Knotting with a Stranger (Whispering Grove, #1)

by Harley Knight

“Still co-owning the successful business Mom built, yes.” I paste on my best customer service smile. “How’s your hip replacement? Still setting off metal detectors?”

I poke at the meatloaf. “Is this thing moving?” “Don’t change the subject. And don’t look too closely at the meatloaf. Looking only makes it stronger.”

Opening the refrigerator door, I welcome the cold air on my flushed face. Get it together. You are in control. Don’t let his presence affect you. He’s just a man. An incredibly attractive, possibly dangerous man who makes your insides liquefy, but still just a man.

Say no. Do NOT go to a basement with a criminal, Lily. Have you learned nothing from every true-crime show ever? This is literally how women end up as cautionary tales. “Sure,” I hear myself say, nodding like a puppet.

“Wrists bound to the headboard with my belt. Nothing else—just the belt and my marks all over your bare skin.” His eyes darken further, becoming almost predatory. “You’d been fighting me, spitting fire like you always do in your messages, challenging me, pushing me. So, I showed you what happens when you push an Alpha too far.”