Total pages in book: 17
Estimated words: 16040 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 80(@200wpm)___ 64(@250wpm)___ 53(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 16040 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 80(@200wpm)___ 64(@250wpm)___ 53(@300wpm)
I want more than that, and if he’s incapable of more, then what’s the point of me being here? After all, the auction is over, and my father probably thinks Theo has ruined me already. He hasn’t, of course. As much as I thought he wanted me for his own, it seems to be the opposite. We haven’t shared another kiss. I wonder if he regrets bringing me here. Maybe I should find a way to get out and move back to my old state and forget all of them.
Opening the closet door, I pull out an outfit that I would have picked for myself. He has everything in here that I would like, even if it’s not sophisticated like him. He wears suits every day, and heaven help me, they are sexy as hell.
I hop in the shower and then get dressed in a pair of khaki shorts and a white V-neck tee shirt. It’s plain, and I love how simple and yet comfortable it is. I press my hands down over the outfit while checking myself out in the mirror. I look young like this. I suppose at nineteen, I’m very young.
My things were brought here the day after they nabbed me—the few things I own. Apparently, they snatched my purse after I ran from the house, so I’ve had that since then. I pull out my small makeup bag and add a little eyeliner and lipstick. Wow, I don’t look barely legal anymore. I smile in the mirror, and then I catch a glimpse of Theo behind me. He’s not smiling at all.
I turn around, and he growls. “Where are you going?”
Suddenly it strikes me that I can’t lie to him. “Um…Theo…I’m leaving.”
“Leaving? Where? With whom?” he questions, staring at me with a look of pure dominance.
I gulp and step around him. “I don’t know, and by myself.”
His strong arm reaches out, and he grabs me, stopping my movements. “Phoebe, I don’t let my housekeeper leave without an escort. What makes you think that I’d let you risk your safety to go out alone?”
As we face each other, his hand still on my wrist, I brush off his overprotectiveness. “I’m fine. The auction’s over. You don’t need to protect me anymore.”
“You know that this was never about the auction. Why are you ready to run?”
“Why? I’m here all day, prisoner to my thoughts, while you’re out doing whatever you like, coming home well after normal time, and then you say a few words to me and then it’s time for me to go to bed. I can’t help feeling like an unwanted guest. Even that piece of shit father of mine spoke to me more than a couple of times a day.”
“I’m sorry, Phoebe. I really am. I’m new to this feeling, this wanting you around and trying to control myself so you don’t run. And here you are getting ready to leave me.”
“Oh, Theo. I don’t even know why you want me here. If I’m not your mistress like I suspected you wanted, then what—”
“Don’t ever call yourself that. Do you remember how I introduced you to Griselda?”
“Yes. As Mrs. Christakos.”
“Well, then, that’s what I want from you. I don’t know how to do this. But I need you. It’s more than your father owing me money. It’s more than he was willing to traffic you. I saw you and knew I had to have you.”
“But you haven’t had me. For a week, I’ve lain in your arms, and you haven’t even kissed me again.”
“Do you know why that is?” He cups my cheek, brushing his thumb over my bottom lip, pulling it down slightly. “Because I want you more than my next breath. Because I want you to want me just as much. I want you to say, ‘Theo, take me.’ It kills me and heals me to hold you every night. It’s like I’m getting the most dangerous thrill of my life. I love and fear going to bed with you because I am waiting for you to forget how I took you without your permission. I want you to submit to me of your own free will.”
I push out of his hold, grab the hem of my shirt, and lift it over my head. “I’ve wanted you to take me even when I shouted the opposite. Whatever has happened between us, nothing —and I mean nothing—has changed the fact that I need you, want you. I just thought maybe you wanted someone with experience.”
He raises his brow, tossing me a side-eyed comical gaze. “Are you nuts? I didn’t know about your innocence until the email, and then I was ten times crazier. It’s the reason I haven’t tried to seduce you. I’ve ached to be inside of you, filling you with my babies from our first kiss.”