Uncovering You 2: Submission
knew. As did you. But who am I to deny a lady’s request?”
    “You knew what would happen!” I accuse. “You knew, and you still led me there!” I must be mad, to be screaming at him like this.
    Stonehart takes one strong step toward me. “You keep yelling at me, Lilly, and you risk making me angry.” His smile deepens. “I don’t think you’ll like me when I’m angry.”
    “Like you? I hate you !” Insanity has definitely taken its hold. The buffer between my thoughts and my speech has disappeared. “You’re sick! What kind of a man does that to a woman? To a stranger! Who am I to you, Jeremy? You’re sick, twisted, and I FUCKING HATE YOU !”
    Stonehart takes in my tirade with a calm and steady grace. I’m gasping for breath by the end. Every fiber of my body is trembling, strung tight.
    “Are you quite done?” he asks in a soft, cool voice.
    I answer by stalking to the table, picking up the bottle of wine, and flinging it at his face.
    He ducks out of the way of the projectile. It smashes against the glass panel behind him and shatters.
    Stonehart growls, and advances on me. He moves fast. I jump back, but his hands dart out to catch me.
    I struggle in his grip, trying to break free. “Let go!”
    His fingers dig into my arms. It hurts. “Look at me,” he commands.
    I shake my head with reckless abandon. What happened to calm, rational Lilly? a voice in the far-reaches of my mind asks. What happened to the girl who would bide her time?
    “Fine. Your choice.” His hand jerks up and tangles in my hair. He closes his fist, ruthlessly pulling my roots.
    Pain shoots from his grip, runs down my spine, and overtakes my body. It’s enough to draw tears.
    Stonehart forces my head up. I whimper like a frightened child. He’s so much bigger than I am, so much stronger. He can manhandle me with absolutely no effort.
    I’m terrified of what I’m going to find in his eyes. I squeeze mine shut harder, trying to escape from this nightmare.
    His hand digs into my hair even more. “Open your eyes,” he commands. “Open your eyes, and face me, Lilly.”
    Adrenaline is shooting through my body with every heartbeat. My breathing is ragged. The pain running from the back of my scalp is so bad it’s unbearable. Still, I refuse to open my eyes.
    “I will tell you once more,” Stonehart says. “Or, are you refusing to comply?”
    No. No! I will not be left in the dark again!
    I crack one eye open, then the other, and face the monster I’ve enraged. The moment I see his burning glare, the darkness does not seem like such a bad alternative.
    “I will answer your questions in the order you posed them,” he tells me, his chopped diction the only indication of his emotions. “What kind of man am I? The kind who can , Lilly. And the kind who does . I can do this to you, so I do .” His hand tightens in my hair, making me gasp. I blink rapidly against the swell of tears.
    “Who are you to me? You’re my employee , and, as an extension of that, my property . You remain so for the duration of our contract.” He lowers his face to mine. I can feel his breath on my skin. “You haven’t forgotten that, have you?” He twists my hair, making my cry out. “Well? Answer me!”
    “N-no!” I cry.
    “No. You say ‘no,’ Lilly. But, I think that you have forgotten. In fact, I think I’ve been too lenient with you.” He pulls so hard that I’m sure my hair will rip free at any moment.
    “Please,” I beg. “Please, you’re hurting me.”
    A sinister smirk forms on his lips. “You don’t enjoy this?” he asks, his eyes moving from my face to his hand and back again. “You don’t like being handled this way?”
    Tears blur my vision. All I can think of is, somehow, relieving the horrible pain emanating from his grip. “No,” I whimper. “Please. Please, let go.”
    Instead of letting go, he jerks my head to the side so he can hiss in my ear, “I don’t like having things thrown at me.”
    “I won’t

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