Free Savage Revenge by Shelli Stevens

as he tugged her bra and dress back into place.
    “This isn’t going to solve anything,” he muttered.
    Her cheeks filled with heat and she turned her gaze away. Of course it wouldn’t, and now, as the seconds ticked by and common sense filtered back in, she wanted to smash the coffee mug over her own head.
    “You said you wouldn’t touch me.” It was lame, but she couldn’t stop the husky accusation.
    “No.” The word was hard. Cold. “I said I wouldn’t force you, Sage. I’m an alpha. It’s in my nature to take what I want, when I want it. And you challenged me.”
    Her gaze flew back to his and she saw the warning there. She had a sudden sense of what it must be like to be under his command.
    “You’re putting this on me ? That’s bull crap. You shouldn’t be able to use the alpha excuse to bypass respect and human decency—”
    He caught her chin in a hard grasp and her words trailed off on a squeak.
    “Don’t finish that thought, Curls.”
    Why not ? Anger sparked in her belly against the flutter of nerves. “Look, you’re not my alpha.”
    “You sound like a five-year-old.” He flashed a hard, humorless smile. “And you will show respect to an alpha—any alpha—it doesn’t matter whether you’re in their pack or not.”
    Good God he was a pain in her ass. All of the alphas were. They were so overbearing. So arrogant. So damn dominating.
    “Maybe I shouldn’t have kissed you,” Nate went on before she could reply. “But don’t go throwing a shit show because you’re self conscious about the fact that you liked it . That if I hadn’t stopped things I’d be fucking you until your eyes were crossing.”
    She blanched, before the heat stormed back into her cheeks. “You’re crude.”
    “Get used to it.”
    “It was a physical response,” she ground out. “I’m not going to lie and say it didn’t feel good—because clearly it did. But I’m not going to lose my head over you. Over this situation.”
    “A little late for that.”
    “And if you think seducing me will make me trust you, then you’re wrong,” she continued, ignoring his jab. “What you just did— we just did —makes me realize you’re not above sexual manipulation.”
    Surprise flickered in his eyes before his gaze hardened. She’d been dead on, and it hurt her heart a little to realize it.
    Of course his touching her hadn’t been motivated by passion. That stuff happened in the books she wrote, but not so much in reality.
    Oh, he was far more dangerous than she’d originally thought. He didn’t need to force her—clearly he was skilled at seduction. The emotional mess that would come with having sex with him was something she couldn’t risk.
    Not that she’d be stupid enough to have sex with her captor. Though she’d been pretty close to it a minute ago.
    God, there was a name for this. Stockholm Syndrome? Yup. She was going with that. The only rational excuse.
    Seeing the hard glitter in Nate’s dark eyes as he stared at her made a lump form in her throat. Had he even felt anything while he’d been touching her? Or had it all been a means to an end?
    Was she easier managed if she fell in love with him?
    Fell in love…? Crap, her thoughts needed to just stop. A hazard of what she wrote, no doubt.
    “I don’t want to hurt you, Sage.” His words were quiet, but firm with warning. “My intention is to see you through this safely. But if you do anything to threaten me, to try and out me, things might not be so amicable.”
    “This is amicable?”
    “Seeing as you’re alive? Unfucked? Yeah. That sounds pretty damn amicable.” He stepped back from her and helped her down from the counter. “Let me see your wrists.”
    Without waiting for her to show him, he’d caught them and pulled them in front of her.
    “Nicely healed already. You must have good shifter genes.”
    She grunted. “They’re decent enough.”
    “Good.” He nodded toward the other room. “So now’s the part where I need