Pretty Hostage Read online Julia Sykes

Categories Genre: Dark, Romance Tags Authors: Julia Sykes Advertisement

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I softly padded across the guest room on bare feet, all concerns over my bruised pride gone. It was my job to intimidate the men who might threaten my boss, but scaring Sofia wasn’t one of my assigned duties. There was no shame in protecting the fragile beauty who had snuggled up to me as she slept, trusting me even though I didn’t deserve it.

I wanted her to feel safe around me. No matter how I taunted her father with threats to her wellbeing, I would never allow any harm to come to Sofia.

I would shelter her from any threat, and that included suppressing my own twisted desires until she was ready to accept them. Because if I treated her the way I’d imagined obsessively for years, I would mark her perfect skin with my hands, my teeth, my ropes…

I slipped out into the hallway, my footsteps falling faster as I rushed into my own bedroom. By the time I reached the shower, I’d hastily stripped out of my clothes. I stepped directly under the cold spray before the water had time to heat. The chill on my skin made me suck in a sharp breath through my teeth, but it didn’t do much to alleviate my erection. As the water warmed, I gripped my shaft and thought about all the depraved things I wanted to do to my helpless hostage.

If I hadn’t been so desperate for release, I might have been embarrassed at how quickly I finished. As it was, I moved on and rushed through my morning routine. I had to get back to Sofia. She might wake up at any moment, and I wasn’t there to guard her.

I didn’t intend to allow her enough time to find her way outside my house and escape, but if she tried, I would have to enforce some consequences. I didn’t think she’d like the punishment I had in mind for her if she misbehaved.

I would definitely like punishing her far too much. I’d managed to rein in my more savage instincts so far, but I’d only had her in my possession for a few hours. And she’d been asleep for most of them.

I wasn’t at all certain if I could continue to leash those instincts if she defied me.

Best not give her a chance to try.

As soon as I finished my quick shower and brushed my teeth, I tugged on the first clean clothes I could find and hastened back to the guest room.

The slight tension that had gripped my muscles eased. Sofia hadn’t moved an inch from where I’d left her tucked under the covers. She was still soundly asleep, so I wouldn’t have to worry about punishing her for any naughty behavior this morning.

Just thinking about it made my dick stiffen, even though I’d come only a few minutes ago.

I cleared my throat to distract myself as much as to wake her.

She grumbled and pulled the covers over her head.

One corner of my lips twitched. It seemed Sofia wasn’t a morning person. She’d reacted like this last night when the drugs I’d given her had finally worn off. I’d thought her grogginess was a symptom of what I’d dosed her with, but it was becoming apparent that she was simply a heavy sleeper.

“Sofia.” I smiled around her name, remembering how she’d huffed at me this morning when I’d shifted beneath her.

She burrowed deeper under the duvet, as though she could block me out. I’d never realized a little growl could sound so cute.

I considered leaving her to sleep in, but she needed to get up and eat breakfast. I’d abducted her early yesterday evening, and it had been too long since she’d had a proper meal.

Sofia might be my hostage, but that didn’t mean she would be mistreated. Quite the opposite. I would never condition her devotion if I was cruel to her.

Casual cruelty wasn’t part of my nature, anyway. I might do terrible things for Adrián, but that was just business. I took care of the people who mattered to me.

Although there were only two people in the world that I really gave a shit about—my mom and Adrián—protecting them was my top priority. Now, Sofia had been added to that very short list. She was my responsibility, so it was my job to see to her wellbeing. Regardless of how grumpy she might be.

Besides, she was cute when she was like this. Her grumbling and hiding under the covers reminded me of how innocent she was. Her life had been untainted by worry or fear, and she had the luxury of stubbornly sleeping the day away in peace.

At this point, she should have woken up on instinct. Even if she was a heavy sleeper, the fact that a man was looming over her bed and calling her name should have set off alarm bells in her mind. And yet, she seemed mildly irritated rather than terrified.

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