Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 90075 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 450(@200wpm)___ 360(@250wpm)___ 300(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 90075 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 450(@200wpm)___ 360(@250wpm)___ 300(@300wpm)
Nick swayed into my doorframe. Midnight shadows gathered on his face as his eyes locked between my bare legs. “Do you go to work every day without underwear, or did you lose them wherever you spent the night?”
“Oh...this?” I embraced every dirty, dangerous part of me and pressed two fingers against my clit. I couldn’t control my reaction. The soft little gasp. The quick little clench.
Nick noticed.
Fuck, he noticed.
His nostrils flared as if he could smell me.
He stiffened against my door, turning into stone.
Struggling to keep my voice level, I said, “I didn’t have a clean set...so...” I shrugged and reached up to unclasp my bra. “I figured the short trip home wouldn’t be too scandalous to stay bare.”
He groaned as I tossed my bra onto my bed, standing there in just my stockings.
“Why didn’t you have clean underwear?” he strangled.
“Because I spent the night at a hotel.”
His hands fisted around the cellotape.
How many boxes had he already packed while I was gone? How much longer before he’d extracted every part of his life from mine and never looked back?
The urge to cover myself whipped through me. My nipples pebbled. My skin broke out in goosebumps, but I forced myself to stand there. To let him look. Let him drown. His trackpants tented. His palm slapped against his rapidly swelling erection, pushing it back down. “Why did you spend the night in a hotel?”
“To get away from you mainly.”
He flinched. “Were you alone?”
Narrowing my eyes, I murmured, “Last night I was, but tonight...I plan on having company.”
“Fucking hell, Ella. You’re doing this on purpose.” He closed his eyes and shook his head. “You’re trying to make me fuck you when I said that will never happen again.”
Every instinct said to press myself against him. To take his hand off his cock and yank down his pants. I could break him in that way. I could force him like he claimed I did by offering my mouth last week. I could have him inside me in a few moments...I knew that.
Every girl could sense when a man was just waiting for that final invitation to maul.
If I took a single step toward him, he’d have me on my back and fucked on the floor before I could sneeze.
But then...he’d pull away again.
He’d refuse to look at me.
He’d just keep packing and hiding and...no.
I wanted more than just a quick roll on my bedroom carpet.
I want your heart, you stubborn son of a bitch, and...I have to trust that Hunter knows what he’s talking about.
When I didn’t give him the invitation, when the air crackled with far too much electricity, Nick opened his eyes and bared his teeth. “Put some goddamn clothes on.”
“Actually, I’m going to take a long, hot shower. I’m going to shave every inch of my body. I’m going to pamper myself like I haven’t in a very long time. I’m going to stay naked for most of the day, if you must know.”
“To punish me?”
“Not everything is about you, Nicholas.” I cocked my hip.
“Then why—”
“Because I have special plans tonight.”
“What plans?”
“I’m going out.”
“You never go out. You never stay away. If you’re doing this to get back at me—”
“I’m doing this for me, you stupid jerk,” I snapped, crossing my arms and shoving my breasts up. “What happened in that big top changed me. I can’t and won’t go back to who I was. What Hunter gave me...what you gave me. I never had the courage to ask for it before. Never knew how I’d feel being completely owned before. It was the best night of my life, sexually speaking, and—”
“Did you fuck him?” he growled. “Is that who you were with in the hotel?”
“Fuck who?”
“Hunter.”
“I already told you I was alone.” I shrugged with a pout, making it seem as though being alone was the last thing I wanted. “Besides, he’s not in town anymore.”
“And you know that how?”
“Because I called him.”
“You what?” His voice bled straight into nightmares. “Why would you do that?”
“Because, you moron, I need more. I want more. I deserve more. I offered you that right. I gave you my heart and my body. I asked you to be mine, Nick, and what did you do?” I marched into him and stabbed a finger right over his thundering heart. “You took a job thousands of kilometres away. You told me, pretty loud and clear, that you’re not interested in loving me or ruling me, so...I’m going to find someone who is.”
He went dangerously, lethally still. “Someone else?”
“Yep.” I nodded. “Hunter told me there’s a club here. The Black Peacock. I’m going.”
“A club? What sort of club?”
“What sort do you think?” I spat. “One offering me what I need. A club full of Dominants not afraid of their own needs. A club full of submissives ready to be commanded. I’m new to this world, but I’m not afraid to become a part of it—unlike some people I know.”