Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 80919 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 405(@200wpm)___ 324(@250wpm)___ 270(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80919 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 405(@200wpm)___ 324(@250wpm)___ 270(@300wpm)
“I can’t promise I won’t punish you again, but when I do, I want it to give you pleasure, not just pain. Every strike I give you on that perfect ass should sting but also arouse you. I will never lay a hand on you out of malice.”
I stared into his eyes for a long moment, searching for the truth in his words. He at least believed what he was saying, but did I?
What other choice did I have?
“My mother said I was too fat for the dresses, and I was going to have to diet until the wedding.” Not a lie, but not why I was crying.
“Don’t you dare!” The venom in his words made me jump and pull away from him. “Your body is the sexiest thing I have ever seen. You have curves so perfect that altering you in any way should be a crime against God.”
I didn’t know how to respond to that, so I put my head back down on his shoulder, hoping to hide the blush that was now rising in my cheeks. He already saw me so well. I didn’t want him to see the effect his words had on me.
“Your mother is a jealous, petty woman. She would have been making comments like that the second you started to outshine her. I’d bet that happened a long time ago. By now you would’ve built up a thick skin to that bullshit. You’re too strong not to have. Tell me the truth so I can protect you.”
He really saw right through me. He had been paying attention. There was no way Henry would have been able to tell him when my mother started insulting me.
I stayed silent but my tears stopped flowing.
He cupped my jaw, wiping away the remaining tears with his thumb. “Let’s try this again. What happened?”
I looked back at the door.
“Don’t worry about her, worry about me. Tell me what happened. I won’t let her touch you again. You have my word.”
“Is your word any good?” The words slipped out of my lips before I even thought about it.
“Excuse me? Do you want to repeat that, princess?”
“I just mean… I don’t… I don’t…”
He leaned closer to me. “Say it,” he whispered in my ear. “Tonight, I want to show you what kind of husband I will be. I need you to be honest, and I will do the same.”
“If a man resorts to blackmail or extortion to obtain a bride, whatever the reasons, can his word be trusted? I don’t know. I heard you say to Mr. Dubois that it’s just business, and I don’t know what that means for your character.”
“Have I ever lied to you?”
I thought about that for a moment.
He hadn’t lied. He had spanked me, pushed me well past my limits, and taken what wasn’t rightfully his until after the ceremony, but I had ended up reveling in his depravity.
I liked the way he took me, and he made sure that I found my pleasure in his touch, a trait not common among powerful men, if the maids were to be believed.
He was right. Every time he gave me pain, it added to the pleasure. Even when he was angry, that anger never fueled his strikes. He left me with a sore ass, but never really hurt me.
He had also let me think he cared, when all he had done was have his assistant spy on me.
But wasn’t that caring? His assistant must’ve had more important things to attend to, and even if his assistant had set up everything, he had made the time to do something he knew I would enjoy.
I was so confused.
This man was a tycoon in his own right. He had an empire he was preparing to run. He wasn’t a prince sent to save me from an evil queen, but maybe he was the king who would protect me from everyone but himself.
There was no way of escaping him, not really, so maybe the smart move was to embrace him, let him protect me, and then learn to live within his rules. I’d end up there, anyway. Why not make it easier on everyone?
“No, you have never lied to me, but you scare me,” I admitted.
“I will never break a promise to you, Amelia. This may not be a love match. This union may have started in order to stop a business deal from happening, but the result is still that you are going to be my wife. I will never break my word to you, and I will always protect what is mine. Now tell me what happened in this room before I got here.”
“Mother was forcing me to try on awful dresses. She was degrading me, but you’re right. I barely feel it anymore...” I swallowed, not sure how much I should tell him.