“Don’t worry, darling, everything is going to be all right. Once I find a priest who can marry us, we can be together permanently.”

The master thief known as Kunoichi refused to display her true feelings regarding this latest lovestruck declaration from her captor, three days spent bound and gagged and subject to his obsessive desire eroding any trace of pity she might have felt for him. Instead, the beautiful Asian woman assumed an air of demure acceptance as her would-be suitor stroked her hair possessively. Nor did she resist as he lifted her leather-clad figure off the mattress and into his arms, bridal-style, to carry her out of the spare bedroom for the first time since he took her prisoner. “You and me, together forever. Won’t that be wonderful?” Paul proclaimed with a genuine innocence. That adoring look in his bright blue eyes had almost become a permanent feature, as was the too-wide grin, both of which belied the madness that lurked beneath, and not for the first time, she regretted ever flirting with the handsome athlete when she’d robbed him all those years ago. The lovely Japanese thief never could have known he’d respond by obsessing over her, his every waking moment spent in pursuit, and now that he possessed her, he seemed rather intent on ensuring she remained so. A hand reached up to gently caress her cheek, and it took all her willpower not to flinch away. “I’m sure you’ll make a wonderful wife. Mother always said that marriage is the best thing for a woman, and I know you’ll come to love me soon.”

Fat chance of that! Kunoichi raged inwardly, taking great care to ensure that anger never made itself known upon her pale, beautiful features. Instead, she displayed nothing but a hopelessly submissive attitude towards her captor, dark eyes offering him a sultry look from behind her black domino mask, still intact after all this time, a contented moan seeping past the ball gag filling her mouth. “Mmmmppgghh…” Three days spent tied up had taught her there was no slipping free of the steel cuffs secured tight about her throat, wrists and ankles, while the chain connecting the first two was too sturdy to break. Worst still, all her attempts to reach the lockpick to kept concealed at her waist had regrettably failed. In short, without some outside help, her current state of imprisonment might very well become a permanent one.

Hence her current display of compliance. For while Paul’s obsession with her had led to this, it might also be something she could exploit… “Mmmppgghh? Mmmmpgghh, mmppggghh,” she grunted, giving a sense of urgency to her gagged words. “Mmmpppggghh!”

Frowning, Paul brought her into the living room and gently laid her down on the couch, hands fumbling at the clasp of her ball gag. “What’s wrong, darling? Is there something you need to tell me?”

At long last, the ball gag came free, and Kunoichi indulged in the opportunity to take a deep breath untainted by the taste of rubber before she answered. “Oh, thank you so much, my love,” she whispered huskily, reaching up to run a gloved finger along his jawline. “I could hardly tell you how much I’m grateful with that awful gag in place.”

“Y-you are?”

“Of course, silly,” Kunoichi answered with a giggle. Three days of being reduced to a helpless captive, three days of tight ropes and cold chains and stifling gags and pathetic declarations of love and routinely being drugged asleep with chloroform, and she’d just about had enough of it all, and of him. Yet she displayed no sign of that frustration, instead laying on the seductive charm, pink lips curled up in a smile that promised nothing but hinted at everything. “I should have realized sooner how awful it was to live the life of a thief. Thank you so much for helping me mend my ways. I promise you, I’ll never rob from anyone ever again.”

Paul’s certainty seemed to waver for a moment, and she wondered if she’d laid it on too thick. Finally, though, that creepily eager smile of his returned. “Does that mean you love me? You truly, really love me?”

“Unshackle me, and I’d be happy to show you how much I care,” the dark-haired beauty purred, only to pout when he hesitated. “Why? This is what you wanted, isn’t it?”

“It is, but…”

“How can we be married if you won’t display any trust in me?” Kunoichi demanded. Sudden hurt flared in her kidnapper’s eyes, and she pressed home her advantage, sensing she was close to finally ending this. “Nothing permanent can ever be built on a foundation of suspicion, after all. Set me free, and then I can properly give you your reward.”

For an instant, she feared she’d overplayed her hand. Then Paul was moving with a sudden, eager haste, her cuffs at last falling away, and Kunoichi permitted herself to rub her sore wrists before she drew her captor into a passionate kiss, steeling herself for what would come next. “You belong to me,” Paul whispered when the kiss finally broke. “It’s just like Mother promised. I’m going to get what I deserve!”

“Yes, you are,” Kunoichi said, then struck.

Paul was an athlete of some description, taller than her by a head and outweighing her by at least fifty pounds, most of it muscle. There was no hope of the beautiful Asian woman beating him in a fair fight, certainly not after days in bondage. Fortunately for her, she’d always believed fair fights were for fools, and so moved accordingly. Her captor went down in a heap with a sound like a steam whistle shrieking, hands cupping his groin, utterly paralysed with pain from the savage kick. And then Kunoichi was moving, one hand hastily zipping up her catsuit before racing for the nearest exit, pursued by his feeble, pain-stricken cries. Sorry, Paul, but marrying a deranged creep like you just isn’t my style. Hopefully now you’ll get the message, lest I need to do something more permanent in the future…