Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 72692 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 363(@200wpm)___ 291(@250wpm)___ 242(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 72692 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 363(@200wpm)___ 291(@250wpm)___ 242(@300wpm)
“If you want me to,” I whisper.
“I do, honey. I can’t talk right now,” she says. “Fabien says you have to move quickly, and we can talk more when you’re secure. Okay? Go, Savannah. Go now.”
“Okay,” I repeat. It’s all I need to know.
Nicolette wants me to go with Thayer.
“I love you,” she whispers.
“I love you, too,” I whisper back.
I return the phone to Thayer, drag my shoulders back, and nod. “When do we go?”
Frowning, he looks at my hair. “Now, and the hair has to go. With hot-pink hair, you might as well have a target on your back.”
I turn away from him and swallow the lump in my throat.
It isn’t the hair… hair grows back. Appearances change. It’s the certain knowledge that changing my hair is only the first compromise I’ll have to make.
What else will he make me do?
FOUR
Thayer
I touched the Mona Lisa with my bare hands. I took my first hit like an addict and now my blood pulses with the need for more.
I shouldn’t have kissed her. It was a stupid, foolish, dick move.
She tasted better than I’d imagined.
I want to kiss her again.
And again.
I want to kiss her until every nerve in her body’s on fire, until she sags against me, boneless and panting and wet.
That first taste of forbidden fruit might be the sweetest, but that doesn’t lessen the craving for more.
Fabien and Nicolette have made it clear: they don’t want Savannah to know anything about Le Luxe. She’s been kept in the dark up to now, and it’s my job to ensure I keep her safe without revealing too much about what exactly goes on at our club.
To the outside world, Le Luxe masquerades as a luxury hotel, and that’s all Savannah needs to know.
Hidden off the Ajaccio Coast, south of Paris in Corsica, the exclusive club is highly secured. Only members and curated guests are allowed through the gate, and then only after passing rigorous screening and paying a premium fee. In return, we offer luxury, state-of-the-art amenities, privacy, and top-notch security. We don’t receive so much as a slip of mail without rigorous screening and documentation.
Masters and slaves, dominants and submissives, make up the bulk of our establishment. As the owner and purveyor, I have to be discriminating and selective.
But first, we have to get there, and now.
I keep Fabien and Nicolette abreast of every decision we make.
Me:
Lyam and Mario are going ahead to nail down security. But I’ll be the one that escorts her.
Fabien:
Thank you.
I let Lyam and Mario go ahead of us to make sure we have an impenetrable security system in place, but no one will escort her but me.
I tell myself it doesn’t matter, that I can do this job. I tell myself that I won’t sate my craving for her.
I can be a brother to her.
Motherfucker.
Savannah watches me with wide, curious eyes, but doesn’t say anything for long minutes. It’s unlike her. She’s usually a nonstop chatterbox. I wonder what’s going on with her.
I turn to her.
“Are you afraid?”
When she flinches, I realize my tone came out harsher than I intended. Maybe that’s a good thing. Maybe I need to keep her at arm’s length. I fucked up kissing her, and I can’t make that mistake again.
When she responds, her voice drips with sarcasm. “What gave you that idea?”
“You’re not talking. That’s unlike you.”
I watch as she holds her head high with her chin pointed upward, as if trying to steel herself against something. Proving herself. Ready to take on the world.
Jesus, that makes me hard.
Her eyes sharpen when I look at her, as if daring anyone to take her on.
Fuck if I don’t want to take that dare.
I can’t.
I don’t trust myself with her. I know that if I let myself loose, I’ll dominate every inch of her body. I’ll demand her submission. I’ll make her scream with pleasure and cry in pain. I’ve craved the submission of a woman just like her — strong and sexy, witty and winsome.
I can’t do that to her. She’s too young, too innocent, and practically family.
I have one and only one job: to protect her no matter the cost. Even if that means denying myself everything.
I’m tormented by conflicting emotions. I clench my fists and breathe in through my nostrils.
She doesn’t deserve my anger. She isn’t the one I’m angry with.
I tell myself I need to push her away. Savannah is too trusting.
Too innocent.
“Maybe I have nothing to say.”
“Unlikely.”
I snap my mouth shut in an effort to keep myself from snapping at her again.
“Okay, then, maybe I do have something to say but I don’t want to say it to you.”
I turn to face her this time. Her eyes meet mine—so gorgeous, my heart turns in my chest. She’s curious, and if I’m not mistaken, a little aroused.