden opens
the passenger door for me.
    “But we aren’t…” my voice fades. No. Of course we aren’t
going into the hotel. Of course he hasn’t booked us a room. Of course he isn’t
taking me upstairs and stripping me naked and fucking me until I am finally
sated. Bastard. He tricked me.
    I grit my teeth and force a smile to my face. There is no
point in arguing. I clench my jaw and ignore his hand when he offers to help me
into the car. I hike my skirts up in my arms and drop into the passenger seat
in a puff of blue satin rage.
    The inside of the car smells like pine air freshener and the
cream leather seat squeaks under me when I shift. I kick my heels into the
freshly vacuumed cream carpet like a surly child. It’s another damn rental.
Why? Where are we going? Why couldn’t we have stayed at the hotel in a room,
just him and me?
    He gets into the driver’s seat and we pull away. The hotel
lights fade from the reflection in my window along with my fantasy of where
this night is taking us.
    I am silent as he drives, glaring at the buildings and
streetlights that pass by the window, cursing this man with every pulse of my
wretched and frustrated core. I hate him and love him for how this feels. This
aching beautiful. I want him so much it fucking hurts. I want to hurt him back.
Or throw myself at him and beg that he put me out of my misery. But he… he is
gloriously ignorant of how he has tortured me over these last three months. He
just keeps drawing it out in this pointless dance.
    Does he even want me? My lip trembles as I consider this
possibility. Fucking bastard. I fucking hate Caden Thaine.
    These thoughts dissipate when he pulls into a dark driveway.
Ahead I can see gates and beyond that, a blackened building. A knot forms in my
throat. He cuts the engine, gets out of the car and walks to my side. He opens
my door and helps me out.
    When he begins to pull me towards the iron gates I resist.
“What are we doing here?”
    He turns to study me, his eyes giving away nothing. He
raises my hand to his lips and runs his soft mouth across the bumps of my
knuckles.
    “Do you trust me, kitten?”
    I remember what he said to me when he told me why he was
taking things slow with me: “I need you to trust me first. And you don’t
trust me yet.”
    Do I trust him? Do I? Really?
    I learned long ago that the true test of a man is how he
treats the people to whom he owes nothing. Waiters, bar staff, strangers. Over
the last few months I have watched Caden interact with all types of people and
he has been nothing less than manners and kindness to everyone.
    So do I trust Caden Thaine?
    I don’t know him, but at the same time, I know him.
Not once in the last three months has he raised his voice to me or been
anything but gentle even though one squeeze within his thick arms and large
hands could crush me. Not once has he demanded anything of me. Anything he