Total pages in book: 331
Estimated words: 315585 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1578(@200wpm)___ 1262(@250wpm)___ 1052(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 315585 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1578(@200wpm)___ 1262(@250wpm)___ 1052(@300wpm)
Adam’s phone starts ringing, and he sighs heavily. “I have to go. Keep an eye on her, and I’ll check back tomorrow.” With that, he turns, answering his phone as he dips into the driver’s side of his car.
I enter her house and don’t see her in the living room or kitchen, so I go to her bedroom. The sound of running water has me walking into her bathroom.
She sits in the tub with that bottle of whiskey in her hand. Her head is back on the pillow, eyes closed.
I rip the Jack from her hands and place it on the counter by her sink. Then I turn back to face her. She’s staring up at me with her heavy eyes. “I don’t want a lecture,” she whispers.
My girl looks exhausted. “I don’t plan on giving you one.” Adam is right. She’s going to do whatever she wants to do unless I stop her. Words aren’t going to change her mind, but actions will keep her here.
I sit on the side of the tub and order, “Sit up.”
She slowly gets to a sitting position and pulls her knees to her chest. The tub is filled about halfway and there are no bubbles, so I can see her tan skin through the water. She’s got bruises on her knees and around her arms and neck. They’re from me and the belts I used on her. What I did to her the past two days.
The one on her cheek is new. And I notice she’s got a large one on her thigh. Also not from my hands.
“I’m going to wash you, then tuck you into bed,” I inform her. “Your body needs to rest.”
“Not going to make me sleep on the floor like a dog?” She snorts. “How thoughtful of you.”
Ignoring that, I grab a cup that she has sitting on the side of the tub and fill it with water and begin to wash her hair. She sighs, running her hands down her face.
Less than twenty minutes later, as I pull the plug to her bathwater, she can’t keep her eyes open. I help her out, wipe her off, and wrap her in a towel. She allows me to pick her up and carry her to her bed, where I place her under the covers.
“This is your fault, you know.”
I frown. “How so?”
“Doesn’t matter.” She rolls over, but I sit down next to her, turning her onto her back so she has to face me.
“It does,” I assure her. “Tell me what I did.”
She licks her lips. “It’s what you didn’t do.” My frown deepens and she yawns. “It’s your fault I was off my game tonight. I was weak and distracted.”
“I’m still not understanding how you putting yourself in danger is my fault. You should have called me.” I know she’s seen my number saved in her phone. “I would have gone with you.” Haidyn used to pay for his sex all the time. I know that some have bodyguards. The smart ones do anyway. I don’t give a fuck what a woman chooses to do with her body, but she should always protect herself. Anything can happen. I could have pretended to be that for her.
She blinks, her heavy eyes having trouble staying open. “You didn’t let me get off.”
“You didn’t get yourself off when you got home?”
Her brows pull down at my question. “Was that what you wanted?” she asks, though I don’t answer. “Were…were you testing me?”
“If I was, it sounds like you failed.”
“Unbelievable,” she mumbles.
I reach out and push a few strands of wet hair behind her ear and search her heated eyes. “Why didn’t you get yourself off, angel?”
She looks away, refusing to answer me.
“When was the last time you allowed yourself to come?” I ask instead.
“That’s…none of your business.”
I cup her warm face and run my thumb over her lips. I helped her wash her face clear of her makeup, and she looks just as gorgeous without it. Her skin is soft and her lips pouty. Her big green eyes seem brighter than they were the night on the yacht all those years ago. “You’re my business, Everett. Everything you do is my business. That includes touching yourself.”
She licks her lips. “So what? You’re going to deny me orgasms now?”
“Sounds to me like you’re denying yourself of them.” That grants me an eye roll. I was setting her up to see if she would get herself off. I know how she feels about sex with men, but to not even please herself? “Why?”
Her pretty green eyes fall to the bed, and she takes a long breath, but she doesn’t answer.
She was a doll. Maybe they used orgasms as a punishment? Or made her beg for a release that she was never allowed to have? “There’s nothing wrong with getting off, angel.” I go on. “To feel good.”