𝗝𝗜𝗡𝗫

SEVEN

The menacing words sliced through the lingering fog muddling my senses. As my vision adjusted to the dim interior, more details came into focus - namely, the rugged man looming over me with an expression carved from steel.

He was broader than I initially realized, his physique sculpted from tautly-coiled muscle and sinewy power barely contained beneath the surface. There was an unmistakable, primal aura of danger radiating from him in waves, like a cobra poised to strike at any moment.

Despite my vulnerable position bound to what I could now discern was a metal table, the thought of pleading for mercy never even entered my mind. Because within those intense obsidian eyes gleaming with something suspiciously akin to...amusement?...I recognized the feral glint of a predator toying with its prey.

So I met his penetrating stare with one of molten defiance, refusing to grant him the satisfaction of seeing me unnerved. "If your idea of fun involves tying up innocent women, you're a sicker bastard than I thought."

Rather than the anger I expected, the man's mouth curved into a wolfish grin. "Fiery one, aren't you?" His voice was rough like grated concrete. "I do so enjoy a challenge."

Leaning in until his rugged features filled my entire field of vision, he hooked a finger beneath my chin with surprising gentleness. "The name's Jinx, by the way. And we're going to be getting very well acquainted in the days to come."

I jerked my face away from his grip with a revolted scowl. "Like hell we are, you psychopath."

Jinx chuckled darkly, straightening an intimidating height that forced me to crane my neck backwards at an uncomfortable angle to maintain eye contact. "Such animosity. And here I figured a dame like you would appreciate some forceful...assertion."

The underlying suggestion in hi stone made my skin prickle with outrage and something far more unsettling that I refused to scrutinize deeply. Struggle as I might against the restraints, my wrists and ankles remained immobile.

"You're deranged if you think I'll ever respond positively to a vile, misogynistic creep like you," I spat, injecting as much venom into my words as possible. "I don't care how much muscle you've piled on that neanderthal frame of yours."

To my irritation, he seemed utterly unperturbed by the verbal lashing, cocking an intrigued eyebrow as he drank in the sight of my futile thrashing. "Well, well...I do love a woman with some fire in her spirit. This is going to be fun breaking you of that nasty attitude."

The words barely left my lips before Jinx's palm clamped down with vice-like force, the pressure just skirting the line of pain without quite crossing it. "Your brother won't be doing a damn thing if you know what's good for you, sweetheart. Not unless you want me adding a few more items to my souvenir collection."

With his free hand, he carelessly flicked aside the locks of hair obscuring my face with an intimacy that made me recoil. "No...you and I are going to have a nice, long heart-to-heart.  And you're going to behave yourself while we get to know one another better. Capisce?"

Hatred flowed scalding through my veins. How I longed to spit a wad of defiance direclty into those piercing obsidian orbs, to continue resisting this brute's overt attempts at domination.

"Fine. Talk all you want, no one's stopping you," I forced out through gritted teeth. "But don't expect me to hang on your every word, cretino."

The insult had the desired effect of momentarily flashing irritation through those flinty charcoal eyes. Good – at least I could still provoke a reaction, some hint of emotion buried beneath that carefully facade.

But just as swiftly as it appeared, the annoyance vanished behind a fresh twist of amusement on Jinx's sculpted features. "On the contrary, bellissima..." His hand came to rest in an unsettlingly intimate caress against the side of my face, his thumb swiping along my cheekbone. "I have a feeling you'll quickly discover just how spellbinding I can be when you're...properly motivated to hang on my every word."