Total pages in book: 58
Estimated words: 54968 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 275(@200wpm)___ 220(@250wpm)___ 183(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 54968 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 275(@200wpm)___ 220(@250wpm)___ 183(@300wpm)
“I’ll let her know, Mark. Thanks. Sorry to snarl up your workload.”
“No problem. We’re flexible. Have a great day.” Mark ended the call.
Zara glared at Kestrel. “Shouldn’t I have made sure Celeste is okay with my skills before I quit my job?”
“You saw her reaction. She’s ecstatic. Besides, you said yourself that I’m sort of your boss, so I can and I did make this change. You’ve been working too many hours. I insist you take today off. We’ll move your things to my apartment and order more things for your playroom. After that, I’ll take you to the basement to talk to Celeste and meet Magnus. Magnus is our computer genius. He mostly hides out in the basement monitoring things.”
She wasn’t sure whether to hug him or argue some more. “But…” But what? He wasn’t wrong. She had worked too many hours, and he was offering her the world. He’d also shown no signs that he was being nice to her simply because she was pretty.
Granted, some people could hide their ulterior motives. She narrowed her gaze and challenged him. “You said you read about me last night. You saw pictures, too. Are you doing all this because you think I’m pretty?”
“Nope. I won’t deny you are indeed the most gorgeous woman I’ve ever seen.” He tapped her nose. “You can’t hide it even under a ballcap. However, I’m doing all this because I can feel a connection with you already that tells my heart you’re the perfect Little girl for me. I wouldn’t care if you had two heads and horns.”
She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest. “I’m an assignment.”
“You’re so much more than an assignment, Zara. You may have started as an assignment last night when I got the jump drive that contained your information, but that vanished in a heartbeat the moment I set eyes on you.”
She shot him another glare. “See, you are just interested in me because I’m pretty.”
He shook his head. “I’m interested in you because you’re bright, funny, and smart. I can also tell that you’re submissive and lonely and need a caregiver. I want to be that man, Zara.”
“I’m not going to sleep with you,” she insisted, even though every molecule in her body knew that wasn’t true. She’d never felt this level of attraction for another human being. She’d been fighting it since she’d first turned around in the laundry room and spotted him. Her panties were wet. Good thing she was wearing baggy jeans and a loose shirt because the traitorous breasts that most of the planet coveted and wished they could see more of were currently heavy, her nipples rubbing against the lace of her bra.
And yes, her bra was lacy. So were her panties. Several years ago, when she’d started hiding from the world in earnest, she’d given up pretty clothes and dresses. She’d exchanged them for ill-fitting shirts and baggy pants.
She had not, however, given up her bra and panty sets. No one ever saw them. Underneath her clothes, she always wore pretty lingerie that allowed her to feel feminine and sexy without drawing attention to herself.
“Nope. You’re not going to sleep with me,” Kestrel said. “There’s a bed for you in the playroom. You’ll sleep there where I will know you’re safe.”
She frowned.
He chuckled. “Go ahead, Little one. Ask me anything. What’s your next concern?”
“You don’t want to sleep with me?” she blurted. It was one thing for her to put her foot down. But he didn’t have to agree so quickly without hesitation as if the thought of having her in his bed made him ill.
He chuckled again, his body shaking hers. He cupped her face and held her gaze. “Make no mistake, Zara. I already know I want to be in your life in every way, as your friend, your confidant, your Daddy, your Dom, your lover, and, eventually, your husband. But we’ll take this slow. When you come to my bed, you will know definitively that you’re there because I’m head over heels in love with you, not because of your looks but because of your heart.” He set his other palm on her chest between her breasts.
She stopped breathing. He was so intense and so serious. She wanted to argue with him. None of that was reasonable. They’d just met this morning. He couldn’t talk about loving her or marrying her. Could he?
Her skin tingled. Everywhere. There was a force between them. It was real and had a life of its own.
He didn’t look away. He held her gaze, rarely blinking.
Her mouth was dry, but she couldn’t get the message to her tongue to tell it to lick her lips.
“I’ll wait for you, Little one,” he continued gently. “For a lifetime, if that’s what it takes to convince you I’m not with you for your looks.”