Savages Recruit by Loki Renard

what he was thinking, she wished she knew of some way to unsettle him, some way to claw back the power he'd taken from her so easily. But there were no hints, no clues. “You can get cleaned up and changed, or I can do that for you,” he said calmly, laying out a false dichotomy. It was a cheap trick and it wouldn't work on her.  She growled, but the growl caught in her throat and turned into a cough. Instead of sounding threatening, she sounded like a cat with a fur-ball. He smirked at the sound. “What on earth was that?”
    “Shut up,” Zora muttered, breaking the self imposed silence she'd maintained for over an hour.
    “Enough.” His tone became curt as his expression hardened. “I'm not going to tolerate any more disobedience or rudeness from you tonight. Go get ready for bed.” He gestured towards the door Zora hadn't noticed when she first arrived because it was hidden behind a curtain. She'd been busting to go to the toilet before he'd casually pulled the dark fabric back and revealed the cabin's one luxury, a functioning bathroom with hot running water that was heated by the fire.
    Zora's bottom lip slid past her upper lip as she folded her arms across her chest. His overbearing attitude did nothing but make her more resistant. “Very well,” Savage said. “I guess we're going to do this the hard way, like we do everything else.” He closed the distance between them, took hold of her by the wrists and leaned down so that he was eye to eye with her. “Are you ready to go have a shower?”
    “No,” Zora sulked. She was aware she was behaving childishly, but he was treating her like a child, so it was his fault. Where did he get off telling her she had to go and have a shower? Sure, she was covered in mud and dirt, but he had no right to question her personal hygiene. It was insulting, that's what it was.
    “Okay,” Savage stood upright, hoisting her over his shoulder in one easy motion. Zora maintained her stoic pout as he carried her into the bathroom and deposited her unceremoniously in a sitting position on the toilet. He stood back, his arms folded over his broad chest. “If I leave you, are you going to have a shower?”
    “No,” Zora growled.
    “Very well then.” He reached down, grasped the bottom of her sweater and pulled it up and over her head. It was done so quickly that she reflexively lifted her arms to allow it to be pulled free of her body The next thing she knew, he was standing with her sweater in his hand and she was down one piece of clothing.
    “Wait,” she squealed as his hands descended towards her undershirt. If she lost that, she'd be in her underwear in front of him.
    He arched a brow at her. “Are you ready to do as you're told now?”
    Zora's lips parted in dismay as she stared at him. “If I say no are you going to keep undressing me?”
    “I am,” he confirmed.
    “Surely you can't be serious.”
    “I am serious, and don't call me Shirley.” He grinned as if he'd made the best joke in the world. When he smiled his entire handsome face was transformed by little dimples in his cheeks and laugh lines that crinkled around the corners of his eyes and mouth. The staunch, stern military man disappeared and a younger, more carefree man stood in his place. Smiling, he looked positively dashing and for a fleeting second, she almost smiled back.
    Quickly making up for the close call in which she'd almost reacted positively to him, Zora stomped her foot. “Why can't you ever let me have my way?”
    “Because that's not how this works,” Savage said, rolling up his sleeves in preparation for the coming battle of the undershirt. “ Besides, you're far too used to getting your own way.”
    “How do you know? You don't know me,” she disagreed.
    “I know you well enough, Ms Matthews,” he said, reaching down and taking hold of the back of her undershirt. She tried fighting him as he pulled it off, but her wriggling only made it easier for him to peel it away from her