Free To Disappear by Natasha Rostova Page B

her.
    ‘Kruin asked you a question, Lydia,’ Gabriel said sternly. ‘Answer him.’
    ‘Yes,’ she said, unable to keep the snap from her voice as she flared with irritation. ‘Yes, it’s clear.’
    ‘I don’t like your tone, Lydia,’ Preston said, his blue eyes growing cold.
    Lydia suddenly flung her hair back in a gesture of defiance as everything within her defied the perpetual demand that she follow every order.
    ‘What are you going to order me to do?’ she bit out. ‘Whisper from now on?’
    ‘Stop,’ Gabriel warned.
    ‘No, really. I’d like to know. After all, there’s clearly so much for me to learn here that you might as well tell me now. Better yet, write it down so I can study before bed. Then you won’t have to tell me how Preston likes his cock sucked or when you want me to lift my skirt—’
    Her voice caught in her throat when she encountered the look on Kruin’s face and knew that she had pushed them too far. He folded his napkin and rested it alongside his plate before he stood and went around the table.
    Lydia flinched as he approached. Her skin was hot with anger, her eyes flashing. When Kruin snapped his fingers, she wished she could snatch her impulsive words back, especially since he had just reprimanded her less than an hour ago.
    ‘Stand up, Lydia,’ Kruin ordered.
    Her heart hammered like a drum inside her chest. She couldn’t move, her finger tightening around the fork. She realized in that instant that she had not reached the limits of her fear, that dread could sink to fathomless depths in her blood.
    ‘Did you hear me?’ Kruin’s voice was like thunder.
    Lydia pushed her chair back and stood, her legs trembling. She thought she might fear Kruin more than Preston and Gabriel combined. She couldn’t look at either of the two other men, but she felt Preston’s amused and satisfied smile as if it were burning into her skin.
    ‘Since you want so badly to know,’ Kruin said coldly. ‘I’ll tell you now to lift your skirt.’
    Chagrined, Lydia forced her fingers to curl around the cotton of her dress as fear swamped her previous anger. She pulled her skirt over her bare legs and thighs, exposing the round flesh of her bottom to Kruin’s dark gaze.
    Before she could speak, he pushed her plates to the side and laid his big hand flat across her lower back. Pressing her down onto the table, his muscular leg nudged between her thighs to spread them apart. Her shaved labia spread like the throat of a flower, exposing the tight hole whose pleasures only Preston had thus far experienced.
    ‘Kruin, I—’
    ‘Quiet!’
    Lydia gasped when his blunt fingers pressed into her sex, running along the pleats with an expert touch. To her further shock, her secret lips swelled in response, her nipples stiffening against the cool tabletop. Her hips thrust involuntarily backwards, but met with empty air since Kruin had taken his hand away.
    ‘She is already wet,’ he informed the other two men, much to Lydia’s dismay. ‘Lydia, you are no longer allowed to achieve satisfaction without explicit permission. Do you understand?’
    Lydia pressed her forehead against the wood and nodded, even as she wondered if she had the willpower to prevent herself from succumbing to the eruptions of rapture. She gave a little shriek when Kruin’s hand slapped her bare rump.
    ‘Do you?’ he repeated.
    ‘Yes! Yes, I understand.’
    ‘Good. Gabriel.’ Kruin nodded at the younger man.
    Lydia’s eyes widened with alarm as Gabriel moved into her line of vision, his hands working the buckle of his belt. With a few movements, he removed it and reached across the table to wrap it around her wrists.
    He fastened the other end of the belt to an opposite chair, forcing Lydia’s body to stretch so tautly that she had to rise to the tips of her toes to remain in contact with the ground. The position provided the men behind her with a delicious view of her elongated body, the curve of her hips descending into