Total pages in book: 67
Estimated words: 64767 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 324(@200wpm)___ 259(@250wpm)___ 216(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 64767 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 324(@200wpm)___ 259(@250wpm)___ 216(@300wpm)
Atlas opens his beautiful amber eyes and looks at me. “Okay.”
“Okay?” I ask, questioning him.
Did he actually agree?
“What’s the catch,” I ask.
“You have to accept that I will pick you up every evening from your work, and you will stay with me.”
“What? No way.” I try to push away, but he holds me tightly, and I have no strength to fight him.
“My father has a hit on you.”
I freeze at his words.
What the actual fuck!
When I look back at him, I see his darkened expression watching me, waiting for me to freak out. But I’m already doing that on the inside, on the outside I am numb. His arms tighten around me a little more, not letting me move.
“Wh-Why?” I ask, barely above a whisper.
I’ve never met the man, why would he want to do that?
“Because you’re a threat to him. He sees women as nothing more than trouble. He thinks when you have a woman in your life you can’t reach your full potential.”
“Do you think the same way as h-him?”
“I did, till you.”
“If you didn’t just tell me your father wants me dead, that might have been romantic.”
“I can be romantic.” He leans in to kiss me, but I pull back.
Nope, not happening.
“Remove your arms, Atlas. And honestly, you don’t have a romantic bone in your body. So, will you stop with the lying.”
“Do you agree with my stipulations?” he asks.
If I move my leg up quickly, I could hit him between the legs that would disable him enough so I could get away. I shift my arm, and when I do, I feel his hip which is bare. My eyes look down, and that’s when I know he’s wearing no clothing at all.
“Where are your clothes?”
“Do you agree?” he asks again.
“You can sleep on my couch,” I tell him. “That’s as far as I’m willing to budge.”
“I could keep you here,” he says. “You have no way of escaping.”
He’s right, but I feel like I have some kind of pull or power over him, however small that may be.
“No. You are making me miss heaps of work time. Let me go, feed me, and take me home. Now.” I reach up to touch his face and grip it between my fingers. “My home, Atlas.”
He leans in, and I know he’s going to kiss me, so I move my head to the side. He pauses but still does it anyway, kissing my cheek. Lingering there for a moment, his lips against my skin, he then pulls away releasing me from his grip.
As soon as he does, I pull away and stand, heading straight to the bathroom. I brush my teeth and freshen up before I go back to the bedroom. Atlas is still lying on the bed completely naked. There are a few pillows propped behind his head as he looks at me.
Instantly my core tightens at the sight of him, and I have to remember that he and I, we don’t work, no matter how much chemistry we have.
I could do something wrong in his eyes, and he could detest me all over again.
Shut me out.
Deny me his existence.
Next time, it could be worse.
Next time he could shatter me to pieces.
“I should break your heart. Shatter it. I should heartbreak you like you heart broke me,” I tell him, my chin turning up sharply in defiance.
“You could try, but I won’t let you get away so easily this time.” Atlas grins, and I turn to go to his secret closet. When I do, I stop short. It’s packed with clothes, and not just high-end designer labels, it also contains a lot of my branding. I pick out something comfortable, and when I turn around, Atlas is sitting on the edge of the bed.
Lifting my shirt over my head, I let it fall to the floor and do the same with my pants. When I look up, now standing only in my underwear, his gaze explores and suggests while his cock is rock hard. I smile when I look down. Turning around, I shimmy the skirt up my legs and over my ass. When I look back at Atlas over my shoulder, I watch him biting his lip as he has deep and prolonged eye contact with my body.
“Theadora,” he says, tracing my body with his lust-filled eyes.
I remove my bra and throw it to the floor then turn around. He’s seen me naked before so my body is no surprise to him. But that look—the one he’s giving me right now—makes me feel like I am the most prized possession he has ever seen or owned.
It makes all my girly parts sing some sort of Hallelujah Chorus—it feels like I have won the battle.
“You are playing in dangerous territory, Theadora.”
“I want to go home,” I reply quite simply.