His to Command #2: The Capture Read Online Free PDF Page A

her?
    Her thoughts continued in circles as she tossed and turned, but finally the blanket of sleep surrounded her, like a thick, fuzzy wrap that insulated her from the world. As she snuggled into its warmth, her anxiety slipped away.
    She felt herself floating. Drifting through nothingness. The silence, mingled with the dark, gripped her, engulfing her. It pressed against the pupils of her eyes, filling her ears, leaving her sightless and deaf because no light or sound could penetrate.
    Only darkness. And silence.
    The nothingness around her shifted, until she felt hard concrete beneath her bare feet. She opened her eyes. Darkness surrounded her. She blinked several times as, slowly, her eyes grew accustomed to the lack of light. She could barely make out her surroundings. A small, dim room. Stone walls and floor. She became aware of a biting pain around her wrists and an ache in her arms and shoulders. Her arms were suspended above her head and when she tried to pull them down, she couldn’t. At a clinking noise above her, she glanced up. Chains, linked to metal bands encircling her wrists, disappeared into the darkness above her.
    The memory of Matt walking out of the darkness, then making love to her until she cried out in ecstasy prickled through her brain, but this was different. A chill crept the length of her spine, rippling outward to her fingers and toes.
    Someone laughed behind her. A familiar laugh she hadn’t heard in a long time. Deep and frightening. Chilling her to the core.
    She heard a snap, then a line along her back exploded in pain. Another snap and more pain.
    “No,” she cried.
    The man behind her simply laughed again. The leather whip bit into her flesh a third time.
    “Please. Stop.” Tears ran from her eyes at the biting pain. Still he slashed the whip against her back. Her legs gave out and she hung from the chains. The metal bands bit into her wrists, tearing at her flesh.
    He whipped her again and again. The agony lanced through her, finally leaving her numb.
    Matt was responsible for this. He had heartlessly arranged this. Planned to do the same thing to her himself later. But for now, he wanted this man to inflict pain on her. To teach her to submit fully. To make her understand what punishment she would suffer if she did not submit completely.
    The man turned her around and pushed her against the wall behind her, slamming her wounded back against the cold, hard stone. She cried out at the pain.
    He stared at her with cold eyes and pressed his arm against her throat until she couldn’t breathe. She struggled against him, trying desperately to suck in air, but she couldn’t. Panic gripped her as she felt blackness surrounding her. Terror arched through her and a scream welled within her.

    Kate bolted upward as the scream tore from her throat. Her head jerked around as she tried to comprehend where she was. Moonlight streamed across the room and she realized she was sitting up in bed.
    “Kate, what the hell?” The door flung open and Matt stormed into the room.
    His gaze locked on her and he raced toward her.
    She skittered back until she was pressed tight to the headboard, her eyes wide. As Matt closed in on the bed, she shook her head in panic. “No.”
    Matt halted, staring at her with a narrowed gaze.
    “Kate, what’s wrong?”
    “I…” Suddenly, all the pain and anguish from that horrible ordeal burst through her and tears flooded from her eyes. “How could you do that to me?”
    He sat down on the bed and reached for her, but she shifted sideways, putting more distance between them. His hands rolled into balls. “Do what, Kate?” He gazed at her with kind, tender eyes. “It was just a nightmare.”
    “No.” The word came out hoarse and shaky. “It wasn’t. It really happened. You made it happen.”
    “What, Kate? What do you think I did?”
    “That night…at the party…you…” She sucked in a breath of air, steadying herself. “You sold me to that